
jayceekeys
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
That's the robot ! That is so cool! I love the eyes too and the balancing on one leg trick lol. Oh I just realised .... I have three roomba 500 series robots too.... Get them wired up too !
Oh! You could put an ez-b on the Roomba and make some sort of humanoid with no legs.
If you want any kind of speed (other than really really slow) I'd go for motors to drive it, hooked up to a H-Bridge. It's very simple to wire up. Or just use a roomba, serial connection through one digital port to control the roomba leaves you with 23 more ports to play with. The roomba is fully supported by ARC and has it's own EZ-Script commands too.
As for dimensions, the EZ-B dimensions are on the shop page for it, you can use these and build the robot around it.
As for the iOS app, it's being worked on. You will need the windows version of ARC in order to set up the project and save it to the cloud though.
Thanks Rich/guys,
I have the windows version so can save to the cloud when needed. I don't think I need any kind of mega speed to be honest, it's for indoor use only (restricted to the ground floor the same as Rovio due to stairs - unless anyone has designs for a stair climber which would be wicked lol). We have a cat so not looking to drive at fast speeds lol. I have to set the roombas to clean at different times of the day so she always can have a floor without a robot upsetting her all important and busy life of sleep hehe!
Oh there is one thing probably worth asking - my rovio was perfect because it could return back to its charging base when it foot low on power. I don't expect the robot to navigate back on its own, but how does everyone that uses the robots for remote web use keep their robots charged up? I have been thinking about how to get around the problem and have so far come up with four options:
have a socket on the robot and a charge dock with a 1/4" mono audio jack .... Using the camera, u drive onto the jack impaling it in the robots chest (sounds brutal but thought it was the best words to describe lol) - kind of taken from the idea of the remote refuelling mid air of jets - you could even have the socket have a guide channel to locate the plug easier.
have a socket on the robot and a large power jack plug that the robot grips. Provided it was correctly gripped you could program the robot to do the pluging action into the socket?
place a contact inside of the robots two "hands" - when the two hands grip two charge contacts on the base station, charge passes through hands up cables in arms and on to the battery ?
the contacts are below the body of the robot (like rovio) and it drives onto charge contacts
Just a few thoughts, but would love to hear what other people do. I used the robot to keep an eye on the cat and house when away for a few days. She has a robotic food machine that talks to her when it's feeding time so she's happy on her own for a night - but I want to be able to check in on her and would need to get the robot charged remotely.
Cheers,
Jay
Daft question now LOL ..... why is it that virtually everything is 5-7 week pre-order? I understand that with development and manufacture of the V4 board, that that is a wait, but it looks like everything is being developed still ..... even plastic molded parts and the servos - which are presumably just off the shelf servos?
I wish there were 3D printed parts that I could start on so that I had something to do during the wait !
If I order now is it really 5-7 weeks or would that have reduced now and could it actually closer to completion than the site says? I did say these were daft questions ! It;s just I'm so tempted to order today, but needed to know.
Thanks!
Jay
The first batch of revolution products are currently being manufactured, over in China. They currently have around 3 weeks off for Chinese New Year. After this we should, provided there are no more delays, start receiving the revolution stuff.
Some of us have been waiting since September, the pre-orders wee a huge hit and the plant making everything couldn't manage the quantity, EZ-Robots had to fly to China on a days notice to find another manufacturer. The whole story is on the forum somewhere.
But put basically, it's a pre-order, they have been delays, there is a huge backlog of orders to sort out hence the long lead times.
Thanks Rich




I have decided I am definitely going down the EZ Robot route thanks to the advice that you have all given. To be honest the other route I was looking at (Axemblo) sounded really good before, (hence why I bought a Wifly this week), but the promise of a customisable app for IOS and one other important thing has been the decider. That this was the fact that there is this forum whereas on the other site there is no forum and nowhere you can even ask people anything. Forums are ace and it that that has made the final choice.
Now .... My final decision, do I design and build a robot whilst I wait for the V4 to become available, or do I order a complete kit and sit it out? Given that I really need to engineer a charging dock etc I am thinking a custom may be the way to go ..... unless anyone has any ideas on how I could remotely charge one of the Revolution bots?
Jay
and thank you all for all your help .... you're legends!
Hang on ...... Am I wrong or are all the STL files for the robots in the software ? I was only looking on the site before, but it looks like they're in the software instead ? So I could start printing now and just order all the electronics and stuff?
If that's the case, then the electronics that go in the head (camera etc) will that be available as I'm guessing its not the same as the one that's in the shop?
Cheers,
J