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Unread 09-01-2007, 09:51
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ChrisH ChrisH is offline
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Re: Advantage given by succesful autonomous mode

[quote=Kevin Sevcik;551921]
You don't have to restrict the operation to autonomous mode.
QUOTE]


One of my managers, who happens to be in charge of our automation efforts, has a saying. "You don't really understand a process until you automate it". I have found this to be the case in all of the automation efforts I have been involved in. When you have people in the loop, they compensate for what they percieve to be happening, many times without knowing it.

One example is automated drilling of a stack of different materials. For years we had been drilling a stackup containing titanium, carbon epoxy, and aluminum by hand. When they tried to automate the drilling they just could not get a good quality hole from the machine.

Now remember, we (Northrop Grumman) drill tens of thousands of holes per week in difficult materials, we should know something about drilling holes. Finally they went back and instrumented the drill the mechanic was using to drill by hand to find out what was really happening. It turned out that that mechanic was adjusting the pressure on the drill in accordance with the sound the drill was making. The mechanic didn't even realize he was doing it. A few new sensors, a little programming and viola!, good clean holes (and here's the important part) EVERY TIME.

So we learned a little more about a process we thought we knew everything about.

I would suggest that if you can't get a ring on autonomously, you really don't understand how to place rings. If you do understand how to do it autonomously, why would you do it any other way? Because if you really are doing it right, it will work every time.

Now whether any team will get that understanding before the Championship is over is a completely different question. The addition of defending robots also complicates things because they introduce things you can't understand completely in advance.
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Christopher H Husmann, PE

"Who is John Galt?"