Saturday, May 21, 2011

Blue Fox - New Tracks (also 100th post)




This is my 100th post on this blog!

Also, here is an update on the construction of Blue Fox.
Since finishing the spring semester, I have had tons of free time to resume work, and construction is progressing rapidly. I have already constructed four new paths: The giant loop, the robot arm, a medium-length roller green roller coaster track, and a vertical drop track. At the moment I am working on general reliability as well as balancing the topology of the machine, in other words, making sure a ball lift doesn't have too many inlets or outlets, and that balls spend equal time in each segment. I plan to upload a topology map later, something which I have never done before. With a machine this complex, however, I feel that it is necessary.

I have also reprogrammed the robotic arm. It now operates at nearly twice the speed, as well as taking a new path which avoids the tracks I have placed in its way. I'm still a ways away from completion, however. Because this is the most complex K'nex machine I have ever constructed, reliability testing will take a very long time.



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