wheels

The wheel robot: intelligent modular actuator concept

July 14, 2016 by Sam Francis

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Wheel robots

The wheel robots are for the larger part derived from the Mars rovers, which have actuators integrated into the wheels to help with the movement on the rugged grounds in space. This is made possible with the help of 12 volt linear actuators.

There is some elemental aspects of robotics that are involved in the setup. For there to be synchronous movement on a ground that is not evenly leveled, there is need for each of the units to have its own local control unit.

The local control units are then connected to the central control unit to make sure that they all are moving in the same direction, despite the fact that the wheels they control are experiencing variance in travel and elevation. [Read more…] about The wheel robot: intelligent modular actuator concept

Kuka’s monstrous robotic vehicle manoeuvres gigantic Airbus components with ‘millimetre precision’

June 30, 2016 by David Edwards

Kuka claims its humungous robotic vehicle can move with utmost exactness as it manoeuvres massive aircraft components within small spaces at Airbus

Robot-maker Kuka is boasting about how precise its omniMove robotic vehicle has been during a job at Airbus where it was used to manoeuvre supersize aircraft components.

Airbus uses two powerful Kuka omniMove heavy-duty mobile transport vehicles for the construction of its A380 flagship in Hamburg.

With their Mecanum wheels, they are able to transport aircraft components weighing up to 90 tonnes with “millimeter precision” in confined spaces, claims Kuka. [Read more…] about Kuka’s monstrous robotic vehicle manoeuvres gigantic Airbus components with ‘millimetre precision’

Goodyear sketches out our spherical wheels idea after we mention it on this website

March 20, 2016 by David Edwards

we came up with the idea first — We came up with the idea first

Well, if you ever doubted this website’s ideas, you probably won’t any more, especially after we show you this.

Good ideas are hard to come by, and one gem of concept nonchalantly offered to readers of Robotics and Automation News was spherical wheels.

In an article about how German technologists are looking to develop wheels that operate independently, one of my colleagues suggested spherical wheels, like ball bearings, held to the car using magnets.

Maglev trains were not mentioned, but they don’t need to be, since it’s the first thing that comes to mind when you say magnets in such a context. Think of those giant maglev train networks in China – that’s exactly what the writer was thinking at the time.

We haven‘t looked into it much, not even googled it, but we believe our website could be the first to ever mention spherical wheels in a serious technology context.

Exhibit A: The spherical wheel idea was ours

Goodyear has just shown some designs for a spherical wheel, as reported on Dezeen.com. It only takes a few minutes to create images using computer software – on any application. It’s as easy as a gear shift manoeuvre.

But it takes a genuinely creative mind to achieve paradigm shifts, and come up with ideas that change the whole game. And we would obviously claim that maybe, just maybe, we came up with that idea first.

Or perhaps it was a coincidence. Who knows? Seriously. Who knows?