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So did anyone actually celebrate Robotics week? — Parallax Forums

So did anyone actually celebrate Robotics week?

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
edited 2010-04-20 04:55 in Robotics
Looking at the Scribber S2 combined with Robotics week got me working on another bot.
Unfortunately, it didn't get finished enough to start programming, but is currently a
combination of a Protoboard, a couple continuous rotation servos, and a 3v audio amp I
pulled from a ipod speaker.

Can I get an extension on Robotics week so I can finish this in time? [noparse]:)[/noparse] [noparse]:)[/noparse]

Anyone else celebrate?

OBC

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Comments

  • RobotWorkshopRobotWorkshop Posts: 2,307
    edited 2010-04-19 14:04
    Yes, but I seem to celebrate that every week..... Although this week was special and I was able to get a couple suborn old robots repaired and rolling again! Most of the issues were typical but the last elusive ones ended up being some bad tantalum caps. Tantalum caps during the 80's are ones to watch out for. One was shorted and a couple more nearly so. This weeks challenge is an old 6808 based board. All the chips are fine so there is a problem on the board itself. An open/shorted trace, bad socket, or other obscure issue that will be a PITA to track down. Every once in a while I run into boards like this and it can take a while to find the issues. I've had a couple where the DIP socket had a lead broken at the PCB and other cases where there was an open via in the PCB. You can't ever assume that a PCB is ok or anything else when working on old boards.

    Robert
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2010-04-19 15:07
    Robert, since you restore electronics you might know the answer to this. I've heard the new ROHS regulations are requiring environmentally safe solder. I've heard conflicting reports that the new solders fall victim to tin pest and other people claiming that is not true. Have you heard anything about that? The Parallax staff might have heard something as well.

    The reason I'm asking is I've also heard that the new solders don't react well when mixed with tin/lead solders forming brittle alloys. Since I occasionally hack hardware I'm wondering how bad this could be?
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2010-04-19 15:47
    I would have to read a whitepaper concerning NASA's "new direction" to see how much their robot guys are celebrating. I can't imagine that putting a man in orbit around Mars by 2030 will do anything but suck funding from NASA's very successful robotics program. Who knows? In twenty years, robots may be advanced to the point that a human presence isn't even necessary. At the very least, robots don't eat, breathe, or poop; and you don't have the added expense of bringing them back either. It's too bad politicians have to get involved in the otherwise simple choice between doing science and planting a flag.

    -Phil
  • WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
    edited 2010-04-19 16:03
    @OBC,

    See this thread - http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=899242

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    Whit+


    "We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2010-04-19 16:15
    @Whit,

    That's AWESOME! What a blast! Being a former educator myself, you can't imagine how temping
    something like this would be here. (Of course doing a volunteer class is what put my into the classroom for 9 years.)

    OBC

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  • WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
    edited 2010-04-19 16:21
    Thanks OBC!

    Three or four years ago when I started playing with robotics - there was no one in the area to even talk to - that is why these forums are so important to me. I been doing the club and my kid's school and workshops at the public school to grow myself a robotic's club! I'm starting to make a dent in it!

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    "We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
  • FooWhoFooWho Posts: 17
    edited 2010-04-19 20:11
    I didn't know that it was robotics week, but I did celebrate it!· Last week I got the Boe-Bot kit and built it up and have been trying to write different programs for it all weekend long.· smilewinkgrin.gif
  • ScopeScope Posts: 417
    edited 2010-04-19 21:58
    No - I dropped the ball but I don't regret it. I was off during spring break, the week before NRW and I was having too much fun doing stuff. I really needed that time off.

    Maybe next year
  • sylvie369sylvie369 Posts: 1,622
    edited 2010-04-19 22:17
    I watched "Forbidden Planet", and on Wednesday I'm planning to go to this exhibition:

    http://www.visitroboworld.com/visitroboworld/index.aspx

    in between Brewers games.
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2010-04-20 00:47
    Well I suppose my son and I celebrated in that we worked on robots both Saturdays. He built a Lego robot that shoots balls at you as soon as you run its program. We continued worked on the big project, and only need to build a servo bracket to attach the gripper and buy bolts to attach the compass module.

    I'm envious of the Lego blue tooth abilities. No cable to keep plugging and unplugging. The PBASIC debug log would be a lot more useful if it could use Bluetooth for remote logging, no need for status led's or lcd's.

    Post Edited (Martin_H) : 4/20/2010 12:52:25 AM GMT
  • RobotWorkshopRobotWorkshop Posts: 2,307
    edited 2010-04-20 04:55
    Martin_H said...
    Robert, since you restore electronics you might know the answer to this. I've heard the new ROHS regulations are requiring environmentally safe solder. I've heard conflicting reports that the new solders fall victim to tin pest and other people claiming that is not true. Have you heard anything about that? The Parallax staff might have heard something as well.

    The reason I'm asking is I've also heard that the new solders don't react well when mixed with tin/lead solders forming brittle alloys. Since I occasionally hack hardware I'm wondering how bad this could be?

    Hello Martin,

    The RoHS regulations don't impact too much of the repairs on the early equipment that I work on. I've still been using regular solder for most of the repair work since it is easier to work with and the solder connections just look better. Many of the replacement parts are now RoHS compliant (resistors, DIP sockets, etc) but I haven't had any issues using them as replacement parts as needed. I don't recall hearing of any issues either. There may be issues mixing the new RoHS solder and the conventional solder but I haven't worked with RoHS enough yet to tell.

    My understanding is that the new regulations are geared toward new devices and mainly ones sold outside the US. Older devices that are being repaired should be exempt.

    The RoHS soldering question would be a good topic for the Sandbox.

    Robert
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