New sculptor robot can create even complex bends (Video)
The sculptor robot controls two limbs in which the researchers placed the wire - it is heated by electricity. The device can even create complex bends, deforming a flexible metal rod in order to make the desired hole. It was introduced by researchers from the Computing Robotics Laboratory in Switzerland.
Usually in such cases a rigid wire is used, which can only make cuts at right angles. To create curves or more organic shapes, you first need to make rough contours, and then smooth them with other tools. Swiss scientists have improved this method by teaching a pair of manipulators to work together so that the process is not limited to straight cuts.
In order for everything to work correctly, the researchers modeled the exact shape of the wire when moving the limbs. Therefore, the robot can not only rotate the wire, but also change the degree of its tension.
The control algorithm of the robot receives the shape of the final object and calculates the desired trajectories of the movement of the manipulators. For each slice, the algorithm calculates such a set of curves that, according to the results of the slice, the difference between the surface of the object model and the surface of the slice is reduced as much as possible.
At each next step, he calculates the current deviation from the ideal shape and creates a new set of curves to minimize it.
In order to show how the device works, the researchers created several figures. They stated that they could not be made using a conventional thermal cutter.
[video = "lLKI0HWV3dc"]
Usually in such cases a rigid wire is used, which can only make cuts at right angles. To create curves or more organic shapes, you first need to make rough contours, and then smooth them with other tools. Swiss scientists have improved this method by teaching a pair of manipulators to work together so that the process is not limited to straight cuts.
In order for everything to work correctly, the researchers modeled the exact shape of the wire when moving the limbs. Therefore, the robot can not only rotate the wire, but also change the degree of its tension.
The control algorithm of the robot receives the shape of the final object and calculates the desired trajectories of the movement of the manipulators. For each slice, the algorithm calculates such a set of curves that, according to the results of the slice, the difference between the surface of the object model and the surface of the slice is reduced as much as possible.
At each next step, he calculates the current deviation from the ideal shape and creates a new set of curves to minimize it.
In order to show how the device works, the researchers created several figures. They stated that they could not be made using a conventional thermal cutter.
[video = "lLKI0HWV3dc"]
