Lego FlexPicker

[burf2000]

This is wicked, so this only uses 3 motors in total for the movement, I would love to know how to build the movement part

[MisterFitzGibbon]

Great project. Could I ask about the design of your compressor? Using only lego parts I cannot seem to maintain a constant, high pressure.

[youtship]

Great design!

And you must have spent a great deal of effort building it eventho you've got the idea already!

Was the hammer noise really from NXT servo's?

Mine servo's aren't that noisy.

[theonlyshep]

@youtship The "Thumps" are the blocks dropping into the bins and such. The loud motor that you hear occasionally is the large RC motor that I use to power the lego Air compressor.

[aznwilly211]

i'd do a much faster job than the machine if I did it myself, but then again you can work a machine 24/7 without it suing you

[denreaper]

@aznwilly211 Great job!

[djavlerokken]

TOTAL COOOOLL

[TheTechy2]

air compresser where why how i want one

[pjwithbread8]

wow, thats amazing, but i bet it was a bitch to make the arm motors work together properly in the program and mechanically!

[theonlyshep]

@pjwithbread8 Thanks! Believe it or not, after I created a function to control the speed and positioning of each of the motors, programming became very easy. But figuring out that function to lots of effort.

[eclipsez0r]

your flexipicker SUCKS abb one is soooo much better ;)

[SeanyPMac]

Really a great job. I'm very impressed you could get that good coordinated motion. I'll bet this was a very fun project. I would have like to seen more of the mechanical unit above.

[theonlyshep]

I do have some pictures and I have said for a long time that I am going to post them, but it just keeps slipping my mind. I need to get busy and put them up.

[ABBRobotics]

Shep this is now getting fantastic coverage on the blogs & Twitter. Respect.

[VernGraner]

Excellent Work! Kudos! :D

[MADJIHAD1942]

Nice design on that delta robot. You could do a similar thing with an X Y axis crane as well, but a delta looks cooler :).

[theonlyshep]

I wouldn't say that. Improvise your design. Scale it to what you want to do. Just because I did it big doesn't mean you can't do it at all. I really enjoyed this project and would recommend it highly. I have seen lots of Flexpicker/Delta robots that will fit in a persons hand. Go for it!

[theonlyshep]

The robot and the conveyors are mostly Technic/Mindstorms. The frame has a lot of Technic and just standard bricks. Most of the load bearing elements are the older studded Technic beams, while the moving elements are the new studless beams. There are pneumatic elements and PF motors in there too. It really uses just about everything Lego has made over several years. I use lots of large plates for support too.

[theonlyshep]

I really have no idea, but I would guess about 8,000 not including pins and connectors. I have been collecting Lego for 20 years and I still had to buy a few extra parts that I needed.

[recklessness1987]

Very nice, however i noticed the end effectuator makes "dipping" movements during horizontal displacement.

i'm guessing your controllers don't know how to cooperate and make the robot 'move' in a straight line.

The maths behind those equations is pretty tough, so i didn't expect to see that, especially not from lego NXT controllers.

The SiMotion drive units i work with have a pretty tough time doing those calculations allready.

Keep up the good stuff, nice work!

[budsiskos]

where did you get the conveyor belt?

[theonlyshep]

It's Bulldozer tread.

[tiki820]

¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ Uaaaauuuuuuuuuu  !!!!!!!!

¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ Oleeeeeee !!!!!!!!

Fantastic.

[theonlyshep]

Thanks!

[ABBRobotics]

Shep great to meet you in Auburn Hills last week & its even better when its working live. Well done. Great assembly.

[theonlyshep]

Thanks! I had a great time. I won't forget my time working with ABB.

[memogrr18]

i like your robot! i used to work with lego and i loved it! congratulations. how much did you take building and programing it?

[theonlyshep]

Thanks!

It took me a couple of months. I think I started about November. I spent about 10 hours or so programming it.

[thiagot5]

great! well done indeed

[grandtippler]

This is cool, well done.

[RoboticSolutions]

Superb,well done!

[koldo57]

Fantastic work,

[KrystianMajewski]

Something in mind mind just exploded at the sight of this robot. Amazing!

[NeXTSTORMING]

"In short, it is just another brick sorter" ...let me tell you that this is THE BRICK SHORTER! Accurate and very well designed mechanism. Great project! Congrats!

NeXTSTORM

[tiki820]

Espectacular, fantastic.