Society of Robots - Robot Forum

Electronics => Electronics => Topic started by: Magnus on January 07, 2009, 09:15:36 AM

Title: Are there any 24 Channel R/C's on the market ?
Post by: Magnus on January 07, 2009, 09:15:36 AM
Hello,
 I'm new to the forum. I'm building a rather large robot.  It is approx. 6 ft tall and weighs about 280 lbs. so far. It has tank style treads with wheelchair motors for the drive so it has plenty of power. The overall shape is vaguely similar in appearance to the Lost in Space Robot. There will be many items that will need to be controlled remotely. A standard R/C has not got enough channels. I would like to be able to control it from at least 200 ft with the signal (R/C and video) able to penetrate walls. I'll also be needing a good microcontroller for this beast to automate many of his features. Just wanted to ask everyone what would be a good choice. I'm leaning towards the AXON. I'll be needing allot of help in these areas. Any and all advice will be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Magnus
Title: Re: New to the Forum
Post by: frodo on January 07, 2009, 09:41:50 AM
so will it be like the robot in short circuit overall what you want it to be. 6 foot tall is a difficult robot for a beginner although i do know someone who made a butler robot for his first robot. what features do you want your robot to have? eg. voice recognition, camera vision, photovore etc
Title: Re: Need advice on robot microcontrollers and R/C
Post by: Magnus on January 07, 2009, 01:43:21 PM
Hi Frodo,

 I want to be able to control the robot when he is not in line of sight (ie. from another room or another building) so a good wireless video/audio system is needed. There are many items that will be installed that will need to be controlled remotely such as; Arms (shoulders, elbows, wrists, claws), Head rotation, torso rotation, pan and tilt for the camera system, drive system, special effects lighting, etc. So a regular R/C does not have enough channels. The DX6 R/C that I have only has 6 channels. I want to automate such things as "head - return to center position", torso - return to center position, lighting sequence, and maybe synchronize the arms during some routines. Basically I want a robot that I can use to put on a show for kids at schools in different cities to inspire them to seek a career in robotics and of course to fullfill my dreams as well.

Thanks,

Magnus
Title: Re: Need advice on robot microcontrollers and R/C
Post by: Razor Concepts on January 07, 2009, 01:57:28 PM
When I get home I can post a link to an RC transmitter booster someone is using, you get about 14+ watts of power instead of Spektrums 1 watt (which has a range of about 2 miles line of sight), so 14 watts should have plenty of power to go through things.

One idea is that you use the flight condition option (on the DX7 and more advanced), maybe on the DX6, to control a lot of different things at the same time. Say you have a 3-position switch on the radio, and two two position switches. 3 times 2 times 2 is 12 different modes the robot could be in, and that the Axon could read. Also you can replace the two position switches with three position, for 27 different modes. So you use the RC radio to get to a certain mode, and then the Axon will read the positions, find out what mode it's in, and do what you programmed it to do in that mode.
Title: Re: Need advice on robot microcontrollers and R/C
Post by: Magnus on January 07, 2009, 06:58:15 PM
Here are a few pictures of the stackup so far. A lot of body work and painting still need to be done. I am presently working on a model for the arms. I will build the arm model out of wood first to get the dimensions correct then I will get the parts machined out of aluminum.
Title: Re: Need advice on robot microcontrollers and R/C
Post by: geek1 on January 07, 2009, 07:02:55 PM
Quote
i do know someone who made a butler robot for his first robot



I wonder.....hmm......might that be airman00? ;)
Title: Re: Are there any 24 Channel R/C's on the market ?
Post by: Admin on January 09, 2009, 04:32:57 AM
I recommend buying my Axon, hooking up wireless bluetooth to it (tutorials here on SoR), and controlling your bot with say Hyperterminal. Its actually pretty simple (for even a beginner).

Plenty of examples here on SoR.
Title: Re: Need advice on robot microcontrollers and R/C
Post by: frodo on January 20, 2009, 11:52:50 AM
Quote
i do know someone who made a butler robot for his first robot



I wonder.....hmm......might that be airman00? ;)

you wondered right   ;D