Author Topic: Robots that do work (Read 6970 times)

mic275620 · « **on:** May 26, 2008, 05:55:08 PM »

Do any of you build robots that make life easier? Examples would be robots that pick up dirty clothes around the house or water your house plants.

Steve Joblin · « **Reply #1 on:** May 26, 2008, 06:47:44 PM »

Yep sure do! I have one that vacuums my floors (even when I am not around!)... It's called a Roomba.

airman00 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 26, 2008, 07:17:06 PM »

got a robot that tells me the time ,weather ,and new email alerts all by voice command
and pours me drinks

JesseWelling · « **Reply #3 on:** May 27, 2008, 01:08:26 AM »

Some may not consider it a 'robot' but I work on parts of Autotrac and other things(which I can't talk about) at John Deere.

SixRingz · « **Reply #4 on:** May 27, 2008, 06:00:52 AM »

Vacuum cleaning robot is on its way. Also thinking about how to make a T-shirt folder since I hate doing that after laundry...

Robots seem to love even the most boring tasks if programmed and designed right.

izaktj · « **Reply #5 on:** May 27, 2008, 04:33:06 PM »

Now I have another project in my waiting list d=
A vacuum cleaning robot with it's own battery charging station and automatic charge

paulstreats · « **Reply #6 on:** May 27, 2008, 05:34:14 PM »

Quote

Some may not consider it a 'robot' but I work on parts of Autotrac and other things(which I can't talk about) at John Deere.

I watched a documentary on the john deere factory not long ago, it was most interesting.

I particularly liked the robotic paint spraying arms, they seemed to move very fluidly. My fiance thought they moved too well to be robotic she said it was spooky!

JesseWelling · « **Reply #7 on:** May 27, 2008, 08:47:01 PM »

Yea I've been to the factory, all the Union workers there like to put a 'tail' on you, which entails hooking some kind of wire to your back belt loop. I've heard they are quite good at it but I've never been tailed. They really like to raz the engineers.

Autotrac is an add on product that steers a Tractor by GPS and preprogrammed paths. It's like Autopilot for farmers.

I only work on the steering part of ITEC Pro.
Here is a promo (don't mind the dude flipping you off, he's British):
[youtube]k8EBac7ewDQ[/youtube]

SixRingz · « **Reply #8 on:** May 28, 2008, 05:57:38 AM »

I love the part about ITEC allowing the farmer to focus on quality work... The guy is drinking coffee in his seat!

You got a cool job Jesse! Tractors and robotics/mechatronics is a sweet combination.

awally88 · « **Reply #9 on:** May 28, 2008, 06:01:01 PM »

I knew some people from home who actually crashed one of these because they set something up wrong and fell asleep! Their boss wasn't happy at all!

Roberto · « **Reply #10 on:** May 28, 2008, 08:49:01 PM »

Mine robot cleans toilets. Just don't be around him with a bright white shirt....

airman00 · « **Reply #11 on:** May 29, 2008, 03:36:53 PM »

Quote from: Roberto on May 28, 2008, 08:49:01 PM

Mine robot cleans toilets. Just don't be around him with a bright white shirt....

im not sure if you are joking or not

benji · « **Reply #12 on:** May 29, 2008, 03:40:02 PM »

Quote

Mine robot cleans toilets

that one unlucky robot

Kohanbash · « **Reply #13 on:** May 29, 2008, 03:58:25 PM »

I was working with cars that drive by themselves.
http://www.tartanracing.org/

JesseWelling · « **Reply #14 on:** May 29, 2008, 08:51:57 PM »

geh... CAT?! Thou art my mortal enemy!

Just kidding,

A little OT but, I just bought Sebastian Thrun's book Probabilistic Robotics. He was on the Stanford Team, but I was wondering if you have read his book (or studied any of his papers) and what you think about his ideas.

emmannuel · « **Reply #15 on:** May 30, 2008, 04:39:46 AM »

Mine does a good job sucking up my time while I build it

Kohanbash · « **Reply #16 on:** May 31, 2008, 10:59:44 PM »

Hi
I have never used that book, However he has a good introduction to robotic motion book and I have read many of his papers.
I like his ideas and he has definitely done good work.

Admin · « **Reply #17 on:** June 08, 2008, 12:33:29 PM »

Jesse, so wait . . . a driver is still required at all times? I understand is for legal liability reasons . . . but I'm trying to find the cost savings here . . .

I went to a talk about ~4 years ago at CMU where they talked about collision detection and personnel avoidance on the John Deere 'robots' . . . I'm guessing it still doesn't work well enough?

paulstreats · « **Reply #18 on:** June 08, 2008, 05:11:35 PM »

My fiance's father actually has a john deere combine which is apparently great because it means less work load (he still has a hard job before and after harvesting).

The trouble is that a human operator is always needed at the current level of technology because say a rock breaks a blade or something, then the harvester has no way of sensing it.... There are I imagine many more situations that can occur like this or otherwise but its easy to think to just go around an obstacle but its the definition of that obstacle, yeah they can go areound big things (probably) but there are a lot more problems that can occur just doing the routine cutting and seperating job.

Its situation dependant, I'm sure that your research on the robot fish has pointed out situation dependant obstacles, that arent easily or cost effectively overcome by technology

Admin · « **Reply #19 on:** June 08, 2008, 07:30:36 PM »

Quote

The trouble is that a human operator is always needed at the current level of technology because say a rock breaks a blade or something, then the harvester has no way of sensing it.... There are I imagine many more situations that can occur like this or otherwise but its easy to think to just go around an obstacle but its the definition of that obstacle, yeah they can go areound big things (probably) but there are a lot more problems that can occur just doing the routine cutting and seperating job.

You're preaching to the choir here

Coverage is a solved problem in robotics, and so is obstacle avoidance . . . but I assume the major problem is identifying people/rocks from the stuff in the field . . . thats what they said ~4 years ago . . .

JesseWelling · « **Reply #20 on:** July 06, 2008, 09:01:11 AM »

Quote from: Admin on June 08, 2008, 12:33:29 PM

but I'm trying to find the cost savings here . . .

The cost savings is in the repeatable accuracy with minimal effort on the part of the farmer. Driving in exactly straight rows for hours at a time isn't easy and it's taxing on one's mental state. My father used to run a corporate farm in Colorado, and man he got grumpy because in haying season he was about the only one who run the harvester, no one else could drive it well enough and fast enough to get the job done, but he ended up working 20 hour days for about a week. If he had AutoTrac back then, Almost any one could have run it. If you factor in the time saved by avoiding his mistakes caused by sleep deprivation, and the collateral damage itself, and it would indeed save money. But there is also the added bonus of very little overlap. Imagine paying $X per gallon of fertilizer, but wasting 5% on every pass for dependable coverage. With AutoTrac you can drop that to 1%, and on a big operation with expensive chemicals those savings can also stack up quickly.

Also, just compare it to cruise control, I mean why do we need that if the driver still has to be in the seat? It is a creature comfort.

There are a bunch of things in the works to essentially make the farmer a force multiplier, but if I told you I'd have to kill you

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Author Topic: Robots that do work (Read 6970 times)

paulstreats

paulstreats