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firestorm.v1
Registered Member

Date Joined Jan 2006
Total Posts : 87

Posted 2/27/2009 3:28 PM (GMT -8)

I know that the laser-cat toy thing has been done, but this is one that I haven't seen anyone do.

This was the product of two events happening in quick succession:
1) Green Laser pointers hit woot and at $15, I couldn't pass it up.
2) I was bored and the cats were restless.

This had initially started off as a computer controlled laser, but I developed it into a fully remote-controlled laser cat toy.

Parts used:
One bi-color LED with common cathode.
One bi-color LED (the one from the What's a Microcontroller kit)
Two Continuous Rotation Servos (BOE BOT kit)
One "Standard" 180 degree servo (WAM kit)
IR detector (from BOE-BOT kit)
Piezo speaker (from BOE-BOT kit)
Tiewraps
40 cents (What? I needed a spacer and 4 dimes fit the bill just right.)
Some jumper wire
2 4.7K resistors
1 22 ohm resistor

Features:
- Uses Sony Remote control codes. I used the cable company's remote control :P
- Powers on in "Safe" mode, will not start moving/firing until it's been "turned on" via the power button on the remote.
- Uses the 4-way D-pad to move the laser and the "OK" button to fire/shut off the laser.
- Audible alerts on machine state, laser on, laser off, enabled, disabled.

I apologize in advance for the MS Paint drawn schematic.

Video of the test:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mudYHKZNP30

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SRLM
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2008
Total Posts : 2891

Posted 2/27/2009 3:32 PM (GMT -8)

I like how you used the BOE chasis as a turn table for your laser. Very simple. BTW, the laser looks really bright. Does it hurt the eyes?

firestorm.v1
Registered Member

Date Joined Jan 2006
Total Posts : 87

Posted 2/27/2009 3:36 PM (GMT -8)

Well, I used it for a bit and the cats seem more content to go after the laser beam itself rather than the dot on the wall. After I started building it and cackling maniacially while coding it I decided that for safety's sake I'd better replace with a red laser if I want to build this into a full model.

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)
Registered Member

Date Joined Feb 2006
Total Posts : 6593

Posted 2/27/2009 5:13 PM (GMT -8)

I agree with SRLM: nice use of the BOE-Bot wheels! But, yeah, unless you want a blind cat on your hands, that laser has got to go.

-Phil

Ezsynn
Ninja Techie

Date Joined Jan 2009
Total Posts : 130

Posted 2/27/2009 5:23 PM (GMT -8)

For some accuracy, Try adding the encoder Kit.

http://www.parallax.com/Store/Robots/RoboticAccessories/tabid/145/CategoryID/22/List/0/Level/a/ProductID/80/Default.aspx?SortField=ProductName%2cProductName

Dead Reckoning rules! Just mount them on the servos.

BWIN ON DA POWAH WIFIN U!!!
(This means the Plutonium Isotope Nuclear Fission And Fusion Reactor Battery Pack you've been hiding inside your jacket!!!)

J. A. Streich
Registered Member

Date Joined Aug 2004
Total Posts : 158

Posted 3/2/2009 1:40 PM (GMT -8)

Ezsynn, dead reckoning is a navigation scheme, and wouldn't apply to pan and tilt. Not that encoding couldn't be used to measure the angle the laser makes with the horizontal and vertical. Personally I think attaching a compass and tilt sensor would yield more accurate data and allow for more interesting applications. Firestorm, any plans to extend the idea?

Didn't I read a long time ago about someone who did something similar to mark where certain things were in hardware drawers? Anyone else have any potential uses for such a thing?

SRLM
Registered Member

Date Joined Jul 2008
Total Posts : 2891

Posted 3/2/2009 2:35 PM (GMT -8)

@ J. A. Streich

It was (I believe) Ken who had the idea of using it to find parts on a wall. It's somewhere in the completed projects forum, but I don't think it ever got further than a laser and servos (no database program).

Ken Gracey (Parallax)
Forum Moderator

Date Joined Jul 2004
Total Posts : 2175

Posted 3/4/2009 11:38 AM (GMT -8)

SRLM & J.A.,

I think that was Beau's project.

Ken

the joshanator
Registered Member

Date Joined Jun 2009
Total Posts : 3

Posted 6/16/2009 4:47 PM (GMT -8)

how do you connect the wheel to the motor?

Beau Schwabe (Parallax)
IC Layout Engineer

Date Joined Aug 2004
Total Posts : 3681

Posted 6/16/2009 8:59 PM (GMT -8)

To follow-up on Kens post... There was a project that I did using a laser pointer to find parts...

forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=21&m=87161

...It worked great, until I moved. It's just not as organized is all, and I don't have the laser up at the moment. I ended up putting flat white paper on the front of all of the drawers to prevent bad reflections. At the distance I had the laser, and the servo's that I was using, the resolution of the "grid" was about 1 cm so I could easily capture the physical position of each drawer in memory, and then just assign an index value to it corresponding to the contents. A simple program written in Visual Basic looked for duplicates, as well as whatever item you were looking for.

Beau Schwabe

IC Layout Engineer
Parallax, Inc.

the joshanator
Registered Member

Date Joined Jun 2009
Total Posts : 3

Posted 6/17/2009 5:34 AM (GMT -8)

I HAVE AN IDEA FOR THE RED LAZER!!!

**BILL OF MATERIALS**
1.One rubber grommet-13/32" hold from parallax
2.one lazer pen from wal mart

the build is simple, simply atach the rubber grommet around the lazer and then find a way to mount it on!

dont forget to move the rubber grommet every time you move the robots positoin to 2.

in fact I think Ill just go create my own page about my robot!

Post Edited (the joshanator) : 6/17/2009 1:43:17 PM GMT

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