First Time Servo User
Hello to all here,
I am as noob as it gets here. I have never used servo's before nor have i ever tried to build one. I have recently gotten into costume building. Im going to PAX east this year and have decided to build an Iron Patriot costume for the new move coming out this year Iron Man 3.
I want to make the cannon on his back have the ability to flip up over his shoulder, and then follow my head when it turns. I figure i will need two servo's and a gyro so some kind mounted in the helmet to send the data of where my head is looking to the cannon and have it turn.
I know i will need some kind of controller, servos, power source, and a gryo. other than that im lost. I have look online for any kind of diagram on what the basics is that i s needed to put this together, but have turned up nothing. i don't even know where to look to be honest.
Any help on this would be MOST appreciated. The place i was looking at getting some parts from is this site:
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9347
Here is a picture of the cannon I'm looking at doing this too.
I am as noob as it gets here. I have never used servo's before nor have i ever tried to build one. I have recently gotten into costume building. Im going to PAX east this year and have decided to build an Iron Patriot costume for the new move coming out this year Iron Man 3.
I want to make the cannon on his back have the ability to flip up over his shoulder, and then follow my head when it turns. I figure i will need two servo's and a gyro so some kind mounted in the helmet to send the data of where my head is looking to the cannon and have it turn.
I know i will need some kind of controller, servos, power source, and a gryo. other than that im lost. I have look online for any kind of diagram on what the basics is that i s needed to put this together, but have turned up nothing. i don't even know where to look to be honest.
Any help on this would be MOST appreciated. The place i was looking at getting some parts from is this site:
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9347
Here is a picture of the cannon I'm looking at doing this too.
400 x 272 - 26K
1024 x 789 - 95K
Comments
This is far from a simple project. You'll need to learn how to control servos (not hard) and read data from a gyro and acceleromter (not very hard but not trivial). Then you'll need to figure out how to put it all together.
A gyro tells you how fast something is turning not its present angle. If you keep track of how fast something (like the helmet) has turned, you can use calculate your position but this will likely have a lot of error. You'll probably want some sort of additional sensor (magnatometer) to help make corrections to the calculated angle.
An accelerometer would be a better choice for keeping track of how much the helmet is tilted.
SparkFun has an Accelerometer and Gyro buying guide that could help you find which accelerometer and/or gyro to purchase. Parallax also sells accelerometers and gyros. As I mentioned above, you may also want a magnetometer.
If I were doing this project, I'd use a Propeller as the microcontroller. There are many other microcontrollers that would likely be able to handle this project. I haven't used an Arduino much myself, but I think it should be able to handle this project (but not as well as a Propeller). I think this project might be too much for a Basic Stamp to handle.
A QuickStart board is an easy and relatively inexpensive way to get started with the Propeller.
Whichever microconroller you choose, this isn't likely to be a simple project but it should be fun.
BTW, While SparkFun and Parallax both sell servos, I get most of my servos from HobbyKing. If you can wait the three weeks for the delivery, it's a less expensive alternative. I list a few of my favorite HobbyKing servos in post #10 of my index. While you're there you can check out post #2 and see some of the projects I've done with a Propeller (many of these involve servos). Post #3 of my index list some Propeller tutorials useful in learning to program the Propeller.
Brilliant! That would at least give some instant gratification to see the thing moving.
The sensors could be added later.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lCjZrLUAP8
Yes the new Iron Patriot armor is the new Warmachine for iron man 3. Kind of a little sad that it is not going to be Osborn's alter ego. Any way the cannon will be made out of a light foam material. It won't weight more than a few pounds at most. Programming the servo won't be difficult at all as I am a video game programmer. Thank you all again this really helps me out. When its ready for building and testing I will upload my progress here. Thanks again.......