Re: Trash-Bot

[Rich Grise <richgrise@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 20 Jan 2006 13:30:05 -0700, 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.
>

And if you could teach your dog to use the foot pedal, you wouldn't
need to clean up after him. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich