Took in some of my favorite sights on a Nordeast Minneapolis bike ride. Between Bauhaus Brewery and the headquarters of modern furniture company Blu Dot, this silent gantry crane nods to the building’s industrial past. Last year this scene inspired me to create a LEGO gantry crane.
Tag: Gantry Crane
Ready for Takeoff
The LEGO gantry crane is no more; all its constituent parts are now carefully stowed, awaiting the takeoff of a yet-to-be-determined new project.
Autonomous Gantry Crane: The Movie
Finished editing a two-minute video about my LEGO MINDSTORMS autonomous gantry crane. Click through to view it on YouTube.
LEGO Crane Hams It Up
Another subzero day. Rode the exercise bike to nowhere while watching my soapie, and shot video of my LEGO gantry crane prior to dismantling it. With the camera running, the crane sometimes took this as an opportunity to act up.
Through the Eye of a Gantry Crane
Having refined the LEGO gantry crane’s mechanics sufficiently, I’ve turned my focus to machine vision. This introduces software challenges that I’m tackling in small doses.
Symmetry vs. Function
Today I had to accept symmetry in my LEGO gantry crane isn’t always achievable. Here’s the hoist and grabber subassemblies, operated by pneumatic pistons. Scissor mechanisms are inherently not symmetric in operation, so I had to consider choosing symmetry in either the extended or closed positions, not both.
Not Quite Ready for Its Closeup
The latest, but not the final, iteration of my LEGO gantry crane. I periodically work and rework mechanisms, frame structure (thank you Pythagoras), or Python program, but it often sits waiting for a fresh idea.
Software Incompatibilities
Worked on my LEGO gantry crane. Spent way too much time trying to get different versions of different software to play nice with each other across three computers.
Gantry Crane: Progress Update
Prototyped the x and y axes of my minimal gantry crane. Next up: z axis (hoist) and a pneumatic grabber. I’ve written a Python program to pull it all together and to interface with a PlayStation controller to help me test as I build. The final product may look nothing like this.
Prototyping a Gantry Crane
Finished a working prototype of the y axis of a gantry crane (the part that carries the hoist). I aimed for smooth motion, minimum parts, and maximum symmetry. Next I’ll prototype the x axis. Eventually I plan to give the completed crane enough smarts to operate autonomously.