Re: Trash-Bot

[Charlie Edmondson <edmondson@xxxxxxxx>]

Jim Thompson wrote:
> On Fri, 20 Jan 2006 13:19:02 -0500, Phil Hobbs
> <pcdh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 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
>
>
> I once toyed with the idea of trash cans sunken into the ground, walk
> outside, step on foot-pedal to open lid.
>
> On trash pickup day the cans would rise out of the ground so the
> automated trucks could grab them and empty.
>
>                                         ...Jim Thompson
Hi Jim,
Actually, about 25 years ago, my mom and dad had underground trash cans.
  You walked out to the street, stepped on a raised part of the lid, and
dropped your trash into the can.  The garbage guys had to open a larger
lid, and lift the whole can (a pretty typical galvanized one) out of the
hole, and then empty it into the truck.  Biggest problem was you usually
filled the can, and then had to stack bags up on top.  Since this was
Palm Desert, you had to worry about wildlife spreading the trash all
over the place from the bags, but I think that was why they had the
in-ground cans in the first place.

Charlie