Subject:
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Re: TGBC - The Weakest Link?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Mon, 10 Jan 2005 02:55:50 GMT
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Viewed:
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5737 times
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> In lugnet.robotics, Mark Bellis wrote:
> > A module with 2 input faces would probably be a hopper with 2 chutes entering
> > it. The greatest problem I've had with ball contraptions is balls clogging in
> > the hopper - sometimes you need an agitator like they use in factories.
>
> Any operation involving a long sequence of events as in The Great Ball
> Contraption (TGBC) is likely to be fouled up by failure of one of the events in
> the chain - the so called weakest link.
>
> Is there allowance for the fact that one of the modules may act up and not
> deliver the requisite balls for the next module to act on?
Not really. :)
However, we're not expecting the GBC to run 100% of the time. It's not like letting
a train run in a circle for eight hours. There are all kinds of things going on at
the same time. In our testing, we seemed to run for about 20 minutes at a time,
before someone would say, "Stop..."
Then, we'd shut down the contraption, pick-up loose balls, check weak spots, and
power it up, again.
Generally, if one module doesn't work, we'll just take it out, slide the other
modules together, and start going again. Given that there are no "special" modules
(beyond the first and last modules) any other module can be placed in any location.
> Each module must at minimum be able to sense that there are indeed balls in the
> input bin before acting on them and that there are balls in the output bin for
> the next module to do its stuff.
I'd kind of like to see a module that won't "work" if it's empty. :)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: TGBC - The Weakest Link?
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| (...) Any operation involving a long sequence of events as in The Great Ball Contraption (TGBC) is likely to be fouled up by failure of one of the events in the chain - the so called weakest link. Is there allowance for the fact that one of the (...) (20 years ago, 9-Jan-05, to lugnet.robotics)
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