The speaker is describing a project they are working on, in which they are building a robot to solve a large puzzle. The puzzle they are focusing on is a 5000 piece puzzle that is all white, which they will paint to make it more challenging. They are building a large table with a gantry that will move a cart around, which will pick up and move the pieces of the puzzle. The robot uses a suction cup to pick up the pieces and a vacuum system to hold them in place. The robot also uses a camera to identify the pieces and determine where to pick them up.
The robot's movements are controlled by a gantry that has a unique design. The gantry has two stationary motors that allow it to move in any direction. The robot uses a special kind of lens called a telecentric lens that allows it to see things as if they are infinitely far away, which helps it to accurately measure the pieces of the puzzle.
The speaker is also dealing with some challenges. The gantry is not accurate, and the robot's movements can shake the table and cause the pieces to move around. The speaker is working on solutions to these problems, such as making the gantry more accurate and stabilizing the table.
The robot will continuously scan the piece pickup area, and when it sees a piece, it will calculate the best spot to grab it and then take it over to get scanned. The software will then calculate the shape and size of the piece, square it up, and store it in the magazine.
The speaker is testing the robot with a 3x3 puzzle, and it is struggling to solve it. The robot needs to put the pieces in the correct order before it can solve the puzzle. The speaker is trying to improve the robot's performance and is optimistic about its potential to solve larger puzzles in the future.
The speaker concludes by expressing their excitement about the project and encouraging viewers to learn new things and continue to challenge themselves. They also promote a learning platform called Brilliant, which offers interactive courses on various subjects.
1. The speaker is discussing a project to build a robot that can solve a 5000-piece puzzle.
2. The robot uses a suction cup to pick up pieces of the puzzle.
3. The robot uses a gantry with a belt design to move around the puzzle pieces.
4. The robot uses a telecentric lens to take pictures of the puzzle pieces, allowing it to figure out how the pieces fit together.
5. The robot uses software to correct for distortion in the camera's view.
6. The robot's movements are tracked using optitrack cameras, which can accurately track the location of reflective markers.
7. The gantry of the robot can accelerate aggressively, which can shake the table and make the puzzle pieces move around.
8. The speaker has made the table of the robot hollow to reduce vibrations.
9. The robot uses a super powerful vacuum to suck air from the inside of the table, pulling the puzzle pieces down to the plywood surface.
10. The robot uses a single motor on a rail to move back and forth to any of the lead screws and turn whichever one it wants.
11. The robot continuously scans the piece pickup area, calculates the best spot to grab a piece, takes it over to get scanned, and then stores it in the magazine.
12. The robot's software calculates the shape and size of the piece, squares it up, and then stores it in the magazine.
13. The robot's software takes about a couple of minutes to solve a nine-piece puzzle.
14. Solving a 5000-piece puzzle with the current software would take about 3000 years.
15. The speaker is considering using a tool called Brilliant to learn new topics and improve his learning efficiency.