Mold Making and Casting

I joined the Mold Making class with the Central Oregon Makers last week.  Before going, I had no idea how to make a mold or what I might use it for.  Although 3D printing (“additive manufacturing”) gets most of the attention, mold making and casting seem like useful and versatile tools for duplicating and fabricating …

Continue reading ‘Mold Making and Casting’ »

Play-i

Play-i is an interesting start-up using robotics to teach programming concepts to children as young as 5 years old.  From the company’s marketing material, here’s the vision: “In starting Play-i, we set out to create the product we want our children to have. Our mission to make computer programming accessible for every child is bigger …

Continue reading ‘Play-i’ »

MiniRoboMind Board Support Package Release

I’m pleased to announce the release of my board support package for the MiniRoboMind (MRM).  The MRM is a single-board computer based on the 68332 micro-controller and is the heart of BlueBot.  I found software support for the MRM to be scattered and incomplete, so I wrote my own with inspiration from existing software. I’ve …

Continue reading ‘MiniRoboMind Board Support Package Release’ »

BlueBot Brings Home the Rookie Award

BlueBot brought home the Rookie Award!  Check out the classy styrene rain jacket, too.  A local authority (Peter’s Wife) observes that “Peter’s robot is awesome.” BlueBot did well in the AVC but did not finish.  The ‘bot successfully extricated itself from encounters with rocks, sticks, dirt clods, pine needles, and curbs.  The wheels, however, ended up …

Continue reading ‘BlueBot Brings Home the Rookie Award’ »

Compass Integration

After far too much pain and effort, the magnetic compass is integrated with the robot.  Calibration is a bit finicky, and I don’t think the SYNC signal is implemented properly.  But, the compass works, and the heading matches my mechanical compass.  Here are a few lessons learned: RTFM.  Set the pin data direction (DDRQS) because …

Continue reading ‘Compass Integration’ »

So much to do, so little time

Here’s a new video showing off obstacle avoidance. The robot manages to avoid walls, chairs, tables, couches, and a dog (although the dog usually runs away, probably because it knows the robot’s secret world domination plans). Much work remains, and not enough time remains. I’ve replaced the motors to increase torque.  The old, faster, lower …

Continue reading ‘So much to do, so little time’ »

Robot Websites

Here’s a compilation of links relevant to my Sparkfun AVC entry. First off, here are several competitors with blogs.  Please let me know if you find more blogs, and I’ll amend this list. Team Hellhound Flake Labs Autonomous Tools Geeknight [added 3/16/2010] Scott Harris [added 3/31/2010] Second, here are several interesting ‘bot websites: Kenneth Maxon …

Continue reading ‘Robot Websites’ »