All-Mechanical Robots, Then & Now

erco

Long ago when I was a kid (in the dark time before the BASIC Stamp), simple metal toys could achieve random motion (somewhat like a BoeBot Roaming with Ping) when obstacles were encountered using "mystery action" or "bump & go action". One motor and a crown gear would redirect your toy car or robot any time it hit a wall: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIsEC0HXk84

Here's a more modern contrivance, much more complicated but also elegant and fun to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p7OMVMWD3A

And don't forget the old "never-fall" toys, which have an extra sideways wheel which stops them from driving off the edge of the table: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgF3tRT1Fq8

Modern Roombas with their "cliff sensors" ain't got nuttin' on these never-fall toys.

$WMc%

Arm-a-tron from RadioShack circa 1980...one motor...maybe two don't really remember
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EDpsZQ98sI

erco

My fave. One motor, ridiculous geartrain. Four axes have 2 speeds. Insanely well-done. The brainchild of a single Japanese mad scientist at Tomy.

XLNT description at http://www.jeff-z.com/pinball/toys/armatron/armatron.html

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

erco,

How have the economic factors in toy design changed in the intervening years? Would it still make sense to build a toy robot arm that way? Or is it more economical now to use a micro with more motors?

-Phil

erco

Tomy never meant to sell it for $30. It was an expensive Sharper Image item at first, $100 or more. They just couldn't move enough at that price, so they cranked up the manufacturing run rate and blew them out at Radio Shack. Best ting ever for robot lovers.

Good question on how to best do it today. Depends on the company and their manufacturing abilities, but it's a China item either way. When WowWee did RoboSapien 1 for $99, that was a price no other toy company could match. Not much out of WowWee these days, huh?

erco

And here's the all-mechanical Kenner "Trail Tracker" car from the 70's that follows a crayon line drawn on a vinyl mat.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kenner-Trail-Tracker-Toy-1977-Brand-New-Box-/350457800120?pt=UK_Toys_Creative_Educational_RL&hash=item5198e9a5b8

Puzzle on THAT ONE for a while, kiddies. Maybe now you'll show some respect for toy designers of olde. "Do not question the wisdom of the ancients." :P

OK, video at http://www.retrojunk.com/details_commercial/11364/

$WMc%

That brings back memeries...erco
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I had one of the first CoCo II's with 16k of ram...I wanted to control the arm-a-tron with this so bad I could taste it as a kid.I searched and asked ?'s about how to use the parallel port.I could turn LEDs on and off. And I thought motor control would come rite behind it at the time.
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I cut grass and cut grass till I finally made the $100 needed for the arm-a-tron....I got it home and quickly took it apart...only to find one motor in the whole control set-up....WTFire!!!!!!!!....I bailed out and left motor control with a PC for about 15years after that...went back to RF and PC audio.

erco

I just found a gutted Armatron robot arm circa 1980's. Many internal parts missing, but 99% of the outer parts are there. Way too good to toss, so I think I'll start a back burner project to put 6 servos in it for full control, along the lines of my smaller scratchbuilt arm: http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?137471-Arm-Wrist-Gripper-Uses-9-gram-servos

For the mechanically inclined among us, check out some of the complexities of the all-mechanical Armatron of some THIRTY years ago, in the days before CAD and Solidworks: http://www.jeff-z.com/pinball/toys/armatron/armatron.html

BTW, NEVER gut a complete, working Armatron. That would be sacrilege! They are top shelf display-worthy.