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Asked — Edited

Autonomoues Wall-E

Hello everybody!
My name is Alessio, I'm italian and a new member!

I just recently purchased an Ultimate Wall-E robot of Thinkway, and my goal is to turn it into an autonomous robot, just like djsures did with his Wall-E. I wondered, as my model (Ultimate) is very large (about 16" tall) how can I make an internal system, so as to make it independent from an external PC on which to run the EZ-Builder? Should I insert a PC in Wall-E? If so, there is a very small system (such as a cubieboard) which can run Windows and the EZ-Builder?
Any other suggestion is welcome.. I really want to make a robot that does not depend on an external PC...

PS: please, forgive my bad english...


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#31  
@Sparkino... I did and other people have too. It's pretty much the only way to give wall-e a voice. .... That's how DJ did the sounds for his original Wall-e way back..
United Kingdom
#32  
The V4 has built in soundboard/speaker too which makes it easier, plus it's smaller. After looking at my U-Command I will more than likely hold off on the EZ-B until I can get hold of a V4 for him (the original plan was to use one of my V3 boards but that would need a separate MP3 trigger etc. and it's bigger)
#33  
@Richard, I thought that DJ used the "on-board sound card" of his Wall-E... I did not realize that he used external mp3 files..!
#34  
Nope, I am pretty sure he used wav or mp3 files. Wouldn't be an easy task getting the onboard sound card to spit out appropriate sounds when required... So much simpler to use wav or mp3 files through ARC...
#35  
@Richard, thank you very much!
Now I must found all the sounds... I only find the classic "wwwwwalleeeeee"...
I love the sound that DJ's wall-e play when the orange ball disappear! :)
#36  
What Rich said..... V4 with its on board speaker will make projects like wall-e even easier.... Won't even need a mp3 trigger board...
#37  
yo

@sparkino
yea I have the v3 and a sparkfun mp3 trigger....downloaded a ton of wall-e sounds, plus a bunch of random audio clips too. because in the movie he would reply by playing an old tv audio clip

you can keep all the original functions of the wall-e and add many more, by removing all the original components and adding in the v4 or v3, in the software you can
-add voice recognition
-automated movement
-specific motions (dancing, reactions to certain phrases)

but remember the microphone that is picking up the commands is on your pc/tablet/phone, not on the robot itself.
you can add microphones to the robot itself, but this is only useful to make the wall-e turn towards the sound of a voice (using an ADC voltage reader thing) giving the impression he turns to see you when you speak.
but the commands or voice recognition must be picked up by a microphone on the pc. (for v3 that is)


@tony1952
as far as my mini wall-e the hand rotation was pretty easy I think I posted a bunch of detailed pics on the build....I think my thread is called "pics of progress..." not sure.

originally the hand would "pump" in and out of the arm.
but I noticed with so much animation in the eyes, neck and body, the in and out motion was kinda lost. no one noticed it.
so I re worked the inside of the arms and made the hand rotate. used a micro servo I think.

the real challenge were the eyes. each eye has 2 servos in it. and 2 for the neck.
I get up and down, left and right and a "twitch or tilt" motion from the eyes alone.
then the neck moves up and down too. pretty slick.


one last thing, the ultimate wall-e has the ability to "grip" with his hand.
so now im sure I will be able to add

-horizontal arm movement
-vertical arm movement
-hand rotation
-hand gripping motion

in each arm. pretty slick right?
Australia
#39  
thanks @hoolagen1 I found that " Pics Of Progress" thread: http://www.ez-robot.com/Community/Forum/posts.aspx?threadId=678
There are lots of very detailed pics of the head/neck mechanisms but nothing on the arms. You do however mention that you used the arms from the Limited Edition Wall-E because they were "thicker than u command wall-e and fit mini servos for hand rotation"
I don't have a spare one of these lying around plus I can't even pull apart the arms of my U-Command Wall-E, so I'll just stick to vertical arm movement for my Wall-E.
Good luck on adding that hand gripping motion. That will be a sight to behold!
#40  
@hoolagen1, thanks!
Where I can find some interesting audio clips?
Please, forgive my curiosity, but I have a question: you said "you can add microphones to the robot itself, but this is only useful to make the wall-e turn towards the sound of a voice (using an ADC voltage reader thing) giving the impression he turns to see you when you speak". How can I realize this? Have you some link where is explained how to use an ADC voltage reader for this purpose?
#41  
@tony1952
oh yea that's right! sorry been a year. ill post some pics.
im actually swapping the body and arms from the u command wall-e
(im only keeping the neck from the limited edition wall-e) I know, so much waited time.
but again the arms that Louis t did and someone else on this forum were done with the u-command arms.


@sparkino
ill see if I can upload the clips of wall-e sounds I already have....

-there are simple microphones on ebay or amazon, they connect to any port on the ezb.
-add 1 microphone on each side of the wall-e body. near the arms, they will work as ears.
-then use the adc voltage option on the software side of the ezb
-make a simple script, if that meter raises higher than a specific number, the body and head will turn in that direction.
example:
if you clap on one side of the wall e, that mic will trigger the closest mic. and voltage reading will come up on the screen.
the script will kick in and the wall-e will move.
BOOM!

But remember
-the voice recognition part cannot work with these microphones.
-that must be done with a mic. that is added to your pc.

knowwhatimsaying?
#43  
@hoolagen1, thank you. knowwhatyoursaying! :D

@Tony1952, just found a lot of original Wall-E audio files, thanks!

Someone can tell me the title of the song that DJ's Wall-E played when dancing? It's really nice!
United Kingdom
#44  
You can use the soundboard which DJ set up in the Wall-E example too, it holds all of the sound bites DJ uses on his Wall-E, they are embedded in the project so no need to search and download.
#45  
@Rich, the sounds are in the ARC folder? Ok, I will search, thanks!
United Kingdom
#46  
No, the sounds are embedded in the project. You will need to open or import the Wall-E project.
#47  
I just copied my R2 D2 sounds to a folder on my desktop. .. then used PlayAudio command ( ) in ARC to play R2 sounds out through the pc speakers. When I get my V4 boards I will swap out and play the sounds through the V4's on board speaker. This way I don't need a mp3 trigger board.
#48  
@Rich, thnaks, now I understood!
#49  
I see this is an old thread, but I am very interrested to know what solution you ended up using to let your Wall-E operate without external PC. Did you go for the tablet, small PC or the Android solution?
#50  
@caegear Please understand... Unless you put a PC or mobile device onboard the ezb will need a remote pc or mobile device... it does NOT operate stand alone.... Capiche? :)