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The Hacksmith: Power Loader Control System

2021-07-08 | By The Hacksmith

License: See Original Project

This project was created by Engineering Superheroes of Hackmith Industries.

DO NOT ATTEMPT to Re-Create

Over the last few years, Hacksmith Industries has been hard at work constructing the many pieces needed to build a power loader similar to the one from the Alien movie franchise. The team began the large-scale project back in 2018, and they're now on their 14th video in the series, finally ready to address the safety features within the control system.

If you aren’t familiar with the Alien films, the power loader is a futuristic forklift exoskeleton used to lift heavy equipment. In the 1986 movie Aliens, Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley uses the power loader to fight the iconic xenomorph queen. However, the prop used for the power loader in the movie was made from foam core and pipes and did not function in any real capacity. This means that the Hacksmith's power loader isn't even considered a replica — it's an actual, functional power loader, unlike the one used in the movie. See how the control system works in the video below!

 

How Does it Work?

The power loader machine is an extremely heavy piece of equipment capable of lifting up to 15,000 pounds. One of the primary factors in designing the control system was keeping the pilot safe (towards the end of the video, you can watch it crush dummies sitting in the pilot seat). The Hacksmith team is tackling this problem in three ways: a roll cage to protect the pilot, a remote control system, and automatic shut-offs when the arms hit angles that can crush the pilot.

The power loader uses a diesel engine and hydraulics to move the arms and clamps. The control system starts with a Revolution Pi — an industrial control system based on Raspberry Pi. The system works on 24V digital input and output signals and 0-10V analog signals, so there is no need for any voltage conversion for the power loader’s hydraulic system.

String potentiometers are mounted to each hydraulic cylinder for general controls and automatic shut-offs to detect the power loader’s arm angles. The pilot can control the power loader with two flight joysticks, one for each arm. A Playstation 4 controller is used to control the power loader remotely via Bluetooth. Since the Revolution Pi Control system runs on Linux, almost any USB controller will work. All of this software is integrated using the robot operating system, ROS, which allows the person programming the controls to make several adjustments with the cylinders simultaneously for complex movements.

Schematic

 

More Hacksmith Movie Creations on Maker.io

Check out the power loader’s progress from the beginning on YouTube!

Also, view more Hacksmith movie projects on Maker.io:

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