Can I get a quick show of hands from any members interested in doing a quadcopter build if I do a class?
Brooks Coleman Lil’ Deuce
The Lil’ Deuce frame I got from Dalton is really turning out to be a lot of fun and you can build one out for under $100. You can get a cheap, compatible 6-channel radio for about about $50 and same for the goggles so total cost would be $200 if you need everything.
You can get extra receivers for the radios for around $10 to $20 that can also work for controlling robots. Also, extra cameras with transmitters around $20 for the video if you want to telepresence (the kids call it FPV for First Person View) your bot.
These things are a blast to fly around indoors and you can set the video transmitters to the minimum 25mw so you don’t need the HAM license required for the higher power levels. Eventually I’d like to offer HAM test training classes too. So … anyone?
Here’s a couple of videos I did with the Lil’ Deuce, and don’t worry, it’s on horizon mode so no dizzying dives or loops. Also check out my latest addition to the effort of blending moving features to the indoor course.
[Posted on behalf of Yama Ploskonka by rutrohverlord]
This device, designed and built by Robot Group member, Yama Ploskonka, appeared in a cruder form at Maker Faire Austin on May 04, 2019.
The Yamautomaton, a computer-controlled machine originally designed for research in kinesthetics of calligraphy, actually delivers a pretty good hand! Here making a copy of the Canticle of the Creatures, a praise prayer by St.Francis, imitating the hand (font or typeface to y’all) of the oldest manuscript in Italian, c. AD 1270. The machine was built in Austin, Texas, from parts of a homespun CNC originally from 2018. Completing these two sheets of fine calligraphy would take a practiced professional a good couple days. That’s too much work. To save effort, I only spent 6 months building the machine, developing the software, even figuring the right ink-gum-pigments mix. Saving work and time, that’s my motto!
Yama reports that, after just a few months of additional work, the device has now reached ‘production’ reliability.
“I just drop a file with tagged text, and the machine does the rest (of course I have to mother the pen’s ink supply, and set the paper, but that would be the same if doing calligraphy by hand).”
He continues, “I seem to find very few ‘practical’ writing automata out there, seems the concept is a bit abandoned. Yes, of course, essentially it’s just a CNC, conceptually not that much beyond an EggBot, and, yes, it would take just a few rods to transfer the movement to a more humanoid arm and hand. It might be that the actual challenge is then really in the software.”
“The text file goes in as text, including dimensions for the paper, column locations, then coordinates for each stroke in each character come as a CSV spreadsheet. Both get slurped by some Python code (150 lines), that spits out Gcode (for red, gold, black), and on to the CNC.”
Future developments include another attempt at Chinese writing.
“It proved too complicated, so I did a ‘step back to better jump’ by going first to Blackletter (Fraktur, like Gutenberg font), then to this medieval hand. That did help me figure out and pass several limitations that my software and conceptualization had, so I feel more ready now for what is probably still the most complex writing system in use, Chinese. As a fringe benefit, the code is more able to be ‘universal’ … potentially being able to deliver any hand that has been compiled.”
The Yamautomaton (likely a tentative name) is able to travel. If y’all have a venue, please speak up.
The DaVinci Awards are a way of giving recognition to the folks that help make the TRG such a success.
With Paul Atkinson doing the electronics & PCB work, Ed Gonzalez doing the layout and laser work, Rick Abbott doing the metal work, and Vern Graner doing the final assembly and project management, they delivered some pretty nice looking awards!
The awards have a built-in battery base with a microprocessor-controlled color-changing RGB LED. There are several modes of operation from static, blinking, and color shifting. The finished product was incredible … but what was even more amazing is the fact that they were kept entirely a secret until the day of the end-of-the-year banquet.
Mark Hinkle had proposed a Centipede project different from that previously built by Brooks Coleman. Alas, the project page was only partially-captured by the Wayback Machine and I have no further knowledge of its successful completion.
The Centipede is a segmented insect-like robot. The segments are constructed such that they are removable and stackable. That is, the robot can be made almost any length you like.
I have been encountering some problems in the design definition stage. The big problem is that of knowing the turn angle. I would like to use a potentiometer for it but all the ones I have looked at have a high friction on the wiper. The robot is lightweight so this is unacceptable. If you know of a small, low-friction potentiometer, please drop me a line.
UPDATE (23MAR04): Some people that I have contact with through work are getting me the name of a manufacturer that makes 360 deg. pots. That is, the pot can turn infinite angles and has very low stiction. I’ll post contact info for the manufacturer as soon as I find out. It is exactly (almost … it is a bit large) what I have been looking for!
Failing that, I decided that a flex sensor would be a good choice. They only sense flexing in one direction so I would need two of them back to back. I figure they would have to be about one inch long. That means custom.
UPDATE: (23Sep2004) I have found a part that will do the trick! It is used on the nose-vane of the Predator UAV for attitude sensing. The part is made by the Dynamation Transducers Corporation.”
Mark Hinkle (aka RoboMarkov)
The background material for this page is derived from an archived page on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Some links may have been added, removed, or updated.
Campshower is another design from the mind of Mark Hinkle. As is the case for his Centipede project, this page was only partially-captured by the Wayback Machine.
This is a concept for a deluxe campshower I have. This was going to be for the Civic Guard, a Society for Creative Anachronism group. Unfortunately no one had the cash to pitch in for its components.
Mark Hinkle
Some calculations for it follow :
Assume : 15 persons 10 minute showers 12V 200 Amp-hour battery 50 gallon water tank 2.5 gal/min pump 5 gal water per shower
Total shower length per day = 10×15 = 150 minutes per day
A fully charged battery will last 200/5.5 = 36.36 hours continuous usage. 36.36hr x 60min/hr = 2181.81 minutes 2181.81min / 150min/day = 14.54 days @ 150 minutes per day
A full water tank lasts (under continuous usage) 50gal / 2.5gpm = 20 minutes continuous (under intermittent usage) 50gal / 5gpp = 10 people can shower before tank is dry.
Note : this assumes that the showerer will only have the water on long enough to get wet or to rinse. No water usage during lathering, scrubbing, or shaving. Also, no account is made for the hot water reserve. I recommend that we have two water barrels so that one may be filled while another is used.
Another note : It can get cold at Gulf War. Pipes may freeze. How do we prevent that? We could bury the hoses but will that work? Draining is not practical. Also, we could use some sort of insulation on the uprights.
The parts list goes something like this:
BATTERY : spec.: AGM???, 12V, ???AmpHr, $xxx
BATTERY CHARGING REGULATOR : 10A Schottkey diode with heatsink if possible.
WATERPUMP : 12V DC, 6.0Amp current, 2.0-3.0gpm
HOSE : garden or RV hose with large inner diameter. Need something to prevent freezing. Bury?
FAUCET : two valve
SHOWERHEAD : low flow, high pressure
WATER HEATER : gas, 6gal, no electric (spark or match ignite)
Shower cannot be continuous! These times are the cumulative length of all showers.
PAVILION : plasticized canvas, 5ft.x5ft base
ASTROTURF : toolbox liner is also acceptable
PALLET : modified so feet don’t fall between cracks
The background material for this page is derived from an archived page on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Some links may have been added, removed, or updated.
Oscar – he’s our own trash can man. He is made from a standard metal trash can and a servo controlled robot hand.
Oscar puts trash in its place. An object placed in the robot hand will trigger the mechanism to retract the hand into the trash can and dispose of it properly
Oscar, performing his routine for the kids.
Oscar could have been a great boon in the waste disposal industry. The kids at RoboFest certainly loved feeding him. When Oscar is around, floors remain pretty spotless.
[Images and text initially from http://www.robotgroup.org/projects/oscar.html]
Tim Sheridan designed and built a radio-controlled (RC) servo “pup” capable of sitting, standing, walking, and barking. Alex Iles helped with the microcontroller implementation.
Bob Comer (and son, David) have been working on a surveillance robot with remote telepresence. The robot is constructed using a PVC frame and drive components (motor, gearbox, and wheels) scavenged from old kids’ electric ride-on toys.
The robot is equipped with
Imagine Tools Ethernet Starter Kit – Rabbit 3000 microprocessor with web server. Source : www.jameco.com
Linksys WRT54G wireless router. Source : Best Buy, CompUSA, Frys, etc.
Airlink AIC250 ethernet camera. Source : Frys, etc.
The robot is programmed in Dynamic C and has a web page as an interface. You can drive the robot from any computer with wireless networking and a web browser.
[Image and text originally from http://wiki.therobotgroup.org/wiki/RobertComer]
