robotmatrix.org

 Introduction

• Objective: : The robot addresses the ball, then hits it cleanly off the tee and finishes with good follow through.
• Parts:
  • Robix Rascal Robot Kit/Construction Set
  • Tape to hold down tee.
  • Paper cup, either cut short or lying down, to be the hole.
• To learn: There is considerable latitude in programming the stroke: Servos 1, 2 and 3 are something like the human waist, shoulder and elbow, and servo 4 is the "club head". All can be adjusted and tuned under program control, and all sorts of different results, some very familiar to golfers such as shanking, topping, and missing completely, can be achieved.

 Step 1: Assemble and build the Golfer Robot Body and Muscle

This golfing robot construction uses 4 servos.

 Step 2: Golfer Robot Teaching and Macro Programming

This golfing robot can hit the ball about 16" (about 40 cm) to the first bounce, with good repeatability. You will need to adjust the motion of the arm and the position of the golfer relative to the tee so that the arc of the "club head" hits the ball cleanly off the tee. Real golfers often hit both the tee and the ball, but in this project we'd rather not continually have to replace the tee after each stroke. The club head angle (servo 4) also affects the ball's arc.

During the swing itself, servo 4 probably should not move at all. However, for servos 1, 2 and 3 you will want their acceleration to be high but their deceleration low.

This is because, at the beginning of the swing you are pushing pretty hard to get the club or bat moving fast; impact happens at about the middle of the swing, and after that the bat or club continues around and slows to a stop. You don't try to stop with the same force that you tried to start. This would be tough on your wrists, and would make your shoulders and body shake a bit as you stopped the bat or club suddenly. It's the same thing with the robot: the servos would be strained and the whole robot would shudder or jump. Avoid this, it upsets the robots accuracy and is wearing on the servos.