Entrylevel Robotics idea?
Oldbitcollector (Jeff)
Posts: 8,091
Several of us are starting a "microcontroller" club in our community, and one of the guys hit on an idea of
using erectorsets combined with servos as an inexpensive entry point into robotics. I was struck with the
simplicity of this idea, and was curious if others here have employed existing items like this into their
robotics hobby?
Oldbitcollector
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Buttons . . . check. Dials . . . check. Switches . . . check. Little colored lights . . . check.
— Calvin, of 'Cavin and Hobbes.
using erectorsets combined with servos as an inexpensive entry point into robotics. I was struck with the
simplicity of this idea, and was curious if others here have employed existing items like this into their
robotics hobby?
Oldbitcollector
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Buttons . . . check. Dials . . . check. Switches . . . check. Little colored lights . . . check.
— Calvin, of 'Cavin and Hobbes.
Comments
You can get some ideas by looking at Botball sites on the web. The official Botball controller has been recycled Gameboy controllers which is kind of cool since you get audio and video built right in. You can get some of the used Botball controllers fairly cheap on ebay from time to time. Unfortunately, you need to know a version of C to program those controllers but I don't see why you couldn't construct something similar with a BOE.
Of course, there's always those old remote controlled cars and trucks that you can recycle into robots as well by wiring on a BOE.
My site was down 5.0pm NZ time, so if you cannot access try later.
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Never give up when things go wrong.
Have fun, cheers
Thought you might like to see this thread started by TOm - http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=641643
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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
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"... one of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was that, lacking zero, they had no way to indicate successful termination of their C programs." -
"If Python is executable pseudocode, then perl is executable line noise."
"The best accelerator available for a Mac is one that causes it to go at 9.81 m/s2."
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"Enter any 11-digit prime number to continue."
Everyone has a different idea of how to best build and best code a robot. Of course, you might exclude premade sumos from all but 'unlimited class' competition as someone can easily buy a winner rather than learn anything.
Alternatively, premades would have to be matched to eachother. IN that way, the software would really demonstrate the competators skill.
Other activities - such as line following and maze solving are of great interest. Mazes can take a lot of work to build.
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"Everything in the world is purchased by labour; and our passions are the only causes of labor." -- David·Hume (1711-76)········
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Never give up when things go wrong.
No problem! Can't wait to see those 7 or 8. All I've seen from you so far is pretty cool - not to mention your workspace!
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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
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Never give up when things go wrong.
How are you controlling the base?
humanoido
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Never give up when things go wrong.