531colin wrote:In about 2004 there seemed to be machines that would stress-relieve, for example.......http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=49702&hilit=spokes&start=60
Thank you for the link, some really interesting stuff there. I bookemarked the topic as I need more time to read it and digest some really useful stuff.
My point is that I don't see the problem in developing a machine / robot if you like that is capable of building the almost perfect wheel and I say almost because I don't think it is possible to achieve perfection but that is another matter
There is nothing mechanically or technically too difficul in the process of wheel building. Do you want to prevent spoke twisting? I'm sure a solution could be easily found that works better that using hands. Do you want to apply tension, true the wheel, stress relieve, balance the spokes tension in stages until the wheel meets the desire tension at acceptable tolerances? Fine, it really reminds me of the assigments we had to do all those years ago
the concepts were there, the technology was half way there, of course more developed now, the missing aids to complete the tasks have been developed for quite some time already. Computers are very good at things like these so if I were teaching an Artificial Intelligence course at uni I would have my students coming up with ideas and solutions to this problem.Maybe the problem is somewhere else, maybe the industry aren't interested in building wheels that will last a long time, maybe it's a better business to have people coming back for more of the same. If that was actually the case then I could understand why nobody is making the efford to come up with a real solution, a solution that would sell and make profits. I guess lots of machines would need to be sold to break even.
Edit: I watch the TV programme How it's made and some of the products being manufactured by robots nowadays are far more complex than building a wheel.