Archive for the ‘shopping’ Category

QwerkRover V1

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

Here's the first build with the new base and omniwheels; the bot is otherwise equipped as before, but I figured it was worth renaming and versioning in anticipation of future improvements. I've abandoned the expense-ometer, however :-) My first plan was to screw-mount the qwerk board further back, so that ...

Omni wheels

Friday, November 13th, 2009

Just a quick post to prove the project isn't dead... I've been very busy with my PhD research, but have slowly been making plans and purchases for a significant hardware upgrade based around the YeRobot 4WD base I detailed last time. A comment on that entry from the manufacturers suggested ...

Yerobot 4WD Arduino Mobile Platform

Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

After my earlier post in search of a base unit, this alternative appeared on LMR. It's from DFRobot but available in the UK through Yerobot, and although designed for Arduino-based projects seemed big enough to accommodate the relatively huge Terk board. There weren't many details on what's included, but given ...

Basically Speaking

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009

If you're particularly attentive, you may have noticed in the previous post that I've adjusted the sensor mount on the pan/tilt unit. The original plan was just to tighten up the pan servo's attachment to the base, as it was wobbling around quite a bit, but I'd also found that ...

Speak to me, breathe

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009

A while ago I picked up a small speaker without realising that I'd need to solder wires to it; this weekend I corrected that mistake by obtaining a soldering kit from Maplin. Whilst there I also picked up a "familiar tune" electronics kit after spotting it had a more impressive ...

Home Shopping

Monday, January 5th, 2009

How to maintain an expensive hobby during the credit crunch? Recycle! I was back at my parents' over the holiday period, and whilst I was there I had a rummage through the garage, in search of my old remote control car. Half-buried in a musty box, I found it, and ...

DELight Ultra Bright LEDs

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

Yep, more shopping. I found the Technobots site recently whilst searching for screws to support the pan/tilt unit, as the velcro tape isn't coping too well. Whilst there I somehow ended up in the lighting section and so some Dimension Engineering Ultra Bright LEDs made their way into the basket, ...

Build 2: Shopping

Sunday, June 29th, 2008

Add Active Robots to the list of scarily fast suppliers: I put an order in at 4pm on Thursday and the parts arrived on Saturday morning before I'd even woken up. I got the Pan-Tilt servo kit to upgrade to QwerkBot+ functionality, and also threw in a Sharp GP2D12 distance ...

Costing Update

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

The painfully expensive FedEx shipping from Jameco apparently didn't cover 'disbursements out of the scope of EU VAT' (£12.41) nor the associated 'clearance administration charge' (£6.80), so on the total they go: Expense-ometer: £446.97 so far. Perhaps a Johnny-5 style Tri-Track base wouldn't have been so extravagant after all... The still-nameless robot seems ...

Build 1: Shopping

Saturday, June 14th, 2008

I've spent some of the past week tracking down the final bits and bobs; like any good chef I've deviated from the recipe to better reflect local availability :) Trips to Maplin and Homebase sorted me out with all the tools and an assortment of screws and other fasteners. There ...