[Mike T.]

This is interesting -

The Robot Bicycle Wheel Building Revolution - BikeRadar

Make sure you check out the seven photos.

 

[boneman]

Thanks for posting. Interesting article. About 30+ years ago there was an article about Wheelsmith, the guys out of Palo Alto, using a machine wheel builder but slowing down the rate of build significantly and that is how they made the majority of their wheels back then.

 

[Mike T.]

Thanks for posting. Interesting article. About 30+ years ago there was an article about Wheelsmith, the guys out of Palo Alto, using a machine wheel builder but slowing down the rate of build significantly and that is how they made the majority of their wheels back then.

The vid is great. Love their "spoke twist eliminators" and spoke stressers.

 

[dcgriz]

".......Before that, wheels were built by prisoners and people on social work schemes, ...."
that's an interesting thought

 

[Len J]

More precision than hand made.......cheaper too.

Interesting.

Len

 

[bwbishop]

The sooner you all learn to bow down and obey our robotic overlords the better

But I wouldn't worry about it too much (Robot Apocalypse)

 

[rruff]

Thanks! Cool video.

I'm not seeing how they check the spoke tension...?

Also, is there a video somewhere of the wheel lacing machine? That would be interesting to see.

 

[changingleaf]

The best wheels, even machine built wheels have a post-build inspection done with humans checking and recording spoke tension, runnout and truness. The accuracy to which the wheels pass inspection can be varied depending upon the level of wheel desired. I have not seen a complete machine such as this that measures tension directly. Unless this machine also checks tension directly it would need to be finished by humans for best results. The machine itself can increase the speed of the entire build.

 

[kauphy]

Saw this video yesterday. Very cool! I love how it does stress relieving.

 

[Mike T.]

is there a video somewhere of the wheel lacing machine? That would be interesting to see.

I think a lacing machine (and a hub spoking machine if they exist) would be far more interesting than a tension/true machine. I just can't imagine how one would work.

 

[looigi]

The best wheels, even machine built wheels have a post-build inspection done with humans checking and recording spoke tension, runnout and truness. ...

All those can be more accurately and quickly assessed by machine. If you want to check up on the first machine, use a second to QC it's output. The only reason to use humans is because you don't have the volume and budget to automate it.