Is Your Robot Getting Heavy? Love Handles?

erco

My robot was getting heavy and fairly awkward to carry, and I LOVE the handle I put on it. Looks great, works great, and it was on sale at Lowe's for 97 cents (reg $2.57). It's a Gatehouse brand nickel·cabinet handle in the hardware section, SKU #226999.

Please don't mistake my robot for a Stingray.·All we have in common is the carry handles. My bot's sexy rectangular shape is all its own.



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·"If you build it, they will come."

Post Edited (erco) : 1/24/2010 1:34:40 AM GMT

P!-Ro

Heavy? Think it will work for 200 lbs?

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PG

erco

200 lbs? You'll want at least two, preferably more.

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·"If you build it, they will come."

Ken Gracey

erco, I'm a fan of robot handles too. Why not? They're cheap, they look good and they have lots of utility!

I have some cool stuff to put on poor cuz. As soon as I get over the jetlag I'll post a photo or two of some of the finds from China. One of them is a series of LEDs on tape - like CCFL but it bends around corners. Very cool and will dress up the cuz a bit just in case he comes to visit Parallax someday.

Ken Gracey

Ken Gracey

and erco, I think that robot really needs a pair of passengers. Small ones of course. Don't hold back!

Ken Gracey

Duffer

Nice find. I've looked at furniture/cabinet handles and they can be expensive unless you can find them on sale or surplus (and I'm worried that the aluminum handles that come with some robots might be a bit soft to hold a fastener for the long haul). Is that a safety brake that I see·on the caster wheel? Nice touch when loading precious cargo before a quick drive to the play room.

Now you just need to find some rubber or maybe some colerful vinyl hose/tubing for edge bumpers to protect the walls and prevent splinters. Slit lengthwise, mitered on the corners and tacked/glued underneath the base would look real good until you can get some fancy lighting from Ken.

Duffer


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Any technology, sufficiently developed, is indistinguishable from magic.· A.C. Clark(RIP)

erco

Ken, you're sharp as a tack. You miss nothing, even in your jetlagged condition! Welcome home!

As you may surmise from the attached photo, I've begun construction of PC2, literally a twin of Poor Cousin. I prefer to call this one "War Machine".

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·"If you build it, they will come."

erco

Duffer: It is a brake, but I didn't really want it. It's a caster I found at Lowe's. I liked everything else about it: nice rubber, lightweight, rolled & pivoted smoothly.

You're right about wanting stability in the off position. As a design failsafe, my motors are 100% dynamically braked by the relays in the off position or if loss of power occurs. It won't budge even if you try to roll it!

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·"If you build it, they will come."

Chris Savage

Erco,

I wish I'd seen your robot before the February SERVO article deadlines...it would've made a ncie addition.

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Chris Savage

Parallax Engineering
Check out the new Savage Circuits TV!
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erco

Thanks Chris. How are you connected to Servo?

My bot is evolving on a daily basis; I'm not sure it will ever be "finished". FWIW, you can read all about it in "another magazine" next month.

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·"If you build it, they will come."