Re: Trash-Bot

[Keith Williams <krw@xxxxxxxxxx>]

In article <duh2t1hl5hkdoeissd2ihufq0lc5fb3kmt@xxxxxxx>, To-Email-
Use-The-Envelope-Icon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx says...
> 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.

I've seen such things.  Forty years ago neighbors had something
similar, though there was nothing automatic in it.  I think there
is the problem of someone falling in and breaking a leg;  lawyers.

--
  Keith