A GUIDE TO YOUR NEW JUMPING ROBOTIC TIGER

Transcription

1 A GUIDE TO YOUR NEW JUMPING ROBOTIC TIGER CREATED BY: TREVOR CRANDELL ANDREW PACE PHILE BROWN SEAN MOSIER JEFF MANICONE

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Unpacking and Setup of the Tiger.3 Operation via LabView....4 Operation via Arduino.. 5 Muscle Construction/Repair...6 Reference Pictures... 8 Page 2

3 1. Unpacking and Setup of the Tiger 1.1 Initial Check It is important to inspect the tiger visually to make sure nothing obvious is broken or loose. Check the fittings of all the muscles. Look over the tubing clamps on the muscles to make sure they are as tight as possible. Make sure all blue tubing is connected fully to their respective brass barb fittings. Zip ties holding the manifolds on need to be secured. If manifold is loose, attach more zip ties. Check springs on front legs to make sure they are connected. If they are not, tie them onto leg locations that hold the front legs extended. Look over all the connections to legs. If connections are broke, reconnect the legs so that they match the other back leg. Make sure all l fasteners on 80/20 frame are tightened down so that the frame for the body is straight. 1.2 Check List Prior to Each Firing It is not a bad idea to check all the items listed in 1.1 Initial Check section before firing. However, the items listed below are crucial to check before each firing of the tiger s muscles. Adjust ramp to be on the lowest angle. Place cinder block (or similar weight) on back of ramp. Make sure tiger is standing on all four legs and is balanced with hind legs on the ramp. Feet should be up against stop. Aim side of the tanks with air hoses coming out towards the direction that the tiger will be jumping. Roll the stand with the tanks close to the tiger so that the air hoses from the tank to the tiger will not impede its jump. Check pneumatic actuator/ ball valve to make sure ball valves are completely closed. This assembly is located at the end of the manifold to which all the blue air tubes connect. Page 3

4 2. Operation via LabView 2.1 LabView Specific Use There are certain setup steps that are specific to the use of the tiger with LabView software. Make sure t-connector plugs are installed. Boot up LabView program named SEAN_FINAL.vi located on the desktop computer connected to hand control. In the program there is reference to a Manifold 1 and Manifold 2. These refer to the bottom and top manifolds on the tiger robot respectively. Manifold 1 ONLY button in LabView will fire the Valve 0 solenoid in the solenoid bank on the rolling desk. Manifold 2 ONLY button in LabView will fire the Valve 1 solenoid in the solenoid bank on the rolling desk. Hook tubing from solenoid bank up to respective manifolds via the pneumatic actuators that allow air flow through the manifold. Disconnect wall air tube from solenoid bank and use it to fill the tanks to 60psi. Reconnect the wall air tube to the solenoid bank and move away from the front of the tiger. Set the delay in the LabView program to 100ms (or whatever you want). Press BOTH MANIFOLDS to fire the muscles. 2.2 Reset The tiger robot will need to be reset after each jump. After all muscles have fired, open valves on tank to release all the air in the tanks and muscles. Pick tiger up and place onto ramp as described in 1.2 Check List Prior to Each Firing. Press BOTH MANIFOLDS in LabView to release pressure from pneumatic actuators and allow them to close. Return to 1.2 Check List Prior to Each Firing and repeat. Page 4

5 3. Operation via Arduino 3.1 Arduino Specific Use There are certain setup steps that are specific to the use of the tiger with Arduino software. Make sure t-connector plugs are not installed. Plug the solenoid labeled 2 into the top manifold. Plug the solenoid labeled 1 into the bottom manifold. Connect the small blue tubing from the t-connector on the tank to the solenoids. It doesn t matter which solenoid is connected to which tank. Use wall air to fill up tanks to 60psi. To fire tiger muscles, press the reset button on the arduino board and back up. The arduino will have a 5 second wait and then the muscles will fire. 3.2 Reset The tiger robot will need to be reset after each jump. Pick tiger up and place onto ramp as described in 1.2 Check List Prior to Each Firing. Return to 1.2 Check List Prior to Each Firing and repeat. Page 5

6 4. Muscle Construction/Repair 4.1 Construction of Muscles The muscles detailed below have been developed to have higher displacements and quicker fill times then previous muscles that have been developed. Materials required: o 6 length of 3/8 internal diameter tubing with 1/8 wall thickness. Refer to parts list for specifics of tubing. o About 8 of Orange mesh to cover the tubing. This needs to be mesh that loosely slides over the 3/8. Refer to parts list for specifics of mesh. o Smaller mesh to work as loop connectors o Two fittings for the end of the tubing. o A plug for one end of the tubing. o A fitting for the blue tubing. o Hose clamps. o Teflon tape Cut the tube and mesh to length. Teflon tape all threaded connections (plug and male barbed fitting). Insert one of the barbs into the tube and then slide mesh on over non-fitting end. Put hose clamp on side of tubing with the barbed fitting already installed. Slide on of the mesh lengths being used for connector loops down through the hose clamp. Tighten the hose clamp as tight as possible to hold down the connector loop ends, the mesh onto the tube, and the tube onto the barbed brass fitting. Place other hose clamp over the muscle. Place barbed fitting into tube. Contract the mesh that is covering the tubing until it bulges out a little in the middle. You can use the already constructed muscles as a reference for how much the mesh should bulge out. Bring an at rest state and observe the looseness of the outside mesh. Line the loop connector ends, hose clamp and tube on the brass barbed fitting and tighten the hose clamp as tight as possible. Now you have a new powerful muscle! Page 6

7 4.2 Muscle Repair Generally the only muscle repair that can be made is to the loop connectors at the ends of the muscles if they pull out. If a loop does pull out, you can attempt to loosen the hose clamp around the muscle and slide a new loops connector into it in the fashion that is described in the section 4.1 Construction of Muscles. If this operation doesn t work, or another part of the muscle fails, it is best to reconstruct a muscle from scratch and replace it on the tiger robot or wherever it is being used. Page 7

8 5. Reference Pictures Figure 1: Tube materials. This picture shows tubing, mesh, brass barb fittings, plug for one fitting, and loop connectors. Figure 2: Shows the front leg. This leg is in a position that it should be during standing. Spring connection points are shown. Leg is extended. Page 8

9 Figure 3: The t-connector on the tank is shown. On this t-connector you can see the t-connector plug and the wall air tube connected to the inlet valve. Figure 4: This is the proper setup for use of the tiger robot with the Arduino board. Page 9

10 Figure 5: This shows the connection between the pneumatic actuator and the solenoid bank. In the case where the Arduino is used this would show the pneumatic actuator connected to a control solenoid on board. Figure 6: Picture of the ball valve/pneumatic actuator assembly. Page 10

11 Figure 7: Picture showing the Arduino setup. The number 2 solenoid is connected to the top manifold via the pneumatic actuator. Figure 8: Picture showing the Arduino setup. The number 1 solenoid is connected to the bottom manifold via the pneumatic actuator. Page 11

12 Figure 9: The rolling desk and desktop computer to control the hand are shown in this picture. The component with the wall air hose connected is the solenoid bank used while operating the tiger via. LabView. Figure 10: The labeling of the valves on the solenoid bank is apparent in this picture. Following the tubing leaving here will allow for proper setup of the LabView operation scenario. Page 12

13 Figure 11: Entire solenoid bank. Located on rolling desk. Used to operate legacy project. Figure 12: Small blue tubing mentioned in 3.1 Arduino Specific Use. Page 13

14 Figure 13: This is how the hind legs and "feet" should sit when set on the ramp. This picture also shows the proper angle of the ramp. Figure 14: Proper stance for tiger before launch Page 14

15 Figure 15: Tiger in its storage mode Page 15