General Misc > Misc

want a new robot tutorial?

<< < (2/69) > >>

Somchaya:
I actually have a question about the robot you described in the page, or more specifically the camera you
used. What camera is it, and how is it interfaced by a microcontroller? Or was it hooked up to a computer?

On another note, another tutorial that I'd really like to see would be one on how to design bases for robots.
I have some servos, but I'm not really sure how to mount them onto a base, so a tutorial on that would be
extremely useful.

Admin:
The camera is the CMUcam, which is interfaced by a serial cable to the cerebellum microcontroller. I dont actually recommend using the CMUcam, as it caused me way too much frustration to get to work. And it still had unexplainable bugs that I could never fix.

As I was writing this plastics tutorial, it occured to me a tutorial on building robot bases could potentially be useful for people . . . and I also have a lot of 'in-construction' pics of my old robots that I could use too.

But the majority of the robots I have built aren't exactly normal robots. This page has a few of my favorite ones I made for example:
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/jsp2/robotics

I also have a thing against books that have step by step instructions on building a particular robot as it takes out the imagination and fun of building a robot. They also seem to forget to only make a very basic design for a beginner to learn . . .

I guess what I can do is write a tutorial more specifically of attaching parts to a robot base, and the reader can decide which parts to actually use, and where to place these parts, on their own.

I was also thinking of a tutorial on how to build a 4 wheel omni-wheel robot . . . mostly cause I have one as a perfect example. Its really simple and its the only one I have ever seen so far.

Is this in line with what you were thinking? Let me know and I will probably have it written in a week or so.

O and as for attaching servos there are two ways. The first is you can buy what is called 'servo tape' and tape it between two flat plates. Servo tape is very strong and holds well, and it has a little flex to it which acts as a basic suspension system. I only recommend it for light weight robots though. The other way is to mount with screws. A servo has 2 holes on both sides designed for screws to go through, and servos come with 2 black rectangular things with holes in it for mounting with the screws. I used this method for that omni-wheel robot in my tutorial. Let me know if this helps.

Somchaya:
I think it would be really useful to have building tips in general, for example tutorials on how to attach
motors securely/easily, the pros and cons of the different methods, kind of like what you did with materials
and actuators. Other stuff that would be nice would be tutorials on designing a base, and how to choose
the right motors and wheels.

While a tutorial on building an omni directional robot would be really cool, and something I would definitely like
to see, I too agree that step by step instructions in books aren't that great.. It's like you might want a robot
like that, but not exactly, but you wouldn't really know how to make changes. What I would suggest would be
to maybe have pages describing robots you've built and how you did it (like with the omni directional robot),
but also some other tutorials on general strategies that can be applied to a new project.

Regarding cameras, I've been searching online for a long time on how to use a camera on a robot without
needing a full fledged PC, and CMUCam is the only one I've found so far. I'm reluctant to use it too, but if I find
any other methods to get cameras working on robot microprocessors, I'll definitely post something here.

Admin:
Ok I see what you mean.
Ill think about it and probably have something written in a week or 2.

As for cameras, you do not need a full PC. I have seen it done with a old palm pilot and an el-cheapo webcam . . . But yea, I agree, I would perfer it done on a microprocessor too . . .

Admin:
Ok here is the completed rough draft of how to construct a robot chassis . . .

http://www.societyofrobots.com/mechanics_chassisconstruction.shtml

I also have some images of mounting the CMUcam but Im too busy to write any more for now . . .

Is this what you were thinking?

Let me know what I should add or rewrite or whatever and I will put it on the site within a week.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page