Artamus, the Rambo Knight Autobot Robot Hack #1 Soft Hack Includes a Hack of the RC Controller only. Requires no modifications to actual robot, allows grandkids (if they want) to add EZ Robot control for movement, VR, and voice synthesis. EZB and hardware can sit on table, not required to be on robot. The 5 volt relay board is an overkill, but I already had it. #2 Intermediate Hack, requires EZB on board robot. This hack allows for movement of the upper wheels and door wings. Not shown in #2/#3 video was the addition of head pan & tilt, and L.E.D. eyes. The two robot batteries, or one, can power this hack. #3 No Regrets, no turning back Hack. It included an H Bridge with more realistic movement ramping up and down, servos on the eyes with blue and red L.E.D.s. Removal of the upper wheels, and building of functional arms with a total of 9 degrees of freedom on each arm. ( this took over 3 months of planning, experimenting/do overs, and building) EZ Robot HDD Servos are awesome, they did not burn up while I was experimenting lifting the large arms. They hold quietly extended at various angles! The total arm wt. each is about 2.5 lbs.(1,134 grams) and they are about 24 inches long. They operate better with a LiPo battery than the 2 SLA 6 volt batteries. The hands are rated at 5 volts, and did not like the 6.5 robot voltage. They operate on a separate pin out board at 5 volts. The Door Wings were moved to the curved sides of the Autobot dashboard, and servos added. After trying Plasma disc behind the mouth, I removed it. I carefully cut the mouth opening, and installed a servo for movement, with blue lighting. The Robot can carry up to 65 lbs. of cargo weight. This has been a very fun robot to hack. Artamus weighs over 40 lbs. Future plans may include a Bosch worm gear motor for waist rotation?
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left hand
right hand
Dave, Here are the links. I ordered mine separate, there was another site that listed both right and left together for a lower price, but I preferred the polished acrylic fingers. I did have to repair the right hand, one screw was stripped, laying loose in the packing. Also had one bad servo which I replaced with a Radio Shack servo that fit without modifying. Supplier refunded me $20. Make sure none of the fingers are assembled too tight, and test them one at a time. This was a US supplier with free shipping. If you have any other questions, I will try to help. Steve S
Lal and Artamus get into Halloween as Little Red Riding Hood, and the Big Bad Wolf. I got this idea about 2 or 3 weeks ago, and have been trying different things since. Artamus required special D.I.Y. hardware to activate his mouth/snout, including an EZ Robot HDD Servo, servo lever, triple cube EZ bit under his tongue, and a fabricated plastic insert for his snout. His full wolf mask came from Goodwill. His eyes are from toy glasses. Lal’s red hood is made from a toy bag, and her red scarf that hides her Star Trek dress emblem and trim, is a stretch band from my P.T. rehab. Both robots received new scripts to interact together for Halloween. Voice for both robots came from Artamus scripts on his computer, making it easier to create interaction on Lal’s computer. Alexa narration was done with Alexa Blueprint Skills. There were many funny out takes, and do over’s on the different scenes.
so freaky cool.the look of lal face is endless,
Very cool!
Now that was a scream. In more ways than one. Thanks for all the hard work! Very fun!
Nomad 6R, Thank you for your comments about Lal, I think the L.E.D. eyes helped her a while back.
Mcsdaver, Thanks for the comment.
Dave Shulpius, Thank you, it was fun work. My grandkids enjoyed the Halloween Robots, and I hope it sparks their interest in robotics.
Lal and Artamus have their batteries charged, getting dressed, and ready for tonight! Happy Halloween! eek