h1. Boom Design
The main design criterion of the boom is to allow for a skid steer quick-attach mechanism so we can eventually accrue the Boom Attachments. When coupled with the maneuverability of the machine, this plays into our versatility requirement. We need to analyze height requirements for getting a hay grapple onto (and off from) a full wagon. We also need to accommodate the weight of a snow blower and possibly a firewood processing unit (most likely the heaviest device we might make).
A basic FEL boom design will work for the main arms. Hinged at the columns and designed with angles to facilitate attaching the main lift cylinders and the parallelogram linkages needed for the self-leveling feature. See "this":https://patents.google.com/patent/US7059422 for an overly complex example. A simple parallelogram like shown "here (view MSL loaders)":https://www.deere.com/en/loaders/front-end-loaders-for-tractors/ is certainly possible with this machine. Below are some close-ups of a sub-compact implementation with a 4-in-1 bucket:
!{width:45%}example.leveling.loader.1.jpg! !{width:45%}example.leveling.loader.2.jpg!
The MSL feature will really make this machine shine when most attachments, especially stacking hay, or using forks. This design also improves visibility down the center of the loader, whereas a standard design with a single central curl cylinder impedes the view of the implement. It adds some cost to the boom build, but will be worth it in the long run as it makes it easier and safer for everyone to use the machine and significantly speeds up some operations.
Below is the model showing how the self-leveler linkage works in theory and the parameters used to vary its motion. The lines are representative of the pieces of a loader. The thick brown lines are fixed-length links (loader arms, bucket cross-section, boom tower, etc). The blue dotted lines are variable-length links (hydraulic cylinders). The green dots are pivot points (mostly - some are constrained not to pivot, like the one in the crooked boom arms at 135 deg). The green line at the bottom is ground level (the tower piece incorrectly extends to the ground here, but that doesn't really affect the rest of the design.
For this demo, the only changing variable is the boom lift cylinder. Click the image to see an animated video of the motion. As it plays through, pay attention to the two left-most dimensions (in gray). One is the height of the tip of the bucket, and the other is the angle of the bucket relative to horizontal. With this design it stays mostly in the correct plane.
p=. !{width:50%}msl.linkage.model.png!:https://projects.absolutepowerandcontrol.com/documents/2
Updated by Danny over 2 years ago · 11 revisions