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  • Author Author: sasquatch84
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I've got a problem to solve!

sasquatch84

I believe it was John Adams that once said, "every problem is an opportunity in disguise."  This, as it turns out, is great advice for those wanting to come up with a new Arduino project.  When I first started to look for project ideas, I was just trying to make use of what I have and create something that looked cool.  But now that I am looking for problems to solve, well, the possibilities are endless!  Take my job for starters.  I am a logger.  If there is one industry that has completely lacked technological advancement for the last 50 years* and deals with some of the greatest problems any of us will ever face on a daily basis, it's the logging industry.  Cable logging to be more precise. 

The first problem I would like to solve is one of safety:

A grapple yarder (if you're already lost watch https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiKlZWB-pHWAhVH1WMKHahkDIkQtwIIL… ) is held in place by cables called "guylines".  These guylines are most often anchored on stumps that are called "tailholds".  A grapple yarder puts these stumps under major stress and sometimes the stumps are pulled right out of the ground.  This is never supposed to happen, because it can cause major damage to machinery as well as death.  But it happens.

So my solution would be to have a unit that is placed on the tailhold that alerts the grapple yarder operator if the stump is starting to move. 

My idea:

So I think I might be stepping a little too far out of my range of expertise, but I would like to try to use an accelerometer on the stump connected to an Arduino.  then the Arduino puts out an rf signal to another Arduino in the grapple yarder.  This second Arduino will then display on an LCD display or a row of LEDs how much the stump is moving.  I have never used the rf module although I have one.  Also, never even tried my accelerometer.

Any suggestions?

 

*In the last 5 years there has FINALLY been a slow trend of new technology in the bush, but by and large, we are still stuck in the 1960's.  Seriously.

  • in reply to sasquatch84

    Ok, so we are talking about the opposite end of the operation from the video ?

    These guylines are effectively anchor lines for the vehicle operating the grapple ?

     

    Some photos/videos of that end of the operation would probably help.

  • in reply to sasquatch84

    >Just curious as to why this would be more simple than using an ultrasonic distance sensor?

    I was thinking simplicity of building the project, not in terms of using it, but that might not be ideal for this case...

     

    >...sometimes there is no stump/tree/rock to attach the line to.

     

    My thought was exactly along those lines - it might be tricky getting the ultrasonic sensor set up to bounce off something reliable.

    In terms of building the project, a string that pulls a pin can set a single pin LOW and that's an easy on/off case to check. It's also less power draw to check a pin for low/high, instead of having to run an ultrasonic sensor. (ie, better battery life)

     

    The string method isn't ideal in the field in that you have a string to deal with, and drive a peg into the ground or a nail into another stump. That can definitely be a pain to deal with in your rugged terrain.

     

    So I think you're right - for in the field setup, the less details to mess with, the easier it will be to set up. So a slightly more complex build pays off for ease of use later on.

    I guess you could set up an ultrasonic sensor simply by setting the device up on the stump, pointing at something, and pressing a 'set' button to program it for the thing it's pointing at - then if that changes it's an alarm situation.

     

  • in reply to ntewinkel

    I agree.  Just curious as to why this would be more simple than using an ultrasonic distance sensor?  The obvious advantage to me would be that I don't have to mess around with the string trying to attach it to something.  In reality, there is never the perfect scenario; sometimes there is no stump/tree/rock to attach the line to.

  • in reply to beacon_dave

    Sorry, my YouTube video was just for showing a grapple yarder in action.  There were no guylines in that video.  Guylines are static lines.  As in, they are anchored to a stump, tightened up, and then don't move. 

  • in reply to sasquatch84

    Does the line holding the pulley block always go around two stumps ?

     

    If so, than perhaps some sort of stump-to-stump detection system could be used.