19-02-2003 15:22

Ed Crammond

good idea for stack stability.

How do you put down the stack without pulling down the stack? presumably you slacken off the rope, how long does it take to do this?

01-03-2003 14:24

Edward Debler

We release the tension slightly in the strap when we lower the entire stack. The strap then can stay in place or we can lower it. The total travel for the stack (and/or strap) is only slightly more than the height of one bin.

Not shown in the photo are some "latches" (3 sets) that actually hold the bins in place when we are retrieving another bin. They are released (by small servos) when we lower the entire stack. They work very well at holding the bins in place.

01-03-2003 14:49

David Lantz

Very nice. I like the stacking ablility. It seems that you also have some sort of wing on the front/back of the robot. Do you also plan to knock down boxes at the begining or will you be strickly orented towards stacking?

01-03-2003 15:36

Jeff Waegelin

That's impressive, that you can tip that much and not lose your stack. I'm looking forward to seeing you in action at Ypsi.

01-03-2003 15:43

purplehaze357

thats kinda neat....your wheels are kinda small though....

01-03-2003 16:02

Eric Bareiss

That's because they have omni-drive.

01-03-2003 17:55

Cory

Huge wheels wont help you on the HDPE anyways.

Cory

01-03-2003 18:02

soezgg

WOW. All i have to say is WOW

you guys again have another ingenius bot.

i fear you.

we had a similar system for restraining our stack, but we lost it.

being overweight sucks.

01-03-2003 18:04

kristen

Yea.. I took a look at this picture, and I thought "WOW THIS LOOKS LIKE OUR ROBOT!!" minus a way to hold the bins. (Steve basically summed it up )

Rock on, and great bot!

01-03-2003 18:50

Ken Leung

At kickoff I've already though about having something hold on the stack of bins from on top. Can't believe no one else did it!

Really cool robot! Can't wait to see it at Houston!

01-03-2003 19:06

Edward Debler

Actually, we have (2) wings on the (rear of the robot) that fold down during the autonomous mode using (2) pneumatic cylinders. We start by driving the robot up the ramp (autonomously) with the rear of the robot going up first since the rear also has the steering wheels. by the time the robot (and wings) contact the bins, they are fully deployed (total of 10 feet wide). When we regain operator control of the robot, we will go to our scoring zone to begin stacking bins. We can lift and securely retain a pre-existing 3 bin stack then lift another 3 bin stack, etc. We can also pick-up 1 bin at a time from the floor.

There are (2) other photos in this photo gallery that show the wings.