What can I say, I am super excited about this stuff! Thanks to having a bunch of young boys with lots of legos and kinex around and the handy dandy hot glue gun, I already worked up a possible solution for the head movement. Once I figure out how to get vids up on YouTube, I will post the video. In the meantime...here are some pictures of how I connected up a servo to the head.

Welcome kkeast,

Pretty cool bot for your first project, I also won on ebay a Rad Robot v1.0 for $20.00 but the owner sent it to the wrong address and never got it back so I got refunded. Just my luck...lol

I was just wondering if your going to add anything new to the Rad Robot like a camera, sensors, audio or new movement like head tilt or turning?

from the pics I see, good job so far, keep up the good work

Hi There, bummer about your RAD. Hope you score one soon! You bet I am going to add stuff. Camera (probably go with one of DJ's if he gets some more in), sensors (ping sensor....not sure where I am going to put it yet). New movement..YES....In fact...check out what I did this evening.....

Kevin

Wow. That is looking pretty awesome and in such a short time. Can't wait to see what you will have next

Dude very cool! I like that platform a lot.

Love the Robot! those cool track base and nerf gun make it look like it could be something from termintaor hehe if DJ keeps addings more and more awesome functions to EZ and maybe one day makes it able to run without need of laptop to might find my self calling it Skynet instead has become self aware! :P

Look forward to seeing what you do with it! :)

How are you going to do the arms and bending at the waist?

Hey jamerperson. Great question! I don't know yet. I think I am going to use the original motors and hook them up to an H Bridge to start. I really like the idea of being able to have the bot bend at the waist and pick stuff up. I am considering modifying the end of the arm with a caliper grip. Right now I am focusing on the Radar. I am figuring out that the factory installed lights were bulbs. Those will have to be replaced by LEDs. More pictures and vids to come.

Hey all. My wife let me work on the Robot this weekend! The kids work as a great excuse for me! Anyway here is a video of the latest progress. Open to suggestions/recommendations as always. I was planning on putting the EZ-B the head but with all the wires, I am now thinking about moving the EZ-B to the base. I will have to 'cut more plastic' and may loose the Cheesy Tray "Cheese Tray" that the RAD can carry around...but oh well...sacrifices may have to be made....

:) ;)

Hey everyone,

Work has been going on here over the Christmas break!

We have named our bot 'LEGION' and he is coming along nicely.

I have added a cylon eye or Larson Scanner kit: evilmadscience

I also added a Pololu qik dual serial motor controller which works very nicely so far for control of the waist and arm motors: qik controller

I also added some chest LEDs to liven LEGION up a bit.

Next up will be an accelerometer so I can see how far over LEGION is at any given time and a camera (mounted on the side of the head with a Y axis servo).

And for my latest Video:

This stuff is addicting! I am having a blast and so are my kids!

v/r

Kevin

I love Legion! He is really COOL! What type of run time are you getting out of the RC car battery? What H-bridge are using for the drive motors? So many questions, so little time....

Hi bret.tallent,

Thanks! I just finished adding the wireless camera. LEGION is a work in progress. As for the RC battery. I don't know quite yet but will keep you posted. I have been doing so much testing lately I am not really sure. As for the H Bridge. I used this one:

2A H bridge

It is from DFrobot and was only $17 bucks. I am no a budget so I am always looking for deals. Because it does not have a dedicated control in the EZ-B software you do have to set up a simple movement script to control it. Takes 4 Digital ports to control it. Two for motor polarity (FWD/RVS) for left/right motors and two for left/right Motors on off.

I also went with a serial motor controller (qik controller) and the link is above for the waist and arm motors. Works great... I really like this controller as it only takes 1 Digital port for serial comms and it supports driving motors with 1A continuous 3A peak.

Looking forward to seeing your projects...and some day a East Coast get together!

v/r

Kevin

That's the motor controller I have! Glad to hear it works well. You'll have to let me know how you wired it up so I can do the same. Can't wait for the East Coast get together either!

Hey bret.tallent,

sorry for the delay. The 2A H bridge (from DFRobot) is really easy to set up. Here is a jpeg i threw together that shows how I have mine wired (one side only).

Version 2.0 of graphic (corrected)

Note: You need to remove the jumper...so you can run your motors off a separate power supply.

E1,E2 is motor speed M1,M2 is motor polarity (setting high changes motor direction)

I am using the set command right now for movement. 4 commands for each script:

Example Right Turn script:

Set (d6,off) # sets polarity left motor off (forward direction) set(d8,on) #sets polarity right motor on (reverse direction) set(d7,on) #turns on left motor set(d9,on) #turns on right motor

You are supposed to be able to give E1 and E2 PWM. I have not messed with that too much yet.

Hope this helps you get going.

v/r

Kevin

Kevin, on your drawing the D7 and D6 signal is pointing to +5 and the D6 +5 is pointing to Signal

This is fantastic! Thank you Kevin and DJ!

Geez, sorry all....I fixed it....thanks DJ

kkeast;

That is great work!

I too am working with a RAD 2.0 base. (and just received my EZ-B Kit!!!)

How did you hook up the qik controller from the Arms and Waist to the EZ-B?

Thanx:)

@RR33,

Since it is serial I hooked it up to one digital port for basic operation:

+5 EZB to Vcc on pik GND EZB to GND on pik Signal EZB to RX on pik Motor Supply voltage (battery) to VMOT on pik Motor supply GND to GND on pik

Motors 1 and 2 hooked up to -M1+ and -M2+

I like that the pik has automatic buad detection..supports up to 38.4kbps

I don't use the other control wires.

I used what the manual calls the 'compact' protocol to send commands. The manual is pretty good and has some examples.....let me know and I can post the commands I used for the motors.

Looking forward to your progress on your RAD 2.0 base.....!

v/r

Kevin

Thanx kkeast!

I'm going to order the same pik. (and H-Bridge) You used. Please post the commands for the motors...thanx so much!:) Rob

I ordered the same H-Bridge and Pik. Thanx for the help!:)

Hey Kevin , I did dynamat sound deadening and wow what a difference , the motors make like 1/5 the noise , just a small humm. I've heard "peel and seal" which is 15 bucks for a 25 foot roll at lowest. I used name brand dynamat from eBay that costs about the same. Here's some pics I had on my phone. It's definitely worth it!

Covering the inside walls of base and outside of gearbox did the trick , now it sounds high tech with a little hum instead of a plastic loud toy. :)

@jstarne1,

That sounds awesome and 'quiet' too! Just what I need! Thanks for the pics and info!

@RR333,

I will post my scripts for the pik soon.

v/r

Kevin

@RR333,

Here are the scripts (commands) for my arm and waist motors: I installed an accelerometer attached to ADC0 so i know when to 'stop' the waist motors (when going up and down) so you don't get the plastic popping of the gears. I still don't have a good solution to keep the arms from 'popping' when they close or open too much. Hope this helps and your pik is working out!

v/r

kevin :)

Arms Open Script sendserial(d4,19200,0xAA) sendserial(d4,19200,0x88,0x7F) sleep(1000) sendserial(d4,19200,0x88,0x00)

Arms Close Script sendserial(d4,19200,0xAA) sendserial(d4,19200,0x8A,0x7F) sleep(1000) sendserial(d4,19200,0x8A,0x00)

Waist Down Script: sendserial(d4,19200,0xAA) if (ADC (ADC0) > 125) goto(end) sendserial(d4,19200,0x8E,0x7F) sleep(1000) sendserial(d4,19200,0x8E,0x00) :end sendserial(d4,19200,0x8E,0x00)

Waist Up Script: sendserial(d4,19200,0xAA) if(ADC(ADC0 < 79) goto (end) sendserial(d4,19200,0x8C,0x7F) sleep(1000) sendserial(d4,19200,0x8C,0x00) :end sendserial(d4,19200,0x8c,0x00)

Thanx kkeast!:)AWESOME!!!! I just got my EZ B, so I hope to be able to write scripts myself, someday soon.

Still waiting on my PIK and H Bridge.... Hopefully soon!

How's your RAD doing?

Just got the PIK today.. Hopefully I can work on it this week:)

@RR333,

Glad your gear is in! You gotta be psyched to get going. RAD aka LEGION is doing well. I have a camera mounted on him now...I need to get a recent vid up.....hope to do that soon....

Looking forward to your progress! let me know how it goes!

v/r

Kevin

STILL waiting on the H-Bridge:(

I'm thinking of Modifying the RAD Body quite abit, including adding hands/claws....

BTW; I didn't get a Battery with my RAD,,,,,,Any Suggestions????

Ub645 6v lead acid 4ah , you can mount inside your base , charge with regular charger and get s long runtime

Thanx!!!! jstarne1!

No problem , you can buy them 2 for 20 dollars on eBay , two will fit side by side. Which will give you 8ah , that's a all day runtime for those two little track motors and the ezb board. :). I'm a fan of long run Times. Then just put it on 6v charger all night :). Chargers are 7 to 10th dollars.

Do you have the Ebay links???? Thanx again!:)

Ok here's to batteries for you cheap http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-UB645MP2ALT3-Streamlight-Vulcan-44007-Sho-me-SLA-replacement-6V-4-5A-/120862152436?pt=US_Batteries&hash=item1c23f216f4

Here's a 6 volt overnight charger http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-12-VOLT-GAME-DEER-FEEDER-BATTERY-CHARGER-6V-12V-/190577628602?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c5f4fd5ba

Thanx! but didn't KKeast say it is pushing it at 7.5 volts? You say I can run it at 12v?

It can run 12 but no not what I was suggesting. Wiring two batteries all positives connected , all negatives is called paralleling. It doubles runtime not voltage , the base runs great with 6 volts!

@kkeast - how is Legion coming along? Do you have any updated video? Curious bots want to know.

OH!!!! Thanx jstarne1:)

I get it...I learned something today!:)lol

Ordering those BATTs and Charger now!:)

Hey all,

Been pretty busy lately.....here is my latest update.

One of the videos below has Legion's camera mod and a demo of the Voice Recognition. Most of the physical modifications for Legion are done for a while and I am concentrating on the programming. (But I will most definitely be looking at quieting those motors down thanks jstarne1!).

Along with the ARC stuff I have also been working on an interface to my Home Automation system. The second video is a short preview of my new robot control. I hope to have some better videos later on.

v/r

Kevin

Very Neat KKeast!!!:)

DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is awesome!!!!!!!!!

nice design,i pick up a rad 4.0 looking to hack it soon on ebay $18 no remote and didnt work but still great for hacking,bought a bunch of robots to be hack fairly soon first working on WALL-E love ez-robot board cant wait to buy more and have them ready

I like the Camera servo mount!:) All Legion needs is a Laser Gun mounter on one of His shoulders like that!:)lol

Thanks kkeast for the update. Legion is outstanding! I love all you have done with him, and his responsiveness.

I love the "Larson" LED's for eyes, and the ping sensor in the nose.33

Alan

Someone got a nice write-up on Hack-a-day!!! http://hackaday.com/2012/02/28/15-toy-becomes-fully-programmable-robot/

Alan

we stock about 50 different RAD models and too many RAD parts so keep us in mind for what you need. We should have all things RAD on our site soon

www.robots-suck.com

or drop any of our sales associates an email from within the site

larson scanner look pretty good for robot projects will need to get one,one i like also isVU meter for mouth movement using LM3914

Well Deserved "Hack a Day" Kevin!!!!!

Thanks folks! I was certainly surprised. DJ got a well deserved 'Shout Out' too!

@robotmaker,

I used the TCP/IP interface DJ added into ARC. I could have gone the long way around and worked and interface with his SDK but ARC has so much good stuff I did not want to mess with it. So I started with a Python client script to send commands to ARC which works well if you use something like Eventghost (has python built into it). The video shows my home automation software which is called Housebot by Cebotics. I have been using Housebot for a few years now. Housebot is good by itself but can run vb scripts and you can make customized plugins...so i found a plugin from the Housebot forum and modified it to be a TCP client for ARC. I don't have everything where I want it yet...but getting there. DJ has VBscript in ARC and that would probably be a more direct interface to Housebot (so long as they run on the same computer I think). So far have not got the VBscript in ARC working.

I have a little more detail on my website that I have just started throwing together:

EDGAR Home Page

I love the AI ideas.....that would be the coolest!

v/r

Kevin

it's great to see people modding RAD's...we've got so many of those bots, we tend to like RAD 2 for the ears, we call him demon bot around the office

oh the RADs are coming and so are their parts, if you're looking for any RAD's just click the contact link on the website and we'll get someone to post them for you.

@robotmaker.....thanks dude...i will be checking those.....sounds like some great stuff!

We're selling off our RAD's and we have several different models, so if any of you are looking for one, register at www.robots-suck.com, click the contact link at the bottom of the home page, and tell us which RAD you're looking for, whether you care if it's working or not, etc. and someone will get a price and info to you.

hi Kevin i got a RAD 2.0 like your from a thrift store $12.00 with good battery no remote ,witch is good dont need it hopping to start on it soon using some of your info first working on my ROOMBA design,waiting on a few sensors and my decks to come in thrift store is a great place to pick up working or non working robots for hacking

robot-sucks how come you dont have them listed on your main website the rads you have,like to see prices and pictures

we're going to sell off all our RAD's and not stock them anymore, they won't be on the site, but anyone can register, click the contact link and we'll get photos ready and email them to anyone who contacts us wanting RAD's

@kkeast - Slightly off-topic, but you said:

"So I started with a Python client script to send commands to ARC which works well if you use something like Eventghost (has python built into it)."

If you feel like sharing, I'd be interested in learning how you used Eventghost to interface with ARC. I'm sure others would too! Perhaps a tutorial if you have the time? It would be much appreciated. :)

@robotmaker, Nice score! I should start checking out those thrift stores. Craigslist is kinda dry for robots I have noticed (at least in the DC/VA/MD area) but I keep checking it anyway now and again.

@JT, you bet, I will put a short tutorial together.....

Well Kevin;

My H-Bridge from DefRobot finally arrived. But the local Post Office, out here in the NH woods wants me to Personally pickup the parcel... Maybe this Steven King Small Town is wondering why I get so many Packages from Overseas China, Japan, etc.... Geez, Walmart gets them on a Daily Basis!!!!...lol

Oh well; TIME TO BUILD!!!!:)

i guess you meen dfrobot, i like the website,got a great deal ob a compass CMPS-03 $35 instead of $55 plus shipping everywhere else,does take awhile get anything from them i like getting stuff from overseas,alot cheaper but long wait

Yeah "DFRobot"... Early morning,Caffeine deficiency lol

I know, great deals, long wait...I forget what I ordered from time to time...lol

@rr333 what h bridge did you buy? Do you have pictures? Linky? What's your project your building?

@RR333,

Awesome, glad to see it arrived. Watch out for those black unmarked sedans and SUVs as you approach the post office...could be a sting operation....lol

v/r

Kevin

jstarne1; This one, that kkeast used for his RAD:

H Bridge

Hahaha!, Good one Kevin!:)

good price $17 but from china no stock as of today ,robotshop does them in stock for $22 but i like this one from cytron single motor 10 amp $13.86 and need 2 of them much higher current handle dfrobot 2 amps this 10 amp 15 amp peak less heat,2 amp design cutting it close cytron 10 bridge single motor

also if you are looking to use 2 amd dual motor using the same chip as dfrobot design solarobotics has one for about $18 ,robotshop has it for $18 + $10 for shipping but solarbotics website has is for shipping cheaper $7.61

solarbotic l298 dual motor controller

I just got this h bridge for 20 bucks shipped its very heavy duty. It's rated 10 amp per channel continuously.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160738711814?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

It says 60 amp peak. (i believe that's 30 per channel). 10 amp per channel continuously. This also has a braking.function.if you.used a wheelchair motor.

yes i ordered that one a few days ago,very nice board,little big,have plans for a larger motor for it

whats better about this design it uses mosfets lot of the other ones like L298 and others use transistors so more heat and higher resistance with mosfets you get more power,less heat, low resistance,instead of all those transistors for drivers they should use a mosfet driver chip but that china made,i have design high power full h bridge controller 120 amp per channel design for large wheel chair motors for my big robot

@JT and for anyone else interested.

Here is a short tutorial video on how to control ARC with EvenGhost using a TCP/IP client python script. EventGhost is a really cool free program that has a ton of functionality to control all kinds of things. It has plugins that allow you to connect an IR remote to your PC and start controlling other programs. It is a little hard to explain it if you have not worked with it but you can check it out at the link below.

EventGhost has a python engine built in when you install it. This allows you to run Python scripts from within it. I really like python and have used it to build simple TCP/IP communications apps.

EventGhost also has an Android App that is worth checking out.

Here is the script that will connect to a localhost ARC server on port 6666:

##client.py from socket import * import time HOST = 'localhost' #or the IP address of the machine where ARC server is running PORT = 6666 #our port from before ADDR = (HOST,PORT) BUFSIZE = 4096 cli = socket( AF_INET,SOCK_STREAM) cli.connect((ADDR)) data = cli.recv(BUFSIZE)

cli.send('enter your ARC command here\n')

cli.send('say(how are you today)\n') cli.close()

EventGhost

Sorry for the resolution on the video...its not that good..if you go full screen you can capture the 'macro creation'. I can try to get some better resolution if folks would like. Note: this is one way send from EventGhost to ARC. You can receive data but you have to put it into EventGhost global variables. I started with this but changed to using my Home Automation Software instead. If you would really like to do bi-directional I can give you some code that at least gets it into EventGhost..but then you have to do something with it once you get it.

v/r

Kevin

thats KEVIN will try with my USB-UIRT i see it has a plug-in for and would like bi-directional for X10 modules i have them on every light and sockets,my hot tub control and A/C

Hey kkeast;

How did you wire your Dual servo PIK to the Ez-Board, for the RAD?

@rr333 here is the info ,i guess no coffee today +5 EZB to Vcc on pik GND EZB to GND on pik Signal EZB to RX on pik Motor Supply voltage (battery) to VMOT on pik Motor supply GND to GND on pik

Motors 1 and 2 hooked up to -M1+ and -M2+

info on page 2

@kkeast - Brilliant! Thank you very much. That is really slick. I can see a definite use for Eventghost with ARC.

A have a small follow-up question. Eventghost has the ability to monitor a directory for a file, yes? If this is correct, can Eventghost read the contents of that file (assume a one-line command like "robot_forward") and then run a python 'macro' to control ARC as in your video?

Thanks again Kevin for sharing this information. It is much appreciated! :)

Thanx robotmaker;

Yeah, I forgot he put it on page 2:( This thread is getting long!:)lol

@JT, EventGhost does alot of cools stuff. I looked around and I do see the 'Directory Watcher' plugin but I have not used it. I enabled it and it looks like you point the 'Directory Watcher' to a folder and can see events being created when a file is created or modified. This can be used to trigger other events. I am not exactly sure what you want to do here but it sounds like you already have some application that creates the commands? If this could be a text file of a 'command'' you could easily launch a Python script to do what you need when Directory Watcher sees the change in the file.

The Python Script would need to open the file, look at it, and do a string comparison, and take action depending on what command was found. It looks like the elif (ElseIF) statement would work..and you could actually compare and send the EZ-B command in the same script.

Use the python client code above but try adding something like this:

file = open("sample.txt")

if file == "Move Forward": cli.send('Forward()\n') cli.close() elif file == "Say Hello": cli.send('Say(Hello There)\n') cli.close() elif file== "Scan Script": cli.send('ControlCommand(Scanning,scriptstart)\n') cli.close() . . . else: Print "Command Not Understood" #logs error in EventGhost log cli.close()

(The above code was not tested so you may have to play around with it)

Just curious as to what program you have creating the 'command file'? While the above should work, it seems a little clunky...but who knows...it might meet your needs.

I am not a Python code guru. I do work with it and also Visual Basic Script to do what I need. I am a huge code savager when it comes to things as there are so many examples out there and chances are half the time the code you want is already done and available for public use.

Good Luck...hope this helps...look forward to seeing if it works for you.

v/r

Kevin

@robotmaker - my thoughts exactly. I've been looking at trying the Leaf Project AI for some time, but I'm not much of a hardware guy to build the controller.

@kkeast - Thanks again for your assistance. Very much appreciated. And you're right, it is clunky... But it's my best idea at the moment.

I discovered that the Leaf Project AI is able to create a simple text file to be read by a chatbot (programD). So I figured if the Leaf Project AI could do that, it might be possible to write new code to have it write out another simple text file to send commands to ARC via the use of Eventghost. But this was my "clunky" connection between the two since the Leaf Project AI is written in LISP. However, it might also be possible to send commands directly to ARC from LISP via a socket similar to how you did using python/Eventghost. But I'm having trouble finding examples of how to do this in LISP. I'm still researching/formulating ideas...

@JT glad to help if i can.

@Robotmaker - LEAF proj looks very cool.....I will be looking into it as i carve are spare moments ;)

v/r

kevin

@kkeast think that idea i have for arms will work

@kkeast - Thanks! You've been a big help already. :D

@robotmaker - you said, "just curious are you THOMAS on LEAF group club"

Sorry, I'm not Thomas. I did join the Leaf Project Y! Group recently though... I hadn't realized that a lot of the files I needed were located there and not the main Leaf Project Org site. eyeroll

@robotmaker , I need to look at those resistance sensors. I am also looking a the Hall Effect Sensor that sparkfun sells. I may try both to see how each works.

v/r

kevin

@kkeast here is a link to a bend sensor many other companies sell them too

bend sensor

we've got a RAD 1.0 on eBay right now

I've got a rad 2.0 bottom half if anyone needs spare parts. Fully functional 15 bucks Plus shipping gets it.

I think we've got some arms and turrets, and a few rare missile set I'm sure we'll ask a premium for.

@robotmaker - Oh? You know a bit of LISP? I'll have to pick your brain when I get the chance to attempt sending commands to ARC via a LISP socket a-la the way kkeast did using python for his RAD robot. I'll contact you about this more on the other site when I get to that point. No need to pollute kkeast's thread anymore with this side-track. ;)

Sorry about that @kkeast! You were so helpful! I hope your work with Eventghost/python inspires others as well.

i really scored great,i got rad 2.0 in fair condition for $13 on ebay

robotmaker that sounds like a great price ! J.W.

no controller or charger ,but not needed like always cant wait to hack it soon,when i get him will take apart clean him up and get him ready have plans to use some of KKEAST ideas plus alot of mine,i ordered 2 more EZB's getting in monday,plus a few servo parts and lynxmotion parts for my ROOMBA PROJECT also my girlfriend got me a late christmas gift BROOKSTONE ROVER to hack,i know she wants to hack it second only work part time,so have plenty of time for HACKING and HACKING

@robotmaker ,

Great score...looking forward to seeing more hacked RADs!

JT, I am very much looking forward to learning about the LEAF, LISP and all that AI stuff...would be a great topic to start a thread to get more folks interested because I bet there would be lots!

v/r

Kevin

@ robotmaker , congrats on your new addition to your family! RAD is a bit tight for storing gear. Due to space I ditched the tray for now....and cut the indented cylnder (where the tray slides in) on the base....that frees up quite a bit of space.....if you look in my vids you can see that there is a hole there. I may look into putting the tray on some time in the future...we shall see. Lots of screws...yep.....Good Luck!

btw...getting LISP going now to check it out...

v/r

Kevin

i got the rad about,lot and lot of screws,now clean and bag him for a hack latter,need to order parts for him early and may cut and get it ready,then clean great day for me ,my EZB came in i ordered 2 of them ,have 3 now for 3 hacks should have my brookstone ROVER project done this week

@KKEAST thats what i was going to do cut the cylinder too,for room also the head has room too,so thinking it should fit no problem PICO computer board,and extra power source

update everything fits including 2 6 volt batteries now back to my brookstone rover project

@kkeast you said you are using a servo to control the speed,better idea is leave in low for high torque and use PWM to control the speed ,at high mode you wont get much torque

also if need more torque i found that rs-385sh motor will work and fits it is longer,but still can put 2 in and have space left over 3 points rad will have about 8 times or more as torque per wheel on each side so double is 16 it is a 12 volt motor and need a 4 amps per motor stall now if need to run it at 6 volts can be done too but about half or another motor at 6 volts using 8 amps stall torque is rs-360sh motors are on ebay or can use the ones in a roomba ,it uses rs-385sh,thats the one i am using for rad and used before on other robots,on roomba i upgrade the motor and h-circuit,so i have lot left for my robot projects very good high torque motor

@ robotmaker ,

I keep the motors in low gear mostly. My next thing will be to get the PWM speed control on my H Bridge going. I need to experiment with the PWM control to do motor speed using a script. I have not experimented with the PWM on the motors yet. They are hooked up to the signal but I am simply treating them as Digital (max PWM) right now.

It is fun to run the RAD with the high gear though. It really moves along!

I have not had a problem with torque on the bot. I suppose it depends on what you want to use the bot for. If it just moving around the existing motors are fine. In face this thing will climb right up the wall if you don't stop it.

@kkeast and others i designed h-bridge design and pcb boards all info in zip file,made this design awhile back and sold many boards if anyone needs to buy the boards let me know,more that buy the boards the lower the cost to have it made ,boards are in 2 parts ,main reason is that the board is universal logic circuit on one board and pwm h-bridge on another rated at 60 amp cont,but you can easy remove mosfets to save money,remove 4 of the 8 mosfets give you 30 amps i dont get money from this and dont need it HBRIDGE.zip files in bmp and sch and parts list

Wow..you guys do great stuff with robots, Legion is so cool! I will be trying to add some AI with the help of the Leaf project too. Also, EventGhost looks really interesting too, I will most definitly look at that aswell. You guys are so handy with all this stuff, thats really inspirational, it gives me so much new ideas! Excellent work! :P

Kristian.

@Kevin - hey, are you going to add code to Legion? Make him more autonimous? Or just stick with the remote control? I have decided to keep Bob as joystick control and did not add sound to him. He is a cool little bot that I can play with ideas on. My next bot (the 2 foot B9) will have more autonimous functions, as well as joystick. Then my big bot will be imbedded computing. If you are doing a combination of joystick and AI on Legion it sounds like we are on the same page. Perhaps I could pick you brain?

Did you add any sound deadening to the drive section? How loud is Legion? I am using the RAD bas for B9.

@Brett, I am going to add code and make him partially autonomous but really only 1 or two functions - Sentry Bot. He is fun to just drive around with the joystick, especially with the gearbox on the high mode! I am just about done with modding him and will be buttoning him up and moving on to my next project soon, a much bigger bot. My big issue with Legion (RAD 2.0) was the small space. Very tight working and lots of screws. I have two more mods I am going to do. The coding for him will not be to in depth. I would have loved to outfit more stuff into him but the space is so limited! I have not done any sound dampening...yet....Legion is VERY Loud right now. I just need more space to work in. We can total do some brain storming on ideas. Your B9 looks awesome so far!

@robotmaker, I do like the idea of getting going with the LEAF project. It sounds very cool but time has not been there as of lately. ROBOREALM also looks very interesting. I will be posting some pics of my latest Legion mod very shortly.

v/r

Kevin

@kkeast i made a design special control board to fit inside the RAD 2.0 PLUS PICO-ITX BOARD AND BATTERIES to run the LEAF software and ROBOREALM board is the LEAF MICROCONTROLLER board with a fast CPU also big changes on the drive system for to handle a larger load about 50 lbs carry

Hey All,

Legion is still alive and kicking. I tore him all the way down and did some cosmetic changes. I have also added a new feature. As a Sentry bot I don't want anyone sneaking up on him so I added some mini PIR sensors. There is no way you can sneak up on him now! I started a thread a while back on these and these little $4.50 sensors seem to be doing the trick. Check out Legions new base:

Link to PIR Sensor Thread

I love the new color! Nice, neat job!

@kkeast back from my long trip and 14 packages where waiting for me of robot parts ,and robots in one of the boxes is the I2C mp player,so cant wait to try it out taking my girlfriend out to dinner for taking good care of picking my boxes up ,tonight there was a few parts backordered,but got a lot ,still have more comming in this week

i see you have the PIR'S facing up,that doesnt work too well,i have tried it unless looking to detect the light change way PIR works it detects movement in front of the sensor ,it does have a fresnel lens that does help a little this is what PIR sensor DETECTS allows the detection of humans, pets or other warm bodied objects such as candles as well as other heat sources when facing up wont really detect heat or person motion very well facing forward it detects about a 360 deg might work if sens pot is at full gain,but depend on alot of factors

@kkeast - I am going to use the same type sensor for my B9 build. I plan on putting them on the side of his leg section

@robotmaker, Glad you made it back safe from your trip...sounds like you have some building to do now. Looking forward to hearing about your progress!

About these little PIRs. As an EE, I get the theory part behind PIRs...but the reality is with these devices i just threw in there...I cannot get within 6 feet of the base before they trip and I didn't even mess with the pots! They work really well, even surface mounted! We shall see how they behave in other conditions but for now...I am pretty happy with them.

I was not looking for anything long range....my house PIRs handle the entry points.....i just needed more of a proximity sensor and these will do the trick!

Bret....those should work well for your legs I think.

v/r

Kevin

@bret.tallent thats a good spot to place it ,but i would look at amn22100 from digi-key one main reason you almost cant see it,very small, analog out but they have others with digital output like the one kkeast is using i have a a couple not using ,might look to sell or find a use for it also different detection types from the same company,like spot ,wide FOV (field of view) and others one like KKEAST is using great for outside lights and alarms ,but not great in robotics,it still works but false reading sometimes, but good because cheap,check the one used on my brookstone ROVER project very small and can distance to person or heat source or person moving spot types are little better because no false reading from other heat sources ,like sun ,stove the best one is TPA81 it checks inside temperature and compares to 8 other heat sources plus if you pan it can make whats called a tremal image of a person or heat source ,almost like a camera does except in heat patterns

@kkeast proximity they will work great for ,but watch false trigger ,depends in sens pot adjustment,like stoves,windows with sun heat source and others,move around you house alot with sun light comming in ,stove on,and any other heat source ,like heaters, turn them on without you moving ,if doesnt detect then its set good one my design ,using it for 2 reasons one is movement ,second is distance to sensor to set focus on camera and mike level another idea i did is get a TPA81 about $90 each,on this one can detect person size or animal or thermal image graph of the person using a panning design,it has a built in rc connection for servo for panning on mine i got it working to detect a candle ,small person like child,adult or dog and tell the difference between them,each heat source has a different heat temperature,TPA81 has array of 8-1

BRET using on the legs you will get a 360 deg front,back and side ,need one on each leg

@Kevin - I didn't know if you had picked one of these up yet for Legion's chest, but I just got this at Lowes near the checkouts. It was only 8 bucks on clearance and they had quite a few. Plasma Light:

BRET hope to get one if lowes has them still have the name or box it camme in

The box says "Mini Plasma Plate" and #58600. It even comes with the batteries. Let me know if you can find them at your Lowes. If not, I can make a run to the one near me and buy up what they have. Then shipping and 8 bucks and Bob's your uncle, you got one!

@ Bret, you said it...that is wicked cool! Gotta get to Lowe's tomorrow to see if i can find one!

v/r

Kevin

LOL I got one off eBay. It was cool for a couple of days and in the trash now. The one I had said it responded to sound. NOT! If you are careful you can get the back off to rewire it to get rid of the AA batteries. Don't try to take the circuit board out without unsoldering the 2 frail wires coming out of the plasma disk. I'm going with LEDs that are sound activated, One thing I can say is the plasma disk was cheap. $10.63 shipped from China

@kkeast - how did you connect your PIR sensors to the EZ-B? Are they DIO or AI? Oh I see, they are on DIOs. What is the wiring to the three pins on the sensor? I have the exact ones on B9.

they are digital output DIO on mine going to use TPA81 ,about $80 to $104 i want to tell between child ,adult and a dog or other heat sources only kind on the market that can do it,it has 8-1 PIR'S (total of 9) to make a thermal image other PIR'S cant make a thermal image (like photograph) of the heat source its I2C bus,and using the same in my OMNIBOT 2000 project when i start on it,have 3 already and did testing ,they really work perfect TPA81 PIR

HERE IS INFO ON SENSOR AND ABOUT THERMAL IMAGE

Oh wow that is incredible robotmaker , one of those sensors may be a good upgrade one day. Maybe in the spot of.my.pir.

its a very tiny sensor ,board is bigger

Definately a nice solution for my big bot with on-board computing. It will require multiple boards for operation so that would give me the additional inputs needed. Nice.

@ Bret,

Here is the link to the schematic on e-bay. Used two servo wires (two female connectors)... switched the Vcc and Signal lines.....then hooked straight up to D/IO. I see these are down to $3.78 (just ordered 4 more)...they seem to work great so far on Legion....!

Sensors

@kkeast thats same one i bought to play around and test,bought a few to test and compare,but notthing beats the TPA81,can detect between a small person or bigger person or flame or any other sensor,then build a thermal photograph image of the heat source

Thanks @kkeast - Yeah, I bought 5 of them. In looking at them I see that I can hook them up to ADC port then use their input in a script to affect what I want, as I plan on only using these sensors in Sentry Mode (which will be script driven). I believe this is what I will do then I can differentiate Left and Right sides and save my Digital ports.

@robotmaker - it would be nice to have those other sensors, I just can't afford them at this time. And on this robot I really don't need that level sophistication.

mostly low cost robots like this doesnt need a really good sensors,they kinda like a toy robot but fun to build when i use my sensors in these types ,i try to hide them or use very tiny sensor ,like the AMN22111 FOR LITTLE MORE MONEY sensors like SHARP IR i try to put behind a clear acrylic like on the BROOKSTONE ROVER project on TPA81 SENSOR using on my omnibot 2000 project ,computer and LEAF AI software also design a special male/female sound detecting circuit,and my spectrometer that can detect BEER from WATER and other drinks or ? ,for my omnibot 2000 project

@bret.tallent ADC PORT is analog to digital port 0-5 volts to use that sensor there is 2 ways ,one is simple use the digital port DOI ,from the 3pin connector on edge of the pcb

SECOND is to use the analog pin from the PIR sensor on the pcb,its easy to find ,there is 3 pins ,gnd,5 volt ,analog output,gnd iis easy to find ,5 volt easy to trace and find ,3 pin is your output

if using the 3 pins on pcb to analog port ,it might jump around or re-trigger from noise so a good way is to use a schmitt trigger IC or diode in series and pull up or down resistor

i got a RAD 4.0 robot looks good to hack for EZB

@kkeast i guess this question is for you i see you used autohotkey before i am trying to make a script to first open a program then after a delay ,then open a file having problems with adding a delay ,i can run the program ok but needs to wait until it starts to open a file i know the hotkey commands but adding a delay is a problem can you make a example of a simple script for me

@robotmaker,

sure thing. Since you need to delay i am assuming you tried doing this:

run notepad.exe, C:\mytextfile.txt (using a target file)

sounds like you need your program to fully boot first.

Then the next question is 'does your program have shortcut keys....like CTRL+O, type the file, then hit enter? (if not, doing this may be a little trickier..but lets assume you have a shortcut to file/open)

Here is a sample script that should help you. There are two functions that can work. One is 'sleep' but I prefer the 'winwait' as it will get you the best performance.

Here is a simple script to open a notepad file using winwait (you cannot set the delay but the script waits until the 'specified window' appears). I also commented in what is happening and also what do change if you need to control the time using 'sleep'

run, notepad.exe

;next line waits for notepad.exe to launch in a new window before going on in the script ;use the window spy tool that came with Autohotkey if you don't know the window name WinWait, Untitled - Notepad,

;next line makes the Untitled - Notepad window active if it is not active IfWinNotActive, Untitled - Notepad, , WinActivate, Untitled - Notepad,

;next line waits for Untitled - Notepad to become active WinWaitActive, Untitled - Notepad,

; if you need to control the time factor use the sleep function time in milliseconds and replace ; the WinWaitActive line above with the line below ; sleep, 1000

;next line sends the shortcut keys to open a file load window Send, {CTRLDOWN}o{CTRLUP}

;next line waits for the Open window and the one after that makes it active just like above WinWait, Open, IfWinNotActive, Open, , WinActivate, Open, WinWaitActive, Open, ;again if you need to set this time factor use sleep ;sleep, 1000 ;next line sends the actual keys you need to send to select the file you want loaded and hits enter Send, myfile.txt{ENTER} exit ;file should load in Notepad or your program....after you customize it

That should do it.....again, if you can use the winwait.....it would be much better as actions will happen faster.

After you get the script working....I recommend compiling it to an exe and it will run faster. Plus you can't accidentally mess up your script....you can also run it anywhere then.

If you are stuck..let me know...glad to help. There is also a recording macro tool that comes with Autohotkey that is very handy as well to help you figure out what window you need to put in your script.

Looking forward to hearing how it goes.

v/r

Kevin

i few a few programs want to make ,first is leaf need to start leafworks then wait then use alt+O (file) then wait again then wait ctrl+O (open) then filename

mostly rest are the same,minor changes

@robotmaker,

Using a variation of the above should work for you. Again the macro recorder is a nice tool to help identify the windows you need to make active (before sending the shortcut keys).

v/r

kevin

ok ,i kinda under stand it ,sleep is what i was missing mostly in mine,did use winwait and winactive

looking for a RAD 2.0 remote and tray for sale or free looking to fully restore one of my 4 RAD'S i have

Hey Kevin, any updates on your RAD robot? Any more video?

Hi guys,

I finally got some time over the Holidays to work on LEGION. He is nearly done. Here he is sporting a new paint job all put back together.

As mentioned in some of my last posts he now has PIR sensors front and back and the kids love to try to 'sneak' up on him but cannot get closer than 6 feet before one or both trip!

What took so long was not just work but it took me FOREVER to figure out what to put into the chest circle. For those who don't know, the original RAD 2.0 had nerf darts. While cool, I decided to get rid of those. I was going to put a cool light in there but then changed direction again.

I decided to go with a speaker as LEGION is a Sentry Bot and he needs to be able to have a loud speaking voice. So I needed either a wireless speaker or MP3 trigger. I finally found what appears to be an awesome combination. I found a USB wireless audio adapter (i know there are some out there but they all seemed too big!) I also went through a few speakers and finally found one at Bed Bath and Beyond of all places....A small IPOD battery powered (3V) speaker that fits perfectly. The bonus with the adapter I found is that it has a 'mic' channel too! Now I can easily add a microphone to this guy which is all part of the plan. The speaker system works awesome..its nice and loud for the size of the little speaker. I am hopeful that the microphone will work just as well but probably only when LEGION is not moving.

(sorry about the fuzzy pic below...the adapter is a 'Wireless Audio Box'..only takes one AAA battery...not bad for $30 on ebay). Wireless Audio Adapter

Anyway.....I have the hardware pretty much done...now I have to see what I can do to leverage DJs new software addons!

My final video for LEGION is yet to come....once I get everything up and running.

Nice to be working on robots again! I am so impressed by everyone else's work that has been going on...some really really cool ideas!

Kevin

Very cool and nice looking job ,love the paint

Congratulations Keast, the robot has been really nice, good choice with the paint, and pir sensor gives much fun. :)

Nice Kevin! I can't wait to see your video. And of course any EZ-Script you have worked out might be helpful to others.

on the speaker it looks good,i ordered 3 for my RAD'S

What model speaker did you use,i got IHOME MODEL IHM60L and it doesnt fit off by 1/4 inch ,you said it was a perfect fit on all sides OR how did you make it fit,speaker is 2 inches and hole on the RAD is 2 1/2 inches

Hi Robotmaker,

I got the speaker at Bed Bath and Beyond, but it is not an IHome speaker.., I tried to find it online, but could not.....it was one they had in the store though...cost about 10 bucks...that was the hard part...finding the right size..I did have to wrap some rubber padding (the kind you line toobox drawers with) around it twice to get a snug fit.....that may work with the ones you have....then some hot glue...if i get back out there I will try to find the vendor of it.

kevin