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I have decided to start my InMoov project. I think I will call him Spock out of respect to Leonard Nimoy who passed away on the day that I started this project.
I am editing this post so as not to confuse people with the current configuration. I continue to update this post with the latest photos. If you are reading this for the first time, don't be confused. There have been a lot of changes to the InMoov over the past couple of years including starting over.
https://synthiam.com/Community/Questions/7398&page=21 Post 203 starts the rebuild of the InMoov.
I have decided to use an onboard computer. I chose the Latte Panda due to it having an onboard arduino Leonardo and also because it uses little power.
I used 2 EZ-B controllers connected via the camera port to Adafruit FTDI friend boards. This allows the Latte Panda to have a non-wifi dependent connection to the EZ-B's. I use a powered USB hub connected to the USB3 port on the Latte Panda to attach other items.
The Omron HVC-P is used to identify people, emotions, human bodies, hands, age and gender. It is attached to the Latte Panda via an FTDI friend which is then connected to the powered USB hub. It is mounted in the chest of the InMoov. I also use a 3 element microphone which is a MXL AC-404 microphone. It is disassembled and the board and microphone elements are mounted in the chest of the InMoov. This mic board is connected to the Latte Panda via a usb cable which is attached to the powered USB hub. There is a USB camera in the eye of the InMoov which is connected to the Latte Panda via the powered USB hub.
I chose to use the Flexy hand with the InMoov. The design is far more rugged than the original hand and works very well. There are 4 EZ-Robot Micro Servos in the palm of each hand which controls the main fingers. The thumb is controlled by an EZ-Robot HD servo. The wrist waves and uses an EZ-Robot HD servo to do this motion. I use the standard Rotational wrist.
I have castle BEC's for power in the following locations set to the following voltages. Forearm's - 6.2 V - Controls fingers, wrist and elbows Custom power distribution board (2) set to 6.2 V controlling head, neck and Shoulder servos. EZ-B's - set to 6.1 V - it is mounted in the controller mounting plate and connects to the EZ-B fused power boards from a power base. Latte Panda - Set to 5.1 V and is mounted to the EZ-B controller mounting plate. Waist - set to 6.2 V and is mounted in the lower right side of the back. This provides power to the lean and pivot waist motors..
There are some custom power and signal distribution boards. These are in the forearms, lower back and in the upper back. The upper back or main board connects to these distribution points via USB cables to provide signal to the other boards for servos. The main board also has servo connector pins that are for the neck, head and shoulders. This allows the power to be distributed between multiple BEC's and also allows the servo signal cables to be shorter and more protected via the USB cables.
For power I use a LiFePo4 battery that is rated at 30 amps. It has the balanced charging circuit built into the battery and also has a low voltage shutoff built into the battery. This protects the battery and allows the battery to be charged with standard car chargers.
I put switches on the back on the InMoov which are rated at 20 amps at 12 volts. These are rocker switches that allow the user to pretty much slap the switch to turn it off. There are two of these switches. The servos for the elbows and fingers are on one switch. The latte panda, neck, shoulders, EZ-B's, waist motors and some lighting is on the other switch.
I also added a fuse block. This allows 20 amp fuses to be put in line to help protect things. The switches above drive the fuses for each of of the motors listed in that section.
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Other robots from Synthiam community
Buratino's Basilio
Ezang's Following, Tracking The Blue Line With ARC
I do have to say that the Flashforge Creator Pros are making pieces that fit together much more nicely that the Solidoodle 3 did. It is nice not to have to do near as much sanding to get the parts to fit together.
60.43% printed in 20 days so far. I plan to piece each section together and then make them look more finished. A couple of mods that I am doing to the InMoov are
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2059967 http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:380665
The second mod will let me do one of two things that I have been wanting to test out. One is to print using NinjaTek Cheetah and if that doesn't work out, make silicone or rubber joints using the 3D printed mold. Thanks to Bob Houston for attempting this and getting it working well. I will be using the same design as he did for the hands of the robot. Mike Ernie also is working on the same thing I believe.
I plan to print everything out and get it fit together well, and then sand and fill the seams prior to painting the parts. I hope that this will give the robot a more finished look like some of the ones that I have seen in the InMoov community. This one will be for show more than anything, so I think it will be important to do this.
So far, I have used 5.58 KG of filament and am at 60.43% complete on printing. I am not reprinting the head or the pieces that are normally used in the hand. I have a complete head that has been printed and polished and built. The other parts for the hand won't do me any good as I will be printing the other hands anyway.
I am planning on building a central circuit board that will allow the EZ-B's to be plugged into it and then use USB cables to run to other small circuit boards in different areas of the robot. This should allow power to be run to specific areas of the robot along with a USB cable or two to be used to keep the wiring clean. That is the plan anyway... We will see how it goes.
On power, I plan to use a LiFePo4 12v 20A battery and Castle UBEC's for regulating power. These are programmable and will allow me to place them directly on the small circuit boards that are placed in different locations. The Castle UBEC's are able to handle about 8A and have a capacitor on them that helps to prevent brownouts. A power cable would run to each of the circuit boards and connected via screw terminals. The power would be regulated through the on-board UBEC before going to the servo/sensor connections. This should allow easy disconnect and also allow to prevent brownouts due to voltage requirement spikes through the use of the UBEC's capacitor, and then also allow the voltage going to any specific section to be adjusted if different servos are used. Fingers are crossed that it all work. I might use a different connector for power to the circuit boards but IDK yet. Anyway, I will have to order 4 sets of boards. I am being painfully careful that everything is correct on the first set of boards, but things seem to creep in sometimes.
As far a power on the EZ-B's and onboard computer (Going to give the Latte Panda a go here) there will be a Castle UBEC on the central circuit board which would then provide power to the EZ-B's and the Latte Panda. Since the back is open (not using a tablet), it is possible to access all of these components from the back door. I doubt that I would put in USB ports, network port or HDMI ports but I may put some in the back door. I am a long way from this, so I might change my mind.
Anyway, that's an update
@cochranrobotics, 18 day, you must be printing non stop? Are you going to use the monitor in front of your Inmoov as before? Looking forward to seeing your new build.
I like your idea using 12volts and the castle UBEC especially for driving the mobile base.
Dave, not sure if you saw my recent posting about using the HDD servo instead of the HS805 servos, but I've been experimenting using one HDD servo on for the elbow servo and that work great, No buzzing under load. I'm going to try it next on the shoulder/arm servo and see if it can lift the arm, once I disassembly my InMoov and remove the HS805BB servos.
It might be worth thinking about as your in build mode?
Chris.
@cem, Yep, I am looking at using the HDD servos everywhere possible. I am looking forward to your results.
@Merne, yea, pretty much non-stop. I have 2 printers going non-stop and am planning out sleep time around filament changes, maintenance and starting the next part going. I am going to print the entire inmoov before really starting to assemble it. I plan on taking my time on assembly.
I am not planning on having a monitor on the robot at all. I plan to RDP into the robot if needed. Plans are also to connect to the EZ-B's via USB and use a single camera in the eyes. More than anything, this will travel with me to conventions and events so that I can show people first hand that the EZ-B is a real robot controller.
The nice thing about using the Latte Panda here is the onboard Arduino for driving the Neopixel ring among other things as they come up. It prevents me from having to put another device somewhere else that I forget about and blow up
Here is the thought on the circuit board design. Having the UBEC's programmable allows different servos to be tested out easily. There are a lot of filler pieces in here just because I need them from time to time and since I would be paying someone to make the boards, might as well get something out of the blank space.
@David ... I envy your passion again. I lost some robot building steam a while back. Just waiting for my motivation and inspiration to return still.... I have a half built inMoov and another humanoid still to complete just can't seem to get motivated...
It is more of a curse than anything I suppose. If I stop moving, I fall asleep. It keeps me from enjoying movies or really much of anything that isn't pushing my mind. I have been like that for a long time, and I have to completely unplug to get rest. This is when I go silent for a long time, but my mind doesn't stop trying to solve or figure out issues. It is frustrating sometimes for me, but is very frustrating for those in my family that don't get it and just have to accept it.
My dad was the same way and one day he just quit trying to figure this kind of stuff out. I am seriously afraid of that day for me. I don't know what I will do.
@David... Totally get it... Without my passion for stuff like robotics I really get bored. Mostly from not using my brain.... I had completed one of my inMoov's arms. Complete with the new ioTiny inside the forearm driving the 6 servos... Unfortunately all those servos are the old buzzy type so now I have to dismantle the arm in order to upgrade the arm servos to the new HDD ones.... Arrrgh...
... Then Jaw and neck side to side servos too (Bob Houston's mod)...