Photo of the Phase IIIa/IIIb arm, under development. The Phase II arm and table were constructed well enough that they served as the platform for continued development. Phase III proved to be the most productive phase of development. In this phase, a complete working image acquisition and recognition system was created from scratch. The control electronics were improved, the software rewritten, and impressive automated arm applications were developed. The latter third of Phase III saw the complete replacement of the wood arm with an aluminum one. The Phase III system was arguably the most impressive as it showcased a very tightly integrated vision, decision-making, and control system.

Vital Statistics

Video

[Low Quality MPEG1 320x240, 5.8MB]

Additional Photos

This photo shows the newly-renovated table before painting and plexiglas. The table from Phase II was used with significant modifications for the image scanner. The right half of the 1/4" plywood surface was entirely replaced and a new under-table portion was added to protect the scanner. Note the two bearings captured in the wooden guide rail on the rear. The two protruding rods on the base of the arm mate to the bearings to provide smooth linear motion.	A bit further along in the Phase III portion of the project, you can see the nearly completed new scanner area. The vertical supports at each end of the table supported overhead lights for scanning (initially two incandescent, eventually a fluorescent). In the large version of the photo, the linear encoder is visible on the left. The final coat of paint had been applied to the new portions of the table and the plexiglas is also installed. You can also see the arm from Phase II (sans gripper) being prepped for Phase IIIa work.	The interface cabinet and card cage after assembly and before painting. Note the 1/4" plywood inlay on the faces to facilitate mounting of switches, controls, etc.
The interface cabinet, much later in development, showing several cards in the card cage. Also clearly visible is the Black & Decker power supply used to run the motors in the arm.	The rear of the card cage. Clearly visible is the potentiometer bank, used for adjusting the thresholds of the comparators for the image scanner. Also shown at the top are the "ice cube" style relays used to control the motors in the arm.	The front of the interface cabinet, showing the power switch, key switch, emergency stop button, LED status panel and 16x1 LCD.
The power supply section of the interface cabinet. A four-output custom supply was used to drive the logic and relays while a surplus Black & Decker adjustable DC supply from a Dremel-like tool was used for motor drive.	The potentiometer bank, comparator circuits, and multiplexers used to run the 32-element linear array image scanner.	The 32-element linar array scanner. Small 1/4" PC board mount Cadmium Sulfide (CdS) cells were used, arrayed on two hand-made PC boards. Vertical resolution was approximately 1/2". The scanner functioned similarly to a photocopier or flatbed scanner, except instead of using reflected light, it detected the shadows cast by objects placed on the plexiglas surface. The hand-made linear encoder is also shown in this photo. It was made out of 1" X 1/16" aluminum angle stock and provided roughly 1/4" resolution. Drilling out two of these (the other was used for the linear base motion of the arm itself) was one of the least exciting parts of the project.
This shot details the chain drive for the wrist roll motion when it was under construction. The linear drive motor and barrier strips for wiring are also visible in the shot.	The full arm system, mid-development. Note the alternate wrist design which was under test. The interface cabinet, 286 PC and monitor are also visible.	Closeup of the scanner element, showing the 1/2" spacing of the CdS cells.
ISA interface card used in Phase III and later in Phase IV. The card provided 72 digital I/O lines which connected to the external interface box. The card underwent some minor changes at one point several years after Phase IV for the SMSurround project. You'll notice slight differences between the picture above and the the picture in the software screenshot below.

Software Screenshots

The Integ integrated control system application, complete with custom GUI. The software was written in Turbo Pascal using the BGI graphics primitives library. The GUI bore the contrived acronym SIGMA (Software Integrated Graphical Mouse Application). Note the "automated pick-up" option on the right screen shot. This launched the fully automated retrieval operation. The scan data shown in both screenshots is bogus. Unlike later versions, this software did not allow scans to be saved and loaded, so no valid scan data could be displayed for these screen captures.