Now I have the EZ-B kit and the Hearoid it's time to start my Showcase thread.
I still haven't decided on a name for him yet, all suggestions are welcome.
I won this robot on ebay weeks ago, for the past 2 weeks he has been waiting for me to collect him...
Today was the day, a road trip to pick him up and bring him back to his new home...
In his new home (with Omnibot and Wall-e in the background totally unaware they are next in line to be opened up)
It wasn't long before this happened...
Now waiting to go in the dishwasher to get nice and clean.
The plan is to make him autonomous, running 24/7 (except for when he knows to go charge himself up) but will also be adding in the various image tracking options.
The only other slight modifications to be made to him are to convert the head to tilt & pan which will involve having to give him a small neck.
The head will include the camera. I haven't yet decided to fit it in one of his eyes or to make it his nose. The issue to overcome with this is the blue tint on the bubble head. The mouth will have a light or some lights in which flicker when he speaks.
The arms will be given some life with servos at the shoulder joints and the elbows provided I can get them to fit in there nicely.
Ultrasonic sensor will be in his chest, probably on a servo to give a wider view.
Original drive wheels and gearbox seem to be in very good shape so will plan to reuse those and just replace the existing motors for the modified servos if they can manage the task.
Speaker and microphone will be in the original positions - if it's not broke why fix it?
Not too big a project but enough to give me a test, help me learn and bring an old robot back to life.
Other robots from Synthiam community
Dunning-Kruger's How To Use Roborealm For Indoor Navigation
Niek's Niek's Omnibot Hack & Restoration
Mine are. Mainly because all servos are hidden so I am very limited on what servos I can use and servo position. Also, because I am making it so I can take it all apart again easily putting the arms together with the servos in them, connecting them up etc. is difficult due to space available.
Plus they need cutting and grinding which is messy work.
I have the arms sussed out now, the correct servos that both fit and perform well. The only problem now is the hand which opens, ideally I'd like that to be controlled by a servo too but I don't think that'll be possible and be hidden. I may use another hand from a different Omnibot and have two that don't open, and give Omni two that do.
@ERREUL and anyone else Lucky i am on a lunch break I found the arms to be super easy for me,and about a mess it can be done outside.
i make my own SERVO'S mostly to save space and have higher torque,when i get back in about 3 weeks will post my design to show how easy it is
Well no bullet connectors again tonight - the postal service sucks, they were sent out for next day delivery on Friday. But what that means is it's another evening of schematic drawing, documenting and I may even convert my 6v power distribution circuit to an easy to make strip board too.
Although since I need to do a bit of work tonight I'll have AutoCAD open so I may crack on with designing the front panel... we will see where the night takes me
It looks like one of two things is going to happen now...
or
Yes, another EZB is on it's way to me. A very welcomed yet unexpected surprise
Thank you!
You make your own servos? How's that work out.
You got gifted an EX-B? Lucky you!
Yep, it caused slight confusion at first when I received the fedex email and passed it off as being a scam email. I'm very humbled to receive such generosity.
I was going to use it to increase the digital ports and adc ports meaning more IR sensors on the robot for the sides, back and front corners to aid in better reaction to objects however I've since come across a method that should be pretty easy using I2C with very few downsides (other than having to learn about I2C which can be confusing at the best of times).
I have also come to the conclusion that my idea for the eyes of the robot may be one which I cannot get "off the shelf" and will need to make it from scratch. Which shouldn't be too difficult but will need the use of another micro processor controlled by a digital port or 4 digital ports and controlled by the EZB. Since it will remove the need for the current lamps in the eyes it will free up D8 but will leave it 3 digital ports short so it looks like a micro controller circuit may be needed after all. I'm still in the planning process of this but if it works on paper I'll be posting those details shortly too.
Rich you say i am not nice too you or give you ideas here is one just trying to help you
On using the I2C buss to get more digital ports here is a very common chip ,i have plasns in my post about adding more ports to EZB part # PCF8574 with 8 extra bi directional digital ports
If you want a good I2C analog chip with 8 ports its a MAX127 i have used them before at work ,but i didnt do any of the codes.
please take is as only idea they may help you
@erreul servos are very easy to make only need a motor ,feedback pot ,a servo boards $3,and some gears ,can make any size or very flat and have much higher torque then any servo
Its will take up to much info ,so will start a showcase thread on how to do it with photos and parts lists