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United Kingdom
Asked — Edited

New Robot!

Hi there,

I'm Jay from the UK and have a few questions!

I've been into electronics, Arduino and robots for years. My last robot was the Wowwee Rovio ..... great as it could be controlled over the web and it had vid, but it's no longer supported and after fixing it many times over the years, it has now died ! Unfortunately there isn't a replacement off the shelf robot that does video streaming over the net.

Over the last 6 months I've built a 3D printer and thought well why don't I just build my own? I could program an Arduino and print the robot parts ... maybe buy some other parts that I need to too.

My biggest thing is that I need to be able to connect wirelessy over the net and get video too.

Although I could program servos etc easily from an Arduino, it does present the problem of how I build an interface on a PC or iPhone. I'm really good with electronics, but haven't done PC or iPhone software before.

I surfed the net for ages to find out whether there were any apps or software that would interface with an Arduino, and found one that worked with the WiFly board which could connect to the Arduino. The trouble is, although there is an off the shelf app by Axemblo
Click Here , and it shows an IP camera, and can control a robot (forward backwards etc), I don't think it is easily (if at all) customizable in case I want to add extra buttons etc. I ordered the WiFly board (Roving Networks / Sparkfun RN-XV) so I could have a play and see if I can get it controlling a Mega 2560 I have,

Then I found this site !

Ok so my questions ....

Does the software only work with the EZ-B (I'm guessing it works on bluetooth?). I really do want to use wifi due to range considerations.

What language does the EZ-B use? I'm used to Arduino, but be handy if I don't have to learn a completely new language.

Can the EZ-B use the WiFly that I have just bought (I have no problem buying the EZ-B as it sounds like a great piece of kit). I just don;t want to buy it and then find that I have to do incredibly difficult programing to build some sort of interface / converter.

Sorry if it's loads of questions, but this sounds sooooooo exciting and it seems just what I need!

Thanks,

J :D:D:D

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United Kingdom
#19  
Just started printing the front of the head, as I'm figuring that's probably the most tricky part - I just want to check I can actually make the most awkward part before I place my order else it may be a case of ordering the head too !

Jay:)
#20  
Hi Jay, welcome to the forum, what material are you printing in ? PLA, or ABS ? Also what 3D printer are you using ? A couple of us have the FlashForge dual extruder model.
United Kingdom
#21  
Hey Doc,

I'm using a RepRapPro Mono Mendel. I've not done loads of printing with it - have two heads set up on it - one 0.3 and one 0.5. I tried the 0.3 head and it was taking years and TBH the support material started drifting allover the place, so have just switched over to the 0.5 head. That seems to be printing really nice so far.

I'm printing the front of the head in PLA at the moment!

Jay:D

ps provided it comes out ok I will try and upload a pic later if I can.
Canada
#22  
Looking forward to the pic of the head!
#23  
Hey Jay, I'm glad you found the STLs and are printing. I can't wait to see the prints. I'm hoping to order a Solidoodle 2 in a few weeks. I'm very excited to be able to print the EZ-Bits. I've only seen a few in the forums so far. Maybe after yours are printed you could start a showcase thread called Community Printed EZ-Bits or something like that. It could showcase the EZ-Bit prints we've done and finished things from the EZ-Bit Ideas thread. Niek has a couple of JD to Roli adapters in that thread if you haven't seen them yet.

Would you mind posting the print time along with that pic? Thanks.:)
United Kingdom
#25  
Argh ! Stupidly printed direct from the PC and not the SD card - print failed 15 mins before the end ! Oh well - have to print it tomorrow !

Jay
United Kingdom
#26  
Just a quick question ..... the site has details regarding the dimensions etc of the heavy duty servo but there is nothing about the micro servo .... has anyone got any info on it?

Thanks,

Jay
United Kingdom
#27  
Hey guys,

Just to say thanks for the help everyone has given me .... I have placed my first order with EZ !

Once again thanks for the great advice,

Jay :D
United Kingdom
#28  
Which Microservo? I have files for a tower pro micro servo in my cloud files. You should (hopefully) be able to get it here

Edit: Maybe not... It's on one of my other PCs, I'll post it when I can. I'm sure I've posted it in the past though as a zip file somewhere if you fancy searching and digging around.

Another edit: It is on this PC too... here you go
TowerProMG90.stl
United Kingdom
#29  
Brill,

Thanks Rich ! Just ordered a load of PLA from Faberdashery so I can get back on with printing JD !

Jay :D:D:D
United Kingdom
#30  
Still waiting for my PLA to arrive, but have managed to print off a few of the servo bits to check that the printer is doing a good job. I have a servo, so tried snapping it into a printed part (the straight servo bits for top of legs). Everything fits perfectly -- but -- am I right in thinking that the servos in the legs have one of the mounting sections cut from them so that it doesn't foul the printed part when it hinges?

Cheers,

Jay
#31  
I just wanted to reach out and say hello.and welcome to the community Jay! I often shorten the screen names:)
United Kingdom
#32  
Hey jstarne!

How's it going ? Yep jay is my name lol (the keys part isn't anything dark lol) ....an ex pro keyboard player hence the weird keys ending lol.

Jay:)
United Kingdom
#33  
The first part of JD that I printed .... ankle locks! .. part way through the servos now!



Jay

First Parts
#35  
Sweet. Thanks for sharing the pics.:)
United Kingdom
#36  
Did anyone know anything about whether the servos have to have one of the mounting sections removed to be installed in the JD legs sections? The brackets seem to foul the printed parts when they pivot:(
United Kingdom
#37  
I have read something about some of the brackets requiring the mounting tabs on the servos to be removed so that they fit, I can't say for sure if it was for JD or not but it sounds like it may be.
#38  
@Rich is correct, I can't remember what, where or when but I do remember DJ confirming the need to remove them for something.
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