The concept of motion control is to combine digital/analog motion sensors with actuators that can produce force or torque to influence the dynamic movements of an object using automatic (feedback) control. In this Cluster of Engineering Design and Control of Kinetic Sculptures, the motion sensors that can be used include
Lego NXT touch sensor, sonar sensor and light sensors.
UCSD Kinetic Sculpture speed sensor
Actuation is done with Lego NXT motors that also have built-in optical encoders that can be used for motion sensing. Students learn how to process sensor measurements and actuate NXT motors with the aim to precisely position a mechanism that is part of their kinetic sculpture.
The Motion Robot is an example of a mechanical motion system constructed by COSMOS students. The robot consist of a slider mechanism that operate on a track mechanism between two mechanical boundaries (e.g. walls). The slider mechanism (e.g. motion system) is equipped with sensor to measure proximity to the boundaries and relative position along the track mechanism. The objective of the motion robot is to move slider mechanism to precise locations along the track mechanism as fast as possible. As such, It serves as an example of a so-called mini-sculpture in this COSMOS cluster to demonstrate and implement the concepts of motion control.
The motion robot is created using components based on the Lego NXT platform and parts of the Chaos Kit used to design and test Kinetic Sculptures in this COSMOS cluster. An (optional) basket holder and basket from the Chaos Kit can be added to be able to catch objects or marbles as the motion system is moving. It is recommended to first build the slider mechanism, and then put together the track mechanism. Step by step instructions to build the motion robot are given in the tutorials below.
The acrylic parts of the slider mechanism will be given to the students, but if any parts are missing, they can be created via the DXF version 2000 files of the Pipe Holder, Basket Holder. and corresponding ZIPed CAM files for the LaserCAMMs in the Design Studio of the Dept. of MAE.