Beware, this is going to be a long post...

My standard longer #bike ride is a 30 km round trip to #Starcross, which is #village on the west coast of the #ExeEstuary on the way to #Dawlish. The ride is motor-traffic-free for a goo 80% of the distance. It's also through a lot of #countryside and it's my intention to photograph some of the #trees through all the seasons. However, this set contains a little more for your edification.

Not all trees are alive. For example, this one is a hulk of what was once probably a magnificent specimen.

Most #FarmFields have been replanted after harvesting and even now, shoots are appearing. Meanwhile most #Trees still have their #Foliage.

The #plants and #insects that feed off them are also a food source for these male and female #pheasants.

The village of #Starcross is small but it happens to have a #RailwayStation on the line from #LondonPaddington and #Penzance, though the #IntercityTrains don't usually stop there. This is the last part of the journey for me before I turn and head back homewards at the station itself.

Here is an #IntercityTrain passing. It is run by #GWR or #GreatWesternRailways, which was a company in existence before nationalization and which came back after privatization.

Starting to head back, you can get a good view of the other side of the #Estuary, where the #town of #Exmouth can be seen. There happens to be a nice ferry trip on which you can take your #bike between #Starcross and #Exmouth

The #ExeEstuary has a few #wrecks in it. I presume they are #NavigationHazards but I guess it would prove too expensive to clear the #waterway. Perhaps they provide a #habitat for #MarineLife. Here you can see #Birds (I can't tell whether they are #Cormorants of #Shags).

Next, we come to #PowderhamCastle, which is now a #NationalTrust property. It has a herd of #deer numbering in the hundreds.

The mild #autumn #Sun is seen shining through this #tree's #branches.

More #trees in the grounds of #PowderhamCastle.

At first glance, this may look like a dead #tree but you can see that parts of it still has #foliage.

This #tree, on the other hand, looks completely dead.

This #Pheasant is eyeing the #photographer warily.

This #cycle #bridge was installed not much longer than a decade ago. It makes traversing the #RailwayLine easy. I think there was a #footbridge before this but I'm not sure. A nice addition to #cycling #infrastructure.

From the top of the #bridge, you can see the #barracks of the #RoyalMarines in #Lympstone. Technically, this #photograph is a #Selfie too.

Getting closer to home now, here is the #M5 #Motorway which links #London to #Exeter. This #concrete #viaduct goes over the #Estuary, thankfully leaving much it intact.

Some parts around the #Cyclepath form natural ponds.

Any #journey of moderate length or longer often leaves one #reflecting. Here, you can let the scenery do it.

This #swan was preening on the #ExeterCanal (and so was its #reflection).

Lastly, this is the #bridge over the #RiverExe, which is a sign that my home is a mere 5 km away. A sight that is always welcome. The bridge is old but it a #cyclepath was constructed as an extension to it on the far side, which blends in very nicely with the existing #masonry.

#MyWork #MyPhoto #CCBYSA #DSLR #Nikon #D7000 #Autumn

Postcards from noon. #goodwill

Digital painting - #photoedit

Sunsets to the evening skies. #sunset

#Masonry the hands of stone

#myphoto setting the western Australian Sunset

Coffee table. #photoart

Dressage #checks&balance

Another week on #Dartmoor and another #dam and #spillway. This one is from #Venford #reservoir and is quite an unusual dam constructed of #masonry. It was opened in the first decade of the twentieth century. A couple of decades ago, work was done to ensure the spillway could handle flood events of increasing magnitude as a result of #GlobalWarming. As you can see there was some flow today over it.

#MyWork #MyPhoto #CCBYSA #Spring #ClimateChange #Android

"Where are the robotic bricklayers?" "Masonry construction seems almost perfectly suited for mechanization. It's extremely repetitive... it doesn't seem like it would require physically complex movements... and placement is almost deterministic... On top of this, masonry, especially block masonry, is one of the most physically punishing construction tasks... It's something people have been attempting for over 100 years."

Early attempts: John Thompson patents in 1904, 1918, and 1926, Motor Mason from 1967.

1980s and 90s bricklaying robots: Academic robots by Slocum, Lehiten, Rihani, Altobelli, and Pritschow, the SMAS in Japan, the ROCCO system.

Current attempts: The Hadrian system by Fastbrick Robotics, which uses a hollow boom mounted to a truck, through which masonry blocks are transported (sort of like a concrete pump truck), and SAM, the semi autonomous mason, built by Construction Robotics, and in use on commercial projects since 2015, but on short walls it has trouble outperforming human masons, can't turn corners, and can't finish the masonry joints.

"Masonry seemed like the perfect candidate for mechanization, but a hundred years of limited success suggests there's some aspect to it that prevents a machine from easily doing it. This makes it an interesting case study, as it helps define exactly where mechanization becomes difficult -- what makes laying a brick so different than, say, hammering a nail, such that the latter is almost completely mechanized and the former is almost completely manual?"

"There seems to be a few factors at work. One is the fact that a brick or block isn't simply set down on a solid surface, but is set on top of a thin layer of mortar, which is a mixture of water, sand, and cementitious material. Mortar has sort of complex physical properties -- it's a non-newtonian fluid, and it's viscosity increases when it's moved or shaken."

Where are the robotic bricklayers?

#solidstatelife #robotics #constructionrobotics #bricklaying #masonry