Jisolve: Testing nozzle over IRC

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My robot listens to #freenode #irc and drives the CNC, like M290 vacuum pump control. Why? Because @twitch solves a jigsaw puzzle should be a thing.

A post shared by Marginally Clever Robots (@imakerobots) on Feb 19, 2016 at 5:34pm PST

The nozzle works, the pump works, and it all moves via IRC. The new nozzles from @Aidan Leitch solve an earlier problem with hard plastic nozzles that had no grip or compliance. Yay! Great video, Aidan!

Of course the source of most problems is other solutions. With this new nozzle I’m forced to design a new method to raise and lower the nozzle onto the pieces. This first draft

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Mounted the nozzle. Now I need a couple of tent poles to hold the wires and tubing away from the moving head of the #CNC #pickandplacemachine

A post shared by Marginally Clever Robots (@imakerobots) on Dec 21, 2015 at 5:19pm PST

was a strong start. Sadly it let air leak in from several places and over time it started to slouch on one side. Later it occured to me that if the nozzle tries to pick up a piece attached to other pieces, it would probably pick them ALL up. So there needs to be some kind of ring around the nozzle that keeps other pieces on the table. Maybe also a software rule that says sideways movements are forbidden when the nozzle is down.