Subject:
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Re: Train1 Reversing loop
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto
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Date:
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Wed, 25 Apr 2001 21:58:06 GMT
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Viewed:
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461 times
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"Jeff Elliott" <jeffe@telepres.com> wrote in message
news:3AE6D6DC.8E774CA9@telepres.com...
> Finally, can anyone think of a satifactory way to detect when a
> hopper car is full? Here are my criteria for 'satisfaction':
>
> 1) I wish to fill a Lego train hopper car with small parts until
> full +- a small margin; ie: somewhere between heaping full and
> just-short-of-full
>
> 2) The conveyor/elevator doesn't exactly feed at a constant rate;
> it depends on how full the feed bin is.
>
> 3) I want something relatively non-invasive; it'd be nice if the
> diorama of the hopper car & elevator was not enveloped by wires
> and gleaming LEDs.
>
> 4) I'd really like to be able to do this automatically; ie: using
> one or more RCXes.
An eas(ier?)y way would be to place your scale/measuring equipement in the
tower before it ever gets near the car. Then dump that container of
pre-measured material into a chute (or onto another conveyor) that loads the
hopper.
> What I'm looking for are useful simplifying assumptions or mechanisms
> from realistic robot-builders: I *know* how hard this is going to
> be to make work consistently, but it would be very cool to pull off.
Ahh, reliability. The thorn-in-the-butt of anyone trying to automate
something. :)
(Example: We have a plastics show next week and I'm heavily involved with
the automated cell we're demonstrating (design/programming). I had the cell
running Monday for 3-4 minutes before failure. Tuesday it was 15 minutes.
Tuesday night it was 45 minutes. Today it ran reliably for 2 and a half
hours - and since we're operating on 9-hour days at the show, we packed and
shipped it figuring everything is. I still have my fingers crossed. It
should be good though! I'm so pumped, I get to work the booth and brag about
our robots to customers! :) )
> Of course, if someone has an idea of how to lay it out so that I
> can fill more than one hopper car, etc, I'd love to hear about it :)
This should be great! If you're already planing on separating your train
from engine, you could provide an indexing drive to roll the train a preset
amount. This can be as simple as a rotating tyre against a sideplate on the
train of cars, or coul be as elaborate as a locating pin which shoots up
from below after identifying the gap between cars, if your track is sloped,
that is. When the trainset is done (preset number of cars), your engine can
come down like you suggested before and couple/haul away the train!
This is a very exciting project, Jeff!
Iain
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Train1 Reversing loop
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| Hi folks, I thought I'd mention that in my chunk of the train1 layout I intend to provide a reversing loop (If S@H delivers my points fast enough) The basic idea here is that with the reversing loop and a tiny amount of training about how to throw (...) (23 years ago, 25-Apr-01, to lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto)
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