Tag Archives: terrains

The rain in Spain…

Unfortunately, the rain in Spain doesn’t always stay on the plain. Today we had plenty of it at the Royal Alcázar and here we have a FROG that doesn’t like getting too wet.

Outside the lab - 21 September 2014
Outside the lab – 21 September 2014
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Fine yellow sand in the gardens

In spite of all of the visitors the staff keep the halls and patios amazingly clean. There is a lot of loose yellow sand in the gardens and, of course, this gets washed and walked everywhere.

Wet but pretty, garden path
Wet but pretty, garden path
Blossom rained down from the trees
Blossom rained down from the trees

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Part of the tour route
Part of the tour route

 

(next day) Path close to the lab and close to the gardens - amazingly little sand
(next day) Path close to the lab and close to the gardens – amazingly little sand

Royal Alcázar Lab 3

We arrived at the Alcázar this morning to find that our lab in the Tennis Court had been taken over by a film crew – the film crew of the TV series Violetta, no less! This was not exactly according to plan but as always the Royal Alcázar came up with a quick solution – a temporary lab for us until after filming.

Yet another beautiful room…
Yet another beautiful room...
Yet another beautiful room…

 

Of course, Carlos had to test the terrain in Lab 3. 
Of course, Carlos had to test the terrain in Lab 3.

Violetta has a large crew and, it would seem, a larger group of uniformed security guys with walkie-talkies. Unfortunately they wouldn’t let us take any photo’s while they were filming so we’ll just have to watch the series to see them in our lab. But, here’s one of the security chaps with a mobile as well as a walkie-talkie.

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… off on the road again ...
… off on the road again …

protoFROG at a standstill at Hannover Messe

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The UT Campus robot is having some problems at the Hannover Messe. On the first day it drove around until lunchtime but now protoFROG is at a standstill. This is an outdoor robot with a lot of traction power and the loose-laid carpet is causing the motors to overheat during rotation. Although, by the look of it there is not always that much room to manoeuvre, anyway.

The FROG robot was defined to run outdoors, specifically for the EU project in the Lisbon Zoo and in the Royal Alcázar in Sevilla. As the robot must not only navigate the various terrains at these sites but also be able to turn on the spot the project has been having some difficulties with their choice of tires. What would you choose for a  100 kilo robot that has to handle clean-swept tarmac and paving, either of which may later be strewn with olive stones from the trees. This is the terrain in the Lisbon zoo – and the robots mission also includes some inclines and ramps. Then move the same robot to Sevilla where it has to go from neat paved courtyards onto tiled or marble floors.

And in the past two weeks, protoFROG has had to cope with gravel strewn tarmac, TV studios, and now, loose-laid carpet. That’s a lot to deal with for a prototype.

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