Hank 1.0

Let's Make Robots Robots
1

Well, here's to starting my first robot!

This bot is going to be the standard first robot that's shown here.

It will have the standard two wheels, but I will be adding a slider to the front of the chassis so it's not always toppling over, and I don't have to worry about balance as much this way. It will probably be half of a ping pong ball or something that size.

There won't be any special programming for the first run, just the standard object avoidance using IR sensors.

On my second run, Hank 2.0, he's going to seek out dark places, and look a hell of a lot cooler.

Having him search for dark places will give me a great starting point for a project that I love, hide and seek robots.

 

 

 

 

 

Parts Needed For Bot:

 

  • Picaxe-28X1 Starter Pack - $37 (http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8353) Ordered
  • Picaxe USB cord - $26 (http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8312) Ordered
  • L293 D Motor Driver - $3 (http://www.hobbyengineering.com/H1384.html) Ordered
  • 330 ohm resistor
  • 1 Servo - $13 (http://www.hobbyengineering.com/H1430.html)
  • 2 Gear motors with wheel - $26 (http://www.hobbyengineering.com/H1416.html)
  • 1 Ping Pong Ball - $0
  • Sharp IR Sensor - $10 (http://www.hobbyengineering.com/H1061.html)
  • 10-pin Header - $3 (http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=117)
  • 100' of cat5 solid core - $15 I found extra solid core cable in a box, so free!
  • Soldering Iron - $20 (Radio Shack) (My parents may have a soldering iron I bought a few years back, I should know by morning.
  • Breadboard - $20 (Radio Shack)

Approx final price - $170

7/8/08

I changed the design some, you can see cheesy sketches above. Hank will be basically the same as the Start Here robot, however I'd like to clean it up a little bit (not sure how yet) and add a few LED's to make him more bug-like. I'm imagining two LED's hanging over the IR sensor like antenna. The LED's will then light up according to which direction Hank is turning. When he's going straight, they will both be on.

I haven't the slightest clue how to hook these up to the board yet... but when it gets here in the mail, I should have 100 white LED's from ebay at my door soon after to play with!

Also, I just looked on Radio Shack's website and found out they have tires REALLY cheap at the store. I'm talking $0.97. That's really good! It doesn't look like my store has them, but if they have some normally priced like that, there must be others that aren't too far behind. So I think I'm going to just pick up a pair of motors and slap on some nifty looking tires that I find at Radio Shack.

Oh, I bought "Robot Building for Beginners" today from Border's, and it looks pretty good so I might have a line following bot in my near future too... However that doesn't really excite me all that just so it would just be for learning how to do it!

 

7/10/08

 

Well, today I got my Picaxe in the mail. Let's cross it off above!

I made a trip to Radio Shack as well. I got myself a soldering iron (also crossed off) a couple LED's, a battery holder, some connectors, two motors and a multimeter. I then went to Walgreens and got myself a bunch of rechargable batteries.

Here's a picture of some of it.

The little motor I'm having a little trouble with. It's a 1.5V-3V motor, which means I have plenty of juice for it coming from my battery, which is approx 3.8V. SO! Here is my conundrum... I'm friggin clueless when it comes to electronics it seems. I got my LED to light up though... Woo.

So I also have some 330 ohm resistors, but I'm not sure how to connect those on the breadboard to make any difference. I'll figure it out I'm sure though.

So first things first, the motor. I'll see if I can get that working now.

 

 

 

 

 

Yay! I got the motor and all that working. Anyway, so it looks like the motors I got won't do too well, since they have no gears. But, I'm gonna play with them anyway, they are fun. So I just ordered myself some geared motors that came with wheels... however I also ordered a set of BIG tractor-like tires, I thought that'd be a fun item to play with!

 

 

7/14/08

 

Today I got my servo, IR sensor, and an extra servo wire (which I thought I needed but didn't) in the mail. Here's a picture of everything.

So today after I finish working, I'm gonna start playing around with all of them!

Unfortunately I had some trouble getting my picaxe installed, so I'll have to figure all that out first.

I'm just waiting on my motors, wheels, and motor controller, then I'll have all my parts ready to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7/17/08

 

So, still having trouble getting my Picaxe installed. I'd love to play with my sensor and servo, but I can't get my picaxe to talk to the computer. Blah.

I need to pick up some pin headers too. I'm amazed that nobody in my area has any. Hmmmm.....

 

Object Avoidance & Scheda worship

  • CPU: Picaxe 28X
  • Sensors / input devices: SHARP IR sensor
  • Target environment: indoor
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://community.robotshop.com/robots/show/hank-1-0
2

PTFE
If you can get a 20mm dia polytetrafluoroethane rod (yes, teh stuff non-stick pots are coated with) and take a thinnish slice off the end, it will make a great front bearing. That stuff is really slippy. It’s expensive, but a 100mm long piece will last you forever.

3

Hmm, do you have any idea

Hmm, do you have any idea where I could get something like that? I just googled it… and not a whole lot came up!

If I can manage to find some, I’ll definitely play around with the idea. I’m willing to put plenty of time, effort, and $$$ into this so I can use the parts and knowledge again and again.

4

Virtual Design

I like the virtual design

Daniel

5

You want to keep it short,

You want to keep it short, or at least concentrate all weight in the back, or have an extension at the back as well as in the front… Reason: Be able to turn fast, make little corections with little efort. (Center of weight as close to the axle as possible)

:slight_smile:

6

Thanks for the tip Fritsl.I

Thanks for the tip Fritsl.

I added a second picture to the description so you can tell a bit more about the length I had in mind.

7

Raytracing?
Yes, is that POV-Ray?

8

eBay

Here’s what you want. Be quick. I may decide to buy it myself!

Oh, yeah - it helps if you make the downward face a little bit rounded.

9

It’s a program that I’ve

It’s a program that I’ve been using since I was like 14 called Anim8or. It’s come a LONG way in all those years. Although I rarely use it nowadays, it’s still a very solid and easy to learn 3d modelling and animating program.

 

10

Thanks!I’m waiting until a

Thanks!

I’m waiting until a check clears before I start buying anything, so feel free. I looked up teflon rod on ebay, and there are a few more of them on there, so when it goes through, I’ll be grabbing one up.

11

FYI

Good attempt on drawing the picture but those picture are not 3D. they are 2D.

12

Haha, they were. I just
Haha, they were. I just didn’t update the text up there yet. I had them rendered previously.

13

Ahhhh…
…the dangers of cross reference!

14

scheda you look like an
scheda you look like an obsessive cleaner / logistic…

15

Haha, not really. I have a
Haha, not really. I have a little spot in the middle of my desk cleared for the laptop… the rest is quite messy.

16

Ummm…

If that’s a reference to his avatar photo…

…ummm… yours is …ummm… Aw never mind.

17

what’s with my avatar? It’s

what’s with my avatar? It’s me, when I was 4 years old U.U

that’s a reference to his meticulous way to make a project, and list. a sort of flow chart. and the photo of the disposition of batteries/notebook/picaxe too xD but it’s cool xD

 

http://img77.imageshack.us/my.php?image=suppliebr1.jpg

18

It’s what we call "home"
Yes. He’s one of us. I say we keep him.

19

Hey Scheda,Is your robot

Hey Scheda,

Is your robot building book the one written by David Cook? If so you’re on the right track. I’ve read both that one and the sequel “Intermediate Robot Building” and they certainly cleared up a few things for me.

If you’d like some more electronics background (analysis and stuff), MIT has a great university-level introductory course with all the lectures online on video at their Open CourseWare (http://ocw.mit.edu). Look for the course 6.002.

Looking forward to seeing Hank come to life!

20

Ah, well in that case,
Ah, well in that case, yep… that’s me. When doing small projects with others back in high school they used to get pissed at me because I used to make so many lists :stuck_out_tongue: