Asked
— Edited
Question for you guys..anyone. Other than object avoidance, is there anything else a ping is good for in association with EZB?
Question for you guys..anyone. Other than object avoidance, is there anything else a ping is good for in association with EZB?
@Tony, thanks very much. I'm sure there will be some upcoming questions.
@Josh, was that question directed toward me, or Doombot?
On my EZ robots I use miniature Panasonic PIR motion sensors, they have a detect range of 5m with a beam angle of 100 degrees, here is a link for them.
uk.farnell.com/panasonic-ew/amn31112j/sensor-motion-5m-100-82-white/dp/1373711
I have sent some of these out to Dave and Mel, but I am not sure if they have tried them yet?
This photo shows how I use them, one goes in each left and right ear lobe, when they detect moving heat radiation the blue LED rings glow. The front facing one you will see in the nose area and its a different type that has a tighter beam angle of 38 degrees.
uk.farnell.com/panasonic-ew/amn33112j/sensor-motion-5m-38-22-white/dp/1373715
I currently use 3 on my robots one each side and one in the front. I also developed a special algorithm (on an 8pin PIC) to make them more intelligent. I needed to do this as I found that if the main controller (EZ-B etc) just looks out for the 3 digital inputs, it can get very confused if there are a few people moving around its sphere of view! So what the algorithm does is monitor the 3 inputs over a set period of time and calculates where (which side or front) the most movement is, this is the most interesting side to be looking. How this works is say you had one person on the left side and two people on the right, then the PIC would flag to the EZ-B that the right side was more interesting etc and your script could send the robots head to look at this (more activity) side first.
If you need any more info on this, just let me know.
Tony
Personally with the little I know about sensors I think there may be a better choice then the ping sensor for this application.
@Tony , thanks for all the links and info. You certainly will be quarried many times in the next few weeks, as I get the roll out going.
@Josh , I'm going to keep it all private for now. But, I'm sure I've discussed it here before.
@Dave , Yeah I was hoping the ping would work, but I just don't know enough. I'm hoping when this is released people will cloud their scripts and whole projects, then others will build on that.
@Dave, you could do the simple PIR algorithm in an ARC script, I just like to do "pre-processing" with support microcontrollers so that the EZ-B can do other more important things.
@Richard, thanks for the kind words.
Tony
NEW B9 1/6th scale
@Dave, Thanks again at taking a look. Its shaping up nicely. Hopefully something fun to stick a Ezb v 4 into. Hope those ship REAL soon! Hint hint!
Wow, I like the Mobeus B9, I wish I was a better modelmaker, if I was I would get one but I am useless at assembling model kits!
I have one of these new Mobeus B9 models now waiting to be put together. Sadly my big B9 comes first and I don't see myself having time for the little model for a long time.
I'm going to hijack this thread a little here (sorry Will) ; @Tony, could you take a look at my other Kangaroo thread? If you see any ideas on programming ramping my Kangaroo X2 and have a little time I could use a little advice in that thread. No worries if you don't have the time. OK, Hijack over.
@Will , speaking of ramping, is this a problem with the motors on your new project? Without giving too much away are your motors starting and stopping smooth enough for your distinct taste?
Yes A b9 could be printed, they even have some very cool rubberly type filaments called ninja. This stuff is a close as you can get to rubber. Its actually a urethane and needs a special extruder. But exciting to print in all these cool materials. If you have a cool $330,000 laying around, you can get the new Objet. You can print in many types of materials at the same time. So you could print a pair of glasses one material for the frames and the clear lenses at the same time. Its getting really very cool. Here is a link :
Objet Connex3
Do you think counter springs may work on this type of problem? I want to try to reduce the flexing etc.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Tony
I don't even to pretend that I'm even close to an animation expert like Will but I do have a lot of building experience. Here's what I see (and I'm sure you do too); The length of your arms and their weight is causing it to bob at the joints whenever they move. I know of several ways to stop this. The surest way is to beef up the joints with heaver brackets and larger motors. Of course I know that's not an option because of your design and cost restraints. Perhaps at least a different type of shoulder joint should be considered. In a different thread one of our forum members uses a Vex Turntable bearing kit for a shoulder joint. It looks like a good answer to robot shoulder joints because it's small and strong. Look here:
Pics of Vex Turntables
Vex Turntables Web site
Other then that I think your only other choice to stabilize the arm joints are springs or small gas struts. Struts are intriguing and really do a nice job. I have a pair on my B9 to assist with the weight when he bends over at the hips. I was amazed how nice it works and when at rest they hold position and weight with no pressure on the motor shaft. The down side is you need it sized properly so the weight of the part your supporting or gravity will assist the motor. They also look cool (think of C3P0). Springs are your other answer but I have little experience here. I know they have been used forever with success to assist motors. The other Tony that built his Lexi 3000 used them in his arm design. They really worked nice for him and he even installed them in a small tube to help them work and keep them from view. I was really impressed with his solution and how it turned out with the springs being hidden in the tubes.
Good luck! Your work and talent is amazing!