Trossen Robotics Blog » Mech Warfare

Giger is ready for iHobby!

Andrew — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:08:31 +0000

We’ve been busily preparing for the iHobby 2009 show this week, but I figured I would share a little demo video of Giger. He now sports a TinyCylon eye from DaleWheat.com, and has a few new fighting moves up his sleeve, ready for some fights at Chibotica during iHobby! Walking gait is still obviously a work in progress, but what is being demonstrated in the video is the ability to pan/tilt the torso while walking, which makes the walking gait even more unsteady. Enough jabbering, here’s a bit of video!

Share and Enjoy:

Giger: RX-64 Based Custom Humanoid

Andrew — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:02:00 +0000

With my Hagetaka project on hiatus (eventually being rebuilt using EX-106s), my efforts had been diverted to a simpler and more manageable design. Originally intended as a last minute work around for Robogames, this project ended up being a permanent effort, and one that I’ve grown rather fond of.

Giger is a 24″ custom 24 DOF Humanoid using 16 RX-64 and 8 RX-28 Dynamixel Servos, weighing in at 9lbs total. He uses the same Gumstix based onboard controller that Hagetaka did, designed by Farrell Robotics, and is powered by two 1900mAh 4S LiPo batteries.

Walking gait is being refined, I’ll have video in the near future but much progress has been made. If all goes well, I’ll have him up and running for iHobby 2009 next month! Here are a couple of pictures, for the full set that we took check out my gallery in the TRC!

Share and Enjoy:

Can You Smell What Lynxmotion Is Cooking?

Andrew — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:59:56 +0000

Our good friends over at Lynxmotion have been a force to be reckoned with for well over a decade in the robotics industry; producing some truly inspiring and amazing robots over the years. My first ‘real’ robot was a Lynxmotion Hexapod 1 (the 3 servo variety) that I picked up back in 1997, and their product lines were one of the driving forces that got me addicted to robotics.

Well, they’ve impressed me yet again; Lynxmotion owner Jim and his son James, being robot enthusiasts and likewise fans of the Mechwarrior franchise, were intrigued with the Mech Warfare competition. Specifically they loved the biped aspect of it and so they set out to create a low cost competitive platform for Mech Warfare, and succeeded. Nicknamed ‘Hunchback’ and based around their BRAT biped platform, this is turning out to be one of the lowest cost and straight forward platforms for the competition. Currently there is a work-in-progress tutorial showing the build and code, and it looks like we have a very high chance of being treated to a complete kit allowing you to build your very own. If you’re interested in seeing how it progressed from prototype to near final revision, check out the project thread over on the Lynxmotion forums. Check out the following video of the Hunchback in action!

Share and Enjoy:

Robots with Friggin Laser Beams on their Heads!

Andrew — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:44:26 +0000

Giving robots weaponry seems to be a recurring theme with humanity’s technological progression in robotics. Not that there is anything wrong with that; it’s not like something could ever go wrong in the future. Right?

In America, we’ve got Mech Warfare which implements archaic Airsoft guns and rockets. Japan however, has decided to step it up a notch and have equipped their robots with lasers. Building exploding, blindness causing, movie theater annoying lasers of destruction. To add insult to injury, they’ve even adding awesome PEW PEW PEW noises to their lasers! Why must you taunt us Japan, why?!? Not only do you make cooler robots, but now you’re giving them lasers. Totally not fair. The Robot BLASER Battles are definitely awesome though, check out their 2nd annual competition video below:

Via Botjunkie, Thanks Evan!

Share and Enjoy:

Mech Warfare 2009 Highlights Video

Andrew — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:43:19 +0000

We came, we conquered. Mech Warfare’s first year at Robogames 2009 was a success. We had a professional video crew on hand to record the action from multiple synchronous security cameras mounted within the arena, and even threw our interns inside during a few matches. This video is a highlights compilation of some of the robots that competed, enjoy!

Share and Enjoy:

Trossen Robotics Community Lounge @ Robogames 2009

Andrew — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:32:45 +0000

We had a blast at Robogames 2009 and had quite a few of our Community members show up and hang out in our lounge. Robots were battled, discussed, and otherwise shared! We cannot wait until next year, and we hope to see more of you there. Here is a quick highlight video showing some of the lounge and the attending members, as well as some of our member’s robots interacting with the crowd.

Share and Enjoy: