We've got apples.
The apple claw sort of worked well, but it sort of didn't. Like the Rice Dispenser, it came with its own set of problems:
Wheel grip, but not as bad
The apples snagging on branches.
The claw snagging on branches
Here's the basic design:
Solutions below:
1. Wheel grip. We solved that one with glove glue like last time. Also, the trailer was much lighter - we were collecting ping pong balls, not dispensing 1.5 kg of rice with a counterweight. It was still bulky though.
2. Apple snag. Sometimes the claw would pluck an apple, but the apple would hit the branch underneath perfectly to snag the whole system. If the claw didn't have enough force, it would stop. If the claw had too much force, it would roll over the apple, and then the apple would bounce away.
3. Claw snag. The claw has five fingers, and the intention is that it needs to be wide enough for the branches to slide through, but narrow enough to grab the apples. It worked 80% of the time, but sometimes a finger would land right on the branch and stop the whole claw from descending.
The solution to both 2 and 3 came from adding overlapping rotating ends to the claws (a.k.a. rings on fingers).
If you look at earlier designs on this blog, the fingers have nothing on the ends, or caps.
If you look at the video above, we added big plastic wheels. These serve two purposes. When they hit the branch it makes sure they roll off either side rather than getting stuck. Also, they serve as hooks that pull the apples into the net.
None of this is perfect, but we got three runs in under 5 minutes, with an average harvest of 10 apples per run, so we're pretty happy with that.
THAT"S TWO VIDEOS IN THE BAG!
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