Meet Pinhead!

I think it looks good.

Mel

Thanks. It looks a little smaller than in this photo for some reason. Anyways I think it will add to his comical nature. lol

I really like it.

When I saw there was a headless Omni2000 on eBay I decided to go for it. I thought it would go for cheap and it did. About $65.

looks very good,i kinda had a idea like it for mine too

@robotmaker They seem to be harder to find on eBay than Omni2000s. :/ I had an email alert for when it finally showed up. Also robotmaker I may be hitting you up later on recommendations for batteries and power charging system with an embedded PC board. It wont be as high end as Jstarnes though.

glad you where able to get him

@Glickclik - HEY! I was bidding on that headless Omnibot 2000 too! Oh, well, all's fair in love & eBay... I'm just glad someone here won it. It was perfect to be EZ-B-ified.

btw, what is his head from again? What's it called?

@JT Sorry :/ I knew I would be bidding against someone here. We are the only ones that would take a broken robot. LOL The head is from Mr Clock Radio. Check you tube to see how much it moves.

i am glad you got him

@jt dont worry this be others i won my on ebay from jstarne wasent in too bad of shape also if need rubber arm inserts or neck check mcmaster.com for duct and vacuum cleaner tubbing need to look for the part # on mcmaster of same sizes on the omnibot,i did find very very clse to the sizes

@Glickclik - No worries! Like I said, I'm glad someone from the EZ-Robot community got it. Like robotmaker points out, there'll be others.

This robot scares me a little lol , yea he def should have blue eyes.

I was thinking of using MinM for eye LED replacement. I will be painting him with gloss white Krylon Fusion with blue accents. Problem is that this place wont allow me to ship to an APO. eBay and Amazon rejects it. :(

What's MinN?

The mini version of BlinkM RGB programmable LEDs.

MinM from ThingM

glickclick have you tried other companies that sell it,there are many on the list

@jstarnes1 yeah....Pinhead doesnt seem to play well with others. :)

@robotmaker, if we are talking about the paint, its more of a problem with customs and hazdecs I think. If I cant get the good paint I may have to take him apart and mail it to myself on my next vacation.

Does anyone have suggestions on batteries, power supply and charger? I'm thinking of adding an embedded CPU eventually as well as either a display in the front like DJ's or a 50 lumen pico projector. I want to fill the bottom with batteries for stability because at some point I will add 6-10" to his hieght like ConfoundedHound's.

@Glickclick , guy I bought my gel cells from sold them three for 20 dollars , the most you can possibly fit is 4 inside the bot , that's two in the base , two in the torso. , which is 26 pounds of batteries alone. , I have two gel cell 12v batteries in my torso , and may lay one sideways in the base , but that's it. Each gel cell is rated 7.5 ah each so I have 15 ah., if all I was running was cam , motors , EZB , servos I could run most the day lol , like if I controlled it with my w500 tablet. Lithium ion give a great deal more juice than gel cels but its a pain in the butt because each cell must be individually charged with a Lipo charger. Maybe one day I will upgrade to them if I can design a board to charge them all on the robot without being removed then it would be worth it. Otherwise gel cells are cheap and easy. You use a trickle 2amp charger and they charge overnight. I have a schwin charger I bought for 20 bucks that does a excellent job in automotive section of Wal-Mart.

Hi Glickclick

You certainly got that pycho robot look going on there .

I love it . Nice work.

Steve_C .

@jstarne1 thanks, I was thinking LiPo originally. There is a cost issue as well as the charging issue you mentioned. However I think I need to use the weight that the larger batteries offer. How long do you think 2 of those batteries in the base will last? If it lasts only 2-3 hours thats fine. Eventually I will figure a self charge station similar to your drawing you did, but instead of the contacts in the front I was going to re-use the large contacts from the inside that powers the optional beverage tray. I would put them on the underside of the bot and have it roll ONTO a charging station using guiding wedge design that centers the base onto it. When done it will back out again. Again thats far down the road as I dont have knowledge on how to make such a homing system. Are your batteries this size? LINK

@steve_c, exactly what I was going for! For some reason he reminds me of the robot in Logan's Run movie.

Quote from Logan's Run:

"Fish, and plankton. And sea greens, and protein from the sea. It's all here, ready. Fresh as harvest day. Fish and sea greens, plankton and protein from the sea. And then it stopped coming. And they came instead. So I store them here. I'm ready. And you're ready. It's my job. To freeze you."

glickclick batteries are a problem,more you add the more the weight goes up ,then a need for stronger torque motors and then you need more batteries or less on time to cut down on weight and power,first use only the itx board that will match your design like if only running windows xp,EZB software use a ultra lower PICO-ITX board like PX10000 and SSD both will save on weight and power,also look at low current sensors they cost more ,BUT save much in power usage and it all adds up LI-PO batteries are the best,little harder to charge,i made designs for both of them with AUTOMATIC CHARGING DESIGN

@robotmaker I understand the weight vs power issue. Do they still sell XP anywhere? I did a search for the PX10000 and I dont see any. Google searched and they are $250+. I guess there's no getting around that. :/ What kind of automatic charging design do you mean? A homing to charge station?

@robotmaker where are these designs? I am already thinking about my next project and I would like to use Spykee's base. Which he has a IR and charging base with connectors already in place.

How did you work the programming on that?

@Glickclik Are you planning on using the right arms internal gears or will you be adding servos? I am lookign for arm's gears to fix up my Omnibot 2000 - but since I am using it with the old Tomy circuit board still I can not add servos but have to stick with the old mechanics. Pls let me know! Mike

Which gears? It might not be the gears at all. My right arm wasnt working but when I opened it up I saw the broken parts. The tall tube was broke and where it mated to the lower arm had broke too. Lucky I swapped with the other arm's parts. Have you looked inside them?

Yeah, I have another right arm that is missing quite a few gears. Now I am trying to get the gears together. Its hard to find a signle right arm these days so I figured I might just ask and see whether you or jstarne are using servos and getting rid of the old gears. P.S. Couldnt be the left arms gears, since there is no motor-controlled hand or arm movement.

Here is my current setup and for having a onboard itx ti works well. , in the bottom drawer you can lay over a 7.5 ah battery on its side and still have plenty of airspace for your motherboard. There's a couple pics of that...

This lowers center of gravity a bit. Be sure to either glue in a thick sheet of plastic or a 1/4" ply to support constant weight of batteries , without it the plastic flexes/warps overtime so for sure don't forget thatt detail for pinhead.

@MikeDC But the left arm has a few gears in there. Not all but maybe the ones you need. @jstarne1 Thanks man!

....looking for anyones help figuring this out... The wires at top left are for the potentiometers (position for feedback) and the chip in the center I assume is for choreographed movements. The wires on the bottom came from the base and probably went to speakers, buttons, power, etc. Transistors are for h-bridges because all the motors are DC.

The chip in the epoxy I assume is the prerecorded voice.

Nice project you got going! Needs more input!!! I just finished watching Short Circuit the other day can't get that phrase out of my head...haha. I just got my Omnibot 2000, poor thing arrived with a broken arm, but i don't mind got him for only $70 shipped knowing how much these goes for these day and im going to hack him up anyway. My next project? I have two many bots now to decide which will be the next project eyeroll

For the head, you can add two large tubes of some sort, needs to be light weight and add speakers in there with grill covers, may be too heavy for his head to support? or buy a large headphone (over the ear type) and put it over his head. Just throwing out ideas.

That's a really complicated head sir!

@LouisT Thats a great deal on the OMNI! Mine had no head, a broken arm and also busted wheel and still cost that much. Thanks for the idea but Im not visualizing what you mean by the tubes. confused

@jstarne1 Yeah it is. I wish someone already hacked it and posted online but theres nothing. :/ I guess I will pick away at it as I have time.

I would ditch the original controller and get some cheap cheap motor controllers since im sure those motors draw very little, you could even convert them to "servos" i believe somone posted about using feedback potentiometer , motor controller to make a DC motor act like a servo, then you can run directly from EZb.

True. I guess I have to resign myself that this will take a lot of parts to function and will need another EZ-B.

Hmm yea I imagine 12 ports , you will need 4 each arm and two for movement , so that's 18 if my math is right. You have the adc ports for it cliff detection , pir sensors and sonar pings. I went ahead and bought a second ezb just in case .

I had some spare time and decided to get into some light brain surgery. Here are the wires I've traced so far. If it helps I can barely read on one of the on board chips it says ATMEGA8L.

COLOR/ DESG/ END ITEM/ EFFECT

(ribbon cable white plug) red/ POWER/ base motherboard, Prob for motors? blk/ GND/ "" org/ 3V3/ "" separate power for logic? blu/ GND/ "" yel/ VRA/ "" could mean Variable Rate Audio(0 or 1). I tried google but idk

(ribbon cable red plug) This plug somehow transfers status of the buttons at the base. red/ SCK/ "" blk/ MOSI/ "" org/ SS/ "" blu/ CDS/ "" wht/ VOICE/ "" gry/ BUSY/ ""

brn/ motor/ head tilt fwd/back motor blk/

blu/ motor/ head turn left/right motor blk/

yel/ motor/ left/right right eye movement blk/

grn/ motor/ head tilt left/right blk/

wht/ motor/ eyelids open/close blk/

red/ motor/ mouth open/close blk/

blu/ LED/ left LED eye gry/ blu/ LED/ right LED eye

wht/ LED/ top front LED blu/

yel/ LED/ top back LED blu/

red,blu,blk/ POT/ head left/right turn pos. reading red,brn,blk/ POT/ head tilt fwd/back pos. reading red,grn,blk/ POT/ head tilt left/right pos. reading red,yel,blk/ POT/ left/right eye pos. reading red,wht,blk/ POT/ eyelids pos. reading

EDIT--Sorry I guess I cant just copy and paste from excel.

Glick... I am thinking I agree with Josh. I know it's a shame to waste the board that came with it but that's a lot of dc motors.

Would be nice to find a way to pass commands to that board from the EZ-B.

Yeah I wish I knew more about it. I'd hate ordering another board just for the head. :/ hehe no offense DJ! I'd also need to tap into those POTs to get position feedback. Im gonna continue my research a bit more before I give it a lobotomy. :D

Glick do you happen to have an ereader. I have a book I'd like to send you. It's called "Making Things Talk" it's basically breaks down how to hack things and make them communicate over cross platforms. It uses processing language. My email is samantha.foy@gmail.com, if you want to shoot me an email I'll return the book.

I am currently reading now to help with hacking into Robosapien body.

Sure! Thanks a lot. I can read it at work...er....home...ya home.

where did you get the book sfoy i found it on amazon my favorate store ever

I am a digital hoarder...

OK so it was to big to email but here you go... I just uploaded it to my site.
Making Things Talk

@GLICKCLICK easy way to use less ports,is a design i used for a very long time,i make my own servo ,using the pots and motors,can be done with any type of motor you get a very low cost servo on ebay FUTABA S3003 and remove the motor and pot and add your own,most robot builders use this one because easy to hack andonly one with schematic online if need a hight current motor,more then 1 amp easy add a second h-bridge chip or h-bridge circuit this way only 1 digital line is used

Thanks Sam!

i am more of a video hoarder HAVE WELL OVER 900 movies on my 6 terabyte hard drive and need another one soon

@ robotmaker, Oh yeah I forgot about that. I was going to use that method for a toy dog with 12 motors but there wasnt room to fit all those boards. The Omni has tons of room but i could use micro servos and fit them right in the head. The servos have almost no load. hmmm maybe just the eyes and eyelids have no load. the others could if going from max one direction to the opposite as when shaking your head "no" and the jaw is under spring tension keeping his mouth shut. Thanks for reminding me!

UPDATE Tried it on the neck left/right and it worked fine. Even used EZ for power since they are about the same size. Later I will change that. Now I got to wait for the other servos to come in from china. I dont want to pull apart my good servos.

Samantha found this and I thought I'd share it because its rare that they show on ebay and when they do it costs more.

Mr Clock Radio

It looks like the easiest solution for now is to try and get original motors and gears for the claw. Anyone here not using original setup? Id buy them. :)

I have some dc motors from robosapien. Think you could use those?

Samantha

These are what power his legs, then I also have whatever is in his arms and waist.

Thanks Sam but I actually need the gears more. Josh and I are researching DC replacement motors. I found these and ordered them to test out. They can operate up to 12v normal and down to 4.5v.

Ebay link

Hey Bret.talent, can I get 4" of that blue duct?

Sure, just email me your shipping info. bret.tallent@gmail.com

sa-280 not a bad motor ,but RS-380 has more torque and a very common motor in robotics

@Bret. Thanks! I really appreciate it. Let me know if I can help you out too.

@robotmaker, True. Those are good but the issue was trying to get them to fix in the arm's original motor mount area. RS-380 is longer and larger diameter and wouldnt fit there. Even the RC-280 isnt a perfect fit but I think it may be workable. Idk yet until it comes in. The proof in the pudding will be if the axle sits correctly for the gears to mesh. I figure anything is better than what's in there now.I will let all know after I test it.

I found the stock motors are 3 volt mabuchi RE-140 dc brushed motors. I bought a couple to repair my left claw because the motors were badly corroded and locked up. On eBay many auctions just call them 3 -6v dc hobby motors.

the RK-370CC has more then double the torque of the SA-260 and same size also only problem it runs at 12 volts

also FC-260SA is shorter the SA-260 with double the TORQUE and 3 volts to 6 volts

12v isnt a problem. I will run 12VDC motors on it anways.

Yea that's the great.thing about own , use 12v for more torque and own to control power / speed

Im still waiting on my fuse block to arrive. I will use mini blade fuses and also use the drawer as the battery/fuse box.

Ash , I'm using round glass fuses , its easier to tell when they blow / and test , I think my block from radioshack is 30 amp per fuse and 6 fuse lanes.

I found the fuse box at a good price and now is on its way. www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=17138

Cool! Mine has 6 as well. There was a version that had a tiny led showing power running through it but I figured it was a waste of power since I could tell right away which was blown by what wasnt working.

As you saw on the first page, Pinhead doesn't play well with others....soooo...time for a brain-ectomy. :)

"Nurse! Put him under!"

---- "Doctor, his head is prepped and ready."

"First removal of the offending parts."

"He wasn't using it anyway."

"Now to the insertion of new parts..."

"Ah, have a problem. There is no sensor for jaw position."

---- "It's ok doctor. We have extras from the other servos we hacked. " "Thank you nurse. Hand them to me and I will modify the jaw to accept it."

"Nurse, keep him barely conscious so I can test his brain function." ---- "Yes doctor."

"It looks like a success! Close him up." ---- "Yes doctor."

(All in good fun. :D:D:D ) Why the heck are the pics sideways when they are right-side up on my computer?

so sick

He is looking sharp!

Thanks guys. More to come when arm parts arrive. I can't have the arm that far back and still put the dust boot there. I may need to fill in the hole like Josh did with bondo.

Dude, I'm sending you a couple feet of the dust boot stuff (flex duct) - in blue

@GLICKCLICK he looks real good, @JOSH i also use glass fuses a lot too ,can tell if they are burned,also at work i designed special electronic blown fuse indicator,may add it to my robots

@brett you think you have some to hook me up with my shoulders? What's the diameter?

It's 3" OD and 2 3/4" ID.

@GLICKCLICK

I think he looks terrific!

Thank you all. I've got big plans for him. His end purpose is for amusement. I think of him as a performance bot....or will be. That reminds me. @DJ, I know this may be too much to ask but will there be a GUI that shows all servos on a timeline with their position value and keyframes. I think its called a gait designer. I'd like to sync to music for performance.

Performance bot huh? I once took at test that said in my past life I was a street performing monkey named Oompa, that would charm her way through the crowd while picking pockets all to disco music. :o)

I really did take this test but I do know the test was a joke.

:D gotta love Cali :D

i started working on my omnibot 2000 project,and first starting on the claw using servo's to move it in and out ,as parts come in will post my photos of my design,

Yes! A performance bot ,we have the technology , we made him better , stronger, faster , bionic! Aaaaand he does the YMCA song dance faster than any human ever could lol

LOLOL I was thinking of the Macarena. :D

HEEEEYYYY MACARENA!!!!

i lost the info on dust boots from mcmaster,does anyone have info on about the same that omnibot is using ,i need a few sizes

Whichever one I posted before it is wrong type. Its not flexible enough. I just got it today. Bret has the part number of what will work.

they have so many many types of a/c duct hoses and for vacuum too

Nice Glickclik...Good to see you made progress on this project, can't wait to see him with arms and all :)

@ robotmaker, the one I ordered said it was flexible and the drawing looked right but it wasnt. I think Bret has the right one. @Louis, Thanks man. I ran out of Krylon fusion spraypaint I had sent to me. :/ so the very bottom, the other arm and head didn't get paint. I cant get it easily here. I will be in US in 2 weeks so I will get it then. I cant wait either. Im still waiting on parts. The hitec servos need a different shaft than the ones I had for the shoulder.

The stuff I have I got from work as scraps so I don't have a part number or anything.

Really? What luck that its the right size!

Can we see pics of the tubing Brett? Also I would only need like ft. Thanks man!

Quick update. The neck tilt doesnt work so well due to the slop in the gear and motor arrangement. When I tried it out it overshoots a little and the motor reverses a little and overshoots a little the other way. The effect is an oscillation back and forth. Think bobble head. Lol. Its possible that slowing the tilt down may lessen that but Im inclined to think a pushrod and servo solution may be the permanant fix. For now, it stays as is until the rest is moving. :P

I havent worked on the bot in a while. I came back from vacation and ordered the linkages I think I will need to fix the head wobble. While waiting for those I toyed around with getting a servo like feedback on the claw open/close. I used the same idea I did with the head but used a larger (but cheap) servo and took it apart for the var. resistor and control board. After I took out the var. resistor I noticed that the gear attached to it had the same pitch as the final gear in the claw. Perfect fit!. I had to modify it though. Later I will take more pictures of an unmodified servo gear to better show where I cut and how I made it. In the meantime, this is what I did. I cut the top shaft that peeks out the servo housing leaving the larger gear intact. Also, on the forearm I had to cut out the microswitch and carve out some plastic to make a place to glue in the pot. After test fitting, the sensor sat too high and I needed to get the gear to sit lower on the resitor's stem. I did that by flipping the gear over and glued it. It's difficult to explain why without a picture but it worked. Here are some pictures and a video. In the video you can hear some clicks as it opens and closes but that due to some gear slippage because I tried it without the spring in the claw. It turns out the spring helps center the claw's long shaft. Also its much slower than I want but Im sure it will be better once I add a separate power source to it.

Lookin' FINE~!

Thank Mel!

Dude, that is so awesome!

Thanks Bret. Unfortunately now I have to figure out how to do the rotation. I had to cut out the only feedback it had when I took out the microswitch.

look good glickclick

Thanks Fred. I wish I've done more.

will post my design for the hands when ready for it,using metal gears this monday forming my riser and making the aluminium frame frame with cover head to toe ,from the head to the tracks,so easy to mounnt the head rotate servo and arm servo's and all electronics,looking for very light weight plus high strength monday i get my MIG welder

Um ok - so anyways - can't wait to see that claw running on 12 volts. I bet it will run very quick.

motors might burn out on 12 volts,if a servo motor,most are 5 volts some 6 volts and some 7.4 volts so i would be very carefull

He's using motors I sent him.plus I.have spares. They are rated 3 to 12 volts

I may run them 7.4 if they test out at a good speed.

If you do 12v you can always dial back pwm on the controller.

Thanks Josh I will probably try that.

Hey GC - I really like the way you have brought that head to life with the blink, eye roll and Jaw. There is an art to bringing life to Robots and those mechanical brush strokes of yours are great. :)

if they are rated ay 3 to 12 volts then they may be ok,,BUT running the motors at more the rated voltage ,like a 3 volt to 12 volts might be set for 7.4 volts it wont run very efficiently running at 12 volts plus the second is running it at max the voltage it will burn out a lot faster

Thank you Hazbot ! Most of the work was already there mechanically from the clock radio. The challenge will be the scripting and syncing movements.

Good work!

Looking really great!

Woo hoo... That looks like it works great. I wouldn't have thought to take a servo apart.

Thank you R2D2, Bret and Sam. It really wasnt a lot of work. I just got lucky that the gears meshed and the total rotation of the gear was nearly exactly the range of the potentiometer. I wish I had more time to work on it.

i have take so many many of them apart SAM ,its pretty easy and make a great servo contoller for any motor,,you put the pot on the last gear to give the highest feedback and most servo's use a standard h-bridge chip with 1 amp driving power,but to double the current you put 2 in parallel if need higher then use a higher current h-bridge ,simple to wire in only 4 wires most common servo ever used is FUTUBA S3003 if its hard to attach the pot to the last gear then get a gear the same as the last one for 1-1 ratio like i am doing on my omnibot hand design

GLICKCLICK there is another you may see,the chips on servo board may not handle 12 VOLTS may need 2 different power source for the chip,mainly servo chip ,most common is BA6688L if uses a micro,its a little harder,BUT on the h-bridge it can be done

i can put a schematic of the circuit used in most servo's except digital types

Do you think it will handle 7.2-7.4? Thats what I was going to try.

depends on the servo,what type are you using (model #)

I will have to check when I get home.

I can say current is a bigger issue that voltage , because when you push more voltage or current through a chip it gets hot. I see your trying to basically make the motors work like a servo I wouldnt use more than 7.4 in that case , but if you used a h bridge to power them and only the pot and board for feedback 12 is doable. Try 12 direct bypassing your servo board and see if it opens and closes much quicker. If you like the ad speed you know which route to take.

its like any chip if its made for a certain voltage and you go higher in voltage it wiil get ruin most h-bridge chips in servos have 2 seperarate voltage ,one for logic other for motors ,most tied the pins together,but if using a higher rated motor can drive the correct pin with a higher voltage also current is another problem that ruins a chip

look at the micro that DJ is using in EZB its rated for about 54. max if you drive it with 12 volts it will smoke

I want these claws to open and close quickly like castanets. :D

that also depends on the gear ratio,besides the voltage lower the gear ratio faster the speed and less torque if go higher on the gear ratio less speed more torque

so what you need to do is remove some gears if you want to open and close faster

umm...I was really joking. :)

here is a good chart and info on motors,it has also a simulator for each motor now i dont know what motor you are using ,but as you can see in the chart some rated for 3 to 12 volts or 6-12 volts and normal voltage they run at,if you run higher or lower voltage the efficiency wont be good,and you can move the sliders in the simulator mabuchi motors

in the link i only selected only a few by a certain size of motors you can change it for the motor you are using the simulator chart is my favorate i can see what voltage and current and torque changes with the sliders adjusted

@glickclick !vdude stop the presses! O don't know why I didn't tell you earlier. Aftermarket doorlock actuators and electronic push/pull 5 wire solenoids can do that! Both run 12v , very strong and have auto start stop points.

Here's an example , half the case length is not even needed to work! http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-HEAVY-DUTY-POWER-DOOR-LOCK-ACTUATORS-POWERFUL-MOTORS-/320349936822?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4a96581cb6&vxp=mtr

They use mabuchi 280 motors , all you need to do is mod it to where your potentiometer is connected to the output shaft for greater control! Omg I can't believe I didn't think of.it!

Oh so they arent solenoids and can vary the throw? I wonder how much current thats gonna draw. The speed of castanets was a joke.

Well I know it was an exaggeration. I just remembered that they are cheap , quick and strong.

Josh, you know what, after testing the speed without the board on 7.5 and 12v it seems a bit slow. So Im thinking of using your idea if it fits. Maybe one with 7.2 and the other with the actuated for gesturing. I was never really intending to do more than gesture anyways. Good find Josh!

I'm 1000 percent sure it can fit in the upper arm which is hollow and run a flex cable to the claw since its a simple push pull , fitting in.the forearm could work with cutting the actuators down some.

mostly very high current,like all door locks i replace a few on cars and forgot about them.not same one but others boy did i hate working on cars,not as enjoying at working on electronics,plus added work work travel

They use mabuchi 280 motor , it varies from one actuator to another.

thats about a 3 amp motor

I found a solution for my bot's head wobble without using new servos and pushrods. After I got the parts in to try the pushrods it quickly because apparent that I would have to modify quite a bit and the neck would be much thicker with servos inside. I re-examined the problem and thought of putting tension on the neck to reduce the slop or slack that caused the servos to overcorrect when trying to go from one position to another. I looked at what I had on hand and saw that the springs that hold the tray door closed would work great. They even fit around the axle too. I tested it and it worked. Take a look.

Oh yeah the two little boards are from the motion sensors. I desoldered the sensor from the board and put them on his ears and the boards fit within the head. I haven't tested them yet.

I'm now working on putting my claw mod together with my modded elbow. The other video was on the other arm's claw.

Nice fix! Good thinking.

Thanks Bret. I just got lucky again. After looking at all this wiring I see I need to run a single power line and ground line up and combine the servo signals in a single multipair cable down. Maybe some CAT5 will do the trick.

becareful about using CAT5 with having power next to your signal wires i would use CAT5 for all signals with a gnd and then a sperate red and black wire twisted to remove(block) the eddy currents

Thanks for clarifying what I thought I said. But remember this is low voltage DC not AC. I'm pretty sure I won't induce a signal on the signal wires. If anything the signal wires themselves may induce on each other. I will have to test and see. IDK Im running power outside the CAT5 because it will go to the power source and not to the EZB.

yes it does a lot mostly on sensors,makes the signal unstable,thats why companies use SPG alot thats where all grounds go to a single point all i make at work is ultra high precision in-house testers,and this comes up alot and on robots i made, it does also,noise you will see a lot are on sonars or servo's that use high frequency,if using very low current wont see the problem that much ,but over 500 ma you may hopefully this will explain it for you mostly hard to tell if you have any noise in your system ,unles you have a O-SCOPE or have a tester to check the sensors,most people hook it up and thinks the reading is good ,because it shows a reading,like on sonars how do you know if you sonar measures 1 inch or 2 inches or 12 inches or 13 inches(not calibrated correctly) or reading is jumpy (unstable)

on AC its much different,called HUM,BUT there is no ac on a robot

another idea on using sensors is use 10 mfd right next to the power we on the sonar board it helps git rid of unstablity

I got confused for a second. As long as the power and ground are not inside the same cable it can't be a problem. I have seen DC currents passing through twisted pair causing inductance (little electromagnet field) which in cases of data can cause interference. Maybe just use the cat 5 for signals and grounds but.run your power wire outside the cat 5 which would prevent any inductance. Problem solved easily and still near wiring =)

Fred, look at your servo cables. Its GND, POWER, SIGNAL. Power and signal are right next to each other. I imagine its not a big factor in the way its used in RC industry. Thanks Josh, I will probably tie a separate signal gnd in.

yes as long as the wires on the outside of CAT5 ,you wont see a problem mostly i read glickclick a litlle wrong,but at the same time i put the info up to help others too CAT5 is a shielded wire,but even with CAT5 wire some sonars might be unstable,mostly with china made,without a good scope cant see this problem,and on a robot you wont see it,and your navigation could be off,mostly i use shielded computer wire,and high current wire for my power,i still twist them you can only get you CAT5 SO close to the sensors or servo's and still some will be exposed so always twist the wires,at work i made a a twisted wire machine for prodution to twist a few or alot,for the same problem,nnoise in the system

JOSH YOU SAID that you saw dc currents pass though a twisted wire ,did you have a SCOPE,ONLY WAY TO SEE THIS, one reason twisted wire is red is crossed over to black wire to block the eddy current,and same with blck wire,so it blocks each other out and also causing inductance another item used is where the wire connects to the board you place a 10 mfd cap and ferrite beads are used sometimes too

glickclick, yes on RC never used them or tested them for noise,so i can say it does or doesnt but at the same time you can get noise from other systems that can effect the servo's dont forget my servo companies didnt make servo's for robots,mostly RC cars and PLANES so never tested with sonars or other sensors to see if the servo induces the noise on to the sensors or the sensors induces the noise on to servo's O-SCOPE is the only way to test it ,noises in the system causes a lot of problems,so unstable,some resets on a micro since i have almost any sensor made,latter on would be a good test to see if servo's effect sensors or sensors effect servo's my need pocket scope can print the waveforms,have to see if work will buy me the special cable adapter for it

So post #1 at top of page is ok then?

Yes! =p

Thanks for the info, fellas.

GLICKCLICK yes,but i would still twist the power wires too,always GOOD TO BE SAFE THE SORRY as they say,second twisted wires look good if you look at my avatar robot i have up,i have signal wires on one side and pwer wires on the other side when i check my wire both power and sensors,no crosstalk or ripple or noise on the line,very clean signal on my digital O-SCOPE scopes are not to high cost,and a very needed item in designing robots,building them is easy ,i have seen very young boys and girls build them,also a load tester and current meter is a well needed item another for checking sensors for accuracy is a precision adjustable power source (not the same as adjustable power supply),besides my scopes i have it on of my favorate tester

[REDACTED] :D

Hi Glickclik, if you do happen to have leftovers from your arm, I mean, gears you dont need, could you let me know? I already got some to fix up one of my Omnibots, but could still need some more. Its a shame these plastic gears break easily once the hand or arm is being held the wrong way. Mike

I have another set mike. Did one of the gears break?

Nope, I actually picked up another robot at a fleamarket but that one must have been played with alot. Many gears have broken teeth just like somebody moved the arm manually or something.

The elbow and upper arm gears? I do have those but if Josh wants to send some it would be quicker. Im currently overseas and mail takes 7-12 days longer.

Nice fix.... T!

@ Glickclik: Yeah, those gears - right now I am just willing to take just any gear I can get. First to fix my new old Omni and to have spares for the other ones. If you dont have a use for them anymore, send me a message to: Michael-Albig@gmx.de

Thanks Sam. I have to work on power too. @MikeDC It may be faster to get from Josh if he is still offering. It would take a while for my package to reach the USA from military mail then resent out to Germany.

Have you decided on batteries yet?

mmm I have the one Lipo but I plan on more after I get all the parts running and seeing how long it will last. Im shooting for an hour or two. I dont plan on making him very tall or lift much so I won't need the heavier wieght in the base.

I tried those blue Lipos. They sucked.

What happened with them?

1 doesn't even charge really. The other was find to power just EZ-b but wasn't enough to power system.

Oh I remember now. Sometimes the chinese vendors are selling stuff that dont fully pass quality checks. I guess its a numbers game for them. Most work ok but some not. But I bet you could get refund or another one I guess I got lucky with mine. It charges and powers the ezb with servos.

I got two of them and one seems ok but I think I have too much for it to power.

Were you powering via EZB or separate source?

oh I have mini itx, motor controller all kinds too much for ez-b.

:/ i hope I dont have that problem when I start putting more in. If I do, I will get SLA batteries.

I really hate that happened. I am going to research a easier way to charge lipo packs and see if it's easy enough to make a large one.

SFOY what AH is your batteries LI-POLY same as SLA just depends first on current ouput and way its charged,SLA needs CV constant voltageon LI-PO is needs CV constand voltage and CC constant current to charge them,on LI-PO they are much lighter ,less then half of SLA on charging LI-PO they dont dont last to long,but on SLA last a lot longer so on each batteries there are a good side and a bad side using a lighter battery will have less drain on the battery because of less torque on the motor

JOSH it fairly easy to make a circuit to charge LI-Poly all you need is 2 LM317 regulators ,one set as a current source other set at a voltage source,the regulator will be both the current source and voltage source stable can easy make packs ,but for each one need a special switching circuit ,witch ebay has the board,and temperature circuit if you need a link to the special switching board can post the link

I'm finally settled in so it was time to fiddle with Pinhead. I did some rewiring so that there were fewer wires running up the neck. Before there were all three wires going to each of the facial motors. Now I have a single ,slightly thicker, gauge ground and power wire and only signal wires from ez-board. After that I messed with the joystick control for head tilts forward/back/side to side/neck rotation. Also programmed a button for eye blink and mouth open and close. I'm having trouble with the x axis on joystick 2. Windows shows it working but the little dot on the joystick ez control panel doesn't move on the x axis. Maybe I will figure out what is the problem and post a short vid of his quirky moves. An EZ puppet. :D

GOOD to see you start back working on him,this week i will be putting my frame peices together and post photos

Cool. Just post them on your project page though. :)

I KNOW

I was only admiring this one last night, I love this head! If only more come up on ebay over here, I guess an alert needs to be set :)

Rich, that's exactly what I did to get mine. I saw one for Josh at a steal a while back too. I think Josh once sent me a link to where you can get them new or it could have been Sam (Sfoy). I will try and find it again. UPDATE I found the link but I'm sorry it no longer available. Here is the link anyway if it comes back. Old link

Yea its a cool head and it fits inside robie sr helmet too as well.

Don't tell me that, I must have one for my hearoid build now!..

Hey Troy! I'm glad to see you back at it! Pinhead needs to be finished...Is the joystick a new controller or a used one? Perhaps there is a problem with the contacts?

Problem is getting even a cheap mr clock radio will set you back 50 bucks but I see them for sale for 80 to 100 online lol. Ya know I just so happen to know a guy who might have a mr clock radio and a clear helmet front. ;)

Bret, its a new joystick. It works fine hardware wise because I see it move on the Windows devices/ device properties.

Here I'm moving the left joystick to top left and right joystick to top right.

Update. I noticed that the left trigger moves the green dot all right and right trigger to all left.

Update#2 blush Nevermind blush I missed switch on the underside of the stick that fixed it. But in my defense, the screenshot showed it working, :D

hahahahaha - Glad to see you figured it out.

As you can see. The neck tilt forward and back oscillates. There is a little play in the joint but also the connection at the base isn't sturdy enough. As soon as my new part comes in I will replace it.

Btw those are motion sensors on the ears lol.

it looks very good,nice JOB TROY

He is soooo cool! I love the expression on his face.

Thanks guys. I promise it will get better as time goes on.

Yea troy im super jeleous of mr pinhead. Hes the only robot on the block who can look surprised! Lol

Lol at Josh.

i think all robots on this site will get better in time one main reason mine is taking a long time,i love to test every part,aluminium,electronics,servos ,screws and more

Awesome...very awesome, I like the head can you tell me what is it from? I looked at google and ebay, but can't find a similar robot/head.

regards

Marc

Hi Marc. That is a "MR CLOCK RADIO". They dont show up often on ebay but your best bet is to set up a search and email alert when one pops in there.

He reminds me of the robot in the "Iron Giant" movie. I really think your robot is neat. Great personality.

Hopefully i can get to him soon. I have more space now but i still work 72 hrs a week plus drive time. :/

THX, I will have a look for Mr.Clock Radio at ebay, but it looks that it was only sold in US, so it would be much harder to find one payable with shipping to germany. I could get crazy if I am reading from people in the US that found this Clock at flewmarket's for a handfull of bucks. ;-/

regards

Marc

Hope to see more good progress on PINHEAD soon TROY

Troy, Your robot PINHEAD is very creative. I like how you integrated a pot for feedback. I will be watching progress. Steve S

Thank you Steve! I have a few more ideas. Once i get a working model instead of a sketch i will put it online.

A reboot is in the works... internal frame.... new drive system... new neck articulation... waist swivel... shoulder drive (like Josh's)... LED lights... EL lights (eventually)... but Im holding off on riser for the time being because it may make it difficult to take apart and ship home. We will see.

I will get a few parts before my trip home but I know I will need a few more items once I get everything test fitted.

What parts do you need / want?

Most likely they will be attachment hardware I didn't anticipate.

Wow! That is a cool looking robot! :)

Thanks but it won't be as good as others projects here. :)

Project robots are always in evolution Troy I really like the head look as well, very creative....

"but it won't be as good as others projects here" there are no competitions here! ...though there may be "bot envy" Looking forward to the "reboot" rebot? :)

hehe Yes I agree there are no competitions but I meant that I envy what others have created.

I'm at a crossroads on which type drive to use. Either the swerve type like pictured below or mecanum. The mecanum wheels I got imo are too big and may require higher torque gear motors. Which way should I go?

Yeah thats true but I wanted the movement to be different. I saw your thread using them and I like them a lot but they won't give me sideways movement though.

I've decided to go with the swerve on this one. I've already got most of the parts to do it. I just need the wheels pictured above and 2 more gear motor mounts. I will save the mecanums for a second bot.

Oh god. Where to begin? (I dont know why my pic keeps getting rotated)

@troy start at the bottom... lol Or was that at top.

:) j

yeh, you can't start in the middle because you will be going two ways at once. heh!heh! You have to start on the top or bottom. go for it! It's gonna be a cool bot.

LOL

Mel

Yeah, I've got a lot of ideas for the middle but it requires a sturdy frame. So I looked at the bottom as you say and realized that I might as well make a crab, swerve or mecanum drive. I was going with mecanum first but the Vex wheels need more parts to adapt them from the servocity gear motor 6mm shaft to the 12mm hex on the mecanum wheel hub. They have these but I didn't want to mess with it just yet. So the plan is:

• Crab or swerve drive (like pictured on the post 198)
• Swivel waist to move 45 degrees to either side using bearing turntable and ABS sheets.
• "T" bar center support to mount the new gearbox servos at either side for the arms and the neck servos
• Revamp all the modified motors I made in the head on page 7 and replace with micro servos to make room for the support for the U-joint in the neck and the control rods and ball linkages that go down to the "T" bar in the body. Btw I think that a neck joint that pivots inside the head just below the ear looks the most natural. (Test it out on your head by putting your finger below your ear and nod up and down. It doesnt move much does it?)
• Option to make eyelids on individual servos to give the ability to wink. Do they make fast micro sized servos? hmm I guess I can figure a way using levers where a small movement on one side creates a large on the other. It will ultimately be dependent on space left. I was going to put a lift system in to make him grow taller by about 3 inches using a threaded rod and flanged nut like here but instead of a servo use a motor but I decided against that. The speed of the motor would have to be pretty high (due to the thread count being 20 per inch) to traverse the distance I want. At least 1 inch per sec. would mean 180 rpm with enough torque to raise it. So maybe its not all that fast but Ive thought there was too much noise from it. To keep the two halves from counter rotating it could be as simple as a solid rod telescoping inside a hollow tube set near the interior edge. Maybe someone else will try it on thiers. I've got another option that I like better than lifting. Its in the works but all has to wait until the bottom is done.

Updated with more info and links.

you could try the car antenae for a linear servo. If you know what I mean. It was so cool when Mr A. had his camera pop up from behind the counter.

That has got to be one of the coolest robots. I like the way you have all of the stuff we have, but you have eyeballs moving and the mouth moving. It will be great for doing emotional stuff. This is going to turn out GREAT!

Good Luck! :D

Thanks Mel. I did see his car antenna idea and that was pretty neat. I don't think it will lift a lot of weight though. Besides I've already moved away from lift to another option and it would prevent me from doing both.

It's good to see you back at this bot Troy.

@bret.talent, I know! Eventually I will make progress. blush

@aameralis, only 6oz? I would have thought it would be more. The thought about using it did cross my mind but I reasoned that it wouldn't have enough to lift the entire top portion. It is pretty cool though for your application with the camera.

I thought I might add what I expect to get from this steering type using only 2 drive wheels but all wheel steering. Since I plan for this to be manually driven on level ground I dont think the lack of precision will be a problem. I also plan for little scripts like doing a figure 8 or turn 180 while going forward and stop.

I forgot a few more. Side to side, pivot points in front and behind as well as pivot points at each corner. You get the idea.

It sounds good, I like a video when you got that done...

:) j

I put a little together before I get to sleep. I just need to see if I have 4 matching Futaba servos. I hope have them on hand. Btw, I do have 2 more gearmotors if I need to add them. I figure 2 is better to make movement scripts simpler. If there are 4 and I try to pivot at any place other than the center then it will mean figuring out the individual speeds each will have to be. I've downloaded a couple of papers on it but its a hassle.

@Troy> That's going to be a neat way to steer a bot. Can' wait to see video of this guy in action.

@rgordon and @jdebay, it will be a while. I had problems with my original board so Im waiting on the new V4. I just hope it turns out as well as it looks in my mind's eye.

Here is the start of the base. I will update with parts list soon.

All parts except for the servos were from www.servocity.com.

Steerable motorized wheel (2x): (2) Gear motor (one per wheel). If your bot is heavy, buy these 90 rpm gearmotors. (2) Motor mount B (one per wheel) (2) Channel Bracket A (one per wheel) (2) 1/4inch Collar (one per wheel) (1) 1/4 inch Shafting & Tubing Spacers (12 pk) (two per wheel) (2) 1/4 inch x 1.25 inch D-Shaft (one per wheel) (2) 1/4 inch Bore Set Screw Hub (0.770 inch) (2) Heavy Duty 4 inch Wheel (4) 1/4 inch Bore Set Screw Hub (two per wheel) (2) 1/4 inch Bore Clamping Hub (0.770 inch) (2) .250 inch Diameter servo Shaft Arm (Futaba) (for upper steering assy) (2) 1/4 inch Bore, Precision Ball Bearing (Flanged) (for upper steering assy) (2) Futaba servo used for steering (faster the better) (2) Standard-servo plate B

Steerable free spin wheel (2x): (2) Channel Bracket A (one per wheel) (2) Heavy Duty 4 inch Wheel (4) 1/4 inch Bore Set Screw Hub (two per wheel) (2) 1/4 inch x 2.25 inch D-Shaft (one per wheel) (2) 1/4 inch Bore Clamping Hub (0.770 inch) (4) 1/4inch Collar (two per wheel) (2) .250 inch Diameter servo Shaft Arm (Futaba) (for upper steering assy) (2) 1/4 inch Bore, Precision Ball Bearing (Flanged) (for upper steering assy) 2) Futaba servo used for steering (faster the better) (2) Standard-servo plate B

NOTE: Of course if you wanted to go with 4 wheel power then just double the motorized wheel list and dont get any parts from the free spin wheel list

Bad news. The lipo I got a while back looks puffy. I'm afraid to use it or even condition it. I left it charged for a few months. It's at about 12.3v.

Wow , that's the worst Lipo pack swelling I've seen. I wouldn't use it. Lipo are made to swell but that when they get hot from extended use. By the way the frame looks really cool.

Thanks Josh. The strange thing is that it wasn't used! I guess it gives me an excuse to get those SLA batteries you suggested. I just won't be able to ship them if I leave here.

Troy, be careful. I had one of those blow up in my Lab one day. It put a hole in the ceiling like it was shot by a shot gun. I was lucky I wasn't there when it happened inside the Lab. I was in the other room and I heard BOOM! I often stand over the batteries that I am charging. This would have killed me. So, now , I point the business end away from me.

Cool setup. :)

@ Troy I have wanted to see her running traction system It's a shame that inflated battery, return it if you can. In passing we would see a platform that has not yet been proven and tested by anyone, I think.

That looks really cool Troy. I can't wait to see that in action. Good work;.

@troy , two of those 12v sla should power your project and if you leave there the batteries a relatively cheap. I believe it's 30 for two shipped. I have a coupon I posted for the powersonic batteries which I bet is still a good code.

@ Moviemaker, yeah I did toss it. It's a shame too! I think it was about $50 down the drain. :/

@R2D2, I will work on it a little more tomorrow. I'm not quite sure where I can mount the batteries and still be easily accessible. Btw the drive isn't new. I've found it by chance web surfing. It's called "crab" or "swerve" drive. I'm just doing it a little differently. It's steering is direct drive servos rather than chain and sprocket arrangement.

@bret thanks!

@josh, I will hit you up for that when I know for sure if I'm moving or not. If I am then it will have to wait. Customs and shipping costs can be a pain.

@all, sorry for the late reply. I didn't get any email saying there was an update to the thread.

Update: I somehow missed this one but it's the most like what I'm doing. I may need to change my motors to faster ones. :)

And this one is what I originally saw before. Notice those chains and sprockets? Not for me.

@Josh, it looks like I will be here for a few more months. I'm interested in get one SLA and not two. Eventually it will be on a 2 battery system but for now I will experiment with one until I'm closer to completion.

FYI I've updated POST #216 with part numbers for the base. I'm close to testing the steering and I've done quite a bit on the swivel and tilt base. In a couple days I will have a day off and maybe finish. I will post pics when I do.

:( Accidently fried my Dagu 4CH motor controller. I didnt notice I had not attached the other side of the +5vdc logic power when I turned on the main power. The manual warns about this. ummm, I let the genie out. eyeroll At least it wasnt too much money.

Minor update: I stayed up a bit later and got the chain and sprocket waist movement done. Works ok but it seems my servo has a bad spot between servo values 10-15. It gets all jumpy between those values so I will have to replace that. There is some vertical play in the lazy susan bearing. I'm hoping that when I get the arms and head put on that it wont wobble too much. I also put those noisy digital servos in the servocity gearbox hoping that maybe they wouldn't make too much racket. I was wrong. I will need to find another servo to use. When my bracket comes in for the side to side tilt to go with the forward and back tilt, I will put it all together and shoot some pics and vid. I will need to design some 3D printed parts to cover areas I had to cut away. I hope it isn't too expensive.

@Troy. Please post your findings on the 3D printing costs. I've looked around and can't seem to find a place that wants to just print a few small pieces for a decent cost. They all seem to just want to give estimates for bigger projects or prototyping. I'm getting Roli and I want some ez-bits for the servos I already own, but I'm not sure what shipping from Canada would be and I'm not looking at $200+ in ez-bits to get free shipping. Thanks

@antron007, Im no where near to that phase yet but I will need the parts later on. I haven't bothered to price anything yet but I will have to have a design first Im sure. There are a few forum members here that have done some pricing so they may give you some advice here.

@Troy Cool, thanks for the info. :)

Here's a short clumsy clip of my waist articulation idea.

Does anyone have experience with a different swivel bearing that's more stiff? If you look in the video there is a bit of a wobble that will show up during drive.

@Troy

Good progress. I like the body tilt idea. I will see if I can help you find a better bearing than the lazysusan. What are the dimensions of the one you are using?

Great update! I have built a few alt/azimuth telescopes in the past that use a similar bearing type, using UHMW Polyethylene Plastic Fabrication Suppliers . 3 square pieces 1.5 inches separated at 60 degrees attached on the bottom platform and a " nubbly" formica/arborite on the top body. These were ultra smooth and very easy to turn! Of course the 3 pieces were thick enough to countersink a screw. Glen

Nice work Troy.

As far as a bearing I think you need a higher quality one. Lee Valley has different sizes of top quality lazy susan bearings that wont totter like that. They have 3" up to 12". Follow the link below and good luck!

www.leevalley.com/EN/hardware/page.aspx?cat=3,44013&p=44042

Thank you guys! I'm sorry I didn't have the head and arms on it. @Dave I remember that site from a past post. The one I have is like this from servocity. They look like the same ones. Would you advise using the 9" round ones versus the 4" I have now? Perhaps the design is different internally. UPDATE These had too much play in them to work for me.

@Troy

Have you thought about a wheel hub bearing? $19.90 free shipping on ebay

Hub Bearing

Here is another possible ebay item

www.ebay.com/itm/4-92-125mm-Turn-Table-Heavy-Duty-Lazy-Susan-Bearing-Dining-table-turntable-L51-/300906867913?_trksid=p2054897.l4276

Thanks for the links Dave and rgordon! I think a high quality lazyrobot would be cheaper and less vertical height....though the wheel bearing is ultra strong! ...Troy , I am sure you'll post a vid !with! the arms and head when you can

Heavy Duty Swivels

BUSHHOG-ZTR-MOWER-SPINDLE

@irobot58, I sure will. Some things are just trial and error.

@rgordon, the second one looks promising because its open in the middle. The other two won't work because I need to have a hole in the center for the center axle with sprocket to come through.

Update: I just ordered this one. I think it will work fine and it's only $10 total.

I decided to sketch out a new frame where I can get the batteries as low as possible and still access them.

That's pretty cool Troy.

@Troy keep up the good work! are you using a jigsaw to cut the ABS? if so make sure you use the correct blade(I am sure you know that!)

Thanks Bret and Irobot I actually didnt know that. I'm using a dremel with a cutting wheel. The dremel is a great all purpose tool for the "small" bots. I may need to buy some brackets instead of the stand-offs I originally was thinking of doing. They are too thin and will probably work loose with all the upper body weight. Im thinking of these to taper the top corner in. {I hate waiting for parts.}

Too bad you cant make your own brackets from thin sheet metal using cutting shears and a drill! Buy yourself tin snips and you will be making a lot more stuff! don't forget the file.

These are a bit stiffer than I could make. :)

In hindsight I should have posted a video of it before I took it apart.

Small update to the frame plan.

Although this shows 2 batteries I won't add the second one until later. It's for additional amp hours in a 12 volt system.

Looks like a good plan. :)

Thanks Dave. I'm waiting on more hardward fasteners, M4-ATX DC-DC power supply and a fuse block from the post office. The lower ABS sheet will hold the PS and charger. The upper will have the fuse block, power distribution block, an I2C bus, a couple small DC-DC converters, TrexJr motor controller and EZ-B. Maybe a signal terminal block though I'm not sure yet.

I have had a setback with my power supply I ordered. It didnt work and I sent it back. I should get it in the next 5 days.

The base frame shown above is complete.

I re-did the head with micro servos so I can fit hardware to change the neck articulation. I'm not 100% sure how I will do it yet.

I also fixed the waist with a new lazy susan that was suggested in the forum previously. Works like a charm.

I'm also waiting on hardware to stiffen the elbow joint with the direct drive servo.

I was thinking of using a chain gear arrangement to increase power and reduce range from 180 to 90 degrees however it will mean more cutting into the plastic and I dont want that just yet.

I know it isn't much but that's where I'm at. I need to hurry up because I will be job hunting in 6 months! Not fun.

Well that sux about the power supply (think about using the human "by product" from your Robots in the news article! Sorry to hear about the job hunting, but there is an upside..all those extra hours to build Pinhead Thanks for the update

Yeah Troy, good luck with the job and Pinhead!

Thanks guys. I appreciate the comments. :)

I forgot to post a pic of the base.

Here is how I did the eyes and jaw. I took the servo horn from mini servos and glued them to the bottom of the eyes so I'd have something to attach the wire rod to. This allowed me to get the left to right movement. I originally planned to have each eye move independently for maximum comical effect but I stripped the plastic gear in one. I made the best of it and attached them so at least they moved together. I will get another later and fix that.

Looking really good Troy - even sideways :)

Thanks Bret. I think this will be lots of fun to animate when it's done. I want to program funny dance routines to music.

Nice so far Troy! He's coming along nicely. I bet your itching t get some of that programing in him so he looks at least a little alive.

Thanks Dave. I'd be happy just to have it all together.

Looking good Troy. I like what you did with the eyes.

I am just rolling my eyes! Great job.

sick blush eek J

Thanks guys! I hope more to come soon. No promises. Lol

@Troy no pressure! Lol :D

Hi Troy.. would you help me with some more specific "how to" use the head ? I saw in the early posts that you was able to use the native hardware.. how did you do that ? and saw later that you took off all the pieces and put some microservos.. Was that a better solution ?

thanks for all your help!

@tevans, Yes it was better in the long run. There was too much looseness in the neck gears. You can see that in an earlier video. I tried tightening it up with some springs but really it was better for me to replace it. It is also less work than making those servo boards. Also, I freed up more space inside for other things if I decide to use it later. Good luck to you!

LOOKIN' GOOD MY FRIEND!

Hey Troy,

Wow, it took me a little while to catch up. I am so glad to see that you are still working on pinhead. :o)

That base looks nice and light wright.

How are things?

heh Pinhead has been on hold again. I still think of new things though.

Why is he on hold?

A few reasons and it all kinda affects my drive to do it in the only free time I have. Primarily work schedule is 72 hour weeks so not much time after skyping with kids n gf in USA, and then money at this time of year. I spent a ton on vacation last month and I got to save for xmas presents. :)

I also moved to Abu Dhabi so I had to disassemble and get rid of my SLA battery in order to ship.

Wow... lots going on with you. That is part of why I stopped for a bit, work was too much and I had no desire to come home and get back on a computer or fight with poopie arms that didn't work.

Hope you had a great vacation.

I did! It was 14 months since I was home. I'm not doing that again. Spring break and summer vacation from now on. :)

I couldn't do that. Way too long.

That's crazy man , take a vacation like every 2 months lol.

Sweet robot, i think we are all in the same boat where life and work gets in the way of Bott'in :)

New Years resolution...Finish this project!

Excuse the mess. I tried to crop out a bit of it. Ok a few days ago I found a way to mount the circuit board tray and still have the upper torso firmly mounted. Also I tested the main & sub power board (ATX-M4 and DC/DC step down for 7.4v) as well as the 12v audio amp. I did the mod as instructed on the EZB to take the audio input from the non-amplified point on the board and it sounds great! These little speakers dont sound "tinny" at all! I'm now waiting on parts I ordered from servocity for the neck and waist tilt. Also I need to order another EZB and get it sent to my parents so they can forward to me over here. (EZ robot doesn't ship to APO addresses because thier shipper DHL can't. ) Anyway, I will try and get this cleaned up on my next day off and attach the torso. Then maybe a video of it being driven around by joystick.

Good luck Troy. Glad you are moving forward with this project again. I'm looking forward to seeing the video of him moving around.

Yay! I'm glad to see you back at this guy as well. Now that my second book is on the shelves I can also spend some time with my long neglected bot.

Thanks Dave and Bret! More to come. :D

Short vid on the head attachment and chest tilt forward and back. Besides this, I had spent a few hours reworking the bottom half in order to get the battery, circuit boards and top half to fit correctly.

Troy, Where are you located? I have been following your build. Could not play video. Steve S Edit , Tried again and it worked, nice work, thanks for updating. Great mobility on the base!

I'm in the UAE, but it may be because I was editing the post at that time. Try again. No prob Steve. Sorry it wasn't much of a demo but its 12:30am and I need sleep, lol. And thank you. Wait until you see the mobility of the arms when I get them on. He's going to be quite a dancer! After seeing the vid I think I need to shorten the neck by a centimeter or two. I also think he needs shocks on either side of his "spine" to keep him upright when there's no power. Easy fix.

Troy, Thank you for your service! You obviously love robots! I bet the arms will be great!

@SteveS, as prior Air Force, I've had an easier time in the military than many others (Army and Marines) who are still in today. My prayers go out to them.

Troy, can you give me more details about the neck system you built? What is that "piston" you used? Are solenoids ? or linear servos?

Sorry. I meant to say they are like pistons. They serve no purpose but decoration. I will be using servos and pushrods when I get them. They aren't installed as of yet. Oh ... and they are RC car shocks without the springs on it.

Shock absorber

Fabulous. I can't wait to see the arms. That is my next thing.

Ah! It worked fine! Beautiful detail. ??

The same night I did the previous video I also recorded the shoulders but wanted to wait until they were actually mounted. Here it is anyway. It's rough I know but it shows that the tilt axis is vertical to allow the arm to pivot inwards. If I had mounted it horizontally it would be a little different in how it moves. A better vid will come later.

Troy, It is good to see you getting time to work on your bot. It's looking great! I really like the neck "piston"/shock absorbers With all his freedom of movement shown, he will be able to display quite a personality.

Can't wait to see this guy in action! Great job.

Thanks rgordon. It's a bit rough around the edges but I'm near a milestone of getting it together and moving.