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Building Arlo - Page 2 — Parallax Forums

Building Arlo

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  • WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
    edited 2014-10-21 18:11
    Thanks for the list ChrisL8 - Very impressive! Love your blog too.

    I am with Gordon - everything but electric windows and heated seats!
  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2014-11-11 10:04
    Chris,

    Thanks for taking time to document your experience. I received a set of motor and wheels from Parallax yesterday and since I read your post I wasn't overly concerned when one of the axles just slipped on the motor shaft.
    ChrisL8 wrote: »
    No tapping was required to fit the Axles to the motor shafts, they just slipped on.

    One of the axles did require tapping and one did not in my kit. To make a tighter fit on the smaller shaft, I used a shim cut from an aluminum can.

    attachment.php?attachmentid=111948&d=1415729223

    attachment.php?attachmentid=111949&d=1415729225

    I had to tap the axle with the shim a bit more than the one which was originally snug. If I were to do this again, I'd make the aluminum strips a bit thinner.

    Using an aluminum can as shim is one of the things I learned from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

    Thanks again for sharing your experiences putting these parts together.
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  • ChrisL8ChrisL8 Posts: 129
    edited 2014-12-29 14:28
    First, thanks Duane for the post about the shim. I haven't been aware of any issue caused by the wiggle on one side. Once everything was together nothing wiggled, but if I was doing it again I would sure try that!

    Someone mentioned I needed more sensors. ;) And Parallax had a sale, so I got 4 more PINGs to round out my set, but of course then I also had to add a QuickStart board because I was out of pins on my Activity Board. :)

    Here are some pics.
    Four new PING sensors ready to go:
    newpings.jpg


    All mounted up:
    FullyWired.JPG

    Notice the custom Parallax "hold your robot off of the floor for testing" tool underneath. ;)

    And the QuickStart wired in:
    NewPingsMounted.JPG


    . . . and I don't know why my images don't appear in-line, I must have forgotten how to put them in properly.
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  • jtilghmanjtilghman Posts: 67
    edited 2015-04-15 14:19
    ChrisL8 wrote: »
    First, thanks Duane for the post about the shim. I haven't been aware of any issue caused by the wiggle on one side. Once everything was together nothing wiggled, but if I was doing it again I would sure try that!

    Someone mentioned I needed more sensors. ;) And Parallax had a sale, so I got 4 more PINGs to round out my set, but of course then I also had to add a QuickStart board because I was out of pins on my Activity Board. :)

    Here are some pics.
    Four new PING sensors ready to go:
    newpings.jpg


    All mounted up:
    FullyWired.JPG

    Notice the custom Parallax "hold your robot off of the floor for testing" tool underneath. ;)

    And the QuickStart wired in:
    NewPingsMounted.JPG


    . . . and I don't know why my images don't appear in-line, I must have forgotten how to put them in properly.


    And still no wiring diagram... :(

    Still good work sir..
  • Hi @ChrisL8,

    Very impressive project. I am a beginner student in robotics and learning ROS for my school. I want to build exactly the same robot. However, I do not have any experience of working with electronics so far. Can you also put detailed pictures of how to do the wiring between components or point me in the right directions. I will be using your code for installing the ROS package. Do you think if I follow your guide completely, I will be able to build a working robot running on ROS? I want to be sure before ordering all the stuff.

    Thanks
    Alex
  • Hi AlexR
    I've been attempting to build a couple of robotic platforms over the last 5 years.
    By no means, am I an expert on this subject.
    However:
    What I do is,
    1) Think about what sensor I need to use to resolve a particular issue.
    2) Purchase the sensor and control it in the most simple manner possible.
    3) See what the simple sensor wiring mess looks like in crude and simplest form.
    4) Attempt to make the connections as simple and straight forward as is possible.
    Sometimes I build an interface circuit board that sensors plug into.
    Sometimes I use the mess of wires in a jumbled configuration until I find out what I need.

    I guess the moral of my story is that, when building something for the 1st time, I don't really know how to run the wires.
    So, I just string wires, In as short a length as is possible until I figure out exactly what I need.

    I hope this post will help you in some manner.
    Getting started is the most difficult part.
    It's a very good endevour.

    GaryG
  • Hi GaryG,

    Thank you for your suggestions. My main concern is understanding the wiring from the circuit eg. motor to the main control etc. What would you advice. I am afraid of toasting the board or short circuiting the sensors. I guess I need to first learn the basics of electrical engineering and start from the very beginning.

    Thanks
    Alex
  • Hi @GaryG,

    Also for my project I need to build a robot running on ROS with either a laser scanner or a kinect. The application is the SLAM. I am familiar with SLAM and took few courses in university. I also have a simulation running nicely. So I can say I am good in the programming and software part but never had any experience with the hardware things. I want to learn that aspect as well by building a functional robot that can do SLAM.

    The hard part is there is no one to help me and internet is my only friend. When I saw the Arlo project it got me curious because most of the components can be bought from parallex. I do not want to spend too much time building the robot. I hope some one can help me in this regard. I have to finish this project in next 6 months.

    Thanks

    Alex
  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2015-08-25 05:13
    AlexR wrote: »
    My main concern is understanding the wiring from the circuit eg. motor to the main control etc. What would you advice. I am afraid of toasting the board or short circuiting the sensors.

    Alex,

    I'd suggest starting your own thread in the robotics forum where you can show us what you're planning on connecting. We can let you know if what you have planned is a good idea or not.

    Getting power and signal wires routed to the correct places can be a big challenge when building a robot. Here are a few items I'd suggest getting.

    Female/female jumper wires.

    I like Adafruits selection for jumper wires better than Parallax's selection.

    Adafruit's: https://adafruit.com/categories/306

    Parallax's: https://parallax.com/product/800-00046
    (I didn't see a page which listed Parallax's wire selection.)

    I usually purchase several of these with each order to Adafruit:
    https://adafruit.com/products/266
    I also purchase a couple of their 3" wires.
    https://adafruit.com/products/794

    I used to purchase female/female, male/male and female/male wires but the male connector are generally pretty weak and I think one is better off just purchasing female/female connectors and use long headers like these if I need to join two female sockets together.

    https://adafruit.com/products/400

    You're probably going to need some heavier duty wires. I didn't see any at Parallax or Adafruit. You want something like the wire linked below but in a thicker gauge.
    https://adafruit.com/products/1881

    I buy most of my wire from HobbyKing but they can take three weeks to ship. You can get the stuff faster if you pay for DHL shipping.

    http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__466__377__Hardware_Accessories-Silicon_Wire.html

    I think 14 or 16 gauge wire would be good for the motor supply.

    Here's some 14 gauge red wire (get black wire too).

    hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__9678__Turnigy_Pure_Silicone_Wire_14AWG_1mtr_RED.html

    You could probably find appropriate wire in a hardware store.

    As you may have noticed, I have a lot of the Arlo hardware. Here's my robot page on Let's Make Robots about the robot I made using the hardware.

    letsmakerobots.com/robot/project/eddies-friend-cleaver

    I think we should move this discussion to a different thread. Start a new thread in the robot forum and we can continue to list some of the items you may need.
  • ChrisL8ChrisL8 Posts: 129
    edited 2015-08-25 16:58
    Sorry, I wasn't getting email updates after the forum update. Hopefully that is sorted now.

    I'm afraid all I have right now for wiring is this: http://ekpyroticfrood.net/?p=291

    The pictures are high resolution, so hopefully you can follow things.
    I've started several times to try to create a detailed wiring instruction, diagram or something, but it is an enormous time investment.

    I think what would work best is to build a new one from scratch and video the process, but I don't have funds to buy an entire new setup, and I'm not tearing mine apart. ;)

    P.S. Be sure to check the links at the bottom of that page. They go back to some very helpful posts here at the Parallax forums.
    P.P.S. Also read the comments at the bottom of the page, there is some additional detail there.
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