The Coolest Stingray Robot Remote EVER - Version 2!!! (with Nerf artillery!)

[Microcontrolled]

You may have seen my previous post for The Coolest Stingray Remote ever, well, it's just been outdated. Behold.... the even better Stingray remote, and the coolest Stingray robot in existence!!!



New Stingray improvements:
- Now armed with a Nerf gun
- Features a backlit LCD for readout of data like speed control
- Plugs directly into the wall for charging

New remote improvements (because that's what this thread is about, after all):
- More simple, clean, and accessible
- More accurate control with a triple axis hall effect joystick
- Easy speed readout
- 2 steering options: Preset and Scaled. Preset is the simple Up, down, left, right control whereas scaled takes advantage of the accurate joystick and uses a software algorithm to control the robot based on the joystick location.
- Easy speed select with the third axis on the joystick, so speed can be adjusted while the robot is moving
- Dart launch button (Duh!) with indicator light

And of course, it is much nicer and more practical than the previous remote. The only disadvantage to this one over the previous model is the lack of a touchscreen. The touchscreen on the other model was simple impractical - it was only used for 3 functions, ones that simple buttons could replace. Personally, I am a fan of analog interfaces.

I am still working on this, and will be adding new features soon. I'll update this thread whenever I do.

Let me know your comments/questions!

Thanks,
Microcontrolled

[bomber]

Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This even tops my Stingray Food Serving Sobot (SFSR) ! It would be nice to see a video of the robot in action.

[W9GFO]

Very nice, now when the CMU Cam4 comes out you can make a roving sentry.

[Microcontrolled]

@bomber: Thanks!! I'll post a video in a few days, I'll be out of town for the weekend.
BTW I'll also be able to show this off at UPENE next weekend. :-)

@W9GFO: For the true roving sentry, I need something with more than one shot. I've been eying this one, though it would be a bit large on top of my robot, it would be pretty cool: http://www.hasbro.com/nerf/en_US/sho...419&src=endeca
It wouldn't take much hacking, since I think the trigger just pushes a button anyway.

[Cole Logan]

This should be a little smaller and it had 6 rounds http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/warfare/943c/

Or this thing has pan and tilt already but is only 3 shots. http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/warfare/8a0f/

[Toby Seckshund]

I used to have one of the three shot USB base missile launchers in the last workshop.

We used it to intimidate the office lot that thought that it was ok to use the WS as a short cut to the canteen, but then have the gaul to winge about "Health and Safety" as there could be exposed voltages for the poor wee darlings to worry over! (All the doors were labled)

Once they noticed that this thing was tracking then the other staircase was used a bit more.

(little things please .....)

[Microcontrolled]

@Cole Logan: I have the 6 shot one, actually. The problem with it (and just about anything Nerf makes) is that you have to pull plunger lever each time you fire it, and it is pretty hard to pull. I would have to buy an expensive servo just to do that. The one I linked to is electronic and fully automatic, just big. The second one you linked to is a more likely candidate.

[Duane Degn]

- More accurate control with a triple axis hall effect joystick

This sounds very cool. I'd like to know more about your hall-effect joystick. I read several years ago that hall-effect joysticks last much longer than joysticks with potentiometers. I thought hall-effect joysticks are expensive. Where did you get yours?

Personally, I am a fan of analog interfaces.

Me to. Especially analog joysticks! (Man, I really want a hall-effect joystick.)

I've been eying this one

I have a N-Strike Vulcan. They are every bit as fun as they look. My wife and I used ours for a community carnival. We set up a shooting gallery booth with it. Our booth was very popular.

The only hack I've made with mine is to power from an external power supply rather than batteries. I think the gun sucks two amps of current (at 9 Volts) in full auto mode. It wouldn't take long to spend more on batteries than the cost of the gun, if you powered it from the recommended "D" cells.

The gun is big. I think it would be a pretty big job to mount it on a robot. (I think I saw some magazine article a while back about someone how could control the gun remotely.)

The 25 dart belts aren't very hard to join together to create even longer ammo belts (I haven't done this myself but I've seen this hack on the internet).

Congratulations on another amazing project.

Duane

[Microcontrolled]

@Duane Degn: Unfortunately, I don't have a source to cheap Hall effect joysticks. Mine was given to me by WBA Consulting for some programming work I did for him. He had salvaged it out of a $5000 HD audio editor, and the joystick retails for around $200. I was in love with it when I took it out of the package, as it works more accurately than my arcade joystick used on my old remote and has a much more flowing movement. As I said, I LOVE analog interfaces, so this remote is better without the touchscreen in my opinion.

BTW, I was close to buying the N-strike Vulcan this weekend when I saw it on clearance ($31) but I figured I should save my money for UPENE next week. I'm now wishing I would have bought it, though, although there probably wasn't enough room in the car to haul it home. I would really like to get a pan/tilt module and mount it on a camera tripod, then put a webcam on the end and have a Propeller/PC combo using OpenCV to identify people walking by and sight them in. That would be awesome!

[Microcontrolled]

Just a quick "update":
I've finally finished up some business and I have finally fixed up my robot after UPENE! The robot probably got more "play time" at UPENE than it had ever had before, and it exposed some of my build errors when it started getting driven around more.
Mainly, that the entire thing is breadboarded and wires repeatedly came out of the holes, resulting in complete mayhem if it happened to be the one connecting the Xbee. Also, most of the screws were not secure and I lost nearly all of the ones on the bottom.
Still, I had a great time and enjoyed seeing my robot put to good use. Meaning that the kids controlling it kept shooting OBC with the Nerf gun. Good times.

[bomber]

Also, most of the screws were not secure and I lost nearly all of the ones on the bottom.

Exact same thing happened with me. I told Mr. Lindsay and he made a note about it.