3 ms·

Nor especially difficult to recreate. I don't get it, it should be so simple. There are three dimensions in which the tapper has to traverse, probably not chan

Nor especially difficult to recreate. I don't get it, it should be so simple. There are three dimensions in which the tapper has to traverse, probably not changing the angle of it either. It probably has some squishiness in the tip, so it doesn't have to be super super precise. This was in 2012, when there already where 3d-printers with much more harder requirements. Well, sure, this would run 24/7 likely so should have better components and be quite robust. So, some development but not like inventing anything drastically new. What am I missing? edit: ah, other comments raise some interesting points regarding detecting state of the phone and apps. I looked at it from mostly a hardware perspective since that's the impression I got from the article.

syntaxing 8y ago
Someone bought up this point in the other discussion but 3D printers is a really bad example for a gantry for production based systems. This is mainly because of the open loop design and the asynchronous motion profiles between the motors. There was a lot of work that went into GRBL to make the axis seemed sync. Also, getting into motion profiles is super tricky as well (which is trapezoidal preset in GRBL). The thing with these devices is that it has to be working 100% of the time with a feedback making sure its doing what you expect. That being said, besides the kinematics, instrumentation for hardware is the tricky part. Getting repeatable and consistent measurement for large production quantities is not an straight forward task. Processing and digesting the results is also another hurdle.
- Bartweiss 8y ago
  I'm curious whether there's a better reference for gantry robotics? It looks like the hard parts here are non-mechanical, but I'd be interested to know more generally. Automated brick-layers come to mind as another 3D positioning task with no pitch or roll, but I'm not familiar enough with the general space to know if they're at all representative. Among other things, I seem to remember they can't corner properly, which suggests they might be operating on a linear axis and a width rather than a proper 3D workspace.
HillRat 8y ago
The article discusses the lengths Huawei went to in order to obtain hardware specifications in order to build a clone. However, Tappy appears to be an incrementally-evolved version of the open-source Tapster robot, making this akin to an auto manufacturer engaging in high-stakes corporate espionage in order to obtain the precise dimensions of a competitor’s steering wheel. Quite frankly, you’ve got to wonder about Huawei’s engineering chops if they’re going all spy-vs-spy to steal something that’s 75% available on Github already.

syntaxing 8y ago

Someone bought up this point in the other discussion but 3D printers is a really bad example for a gantry for production based systems. This is mainly because of the open loop design and the asynchronous motion profiles between the motors. There was a lot of work that went into GRBL to make the axis seemed sync. Also, getting into motion profiles is super tricky as well (which is trapezoidal preset in GRBL). The thing with these devices is that it has to be working 100% of the time with a feedback making sure its doing what you expect. That being said, besides the kinematics, instrumentation for hardware is the tricky part. Getting repeatable and consistent measurement for large production quantities is not an straight forward task. Processing and digesting the results is also another hurdle.

Bartweiss 8y ago
I'm curious whether there's a better reference for gantry robotics? It looks like the hard parts here are non-mechanical, but I'd be interested to know more generally. Automated brick-layers come to mind as another 3D positioning task with no pitch or roll, but I'm not familiar enough with the general space to know if they're at all representative. Among other things, I seem to remember they can't corner properly, which suggests they might be operating on a linear axis and a width rather than a proper 3D workspace.

HillRat 8y ago

The article discusses the lengths Huawei went to in order to obtain hardware specifications in order to build a clone. However, Tappy appears to be an incrementally-evolved version of the open-source Tapster robot, making this akin to an auto manufacturer engaging in high-stakes corporate espionage in order to obtain the precise dimensions of a competitor’s steering wheel. Quite frankly, you’ve got to wonder about Huawei’s engineering chops if they’re going all spy-vs-spy to steal something that’s 75% available on Github already.