Re: Trash-Bot

["Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Phil Hobbs wrote:
>
> Bill Kearney wrote:
>
> > You could hack the brains out of one of those robotic lawn mowers.  I don't
> > recall them needing buried wire.  Likewise a radar sensor could deal with
> > unexpected obstructions.  Even machine vision would work. Since it's
> > following a regular track it'd be simple comparison against a known-clear
> > path, not actual pattern recognition.
> >
> > Dealing with someone stealing it isn't technological, but some sort of "I'm
> > too far from my base station, scream like a banshee" feature might be
> > entertaining.  Heh, have it scream "help, help, I've been stolen from..."
> > and start frantically running it's drive wheels.
> >
> > Hmmm, if they're cheap enough one of those robo-mowers might indeed be a
> > cool starting point.  Teach it to traverse a fake lawn path and then hack it
> > onto something with enough drive motor horsepower to move the weight.
> >
> > You could start the experiment by building the cart and using a radio
> > controlled car circuit to operate it manually.  Prove that the drive
> > hardware works and then cobble up the brain for doing it automagically.
> > Hmm, an R/C car design using a gas motor and some sort of battery operated
> > starter would probably get around the rather hefty battery requirements that
> > moving several cans of trash might require.
> >
> > -Bill Kearney
> >
>
>   C'mon, guys, all this stuff is _way_ too complicated.  It's not the
> _robot_ you need to place accurately, it's the _trash_.  I recommend
> using Kevlar-reinforced bags, an extra-heavy-duty trash can, a bit of
> silicon carbide and water, and a spark plug--ta-daa! the Trash Cannon.
> Measure the weight of the trash bag, and adjust the amount of carbide
> with a PIC controlling a small motorized hopper.  The metering curve
> would have to be calibrated experimentally.
>
> Alternatively, if local laws or jumpy neighbours render pyrotechnics
> inappropriate, you could use a Trash Trebuchet.  This would have the
> advantage of a much more predictable trajectory, since the initial
> velocity of the payload is more nearly constant than with a gun.
>
> Either of these would solve the navigation problem, since the relative
> positions of trash can and curb can be calibrated in advance, and both
> would be a bit big and nasty to steal.  (Control algorithm suggestions
> welcomed.)  A small CO2 laser (eye-safe!) could be used to shoo
> pedestrians out of the line of fire.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Phil Hobbs



   If you build it big enough, you can lob the trash bags into the
garbage truck from a couple blocks away.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida