Abraham

Let's Make Robots Robots
1

(old)

Well, here is Abraham. He is named after the American tank, mostly because he has tank treads. (M1 Abrams, any army guys around driven one?) He looks cool, but I NEED SOME SERIOUS HELP!!!

1st) Do you think I should glue little segments of rubber band to his treads like this...

or keep 'em bare so I can skid steer better?

 

2nd) My servo does not work. I am going to hook up ground and volt directly to the batteries this time.

 

3rd) The start here code does not upload. I get an error message saying that "hardware not found on (whatever the path of my USB cable)"

 

But other than that he's pretty good! Does anyone know what kind of pwm Vex servos take? I just might have to switch to that.

Here's a couple more pics:

Side:

Bottom:

Yup, that's it. Thanks for the help guys!

UPDATE: (old)

My servos are working, but I would like help making a bumper switch so that the robot backs up, turns, and goes forward when it hits something. Any help would be appreciated!

Update:

Everything is working great! Motors turning, servo swinging, etc. I have attached a Sharp GP2D12 infrared analog range sensor and two microswitches with metal arms. I figured out how to write the entire program instead of using the Start Here code, mostly because it won't work. Chris spent a lot of time helping me, but eventually I pissed him off because I didn't read all the manuals. Hey, I ■■■■ everybody off at one point or another, Zanthess can testify! Thanks Chris and everybody else that helped! From now on, however, I am not ever going to try and use the shoutbox for help. Probably what I should have been doing in the first place.

 

 

weird effect...

 

Yeah, well until I make a video, that is pretty all there is to see!

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://community.robotshop.com/robots/show/abraham
2

Check the hardware

Those look like geared motors, not servos. And if you can’t upload the start here code, how do you know the servos/motors don’t work ? If you can’t upload the code, then the Picaxe board isn’t going to do anything.

Yes, try to connect the motors to a battery, just make sure the battery is the right voltage.

3

they are GM9s

I do not have the servo mounted, because all it does is twitch and make funny noises. I tried the batteries, but no luck. I have now been trying the pulsout command, works okay, but still experimenting because I dont know the time the servo needs and it keeps making stalling noises.

But thanks anyways, dude! Love the help this site has.

4

Did you upload code?

Are you able to upload code to the Picaxe board?

If so, the servo needs a pulse between 1 and 2 milliseconds, then a delay for at least 25 milliseconds. I’m not a picaxe guy, but I’m sure someone here will have the answer if you can’t find it in the picaxe manual.

5

actually…

I was getting on to something using PULSOUT, but then SERVO worked. Probably because I needed PAUSEs in my code. Thanks Rascal!

 

6

thanks

gee… thanks

sorry

 

7

Bump switches are super easy

Bump switches are super easy to make. Grab some paper clips or other goodies plus dont forget the hot glue and just experiment! When the bumper gets pushed 2 contact points touch, or break. Either way works. </p><p>But an easier way is to find some microswitches. You can find a few inside old PC mice. </p><p>The manual should explain how to hook up a momentary switch with pull up/down.</p><p>After that its just a case of checking the pin it`s wired to, and jumping to a "reverse" routine.

8

thanks
thanks dude, my robot has 2 microswitches attached to it, and it has a simple object avoidance program now :slight_smile:

9

You could use skateboard
You could use skateboard grip tape on those treads, you can cut that stuff to any shape, and it works real well.

10

nice try

I think that has been a good experience for you. Has your robot finished now without any problems? Do you have any videos shows it in action?

11

Eh

Well, unfortunately I have long since taken it apart… However I am planning to make a similar bot with an Arduino…