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"and, they are on upside down..."
RoboCars - Episode 4
Years in the making, the day of the DARPA Urban Challenge final race has finally arrived. Of the original ten teams RoboCar has been following, nine made it to the semi-final round, but just four – Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, MIT and Oshkosh – have qualified for the final competition. With a $ 2-milion dollar first prize at stake, the teams scramble to prep their bots for the starting gate. After months of hands-on problem solving, the teams have to step back and let their robots do their thing - autonomously. But the course holds some surprises and even for the best of the best, trouble seems to lurk around every corner. The robocars take on 60 miles divided into three missions but to make it a fair contest, the route each car follows is a closely guarded secret until just before the race. At the end of the day, only six cars finish, but the top spot is determined by elapsed time, so the first car over the line may not be the winner. The episode ends with an awards ceremony as the check for $2-million is handed over to the fastest and safest team. It’s a day for the robotics history books.
I have watched RoboCars Episode 1 and it is a fantastic documentary of what was going on as teams prepared for the race. The movie producers have some amazing footage of the struggle to create driverless vehicles and presented it as an action packed adventure... well, you watch it and tell me what you think of it. I am proud that I and my team have been able to help the DARPA Urban Challenge and the other teams to get to where they are today. I am involved in the race to help the DoD get the guidance system they need, no matter where it comes from, and for what I can learn about robotics, automatic guided vehicles, and as it turns out, a heck of a lot about US Army cargo truck maintenance.
In my sailing days, one of the cadets was complaining at sea about having been assigned to a worn out, broken down, tramp steamer when one of the old timers there pointed out that he would learn more taking an old ship apart and fixing it than he would watching a new one run that didn't need to be worked on. Of course the old timer was right. When the cadet got back to school and compared notes with his classmates who had been on newer ships, they couldn't believe all the things he had been allowed to open up and work on. The 54 year old US Army M-215 that we are working with here at AIM is definitely an old ship. It runs, lots of things wrong with it but all fixable. You are not going to hurt it by opening it up and working on it. It also represents a different design philosophy from a different era that we can learn a lot from. It was made of corrosion resistant steel because it was supposed to last a long time, and it has. It is modular in construction so that any part or any section of it can be replaced. Parts are still available at reasonable prices. Compare that to today's design philosophy, is there anything we might want to barrow from the past?
DEFENSE SPECIAL PROJECTS AWARD
At the end of this past Friday Night's work session, long standing AIM Team member Linda Graham was presented with an antique US Marine Corps sword in recognition of her volunteer work in the areas of fundraising, recruiting, transportation of volunteers, and operation of the AIM Team's technical library. Like most everything else here we are working with, an old sword with a long history was chosen as the award. The award is to recognize the fact that Linda's work here at AIM is an important part of defending the United States of America against its enemies and that it is a never ending task, passed from one generation to the next, much like the antique sword has been. Appropriately enough, this particular sword was donated cracked and broken. It was repaired by AIM Team supporters for this presentation. Linda joined the AIM Team as a positive way of responding to the attacks of 9/11/2001. What drives her is her concern about whether she is doing enough; as a result she has accomplished a great many things and has been a driving force here at AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL MAGIC's Defense Special Projects.
AGV WENDY DARLING
About $300 damage (parts cost) was done to the brake on wheel #3 when a stud backed out and made the trip around inside the wheel bending and breaking all the brake parts of that wheel. I ordered the parts today to replace the entire wheel brake on wheel #3. Amazingly, the hardened steel wheel stud that did this was not damaged. I will probably have to torch off the budd nut that is still holding the dual wheels together and is no longer attached to a wheel stud ... I am still considering my options. As part of the latest brake inspection, it was noted that the brakes on wheel #4 are on upside down, they were that way apparently when we got the truck. That puts the bleeders for the hydraulic brake cylinders on the bottom of both cylinders instead of on the top. The solution of course, is to take that wheel brake off and put it on right side up. That task is expected to take most of one evening's work session. Next time the brake system is opened up will be the best time to do this maintenance action.
I took the truck out for a 5.3 mile run this evening to exercise it. The plan is to take it out each evening for a run to discover what surprises it may have in store for us and to test whatever has been added or modified that day. The new fan belt is working fine and holding the water temperature at a steady 160oF. The weatherproof color cameras have sharp clear pictures. Eventually we may move them into the cab so that they are behind the windshield wipers to improve the all weather capability of AGV WENDY DARLING.
An X-Prize video archive is available, take a break and watch a short movie or a few .
ELECTRIC STEERING
The most reliable way to connect a motor to what it operates is through a metal gear drive and yesterday here at AIM we found that we have the parts to build up two gear sets from a box of parts that was donated some time ago. Our first gear driven electric steering system is being installed on one of our test vehicles today and should be finished tomorrow. In the past we have used #50 roller chain and sprockets which are a bit more forgiving than gears are, so we are moving up in sophistication. On the way to the AIM shop from my day job I picked up a DPDT (on)-off-(on) switch and discovered that the brackets in the switch description indicate that the "on" positions are momentary. Many of the places I shop for switches the switches are blister packed and breaking this bit of code today will help me understand what is available "on the shelf" without opening all the packages. Sales clerks now a days are unfamiliar with the products they sell and leave it up to the customer to know what they are buying.
GO ROBOTS !
Paul F. Grayson - Chief Engineer
AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL MAGIC, LLC
Racing to build technology that saves lives.
390 4-Mile Rd. S.
Traverse City, MI 49686-8411
(231) 946-0187, (231) 883-4463 Cell
pgrayson@aimagic.org
AIM: http://aimagic.org
Robot Club: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/robotcluboftraversecitymi/
CE Magazine: http://www.controleng.com/blog/1180000318.html
pfg:s,l,tt,
"and, they are on upside down..."
July 21, 2008
RoboCars - Episode 4
Years in the making, the day of the DARPA Urban Challenge final race has finally arrived. Of the original ten teams RoboCar has been following, nine made it to the semi-final round, but just four – Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, MIT and Oshkosh – have qualified for the final competition. With a $ 2-milion dollar first prize at stake, the teams scramble to prep their bots for the starting gate. After months of hands-on problem solving, the teams have to step back and let their robots do their thing - autonomously. But the course holds some surprises and even for the best of the best, trouble seems to lurk around every corner. The robocars take on 60 miles divided into three missions but to make it a fair contest, the route each car follows is a closely guarded secret until just before the race. At the end of the day, only six cars finish, but the top spot is determined by elapsed time, so the first car over the line may not be the winner. The episode ends with an awards ceremony as the check for $2-million is handed over to the fastest and safest team. It’s a day for the robotics history books.
I have watched RoboCars Episode 1 and it is a fantastic documentary of what was going on as teams prepared for the race. The movie producers have some amazing footage of the struggle to create driverless vehicles and presented it as an action packed adventure... well, you watch it and tell me what you think of it. I am proud that I and my team have been able to help the DARPA Urban Challenge and the other teams to get to where they are today. I am involved in the race to help the DoD get the guidance system they need, no matter where it comes from, and for what I can learn about robotics, automatic guided vehicles, and as it turns out, a heck of a lot about US Army cargo truck maintenance.
In my sailing days, one of the cadets was complaining at sea about having been assigned to a worn out, broken down, tramp steamer when one of the old timers there pointed out that he would learn more taking an old ship apart and fixing it than he would watching a new one run that didn't need to be worked on. Of course the old timer was right. When the cadet got back to school and compared notes with his classmates who had been on newer ships, they couldn't believe all the things he had been allowed to open up and work on. The 54 year old US Army M-215 that we are working with here at AIM is definitely an old ship. It runs, lots of things wrong with it but all fixable. You are not going to hurt it by opening it up and working on it. It also represents a different design philosophy from a different era that we can learn a lot from. It was made of corrosion resistant steel because it was supposed to last a long time, and it has. It is modular in construction so that any part or any section of it can be replaced. Parts are still available at reasonable prices. Compare that to today's design philosophy, is there anything we might want to barrow from the past?
DEFENSE SPECIAL PROJECTS AWARD
At the end of this past Friday Night's work session, long standing AIM Team member Linda Graham was presented with an antique US Marine Corps sword in recognition of her volunteer work in the areas of fundraising, recruiting, transportation of volunteers, and operation of the AIM Team's technical library. Like most everything else here we are working with, an old sword with a long history was chosen as the award. The award is to recognize the fact that Linda's work here at AIM is an important part of defending the United States of America against its enemies and that it is a never ending task, passed from one generation to the next, much like the antique sword has been. Appropriately enough, this particular sword was donated cracked and broken. It was repaired by AIM Team supporters for this presentation. Linda joined the AIM Team as a positive way of responding to the attacks of 9/11/2001. What drives her is her concern about whether she is doing enough; as a result she has accomplished a great many things and has been a driving force here at AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL MAGIC's Defense Special Projects.
AGV WENDY DARLING
About $300 damage (parts cost) was done to the brake on wheel #3 when a stud backed out and made the trip around inside the wheel bending and breaking all the brake parts of that wheel. I ordered the parts today to replace the entire wheel brake on wheel #3. Amazingly, the hardened steel wheel stud that did this was not damaged. I will probably have to torch off the budd nut that is still holding the dual wheels together and is no longer attached to a wheel stud ... I am still considering my options. As part of the latest brake inspection, it was noted that the brakes on wheel #4 are on upside down, they were that way apparently when we got the truck. That puts the bleeders for the hydraulic brake cylinders on the bottom of both cylinders instead of on the top. The solution of course, is to take that wheel brake off and put it on right side up. That task is expected to take most of one evening's work session. Next time the brake system is opened up will be the best time to do this maintenance action.
I took the truck out for a 5.3 mile run this evening to exercise it. The plan is to take it out each evening for a run to discover what surprises it may have in store for us and to test whatever has been added or modified that day. The new fan belt is working fine and holding the water temperature at a steady 160oF. The weatherproof color cameras have sharp clear pictures. Eventually we may move them into the cab so that they are behind the windshield wipers to improve the all weather capability of AGV WENDY DARLING.
An X-Prize video archive is available, take a break and watch a short movie or a few .
ELECTRIC STEERING
The most reliable way to connect a motor to what it operates is through a metal gear drive and yesterday here at AIM we found that we have the parts to build up two gear sets from a box of parts that was donated some time ago. Our first gear driven electric steering system is being installed on one of our test vehicles today and should be finished tomorrow. In the past we have used #50 roller chain and sprockets which are a bit more forgiving than gears are, so we are moving up in sophistication. On the way to the AIM shop from my day job I picked up a DPDT (on)-off-(on) switch and discovered that the brackets in the switch description indicate that the "on" positions are momentary. Many of the places I shop for switches the switches are blister packed and breaking this bit of code today will help me understand what is available "on the shelf" without opening all the packages. Sales clerks now a days are unfamiliar with the products they sell and leave it up to the customer to know what they are buying.
GO ROBOTS !
Paul F. Grayson - Chief Engineer
AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL MAGIC, LLC
Racing to build technology that saves lives.
390 4-Mile Rd. S.
Traverse City, MI 49686-8411
(231) 946-0187, (231) 883-4463 Cell
pgrayson@aimagic.org
AIM: http://aimagic.org
Robot Club: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/robotcluboftraversecitymi/
CE Magazine: http://www.controleng.com/blog/1180000318.html
pfg:s,l,tt,
Posted by Paul Grayson on July 21, 2008 | Comments (0)
Industries: Machine Control
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