Hobby Robotics

BEAM ROBOT

2011-04-13T15:56:00.001+01:00

Power-Smart Head Version 3

It’s been a while since I’ve built any BEAM robots, but some wet weather prompted me to get back to the soldering iron and make a new bot.

This is another solar powered “power-smart” head, built around a 74AC240 chip. The circuit is the Solar Power Smart Head circuit. The motor is a nice geared 141:1 MicroMo motor I got off Ebay. It has a cog attached to the spindle, which allowed me to mount it in a drilled-out hard drive part for the base.

This guy fires every few seconds under bright light, and almost continuously in daylight, rotating quite quickly, and smoothly to point towards the brightest part of the environment. I’m pleased with it.

permalink | robots | 2009.01.25-17:20.00

Symet

The Symet use one of the simplest BEAM circuits. The solar cell charges the capacitors (one or more in parallel). A solar engine circuit monitors the voltage, and when it trips power is dumped through the motor. Symets rest on their motor spindle, and scoot long the ground when the motor spins. When they hit something, they tilt onto another axis, and go off in a different direction.

This is one of the first free-formed BEAM bots that I built. The circuit is a 1381-based solar engine circuit, and is built around the motor, with components placed radially around a central axis. I used a platter from a laptop hard drive as the bumper.

The trick with symets is to get the angle relative to the ground and the spindle ground contact right so that the symet moves in a straight line until it hits something. I failed with this one, but it jiggers around in circles quite happily. I also learnt that hot-glue solidifies instantly when it comes into contact with cold metal. Either use the tip of the hot glue gun to heat the metal before glueing, or use epoxy.

permalink | robots | 2007.11.19-22:31.00

Turbot

Turbots are BEAM bots that move by spinning flagella, causing them to tumble across the floor. The simplest are just motors driven by a solar engine, and have no directional ability; these are commonly known as a turmets. More complex turbots can move towards the light, reverse their motors to get out of tangles, and other things.

I played for a while with several turbot circuits, particularly those by J Wolfgang Goerlich (who has an excellent series of pages on various turbot designs). His Scuff turbot looked particularly promising, as it was solar powered, and had phototactic behavior.

However, I was also wanted to build a bot whose workings fitted neatly between two solar cells. That dictated the body shape (rectangular), which severely limited the behavior, since it’s hard to get turning if the axis of rotation for both flagella is the same. But I wanted something slightly more complex than a single-motor turbot.

The circuit I came up with is a simple modification of a 74AC240-based photovore design (but I wish I’d seen Wilf’s caveat about this circuit first!). First, it’s solarized with a Miller solar engine. Secondly, I wanted the circuit to choose which motor to drive based on which solar cell was getting more light (i.e. the bot knows which way is “up”). Since the bot has two solar cells, I could replace the photodiode voltage divider in that circuit with the solar cells themselves, by taking a reference voltage from between the two cells (which are wired in series), via a large resitor. Reverse-biased Schottky diodes across each solar cell ensure that the unlit cell doesn’t limit the charging current.

The innards of this beast are shown below. It’s pretty tightly packed! (Click the image for a larger view.)

You can see the Miller SE in the top-left corner. There are two 74AC240s: doubled-up to increase the drive current for the motors. The main storage capacitor is 0.047F; on its own, it can’t dump enough current to reliably start up the gearmotors (which are GM11s from Solarbotics), so there’s another 1000µF capacitor in parallel to get things going. The whole thing is epoxied together, with some scrap plastic spacers to allow the gears to clear the solder pads on the solar cells.

This guy is pretty active in bright light, churning his way in straight line. It has a few issues, like it can end up balanced on one end, with neither cell getting much light (which could be fixed by adding some bumps to make it topple over), and the legs can hit each other. But the compact construction appeals to me.

Other Project Click Here.

Japan Obsessed To Create Advanced Robotic Insects

2011-04-10T12:20:00.003+01:00

The robot is very small insect which is being developed by scientists in Japan (Photo: AFP).
The robot is very small insect which is being developed by scientists in Japan (Photo: AFP).

TOKYO - A kind of bee-shaped robot has the ability to track and smell the presence of illegal drugs are hidden. In addition, the robot can also find and identify victims in collapsed buildings.

It may sound like fiction scenario, but in fact the robot image is part of the vision that was developed by Japanese scientists. Yes, they are working to understand the workings of bees and programmed robots for tasks more specific.

Professor of the Research Centre for Advanced Science and Technology in Tokyo University, Ryohei Kanzaki, has been studying the brains of insects during the last three decades and he became a pioneer in the development of robotic insects. Such information is quoted by AFP on Wednesday (15/07/2009).

"Insects have approximately 100,000 the number of nerve cells in the brain that measures just two millimeters wide. This amount is much less than humans, but size does not determine everything," Kanzaki said.

A very small insect brain has the ability to control the activity of flying and acrobatics in the air is very complex. With the ability that they can catch insects while flying. It proves they are creatures with sophisticated software in their brain.

The developers of the robot and then mimic the way the brain works are applied to the brain of insects to robots. They also observed that the most dominant nerve responds to stimuli and then allows it to be viewed using a glowing three-dimensional image.

Kanzaki also revealed keinginanannnya for to make the robot to be able to adapt to environmental changes and weather.

"It's very interesting if we managed to create a robot that has capabilities very similar to an actual living creatures. They can recognize the smell, crawl, and work like humans. I was preparing for a robot with extraordinary abilities," he said.

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The World's Smallest Humanoid Robot.

2011-04-10T11:51:00.003+01:00

Recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as "The smallest humanoid robot in production," this 6 1/2"-tall humanoid uses precise mechanics to somersault, stand on one leg, do push-ups, perform martial arts, and even reenact a cowboy duel from an American Western

The robot has 180 preprogrammed individual movements, responds to verbal commands, and performs up to 240 movements in sequence, allowing you to design countless routines, such as programming the device to say "hello," introduce himself, play an air guitar, bow to his audience, and say "good-night."

Using the included action chart as a guide, simply enter the alphanumeric codes into the remote control and the little droid reacts in earnest with acrobatics, verbal phrases, and greetings, or you can control the robot's movements manually using the dual joysticks and trigger buttons on the remote. In voice recognition mode, the robot moves in response to 10 verbal prompts such as "Go forward" or "Back up," and acknowledges questions like "How are you?" with appropriate retorts. The robot is controlled by 17 customized servomotors with built-in clutches; a gyro-sensor ensures optimal balance and the 17 points of articulation in the neck, arms, hands, legs, and feet allow human-like movement.

You can alternate between the four modes (manual control, special actions, programmed sequences, and voice command) at the touch of a button, and the remote's integrated LCD shows operation modes and commands as they are selected. Three NiMH rechargeable batteries (included) power the robot. Remote requires three AA batteries. Includes battery charger that plugs into AC. Robot operates for one hour after a six-hour charge. Ages 10 and up. 6 1/2" H x 3 3/4" W x 2 2/3" D. (12 oz.)

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The Giant Robot Project

2011-04-09T13:50:00.002+01:00

This project is the culmination of one basic premise. The world needs more giant robots! I wouldn't even know where to find one if I tried. Giant robots inspire imaginations, and encourage interest in science. The giant robot I plan to build will also be the greatest offroad vehicle on the planet. That makes it extra cool, and I think will help to bring science and engineering to a whole new audience. No longer will we need to look to Science fiction for our giant robots. They will be part of the world.
Now, this is already happening. People scattered all over the planet are building strange and amazing creations in their garages, or backyards, or wherever. I've been recieving a lot of interest in the giant robot I'm planning to build. People often ask how they can help. I'm terrible at accepting charity, or asking for help. I have often offerred help to others with only the reward of feeling super about having been part of a great project. I see no reason to let my personal pride prevent others from being part of this great project. I have already applied for a grant.... but after 6 months of no response, I'm tired of waiting. I am already emotionally committed to the project so I am going forward with it.

More Information click Here.

Hungry Robots

2009-09-13T13:12:00.001+01:00

by Tony Belpaeme and Andreas Birk

Introduction

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been studied for more than fifty years and is an established specialty within computer science. A recent sub-specialty of AI is artificial life, also known as alife. Although alife research can be traced back to the 1960s, it has only found prominence in the last decade. Artificial life studies have two main goals: solving common problems inspired by biological phenomena and studying the basic properties of life with computer-based technology [10]. The first goal has been dubbed the "artificial life route to artificial intelligence" [20], emphasizing the relationship between a novel way of building and programming machines and the study of life through artifacts. While studying biological phenomena, some scientists in the field use animats as their research tool [25]. An animat is a robotic device whose physical appearance and inner workings are inspired by the animal world. (The word animat is a contraction of animal robot.)

In the mid-1980s, AI and robotics researchers began arguing against "classic" approaches that relied on symbolic representations and methods [5]. One researcher, Rodney Brooks, advocated new research questions and methods. Instead of building intelligent systems by solving abstract and highly formalized problems such as computer chess programs, he argued in favor of building intelligent robots that were inspired by nature. In doing so, he stressed the importance of reactive mechanisms and discouraged the use of models of the world: "the world is its own best model"[6]. These reactive mechanisms have a tight coupling between sensor values and motor activations and have no central control. Alife robots typically are controlled by short programs, without a central controller organizing the execution of the programs; each program is responsible for a specific behavior of the robot such as avoiding obstacles or seeking an energy source. These robots and the way they are programmed are therefore called behavior-based.

Interestingly, the study of animats returns robots to their roots. The term "robot" was introduced in 1921 by the Czech writer Karel Capek in his satirical drama R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots). There, robots were shown as artificial super humans. The science-fiction notion of a robot as a human-shaped device with seemingly unlimited strength and intelligence has over the years been replaced by the industrial notion of a robot as a dumb and bulky piece of machinery. Recently, the two disparate notions of a robot have begun to merge. The Sony Aibo dogs are a fine example of the convergence of super-device and drudge machine [7]. These mass-produced toy robots use considerable computing power, a camera, microphone, and touch-sensors to interface with the world.

In this article, we first introduce three basic properties of behavior-based robots. Then we describe a prototype alife experiment with an ecosystem of different types of robots competing for energy. We also explain why we found diverse collections of robots more interesting to study than single robots.

From Robots to Animats

Sometimes behavior-based AI is denoted as the bottom-up approach to AI. Behavior-based AI often focuses on systems that might be considered to be non-intelligent. Simple creatures, such as insects, and their behavior are investigated before more sophisticated animals. Although "simple," these creatures have inspired scientists to elegantly solve problems that are awkward or difficult to solve with classic computer science. The study of ant behavior, for example, has led to very efficient solutions for controlling digital network traffic.

This tendency to study simple organisms is also reflected in robotics activities. The robots used in artificial life are often rather uncomplicated and do not match the science-fiction vision of a robot that serves tea or solves world problems. Despite their simplicity, behavior-based robots or animats usually have three important properties:

They are highly autonomous.
They come equipped with complex sensor and motor-interfaces.
They are integrated within an environment.

The word autonomy is derived from the Greek words auto (self) and nomos (law, rule). So, an autonomous system is a self-governed system. Loosely interpreted, autonomy can be seen as the independence of a device from direct and continuous human supervision and maintenance. Often, autonomy for robots is set at par with being mobile without an umbilical cord that connects the robot to a power supply and sometimes to an off-board computer. But this view is too simplistic: the robot should also have control autonomy, allowing it to decide and learn without much external aid.

Autonomous robots face two major problems. First, they have to adapt to novel situations. Second, they have to manage resources, such as energy. Both problems can be related to the so-called self-sufficiency of animats: they have to be able to sustain themselves over extended periods of time [18].

An animat is said to perform well when it manages to stay operational autonomously. Its performance is considered poor when it runs out of energy or breaks apart. This idea can be traced back to the field of cybernetics, which originated in the 1940s [24]. The cybernetician W. Ross Ashby formalized this idea as early as 1952 by introducing the notion of essential variables [1], the state variables that ensure successful operation as long as they are kept within the crucial boundaries or the viability zone of the agent's state space.

Classic robots are based on precise mechanics, which are necessary because the robots rely on exact models to describe and compute their kinematics. In contrast, behavior-based robots are more like natural devices. Their control schemes rely more on mechanisms and rules of thumb for their behavior. The Sony Aibo dog [7], for instance, consists of simple motors targeted for the toy market. Nevertheless it has very complex motor skills, as it is capable of walking on four legs, each of which has three degrees of freedom (DOFs). Each DOF corresponds to one free parameter in the physical device. A door hinge, for example, has one DOF. Hence the legged motion of the four-legged robot has to cope with a total of twelve DOFs, compared with the five to six DOFs of a typical industrial robot arm. Each DOF adds an extra possibility to the configuration of the system, and often more than one way exists to place a paw on the floor. Computing the most efficient way is a daunting task in robotics.

Behavior-based robots cannot rely on precise, complex models. Instead they are controlled with simple programs. Fortunately this means that their need for computational resources is small. Instead of intensive calculations of inverse kinematics, simple couplings between sensor-values and motor-activations are used. But how is it possible to save on the electro-mechanical and on the computational side? Where is the trade-off?

To some extent the trade-off is simply hidden in the kind of tasks classic and behavior-based robots are suited for. If very precise, repeated positioning is needed, classic robotics is ideal. On the other hand, for other tasks, behavior-based robots are often the more competitive option because they strongly benefit from developments in sensors, especially in computer vision and motors. More and more types of sensors are available at constantly dropping prices. Therefore they can be used as the basis for additional behaviors, increasing the robustness and usefulness of the robot. Camera-chips, for instance, which are primarily targeted at the entertainment and toy market, can be used for computationally inexpensive visual servocontrol compared with more common kinematic controls such as gyros or position sensors.

Last but not least, an animat is typically not seen as an isolated device but as part of an environment. This is discussed in some detail in the following section.

Living on your own?

Ecosystem-like settings are interesting from an alife perspective. Within ecosystems, the main goal of a robot is self-preservation (staying operational for an extended period of time [16,20]). Resources, especially energy, are limited in time and space. Consequently, robots must compete for them. Consequently, competition forms the basis of all robot interactions in the system. There is a substantial amount of alife research based on simulated ecosystems [2,4,11,12,21,23]; however, unlike the ideas presented above, perception and effector-control of the agent are decoupled from the real world.

The basic ecosystem located at the Flemish Free University of Brussels (VUB) [19,14] is a 5 m X 3 m space enclosed by walls (Figure 1). Initially it includes simple mobile robots, the moles (Figure 2). The name of this robot "species" as well as the following ones should not be taken too literally. Note that the names are used for convenience only and are not meant to imply direct relations to the natural counterparts. The name "mole" is derived from the limited vision capabilities of the robots, who can only perceive light intensities through a few simple photosensors. The photosensors, positioned at the front of the robot, are used to navigate and to find objects in the ecosystem.

Figure 1: A part of the basic ecosystem with charging station, two robot moles, three competitors, and several bricks as obstacles.

Figure 2: A so-called mole, a simple autonomous robot that is capable of staying operational in the ecosystem over extended periods in time. Illustrated here is one of its basic behaviors: photo taxis (movement in response to light stimulus) to the charging station to recharge its batteries.

More Info? Visit Actual Website. Click HERE!

simple robots

2009-09-13T13:04:00.001+01:00

This is an example of a writing robot

Handwriting is quite a difficult task for robots, but children find the result interesting.

This is a robot which carries a paper disc. The program is written round the edge of the disc with a black felt-tip, like a bar code.

The disc is carried by the robot rather like music on a music stand, it bears on one of the robot's axles,which rotates it so that the code passes in front of a simple light pen. This works a relay which reverses the motor driving the other axle. A felt-tip is carried in the middle which traces out a simple pattern according to the program. A disc about 3 inches diameter is big enough, the novelty of writing the programs soon wears off.

This next one is similar, but uses an electronic memory to store the program which it scans by rotating once on the paper disc, there is a downwards-pointing light pen at the end.

More Info? Visit Actual Web. Click HERE!

How To Build A Simple Robot

2009-09-13T12:52:00.001+01:00

This was orginally conceived as a multipart series from Mr. CraigGardner, but he took our money and ran. This is all we got. Lesson

If you like this article, please check out this. How to Build A Simple Robot, The Beetle Robot.

This is the first of a multi-part series on how to build a simple
robot. I will not be covering a lot of theory but instead will cover
the nuts and bolts of building a robot. In this first installment I
will cover some of the different options in building this robot.

Platform:

You have several options for the base material.

1. Wood Depending on the size of your robot plywood may be a good
choice it is inexpensive or free and easy to work with simple tools.
You can get 1/4" and 3/8" plywood at Hardware, Home Improvement, Craft,
or Hobby stores. A good place to look for free material is at a Cabinet
shop they have lots of scrap too small for their use but perfect for a
small robot.
2. Aluminum Light weight and moderately easy to work can also be found
at Hardware, Home Improvement, Craft, or Hobby stores. You should
always be very cautious when working with aluminum as edges can be very
sharp and should be sanded or filed to round the edges.
3. Plastics Acrylic or Plexiglas are both easy to work and can also be
found at Hardware, Home Improvement, Craft, or Hobby stores. High-speed
tools should not be used, as they will melt the plastic. When cutting
or drilling use low speeds.
4. Old CD’s These can be easy to find most people get them in the mail
from AOL or Earthlink instead of throwing them away you can use them to
make a robot. They can be a little on the brittle side so go easy when
you do any cutting or drilling.

I will be using Plexiglas from my local home center but you can use whatever material you want.

Motors:

1.Servos You can use servos for easy to get gear
motors. Hobby shops will usually carry several sizes and brands. You
will need to modify them for use there are many sites on the net with
different methods; the one I like is detailed at the PARTS website at http://www.portlandrobotics.org/.
Servos already have all of the control circuitry built in and are easy
to control they have 3 wires signal, +, and ground by pulsing the
signal line you can go forward, stop, or backward. Servos are probably
the easiest and cheapest way to go but may not be the best for you.
2.Gear motors These are available from surplus stores or hobby shops
some people modify servos and remove the electronics to use them as
gear motors. Gear motors will require control circuitry normally an
H-bridge to allow forward and reverse motion and in some cases braking.
Gear motors can give the greatest flexibility but at a higher cost
compared to servos. Another source for gear motors is the toy section
of your locale department store. What you want are the radio control
toys that have differential steering, meaning they have a separate
motor for each side. To turn left they go forward on the right motor
and turn off the left motor and do the opposite to turn right. The
really good cars will turn right by going backward on the right motor
and forward on the left this will allow a vehicle to almost turn on a
dime. If you use gear motors you will need to devise a method to mount
the wheels I will be using a toy for my example.

Visit actual website. Click HERE!

How to Build a Simple Robot – Beetle Robot

2009-09-12T16:41:00.001+01:00

The following article will show you how to build a simple robot, called "The Beetle Robot", created by Jerome Demers. It’s great for beginners and easy to do.

This is the Beetle Robot v. 3 you are going to build:

Before starting, I suggest you to read the complete tutorials. This will greatly lower the chances of you making a mistake.

Tools Needed:

soldering iron ( here’s a helpful tutorial on soldering )
electronic solder
diagonal cutter
Mini glue gun

Components for the robot

2x – small 1.5 Volts motors
2x – small paperclips
2x – big paperclips
2x – batteries AAA or AA
1x – battery holder AAA or AA
1x – 2 cm of heat shrink
1x – wooden pearl (for the caster)
1x – meter of electric wire
2x – Sub-mini lever SPDT switches

More info? Click Actual Website.

Insect Robot

2009-07-16T11:09:00.008+01:00

Insect Robot

Robot Insects? Well let alone this? Very strange name. Never mind the insects, there is also a snake robot. Robot insect is the author created with 2 servo motors. Servo movement is governed by the microcontroller PIC16F84 / A. Description of PIC16F84 microcontroller can in the can here.

Servo motors are used to lift tbut grasshopper robot insects, while the front servo motor is used to advance robotic insects. Actually, for better performance of robot insects, then at least 3 pieces needed to form tubut servo motor robot.

See Video Below :

Sample Insect Robot made by author can be seen Here

Download Robot Serangga

Line Follower Mobile Robot

2009-07-16T10:18:00.006+01:00

Line Follower Robot Mobile is a mobile robot line follower. The line can be followed, white or black. If the basic black color, then the line should be white and vice versa. Pictured above is one example of a simple line follower robot using a sensor line.

The sensor lines can use the sensor so (eg Fotek brand) or make your own with a pair of LED Infra Red and Photodioda. If we use a sensor, then the program is made in such a way so that if the sensor does not detect the line, then the robot will turn (to right / left) to find the scout.

Sample of Video Line Follower that already made can be seen Here.

Download Line Follower Robot

Snail Robot

2009-07-16T05:56:00.008+01:00

Snail Robot is the name given by the manufacturer. This is because it is running does not use the wheel. He at once using "axis" motor as the driving force. By using this method, it is less efficient when compared with the wheel system.

Snail robot consists of several parts:

a. Control System
Control system using the system microcontroller PIC16F84 / A. A computer "small" system suitable for robotics. This microcontroller only has 18 pen, making it suitable for use as a controller of the system is quite small. These drugs are 2 to 6 volts.

b. System Sensor
Sensor system here using infrared sensors of the finished product. So using an infrared module which is usually used for PLC systems (Programmable Logic Controller). These sensors are expensive, but at other times I will give a series of cheaper substitutes.

c. Locomotion System
Locomotion system (robot) using a standard dc motor reasonably priced precious (motor tamiya). As the motor directly used as a "wheel". To be better in motion, then the end of the motor shafts should be given a slightly abrasive material for the course of the robot more smoothly and do not skid.

Performance of the Robot can be seen here

Download Robot Siput