I just ran into this cool old robot thing... Originally from the Nintendo 1.0 it is full of possibilities.
The arms travel up while the claws close, they open as they lower.
The base has room in it for 4AA's and a small board.
The arms can also swivel 360 degrees while the head stays stationary
Also -The base is the exact right size for standard tracks.
Here is the old board (Already thrown away) and the motor to swivel the arms
Heres the inside of the head it originally had an IR sensor in it behind one of the lens "eyes" --There is plenty of room for another board or what ever. The head also tilts up and down manually.
So here's the question...
What would you build if you had the above plus... (what I have on hand)
Does it turn when you reverse the motor? It’s screaming at me that it wants tobe one of the bots that trundles up to a wall and executes a three-point turn. Those “eyes” really want to be an ultrasonic transceiver pair.
God created the integers; all else is the work of man - Leopold Kronecker
give it a mini gun, rocket give it a mini gun, rocket launcher, booster jets, infrared vision, time jumping abilities, computer hacking engine, telecentic powers, vampire teeth, ability to transform like the autobots , more Guns, woofer, sub woofer, sub-sub woofer, hudralics, leds, stickers, a watch, spot lights, camoflauge capabilities, wireless internet, gps, guns, bluetooth, guns, 200" plasma tv, guns, jacoosi/hot tub/ spa, um… oh and GUNS!
give it a mini gun, rocket give it a mini gun, rocket launcher, booster jets, infrared vision, time jumping abilities, computer hacking engine, telecentic powers, vampire teeth, ability to transform like the autobots , more Guns, woofer, sub woofer, sub-sub woofer, hudralics, leds, stickers, a watch, spot lights, camoflauge capabilities, wireless internet, gps, guns, bluetooth, guns, 200" plasma tv, guns, jacoosi/hot tub/ spa, um… oh and GUNS!
You know just tonight I was staring at an IR distance sensor and wondering if it could read water… What I mean is I wonder if it could look into a glass and tell me when it is full. But Chris, where are you going with this…?? Ha Ha! I do believe friends, this robot should be mixing drinks! Oh yeah, baby!
I dub thee Sir Mixalot (or I dub thee Sir Mixalot (or Isaac after the bartender off the Love Boat). Seriously tho will an IR sensor pick up the fact a glass is there or will it read if something is inside? It may be easier to put shot glasses on one hand and have it pour into that and measure weight. Then pour to a glass below it. If the IR sensor works ROCK ON! You would need it to move up and down so when it pours an ounce of whatever it moves up to pour the next ounce of whatever.
I remember reading something about that, actually. Maybe it was in the datasheet for the PING or SRF05, but they go into detail telling you how to measure the surface of the water and what variables you need to take into account. Sounds like a fun project Like the robots at the beginning of the first Short Circuit movie (I hope yours also has a shoulder-mounted laser)
Presuming you have located the glass, or it’s placed in a specific position the easiest way I can think of for measuring the level of a liquid would be to lower a ‘finger’ into it which used the liquid to complete the circuit across two stretches of wire. You can lower it down until you get a contact, then pull it back and wiggle it to loose off the liquid.
That’s presuming your friends don’t mind your robot plonking his finger in their drinks.
Otherwise you could have it whack the glass and listen to the sound. It should be possible to detect the difference in the sounds between a full and empty glass, especially if you have it work with a standard glass size. I imagine that would be a lot harder though.
IR can read the surface of water. We used them in strorage tanks to detect slurry levels, but the industiral ones I used cost thousands of dollars and have to face downward at the sufrace of the water. I doubt it could tell you if a glass contained liquid from the side, but if you drove up to it and put the IR unit over the glass and measured the distance from the sensor to the liquid level, you might have something then.
