Archive for the ‘hardware’ Category
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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Sunday, November 16th, 2008
First disaster: running some new roaming code, the 'bot had a crash (physical, rather than software) and now the motors don't seem to work... It was possible but unlikely that both sets of wiring had come loose in the collision, so I went through the hassle of dismantling it all ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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