Trash-Bot

[John Nagle]

I'm thinking of making a trash can/bag transporter robot, something for
residential use, where trash is picked up once a week by the curb. This
device would be a low flat container that would hold garbage bags and
cans. When trash day comes, the robot would open a gate (gate has
electrical power opener), then drive itself down the driveway to the
curb. The trash gets picked up, and then the robot returns to its
primary duty station, where it's connected to a recharger.

Any suggestions?

Patriot P130 platform automatically guided vehicle.

http://www.coreconagvs.com/platform/sgv.html

Probably too expensive and too heavy duty, but check the used market.
Anyway, that's basically what you need to do the job.

Here's a smaller variant on that theme:

http://www.robosoft.fr/SERVICE/10_Order/01Cerp/Cerp.html

This is a smaller AGV for use in warehouse order-picking.

John Nagle

 

[Rich Grise]

The can problem could be eliminated if we use bags, which require no
returning elements. In fact, if bags alone are the cargo, a dump cart
wouldn't be hard to make. In that arrangement, the bot wouldn't have to
wait at the curb because the bot is only delivering, that is, driving
to the Curb, dumping, and then returning Home.

They don't do this because the trucks are outfitted with a big "robotic"
grasper that literally picks the "can" up and dumps it into the truck.
And sets it back down, ostensibly in the same place where it picked it
up from. (at least here in So. Cal, and probably lots of other places.)
Designing/building/implementing something like that that could handle
as unpredictable of a load as bags would be prohibitively expensive.

But building a little motorized cart that could carry the can to the
curb should be almost trivially easy - just have it follow a wire, or
for that matter, a slot! If you get snow, then a snow-blower attachment
could be an add-on. ;-) But seriously, this is sounding increasingly
simple - a low-profile 4-wheel dolly, with a large wheelbase (for
stability), and a reversible motor, like a wheelchair. The technology has
been in place for decades, there just hasn't been the volume to get the
price down to pennies yet.

And to keep anybody from stealing it, tether it.

Good Luck!
Rich

 

[Rich The Philosophizer]

No, you bigoted euro-id10t. A lot of overweight people had medical
problems first. This limits their physical activity. If you simply
reduce the calories in the diet, your body thinks you are starving and
will digest muscle tissue instead of fat. I had high blood pressure and
circulation problems long before I put on any extra weight. I eat as
little as I can, and walk as much as i can, but I still have a weight
problem. If I eat any less than my prescribed diet I get quite ill and
spend a lot of time in bed because I can no longer walk. Read a little
about the problem instead of damming an entire nation.

What you need is therapy to release your self-hatred, just like Jim T.

Good Luck!
Rich

for further information, please visit http://www.godchannel.com

 

[Rich Grise]

Power
Everything is operated on a 12 Volt DC system provided by a standard
car battery. Recharging is via an inductive coupling at Home.

Well, however you do it, don't use a "car" battery. They're optimized
for "cold cranking amps", but not for deep discharge. Use wheelchair
batteries, golf cart batteries, trailer batteries, boat batteries, any
kind of "deep cycle" battery, but _don't_ use a car battery.

I'm curious - is this a one-off for home use, or are you talking about
fielding an actual product for market?

Good Luck!
Rich

 

[Nehmo]

don't use a "car" battery. They're optimized

for "cold cranking amps", but not for deep discharge. Use wheelchair
batteries, golf cart batteries, trailer batteries, boat batteries, any
kind of "deep cycle" battery, but _don't_ use a car battery.

You are correct in that a deep-cycle battery is preferable to a "car"
battery, which are optimized for the quick discharge.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question219.htm . But the demands are low
in this situation, so the choice isn't critical. A cheaper 12 V
lead-acid battery of almost any type would do.

I chose 12 V because there are plenty of really-available components
that work at that voltage.

I'm curious - is this a one-off for home use, or are you talking about
fielding an actual product for market?

I basically want to make a working thing, and I'm in the design &
engineering phase. I can assess market potential after I have a working
prototype. I'm not concentrating on that now. For now, I'm working with
the concept that this is a one-off project.

 

[Brent S.]

So why is obesity so particularly evident in the USA ?

It's not. This is a myth created by the CDC. Not an intentional myth, but
an overhyping of research data which were found to be faulty. Using the CDC
criterion Will Smith fit into the Obese category. An overzealous press
trumpeted the story for a couple of months, and when the story became old
the mistake was uncovered, only by then nobody was interested and the press
didn't want to lose face.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,113975,00.html (yes, I know not
everyone likes Fox news, but the facts are right about the CDC)

The U.S. media will point out any problem in the U.S. first, and this
information is broadcast all over the world. CNN, Fox, etc. will tell you
about the health of U.S. citizens, but they will only infrequently tell you
of similar trends in Europe or anywhere else.
Not too many months back it was in the UK and European press that weight
gain was as much, if not moreso, a problem in Europe than the U.S. I know
because I visit every year.
Two trends:
1. The world as a whole is now richer than it ever has been.
People are able to spend more money on anything including food. Snack foods
and treats were rare when I was young, and just weren't as available as they
are now.
2. People are living longer due to new medical and drug treatments.
The CDC and the WHO along with researchers the world over conquer problem
after problem, until the #1 impediment to good health is now seen(or at
least was for a couple of months) as bad diet and lack of
excersize(spellcheck?). This is only the next domino to knock down, and so
it gets the press. I wonder what the #1 cause of death will be when the
average lifespan is 85?

Now, don't believe everything you read, and don't throw around the latest
disinformation in a defamitory way just because you can't bother to look up
the facts.

Brent S.

 

[Rich Grise]

You are correct in that a deep-cycle battery is preferable to a "car"
battery, which are optimized for the quick discharge.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question219.htm . But the demands are low
in this situation, so the choice isn't critical. A cheaper 12 V
lead-acid battery of almost any type would do.

I chose 12 V because there are plenty of really-available components
that work at that voltage.


I basically want to make a working thing, and I'm in the design &
engineering phase. I can assess market potential after I have a working
prototype. I'm not concentrating on that now. For now, I'm working with
the concept that this is a one-off project.

If you've got the bucks, just use a wheelchair undercarriage. Figure out
how to interface an ordinary RC controller box, and you're done. ;-)

Good Luck!
Rich

 

[Dean Burell]

Does the bot need to be free standing? Can you put it on a track? If you
are using the guide wire method you would wind up digging some kind of
channel to bury it anyway. Another thought is to think of a similar
methodology as a cable car, rather than mounting the locomotion onto the
bot, mount it at the bots 'station'.

just a thought... material movement machinery has been around a long time,
perhaps looking through a company that sells this type of equipment may
spark some ideas...

 

[Jim Thompson]

[snip]

I wonder what the #1 cause of death will be when the
average lifespan is 85? [snip]
Brent S.

Old age ?

My father is 87 and I see signs that his body is simply wearing out
:-(

...Jim Thompson

 

[Nehmo]

Dean Burell -

Does the bot need to be free standing? Can you put it on a track? If you
are using the guide wire method you would wind up digging some kind of
channel to bury it anyway. Another thought is to think of a similar
methodology as a cable car, rather than mounting the locomotion onto the
bot, mount it at the bots 'station'.

Nehmo -
A track would be fine; no steering would be necessary. But tracks are
expensive and require installation. This bot should work in the common
situation of a driveway leading the curb. The current state of
technology is advanced enough so that the navigation can be provided by
small a video camera, a computer, a steering servo, and some software.

For this first one, I'm pretty much settled on the chassis being built
from the Harbor Freight cart
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=38137

I don't know how to accomplish the steering and navigation yet.