Wanted to give an update on this project. I actually started a new project post because this is literally a new robot at this point. I had two trips to compete in humanoid competitions in Korea last year, and learned a lot while there. I started a ground-up rebuild which more or less replaced every part on Giger. He ended up losing 10cm in height and about 1kg of excess weight, so it was well worth it. It's much more stable now and has a considerably lower COG. Still uses the same Gumstix onboard computer. This hopefully final version was built exclusively to compete in Mech Warfare. Eventually I plan on adding hands and using weapons that I can actually hold/manipulate. The head was 3D printed at Shapeways.
I remember playing the video game Mech Warior 10 years ago. now your doing it for real. where do you go for those competitions? what are some good forums or websites for us to learn more about that?
I think its an investment decision. Once building the robot for 10K, it will wobble into the nearest local Bank, brandishing its guns and make a large withdrawl.
You inspire me Tyberius, to take a 2nd mortgage on my house. Nice work.
We host 2 events each year; one at Robogames (coming up in about a week) in San Fransisco, and the other on the east coast of the US at Shepherd University.
The main website is http://mech-warfare.com but we have a sub-forum on the Trossen forums where we hold our discussions on the competition.
We have 26 teams registered this year, so it should be huge!
Very nice robot Tyberius. I have a couple questions about the gumstix controller you said you are using. I am also using a couple gumstixs to control my ground and ariel robots and was wondering what you used to interface with the servos. I am currently using a robostix and wanted to know if you are doing the same. Secondly did you write you own custom code for the gumstix and if so what language did you use. Thanks in advance, and its nice to see someone else using the gumstix controller here on LMR.
I’m using an FTDI/USB breakout to supply RS-485 communication for the servos, this plugs into the USB host on the gumstix.
I did not write the framework code, but all of the gait development and configuration/customization is my own. It is written in C and was developed by Farrell Robotics, it’s very similar to the Robotis terminal program, but with more features.
I would like to hear more about the gumstix and the camera. Which gumstix modules did you use and which camera are you using? Is it a regular webcam? How is it interfacet to the gumstix?
Do you do any video processing on the gumstix and does the gumstix have enough memory/processing power to do any video processing?
That’s a pretty mean robot! Looking forward to it taking full advantage of the dual weapons and blasting in different directions while charging forwards
