We just ran across this video on Youtube, check out this awesome home made Bioloid gripper by Jon Hylands using Bioloid parts and a Firgelli actuator. Nice job Jon!
Archive for the ‘Project Ideas’ Category
Bioloid Hand Gripper using a Firgelli Actuator
Tuesday, July 24th, 2007Rubber Grip Sheets for securing hardware
Thursday, March 29th, 2007
We wanted to let everyone know about something new we discovered recently. While trying to figure out a simple way to keep batteries and hardware in place on our robots we wanted a solution that was simple and flexible. We didn’t want to have to build complex harnesses or framework because we weren’t sure of where the final placement of everything would be. Through trial and error we discovered the wonderfully elegant solution of using soft rubber sheets.
We cut sheets to our desired size and put them under our batteries and other components. These sheets are so sticky that the weight of the battery alone would seal it to the base plate so well we could tilt the bot almost perpendicular to the ground and the batteries would stay in place. In fact, after the batteries had sat for a few days you could lift the base off the ground by just holding onto the batteries. Without any straps! Delighted we knew we had found a handy way for securing hardware without drilling a zillion holes.
By adding Velcro straps you have a solution which keeps your hardware in place very securely, but without the permanence of bolts. It makes for quick adjustments and swap outs. Anyone who works with bots knows that it can be a pain to reach into tight corners to unscrew items that need adjusting or replacing.
Beer Launching Fridge
Monday, February 26th, 2007
Have you ever gotten up off the couch to get a beer for the umpteenth time and thought, “What if instead of ME going to get the BEER, the BEER came to ME???� Well, that was how I first conceived of the beer launching fridge. About 3 months and several hundred dollars later I have a fully automated, remote controlled, catapulting, man-pit approved, beer launching mini-fridge. It holds 10 beers in its magazine with 14 more in reserve to store a full case. It is controlled by a keyless entry system. Pressing unlock will start the catapult rotating and when it is aiming at your target, pressing unlock again will stop it. Then the lock button can be pressed to launch a beer in the selected direction.
Link (video after the jump)
via Coolest GadgetsÂ
Man builds robot plow to shovel snow from inside… brilliant.
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
Herdy-Gerdy, a remote-controlled snow-plowing robot built by Bill Lauver, of Middleburg, has been getting a lot of attention over the last five days.
“It’s been crazy,” Mr. Lauver said. “We’ve been getting calls for radio interviews. I talked to a guy from David Letterman today who discussed some ideas (for a television bit) and said he’d call me back.”
via digg postÂ
HowTo: Measure a Vehicle’s Performance with a USB Accelerometer
Monday, February 19th, 2007Ever wonder how to measure a vehicle’s performance using an accelerometer in a high level programming language? Well, Mike Harkabus has just put together a nice tutorial (with source) on Microsoft’s Coding4Fun Blog that explains how to do so. Called iAccelerate, “using basic physics equations, we can derive a vehicle’s current speed, distance traveled, horsepower, and other performance metrics from the acceleration of the vehicle”, all of which is written in Visual C# Express.
Since the Express languages are free, you can put this entire project together all for the price of the accelerometer (given that you have a vehicle to test and a laptop of course). The accelerometer used in this this tutorial is the Phidget 2-axis accelerometer, which happens to be under $70.
How To: Build a Radio Controlled Lawnmower for under $500
Tuesday, February 13th, 2007When you were a kid (or even now), didn’t you wish you could make mowing the grass fun by controlling it just like you do your RC cars/trucks? I know I did! Well, thanks to Terry Creer, we have an in-depth tutorial explaining how to build our very own radio controlled lawnmower, all for under $500. According to Terry, all this requires is, “A little electronic knowledge, soldering ability and mechanical know-how”
Wheelchair – $150
Lawnmower – $200
Radio gear – $100
Electronic parts for joystick interface – $30
Total – $480
The satisfaction that you get from sitting on your porch and navigating this lawnmower around – Priceless!
Sure, now that I’m older, live in the burbs and have no lawn to mow, I find this tutorial!!
Since there are some people out there that just love to sue companies because of their own negligence: The tutorial link contained in this post is not from Trossen Robotics. Trossen Robotics does not assume any liability from damages as a result of constructing and/or operation of this radio controlled lawnmower.
via Hack-A-Day
How To: Interface a Phidget 8/8/8 Interface Kit with a LV-Maxsonar-EZ1
Friday, February 9th, 2007Ever wonder how you would interact with a sonar sensor in high level programming languages? Well, we just put up a tutorial which shows you how to connect a MaxSonar EZ1 sensor to the analog port on a Phidget 8/8/8 Interface Kit. Not familiar with Phidgets? Phidgets are PC based development boards that allow you to interact with the outside world via any high level programming languages. Until now we were restricted to using various IR sensors to detect distance. Imagine the possibilities! We can’t wait to hear what sort of projects people come up with in the community. We’ve already started using these with our soon to be released modular decks.
Now that your thinking outside the box… What will you build?Full tutorial can be found here. Check out the thread on this topic
Model Tank Tracks for Robot Tracks
Wednesday, February 7th, 2007
Tank style tracks for robots are still hard to come by these days. Most available kits on the market are small light weight designs and wouldn’t hold up for even a medium sized robot. During one of our many internet hunting excursions we came across a unique site called Backyard Armor that sells metal tank treads for scale model tanks. These treads might work well for people needing rugged treads for outdoor robots so we thought we would pass along the info. If anyone tries these out please drop us a note.
Serial Bluetooth Adapters – Wireless PC Based Robotics!
Monday, February 5th, 2007Many of our customers have always asked the question, “how do I communicate with this controller/ IO board via wireless”? Well, unfortunately, WUSB is only limited to hubs and a very limited array of peripheral devices. Sure, it’ll be great once WUSB is integrated into devices such as Phidgets with their sweet high level API’s, but in the meantime we can still use Serial Bluetooth Adapters for devices that communicate to the PC via Serial Ports. Here are a few that we have come across the last couple of weeks:
Socket Cordless Serial Adapter
Free2move Serial Adapter
AIRcable Serial module
AIRcable mini OS
AIRcable Serial OS
Combine any one of these with a Serial device such as the SSC-32 Servo controller, Step1 Stepper Motor Controller, or a Sabertooth DC Motor Controller and viola! You have a wireless PC based Robot!
Incredible PC based home robot project!
Monday, January 29th, 2007
Today’s featured robot is by Jeff Terrell. Jeff proved that you don’t have to spend a million dollars to build an inceredible home robot. His robot is further proof that PC based robotics is the future of hobby and educational robotics. Jeff is one of our customers and avid community member. He built an incredible mini PC based home robot using a lot of creativity and ingenuity. Jeff really has a passion for robotics and it shows. Here is a list of some of his robots features below. To read more visit his forum thread here.
The body is constructed from dense PVC plastic. I used Industrial size drainage PVC and the Legs are made from PVC sheeting.
The head moves 180 degrees left and right. Has blue neon flex strip under the heads edge, lights up 360 degrees. The mouth is a thin red LED strip under the eye panel and lights up with speech.
The section below the head (upper body form) also moves left and right 180 degrees. Movement is obtained from Giant Scale HiTech Servos in Servo Power Gearboxes from RoboZone.
There is a Logitech Orbit webcam atop the head which has pan/tilt. Using RoboRealms Vision Software to do visual tracking.
Also attempting to use Strabo Pathfinder from wehali.com for mapping with encoders and hopefully soon with IRs and sonar and visual imaging tools.
Plan to use the EZ1 Sonars and IRs with Phidget Interface modules.
The eyeplate is a stereo speaker module that connects to the mother boards sound card which utilizes AT&Ts Natural Language Text-to-Speech Engine.
The round front vent has a small computer fan inside. The legs and feet contain gearhead motors and wheels. The feet have bumper contacts switches in them.
The Drive system is composed of 2 Devantech MD03 H-Bridges and a Nubotics motor controller with US Digital Quad Encoders. The Motors connect to the wheels via timing gear and belt assembly.
Computer is a Biostar micro ATX Mother Board with an AMD Athlon 4600 64×2 Processor Has 160g Sata HD and 2g of DDR2 Ram. Power Supply is a M2-ATX from Mini-Box.
