Boe-Bot -- How to Move an Object

paul123graham

hi,

i was wondering if any of you know how i could get my Boe Bot to move an item from one place to another?
Example
The Boebot has to move a ping pong ball from position 'A' to position 'B'.

i was thinking of some kind of gripper but i dont know if this is possible. so any help on ideas/solutions·would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Jon Williams

You should probably download and read our "Robotics" text -- it goes into great detail on robotic movement.

And don't forget to give your threads an appropriat title; I can see that you're new (one post as I respond) and so I've fixed this thread for you.

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Jon Williams
Applications Engineer, Parallax

Chris Savage

Paul,

·· You have posted this thread twice in this forum.· I will remove the extra copy.

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Chris Savage
Parallax Tech Support
csavage@parallax.com

Paul Baker

Consider using a cow-catcher attachement to the front of your BOE-BOT, if you need more control over stoping it, perhaps attach a couple servos with arms on either side of the scoop to create a little pen for the ball. Much easier to accomplish than a gripper.

     ___ ___
    /  __   \                                             _______
   /  /  \   \   <---Arm attached to servo               | 
  /  |ball|   \                                  __      |
 /    \__/     \                                /  \    /|
 |_____________|                               |ball|  / | Boe Bot
 |    Scoop    |                                \__/  /  |
 |             |                                    --   |________
/ \-----------/ \ <---Servo                            ^
\_/ BOE BOT   \_/                                      |
 |             |                                     Scoop
 
 
 
 
 

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·1+1=10

Post Edited (Paul Baker) : 10/14/2005 2:47:29 PM GMT

Bruce Bates

Paul -

Whether you choose to build or buy a true gripper, you're in for a good deal of "engineering" as well as a fair amount of cost, not to mention the time involved. If I were faced with this problem, and ping pong balls were the only item of interest, I'd consider one of the following two methods.

Method One:

A simple drop-arm with an inverted funnel attached to the end to "capture" the ping pong ball, but loosely enough that it could still roll within the confines of the inverted funnel. This way a "captured" ball would travel in front of, and along with the Bot as it moved from point A to point B. Once you reach point B, merely raise the arm, and the ping pong ball is in proper position. Obviously this won't work if you want a "pick and place" type motion.

The movable arm for the funnel, could simply be the extended arm of an R/C servo. The end of that arm would have a loose linkage to the spout of the funnel, so it would raise straight up and down; albeit moving slightly backward and forward at the same time. If you need a picture to envision the linkage, just shout, and I'll see what i can do.

Method Two:

Use the principle of a snow plow blade, but with a reversed V to the "blade". An ordinary V-blade plow has the "arrow" point forward, yours would point backwards. This is along the same lines as a "cow catcher" on older steam trains.

Just some reasonably inexpensive ideas.

Regards,

Bruce Bates

Post Edited (Bruce Bates) : 10/14/2005 2:55:28 PM GMT