Attoparsec: Kalamazoo road test #1

[gfish]

Attoparsec blog update including the following video of the first Kalamazoo road test. (It didn't go very well.)

Comments

[mcfnord.livejournal.com]

SO CLOSE

[keystricken.livejournal.com]

You can do it! I BELIEVE in you.

[neuro42.livejournal.com]

seems like it ought to be easy to weld tillers onto the caster frames...

[dymaxion.livejournal.com]

Huh, interesting, I didn't realize you were using such small wheels. Do you think you'll have problems if you hit dust ditches with your front casters?

[gfish.livejournal.com]

It's a concern. You just can't get larger pneumatic casters, though, without paying multiple hundreds of dollars each. And after looking into the problem a bit closer, I decided making my own out of bike wheels wasn't worth it. Of course, now that I'm switching to normal steering, those issues don't apply. I don't think I have time to redo the drive wheel brackets to accommodate larger wheels, though. =\

[gfish.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem. I have a design mostly worked out in my head, with a big control lever and cables. I might even get fancy and make it real Ackermann steering. Having to spare a hand for the lever worries me, though.

[gfish.livejournal.com]

Aw. :)

This just made me think of you. (http://graphjam.com/2010/08/09/funny-graphs-just-as-complex-as-human-needs/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+graphjam+(GraphJam:+Pop+culture+for+people+in+cubicles.))

[neuro42.livejournal.com]

GripShift style control for the steering cable? You'd need a lot of leverage, but...

[gfish.livejournal.com]

I thought about it, or just using the already-mounted brake levers. But they have such little travel, I'd have to sacrifice all that mechanical advantage on the other end with a multiplier. I think a big dumb lever is the best way to go here, given the constraints.

[keystricken.livejournal.com]

I love how vacuuming the living room is a distinct and crucial stage of robot development. When humanity lays in ruins on a scarred and blackened planet, iRobot Corp will have a lot to answer for.