To the EZ Community, I have been off the Forum for awhile, furiously constructing FRED. The Forum can be a crazy good distraction but I needed to focus on putting something together to "showcase" . I'd like to thank ALL who use this Forum for inspiration and their generous contributions of scripts and progress reports! Of course DJ Sures passion and EZ Board/Programming is AMAZING. This project started off as a heap of copper and brass from the local recycler and slowly transformed into something ..ummm ...unusual! A steampunk style robot head powered by a single (so far) EZ-B and DJ Sures powerful user friendly programming script. As everyone can see , FRED has become a combination of art and function. At this point I am now in the stage of testing the mechanics of all the moving parts which include the eye brows up and down, eyes LR,Up Down Eye Lids Up Down and the Jaw up and down.(syncronised with its voice). The head will also move up and down left and right, but I will require a couple of higher torque servos along the suggestion of JSterne's 240 oz/in as the head is weighing a lot! The EZ kit provided camera, will be placed inside the head just under the nose , I believe.. and will be used to follow the person in front of it! Once I get these servos all working smoothly I will post a VID to show things working together in combination with the Voice Recognition chat program. I mentioned on an earlier Post that the personality is based on 12 Zodiac signs each of which has 3 personality/threads(2 positive ,1 negative) for a total of 36 randomised threads. Within each thread at the end of a statement, FRED will ask a question and depending if I respond with a Yes, No, or Maybe FRED will continue a thread. For instance...FRED will say a paragraph of thread ending with "Tomorrow, can we go SAILING?" I will then respond with Yes sailing, no sailing or maybe sailing..to differentiate all the other yes , no and maybe answers. With a VR of 92 to 94 percent FRED will understand Yes sailing etc and continue the thread branching theoretically ...forever or until I say something to end that thread. Like a trained border collie, FRED will only respond to my voice at this level of technology. I hope this kinda makes sense! In time I will add other "steampunk" features, like a hand/arm operated lever to activate a "time machine". FRED"S platform will be surrounded by a "theater curtain which is part of the time machine. The scroll work I've added is themed on Jules Verne's 20,000 leagues, with a couple of nautilus/nautilii? on the top and an octopus on the back. I've also added a "treasure map" with a "Mysterious Island " ....Some of the pics have different colored eyes to easily change out for a change of personality as well. (The eyemaking was a whole different story which I dont want to elaborate on at this time).......Anyways thats mostly it for now, but I ve got a lot of Forum catching up to do...........Happy boting ...Glen
Other robots from Synthiam community
Wolfie's Scraps
Ericez's New Friend For Jd, Lita My Humanoid Robot Made From...
i guess this guy FENDER
Looks almost like him
Thank you ALL for the compliments! Our diversity in robots and genuine mutual admiration is what makes this a great Community! In the next few days FRED will be coming alive with ..."Hello EZ-B Community" winking blinking and nodding! Stay tuned
FRED looks awesome. Very creative design.
Is he alive? How's it coming?
Thanks aameralis! Wait till you see the torso, arms, time machine and wings. I am going to need a ton of servos..probably the mg995's high torque (15 kg-cm) mostly and modified for 360. As Rich said in an earlier thread, positioning is very important, so I am going to try and utilize hall effect devices.... For a robot to have longevity, that is to stay popular and not to be relegated to the garage/closet/attic it needs to have lots of personality. Like a well loved pet it needs to have a name, great personality and be looked after(fed). I want this robot to be around for years to come for the grad children to play and interact with. As upgrades come along, ie kinect and Advanced AI they can easily be implemented.
@irobot58
That robot should last a long long time being of such construction. Wow! Are you a taxidermist too? I was a certified Taxidermist and I had a lot of those kinds of eyes at one time. I don't do it anymore, but it was fun. This is definitely a work of art.
Thanks MovieMaker for "outing" me !
its good to have some positive "peer" pressure. Making the eyes (all 6 sets) were fun, like collecting marbles, you cant stop at one! They are easily interchangable as well. Interestingly enough, I did dabble in Taxidermy as a teenager back in the late 60's early 70's. Buying the "kit" , aquiring a dead piegon, finding roadkill and putting them in the freezer right next to meat roasts..oops.
I have been doing a ton of wood body work , stained glass and arms while waiting for motors etc to arrive. Things are just coming in right now so I will be able to update the Community fairly soon and slow down on the "lurking"
People like you and so many others make this Forum "rock" as DJ says!
As far as having the robot "last" that would be awesome, but I think most plastics will long outlive the copper, brass and wood.
@irobot58- This such a cool build. I really like the "look". It is very creative. I will be following your build closely. Great job!