I found these guys on Youtube. They have very simple, clever, and quality garage devices for sale that they designed. Most of them deal with handy or innovative ways to sand work pieces.
A video series on how to use an ornamental mill to create a hollow spiral in a piece of wood. Really ingenious, you'd think it would have been impossible. You basically drill down with a side cutting bit, then move the bit down the piece while rotating it at the same time. Then repeat to cut away the wood on each side of the spiral. Gears keep everything synchronized.
Nothing too special, but interesting how it uses a camera and an algorithm software to plan its shots. I really like the navigation around the table; it's just a simple process based on saved waypoints, probably the corners of the table and a couple of points on the edges where the robot could stop. It's also cool that humans can use the algorithm software too.
Now that it's summer I'll be much less busy and I hope to post much more, so be expecting that :)
I've got a new label/tag for updates if you're interested.
And as a preview to how much I have, here's just ONE of my favorites folders for all the links I want to share.
Notice the scroll bar; I've got more!
This is a unique stair climber by Taylor Veltrop, who apparently is known more for his humanoid robots. It has 6 wheels on various complex linkages on its body. It can climb over more than just stairs. When it climbs over obstacles, it looks similar to a jointed tank tread. So why not just use treads themselves or more simply linked wheels?
I think the purpose behind this design is to shift the position of the climber's various parts so that it:
a) more efficiently shifts its weight so it doesn't tip over and
b) doesn't collide interfering parts with the obstacle; i.e., only the wheels should be touching the obstacle, not for example the beams in between the wheels, which cause friction and don't always provide any force for movement.
Some very interesting science videos and pictures. These are from the 2010 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge and are Wired's top 10 picks. My favorite is the colliding galaxies video.
This webpage has pictures and explanations of many kinematic mechanisms and models. They seem to be from collections from various sources. Very good brainstorming resource.
