Cable-Driven Robots May Lift European Industry - Futuris

[@ephsonguakro4583]

Anyone knows the name of the simulation software being used??

[@TaHai87]

DirectX and Simulink

[@htomerif]

How does this possibly "multiply the available space by 10 compared to conventional robots"? Yeah, the end actuator is smaller, but the swept area by the cables is at least 2 orders of magnitude GREATER than conventional automation, not LESS. Lift capability is several orders of magnitude less and failure consequences are catastrophic. Whereas standard automation failure usually just results in stopped production, failure of any of these cables results in destruction of the actuator, the load and literally everything anywhere near any of the cables. As a perfect example, look at the Arecibo radio telescope collapse. When only one cable had failed, the entire structure was deemed too dangerous to even approach, which ended up being correct as the entire structure ended up obliterating itself. If Arecibo had been built from radio-transparent resin-fiber conventional tracked robotics, its failure would have been just a minor stop in functionality.

[@thomasr1051]

You make some good points

[@htomerif]

@@thomasr1051 As an example, this is one element of Lego's factory: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nKDdc62Hh794fas They use advanced, but conventional automation, especially for their storage systems. Imagine dozens of braided steel cables whipping over every cubic inch of space there. Do you think it would increase the amount of space available for production? Would it increase the density of their production? Or would it destroy every machine and kill every employee the first day it was implemented. And this is in Germany, where that cable-robot was developed (though the PR person is French I think).

[@josephsiriani1597]

@@htomerif I largely agree with you, but consider how much of the space high up is wasted in typical workplaces. A wire-based machine can have its end effector hang, without taking up hardly any ground space. Mobile wheeled machines have complicated paths further convoluted by traffic and the bases of every heavy machine that rests on the ground. Ideally, you'd have a combination of the two systems: one above and one below.

[@htomerif]

@@josephsiriani1597 I don't know if I said it in this comment thread or not but if you want to see the consequences of a heavy, wire suspension system failing, just look at what happened to the Arecibo radio telescope. Factories do tend to have a lot of wasted vertical space, but they're assembly lines, so everything is already set up to be moving things a minimum possible distance to the next machine. I didn't mention the absolute worst part of this idea because I didn't think of it until now: you can only have one of them. Its the equivalent of having a factory or warehouse that can literally only have one forklift. You can't have two of these things occupying the same space. Large warehouses require dozens of forklifts. Really, regardless of the usage case, the fact that you can only have one of them kills this idea dead.

[@kriacaoverbal]

WOW!

[@aion2177]

I dont understand the fundamental benefit this provides. A system like this is not planned to be moved from factory to factory. So the only major advantage it has over a gantry and roller system is mobility. But thats not needed. Needing 6 or 8 cable motors is way more expensive then needing 2 like in case of a gantry. And increasing the reach for the gantry is marginal cost compared to this. The moment arms here are huge at great distances.. making it very energy intensive to drive the load.. because geometry works against you like with the cables at areceibo observatory that just broke off. Way more force is needed to lift by directing the force sideways then vertically. This seems like a fundamentally flawed design and i just dont get the major benefits it provides over existing systems. As a research project very cool.

[@TokAreVisH]

I completely agree that the classic portal frame is many times more reliable, simpler and can withstand heavy loads. Only the slope of the load can be adjusted with the ropes. And at the moment with painting - just hook the controlled suspension and that's it.

[@htomerif]

@@TokAreVisH They seem to have left out the entire swept area of the cables in their woefully incorrect estimate that this system yields an "order of magnitude more usable space". This thing is literally only capable of accessing the top layer of what a gantry crane or forklift would be capable of accessing.

[@slevinshafel9395]

In recicling is very useful to separate plastic from cans and papers. The work place is the same and there is band rolling the trash.

[@htomerif]

@@slevinshafel9395 Are you sure? I was pretty sure that recyclable streams are shredded and separated with water and/or air residence fall times to separate things by density. I don't know how this thing would help at all.

[@aion2177]

@@htomerif yes but we suppose to kick china's ass with such tech. eu invested in reasearch for this reason

[@datpilk]

The guy at 1:12 is near-identical to Sheldon from Big Bang Theory