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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.

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  • Hi Clinton,

     

    I would assume that during regular use there would be a fair bit of vibration, so it would be hard to detect "bad" movement amongst the regular movement.

     

    The big question is at what point is it too late? What are the pre-failure warning signs we can use to determine when to sound the alarm?

    Can a tilt sensor be used on the stump so that if it starts leaning over too far it sounds the alarm? Or is that already too late? - ie, by the time it tilts any amount the stump is already flying out of the ground?

     

    Interesting question image

     

    Cheers,

    -Nico

  • in reply to ntewinkel

    I'm already showing my inexperience.  I thought that's what an accelerometer could do; detect a change in angle.  That is what I want to measure.  The suggestions of attaching a line is just very difficult if you know about logging.  Detecting angle changing would be perfectly sufficient.  A stump can't move more than maybe an inch without being compromised.  Also, having a reel of some kind would definitely be more vulnerable to damage.  If anyone here has ever seen logging equipment, they would see how rough a life our stuff has.  I want to have a completely contained unit that can be shoved into my pocket (I need two hands to do the rock scaling/hill climbing that is normal life out here) and then attached to a stump and take wind, rain, snow etc.  in stride.

  • in reply to sasquatch84

    Then again, sometimes, because of the angle of the pull, the stumps pull straight sideways and never really tilt at all.  This makes me think that something that detected distance wirelessly would be best.  maybe use an ultrasonic distance sensor.  I can aim it at the hill behind it or a tree, whatever, and hit the "on" button.  Then it will measure that distance and look for any change.

  • in reply to sasquatch84

    An accelerometer can be used to measure the angle change, it's just that a tilt sensor does it more simply as on/off after a threshold. I think I have a few that have a little metal ball that rolls over to close a circuit.

    Of course, some boards (like the Arduino 101) have the accelerometer already there, in which case you may as well use that image

     

    Stumps going straight sideways make for an interesting and challenging problem! And in that case I think you're right about it being a distance thing. And Maybe the simplest is what Douglas suggested - just use a string pinned into the next stump that pulls a pin if it moves more than half an inch.

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  • in reply to sasquatch84

    An accelerometer can be used to measure the angle change, it's just that a tilt sensor does it more simply as on/off after a threshold. I think I have a few that have a little metal ball that rolls over to close a circuit.

    Of course, some boards (like the Arduino 101) have the accelerometer already there, in which case you may as well use that image

     

    Stumps going straight sideways make for an interesting and challenging problem! And in that case I think you're right about it being a distance thing. And Maybe the simplest is what Douglas suggested - just use a string pinned into the next stump that pulls a pin if it moves more than half an inch.

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  • 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 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.