Mechanical Arm

Paul, aka "Sariel.pl" is an outstanding builder, but he usually stays within the Technic realm, not much robotics type stuff.  He does motorize all of his creations to the extreme which I can appreciate. He has tried his hand at a full scale mechanical arm and done a pretty nice job of it.  He has run into the problem that I run into all the time; when you build big, stuff runs ssssslllllloooooowwwww.



You can find him on Facebook where he frequently shows progress on his projects.  I am a fan of his on FB and as much as he updates, I wonder if he builds 24/7.

RobotC Page

I just noticed, I am getting some sweet show-off time over at the RobotC page right now.  On the homepage, the DominoBot video is up in the corner.  Plus over at the "Cool RobotC Projects" page, they are showing my Flexpicker, the DominoBot and a blurb about MARVIN.

5x5x5 Cube solver.

Hey everybody, someone has built a really cool robot that solves a 5x5x5 Rubik's Cube.  Man, do I feel inadequate.  Is there a club or something doing all these????



I didn't even know a 5x5x5 cube existed.

Update on MARVIN

I snapped this picture today as MARVIN was chewing me out for not completing him by now.

#!%@% Chris!!!!

Here’s what is going on with MARVIN. This is by far the toughest challenge I have ever taken on, but it is sooo much fun. I literally keep a “to do” list at my work table as I think of things to add and things I need to fix. I have six “scripts” put together. A script is just like it sounds, a series of actions and sounds based on user interactions. Most are pretty short, like raising a gripper and waving while saying “Hello.” A couple are more complicated and still need some work. I have a long list of scripts I would like to program.

A few web sites have taken notice of MARVIN and are eagerly waiting to see the final robot in action. This is good because it motivates me to do my best work and not slough off. One of those sites is Singularity Hub. Check out the last line of this post and you’ll see what I mean.

The problems are too many to list here, but here are a couple.

I chose the wheels because they are not pneumatic and can handle higher loads; well at least I thought they could.

I am finding that the weight of the robot is causing the rubber to come off the hubs. Not sure how I am going to deal with that, but it may require a significant rebuild.

RobotC doesn’t support multiple NXT communications, so I have had to improvise by using LEDs on the Master NXT and light sensors on the slave NXTs. This means that communications is a one-way street, so all my scripts have to take that into account. Plus we all know how finicky Bluetooth can be.

Getting the grippers to work has been a real challenge. Each arm requires three servo motors so there is no extra port to operate the gripper. I overcame this obstacle by using a IRLink with a PF receiver with medium PF motors running the grippers. So I have to communicate between the NXTs when I operate the gripper when the IRLink is on the other NXT. The timing is a real trick. I am still perfecting that problem.

MARVIN may not be done soon, but I am confident that when he is done, he will be something you will remember.

Bliss

You guys know I love escapements and kinetic art. Another of my hobbies is woodworking. I have built dozens of projects which sit around my house gathering dust. Today I stumbled upon Clayton Boyer (quilty1987) on YouTube. He has pushed all my buttons with his masterpieces. This guy has built working wooden mechanical clocks with flair. If you can appreciate great kinetic art with lots of mechanical doodads and gizmos, check out all of his videos.

Here is a whole bunch of his clocks….


And here is an extremely detailed mechanical calendar....


Now if we could get BenVanDeWaal with his escapements together with superbird28 and his mechanical masterpieces and have them build something together, I think I could die with the knowledge that I have seen the best of the best.

RobotC Sample Music program

A topic came up over at the RobotC forums about how to play music in RobotC. I spent some time messing with it a few months ago, so I spent some time researching it again. Please keep in mind I haven’t played a musical instrument or read sheet music since I quit band in 6th grade back in 1979.

First thing I did was to find some very easy and free sheet music with familiar tunes. I found this place, but I am certain there are plenty of places to find music. Then I did some research on the notes and such and I reverted to the reliable Wikipedia. Then I spent some time in NXT-G figuring out which tones go with which note.

I then created this cheat sheet which I keep by my side as I am translating the sheet music to variables in the RobotC array.

So here is what I came up with. A sample program to start with when I find new sheet music that I want to convert to RobotC music. Here is a link to the sheet music I used.

// Frequency (note)
// Example: A_3 is A in the third octave
// Ash_3 is A# in the third octave
int C_3 = 261;
int Csh_3 = 275;
int D_3 = 293;
int Dsh_3 = 310;
int E_3 = 329;
int F_3 = 348;
int Fsh_3 = 370;
int G_3 = 392;
int Gsh_3 = 412;
int A_3 = 440;
int Ash_3 = 466;
int B_3 = 496;
int C_4 = 524;
int Csh_4 = 555;
int D_4 = 590;
int Dsh_4 = 621;
int E_4 = 656;
int F_4 = 695;
int Fsh_4 = 738;
int G_4 = 788;
int Gsh_4 = 830;
int A_4 = 877;
int Ash_4 = 929;
int B_4 = 987;
int C_5 = 1054;
int Csh_5 = 1104;
int D_5 = 1188;
int Dsh_5 = 1251;
int E_5 = 1322;
int F_5 = 1401;
int Fsh_5 = 1488;
int G_5 = 1590;
int Gsh_5 = 1646;
int A_5 = 1770;
int Ash_5 = 1841;
int B_5 = 1995;
//Duration
int Dwhole = 200;
int Whole = 100;
int Half = 50;
int Quarter = 25;
int Eighth = 13;
int Sixteenth = 6;

int Notes[][]= //currently “Ode to Joy”, Change these notes for a new song
{
{F_4, Quarter},
{F_4, Quarter},
{G_4, Quarter},
{A_4, Quarter},
{A_4, Quarter},
{G_4, Quarter},
{F_4, Quarter},
{E_4, Quarter},
{D_4, Quarter},
{D_4, Quarter},
{E_4, Quarter},
{F_4, Quarter},
{F_4, Quarter},
{E_4, Eighth},
{E_4, Half},
{F_4, Quarter},
{F_4, Quarter},
{G_4, Quarter},
{A_4, Quarter},
{A_4, Quarter},
{G_4, Quarter},
{F_4, Quarter},
{E_4, Quarter},
{D_4, Quarter},
{D_4, Quarter},
{E_4, Quarter},
{F_4, Quarter},
{E_4, Quarter},
{D_4, Eighth},
{D_4, Half},
{E_4, Quarter},
{E_4, Quarter},
{F_4, Quarter},
{D_4, Quarter},
{E_4, Quarter},
{F_4, Eighth},
{G_4, Eighth},
{F_4, Quarter},
{D_4, Quarter},
{E_4, Quarter},
{F_4, Eighth},
{G_4, Eighth},
{F_4, Quarter},
{E_4, Quarter},
{D_4, Quarter},
{E_4, Quarter},
{G_3, Half},
{F_4, Quarter},
{F_4, Quarter},
{G_4, Quarter},
{A_4, Quarter},
{A_4, Quarter},
{G_4, Quarter},
{F_4, Quarter},
{E_4, Quarter},
{D_4, Quarter},
{D_4, Quarter},
{E_4, Quarter},
{F_4, Quarter},
{E_4, Quarter},
{D_4, Eighth},
{D_4, Half},
};

task main
{
for (int i=0; i<62; i++) //change the "62" to the new number of notes in the piece
{
PlayTone(Notes[i][0], Notes[i][1]);
while(bSoundActive);
wait1Msec(20);
}
}

Have Fun!

Robo-Rex

Check out this mechanical masterpiece.

More pictures at Flickr

Growth Modeling of an Onion

Here’s a bit of robotic kinetic art that might interest you. David Bowen is an artist. His web site called david bowen kinetic, robotic, interactive and sculptural works shows a device he calls a Growth Modeling Device. Here's his description:

This system uses lasers to scan an onion plant from one of three angles. As the plant is scanned a fuse deposition modeler in real-time creates a plastic model based on the information collected. The device repeats this process every twenty-four hours scanning from a different angle. After a new model is produced the system advances a conveyor approximately 17 inches so the cycle can repeat. The result is a series of plastic models illustrating the growth of the plant from three different angles.

There is a video on his site. It’s pretty interesting.

RobotC Freebie

Ode to Joy in RobotC

int Notes[][]=
{
{695, 25},
{695, 25},
{788, 25},
{877, 25},
{877, 25},
{788, 25},
{695, 25},
{656, 25},
{590, 25},
{590, 25},
{656, 25},
{695, 25},
{695, 25},
{656, 13},
{656, 50},
{695, 25},
{695, 25},
{788, 25},
{877, 25},
{877, 25},
{788, 25},
{695, 25},
{656, 25},
{590, 25},
{590, 25},
{656, 25},
{695, 25},
{656, 25},
{590, 13},
{590, 50},
{656, 25},
{656, 25},
{695, 25},
{590, 25},
{656, 25},
{695, 13},
{788, 13},
{695, 25},
{590, 25},
{656, 25},
{695, 13},
{788, 13},
{695, 25},
{656, 25},
{590, 25},
{656, 25},
{440, 50},
{695, 25},
{695, 25},
{788, 25},
{877, 25},
{877, 25},
{788, 25},
{695, 25},
{656, 25},
{590, 25},
{590, 25},
{656, 25},
{695, 25},
{656, 25},
{590, 13},
{590, 50},
};

task main
{
for (int i=0; i<62; i++)
{
PlayTone(Notes[i][0], Notes[i][1]);
while(bSoundActive);
}
}

Crawler Town

I was checking out The Brothers Brick tonight and found a really cool static model.  Yes, I said static, no motors and no NXT, but I still think it is worth looking at because it is HUGE (I likey!) and has an enormous Technic superstructure.  It looks like it will work, but I think it would take a 4 hp motor just to move it.  Here is a teaser pic...

Here are the rest of the pictures found on flickr.  Here is the TBB post.

Robotic Music

I am a big fan, and this one actually sounds pretty good.  A few rough noises, but I can at least tell what song is being played.

Industrial Robot Solves Cube

With all the Lego cube solvers that have come out, this pair of industrial robotic arms just look silly.  Plus, look at the condition of the cube.  It's pretty beat up, so I am guessing the robots were hard on it.

Some Great Things from MIT

One of my goals with this blog is to inspire people to think differently about robotics. Industrial robots  basically do the “3 Ds”, i.e., dirty, dangerous and dull. Toy robotic sets such as Bioloid are just fun to play with but not really useful. Cleaning robots such as the Roomba are useful, but limited and not much fun. We are pretty used to seeing stuff like that around.

A few groups are working hard to think differently about how we interact with robots. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has a ground breaking department called the MIT Media lab, Personal Robotics Group which creates very innovative and often strange interactive robots.

For those who don’t know it, MIT Media Lab had a hand in developing Mindstorms for Lego (Ref Wikipedia).  Knowing how much MIT has done for the Mindstorms community, I often check out their page. I think “Let’s see what they are doing for me now!” I recommend getting into this page and looking around and watching some videos. You will say to yourself “why are they doing that???” and “that’s just odd!!”, but I guarantee you will see something that will certainly inspire you.

CubeStormer

Have you seen any incredible Rubik's cube solving robots lately? Ya, that Speedcuber was pretty cool. But believe it or not, the king has already been dethroned (in my opinion at least). This thing reminds me of the Large Hadron Collider and is probably just as impressive. Extra credit for pulling off the teal and purple parts, plus all the lights. This one will make you stand up and clap.

3D Ball Maze

This video came out almost a year ago and it's still one of my favorites.  YouTube user RoboticSolutions created a very nice mount for a toy ball maze which is cool in itself, but then he spent countless hours programming it.  Very nice.

Cat vs. Robot

From Gizmodo.  Cat vs. Robot.  You'll be surprised.

Killer Lasers

I found this over at BoingBoing.  "Video of gadget that shoots down mosquitoes with lasers."



I know my backyard would look like a laser show on summer nights.

Cool Industrial Robot Videos

Singularity Hub has collected some really cool video of industrial robots at work.  All the videos are about one minute or less.  Check it out.

This is one of them.  The rest are real.

Speedcuber

Watch and enjoy.

Augmented Reality

Have you seen this!!  How cool is that!!

Welcome to the Tinkernology Family

A while ago I posted about my local TRU selling NXT 1.0 for $145.  Well, it ate me up knowing that I could get all those parts for half the price of the NXT 2.0 and for the same price as just the NXT brick at S@H.  So I scraped together some money and I went and bought the last two on the shelf.  Introducing NXT #5 and NXT #6.

RobotC firmware has been downloaded, batteries have been installed, stickers have been applied, and the Try Me programs deleted.  Now it's time to put them to work.

Sorry Xander, I am not quite as creative with my naming conventions as you.  Maybe I will come out of my shell and give them proper names so they won't be embarrassed in public.

And special thanks to my wife for accepting another one of my lame "I am out of Lego, I need more!!" excuses.

And another cool milestone has been reached with this purchase.  By my inventory, I now have approximately 100,000 Lego pieces. 

Working Lego Airbags with Video

Put this one under the category "Why?"  But yet it is still cool.  The airbags are fully functional and inflate before the driver the driver hits his pretty little plastic head.


I am having trouble believing the 2900 psi/200 bar claim.  That's quite a lot of pressure for plastic parts to hold.

Thought Control

Here's a topic that has got me thinking.  A company (or person??) has quietly announced Puzzlebox Brainstorms.  They claim to have available hardware and software that can pick up your brain activity using an EEG headset and use that to control a NXT robot.  I am a little skeptical; the video doesn't show much but a computer monitor with a remote controlled NXT robot.  I believe it can be done, but the website doesn't give much information either.

Awwww, Jeffery, come back.

We messed up when we gave them feelings.

Bop-It Idea

Having young children, I get to watch lots of commercials for toys. Plus, I get to watch them play the Wii. Tonight I got an idea that might be kinda fun to build with a NXT. I got the idea watching my daughter do all the crazy motions with the Wiimote on her Dora the Explorer game.

With all the sensors available, it would be fun to create a Lego NXT version of Bop-it. I have never played the game, but like many of you I have seen the commercials over and over.

Use a rotation sensor or a servo motor with a wheel that requires turning. Use a sound sensor to hear you yell. Use a touch sensor as a button to be pushed. An acceleration to sense twist, you get the idea. Commands could be recorded and turned into “.rso” sounds.

And naturally when I think I have a unique idea, I do a quick search on YouTube and find that someone has already done it. Here is an RCX version.



But I think a NXT version would be better with all the sensors available.

By the way, doing a little research on this toy, I went to Amazon.com and found that some of these toys sell for $300!!!!!!!  What am I missing????

Industrial Automation

I am a big fan of automation as well as robotics. Industrial automation is interesting because it often incorporates many machines and robots. Think of a long automobile production line full of robots that are spot welding cars together. But it is not limited to an assembly line with tons of typical industrial robots.

Here is an interesting video from a company called EWAB Engineering. It is company that uses a special conveyor system to link many different manufacturing processes together. This video is at a Ford plant and it shows how cam shafts go from station to station to station all without human intervention. It is amazing how far these parts go and how many stations each goes into. The parts look like lemmings.

Hexapod Walker

Another really cool video has surfaced on YouTube.com. GusJanss has produced an awesome hexapod walker. This robot can turn, change its pace, and use a light sensor and an ultrasonic sensor to navigate. He achieves some really cool movements out of just three motors. Nice work!

Vortex Cannon

This is totally not NXT, Lego, or even remotely mechanically related. It’s just plain cool.

You know how it’s rather challenging to get Lego to shoot anything. The little cannons couldn’t harm an amoeba. I haven’t messed is the Zamor Sphere shooter, but I am guessing that it doesn’t have much of a punch.

Enter the Vortex Cannon. A vortex cannon is simply a cylinder with a hole in one end that is smaller than the cylinder diameter and a flexible cover over the other. When you thump the flexible “drum” end, a vortex exits the other end.  If the cannon is built properly, that vortex can carry a little bit of a punch that will travel some distance. It can be filled with smoke to create vortex smoke rings, or it can be used without smoke, which will create invisible vortex rings.

Here is the challenge: Build a robot that searches out an enemy robot with a target mounted on top such as a candle or something light, aim at the target and blow the target off. What’s cool is that the vortex cannon can shoot quite a distance as shown in this video. And no, I don’t expect you to build a nine foot diameter cannon and mount it on a robot. Eight foot should suffice.



Here a a video from Make Magazine how to build a large cannon.



I know that my kids would love to be shot by a vortex cannon, so this is yet another project on my To Do list.

Festo is at it again

Back in mid-December, I posted about some work the Festo was doing.  Well, they're at it again.  Now they have a robot that is a cross between a Flexpicker and a Makerbot.  Check it out.

Lego Technic Pneumatic Walker

Here's a cool walker.  The builder, aeh5040 achieves motion by using the cylinders extend and retract motion to move the switch, which is somewhat challenging to do.  But it's done in a manner here where the walker produces an interesting gait.

Lego NXT GrabBot

A few days ago I posted about a Lego Education R/C robot called Rooster.  Over on YouTube.com, watchfuleye1000 has created a pretty similar robot called "Lego NXT GrabBot" and did a pretty good job of it too.  Although I am not exactly sure what all the linkages do, but it works great.