Subject:
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RE: Tilt
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Wed, 1 Dec 1999 14:24:15 GMT
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Original-From:
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Jim West <jim@jameswest.*AntiSpam*com>
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Viewed:
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408 times
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At 09:08 AM 12/01/1999 -0500, Steve Hassenplug wrote:
> Another solution for detecting tilt would be the kind of tilt device used in
> old pinball machines (I don't know if it's still used). I'm not sure how to
> explain it, but I can give you a similar example:
As one who collects pinball machines (I have 10 now), you are refering
to a plumb-bob tilt mechanism that is in use on the newer pins.
> Hold a pencil at the end between your index finger and thumb, so the pencil
> hangs down (and can swing a bit). Now take your other hand and make a
> circle with your index finger and thumb. Hold this around the pencil near
> the bottom. If your hands were connected together, you could detect when
> they 'tilted' by detecting when the pencil touches your bottom hand.
>
> If you turn the pencil into a metal rod, and your bottom hand into a metal
> ring, and attach wires to both, you have a simple switch to detect tilt
> (with some other hardware connecting the two).
Right. There is a metal rod to which the plumb-bob is attached (a solid
metal cone shaped item) and a metal ring. You can adjust the height of the
plumb-bob with relation to the ring to change the sensitivity of the
"tilt". BTW, the plumb-bob is inverted, i.e. the point sticks down. The
lower the plumb-bob the less gap between the ring and the plumb-bob and
thus more sensitive to tilt.
> This would eliminate the need to use some pesky toxic chemical, and should
> be fairly easy to implement using mostly lego parts.
>
> If you want, the pendulum could be replaced with one that moves on a single
> plane and pushes a touch switch when it tilts (one switch for each direction
> you want to detect)
>
> I hope this makes sense.
On the pins from the 80's the tilt device was a pinball on a track
mounted to the side of the cabinet. This track was mounted at an angle so
that the steel ball would sit at one end. At the other end of this track
is a "roll over" switch. If the pin was either shoved too hard or lifted
up from the front the ball would roll to the other end of this track, roll
over the switch and BAM!, you'd get a tilt.
I would think that this approach would actually work a bit better. Use
a marble that is heavy enough to engage a touch sensor and build a track
that the marble/steel ball can ride in/on with the touch sensor at the
other end.
The real problem with the plumb-bob tilt (from my experience with my
pins) is that too much jostling (sp) would cause the plumb-bob to hit the ring.
If the pendulum one moved in a single plane, you'd want to make sure
that the movement of the bot wouldn't cause an "erroneous" tilt.
> </steve>
Jim West
NIC Team Lead
NIC Oracle Developer and DBA in Training
NIC Chief Cook and Bottle Washer
MCI Worldcom
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Tilt
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| (...) "Newer"? I've got a pinball machine from 1972 that uses both the plumb bob and the ball on track methods to detect tilt. --- Chris Osborn FozzTexx Enterprises 707 226 7629 - Voice 2136 Coronado Ave. 707 581 1797 - Fax Napa, CA 94559 (...) (25 years ago, 1-Dec-99, to lugnet.robotics)
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