Archive for the ‘pictures’ Category

Gallery now on Flickr

Sunday, April 25th, 2010

In an attempt to find a saner approach to my online photo storage I'm in the process of retiring the gallery install here on Straylight, so photos from the robotics projects can now be found in this flickr set. All of the blog entries should have been updated to match, ...

QwerkRover V1.1

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

The latest hardware revision includes the upgrades I mentioned in the previous post: there's a compound eye IR board (above) replacing the sharp rangefinder; a laser pointer also mounted on the pan/tilt servo; a physical switch to make sure that can't be accidentally operated; and a voltage regulator to ...

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 ...

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 ...

Build 2.1

Saturday, November 1st, 2008

I've made a few minor revisions since the last build description, so I figure it's worth an (incremental) update. I've been working almost entirely on the pan/tilt unit, which is finally attached to the top plate in the suggested manner- that is, with screws! The IR sensor is also mounted ...

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, ...

Qwerk Quick Tip: Servos and pan/tilt assembly

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008

Connecting a servo to the qwerk board is simplicity itself: just attach it to the pins at the front of the board, with the yellow lead nearest: However, if you're making the pan/tilt unit I highly recommend centering the servos correctly before putting it together, as it's next to impossible to ...

Build 2: The QwerkBot++

Sunday, June 29th, 2008

The Qwerbot+ 'recipe' differs from the basic model only in the addition of a pan/tilt unit; this allows the camera to look around independently of the base, and is supported in the TeleOp software interface. I also attached an IR distance sensor (upside down!) to the camera mounting bracket, giving ...