**scooping up the ball **
would be a cool task. the reward? you get to shoot/throw/toss the ball.
**I like your thinking! **
could have a top score board that way too, done on time and / or number of tries.
**THe drawing **
Could be done by plotting whatever you want drawn on the screen and hitting go, the robot could then do it in a oner.
Music AND throwing stuff
… can both be tasks for the user to attempt, among others. Bonus: a music note that can only be reached by a "thrown" object.
We would have to have
We would have to have circuitry in the blocks that knows when they are in the right order. This can be done but maybe we save that for an upgrade after we finish the basic setup.
Sorry I was out of town all
Sorry I was out of town all weekend and didnt have access to a computer. We need to figure out what the general scope of the project is going to be. It sounds like to start off we want 1 robot, but what is the general task we will let the user do or complete? After we figure this out we can break the task down into subtasks and tackle them. Goo dideas so far guys. Maybe we can either do a followup project or incorporate them into next revision of the robot.
Was trying to see some way
Was trying to see some way of breaking down the different ideas into something to start with, and I believe that all it boils down to is having the user drive the robot to some object, then touch/grab it. On it’s own, the robot should try to recharge.
We’ve had the idea of using the MrBasic robot, I’ve got one coming in and think several others do too.
Guess that testing this platform (or another if something else seems better) would be good, making an estimate of the motor stats to see what other hardware is needed.
I’ve also got an Arduino coming, thought to try that out.
Getting commands from a PC/laptop, I’ve got an XBee adapter coming too.
For PC software, I’d wondered about trying Python, and also heard of a free to try Liberty Basic.
To manipulate, if we have light objects, little blue micro servos could be used. If bigger objects, standards might be better.
To find a charger, figured wall following would be good, so a couple GP2D12 sensors should work. I’d suggest keeping one battery pack to keep charging simple, but we may have to go beyond the 3 cell pack MrBasic hasto run everything well.
These are all just suggestions, if there is something someone else would like to try, would be good to hear it.
My only concern about using
My only concern about using Mr Basic is the availability. If we do a writeup on how to built the robot can people find and but it easy enough? Also which 2 legs of the triangle do we want to focus on? Fast, Cheap, Easy
Mr basic is after all just a
Mr basic is after all just a board with two motors and two wheels. You can get similar results with a tamiya board and dobule-motor gearbox.
I’d personally focus on the cheap. Something everyone can make though it does teach you something new, you didn’t know how to do before.
Forget easy
No need to focus on easy. Of course do not make it too difficult either. It is up to us to create the first. Then write a decent walk through and provide drawings, photos, sample code, shopping lists. After all that, easy will just come along.
And we get to figure stuff out. That is the funnest part anyway.
Yeah, the base doesn’t
Yeah, the base doesn’t really matter, just some motors and wheels and a body to stick them to.
I do have to say I’d object to the Tamiya twin motor gearbox, I’ve used one on a robot and burned a few motors with it.
The Solarbotics plastic gearmotors would be a much better choice. They’re cheap.
Did find some more Dagu stuff, http://dagurobot.en.made-in-china.com/ the thing is, we don’t know if their motors are any longer lasting.
K i guess lets list the
K i guess lets list the features that we would like to have and we’ll see where all of our wants/needs are.
Controllable via a web interface with a “live” webcam - NEED
Ability to recharge itself by docking and undocking unassisted by user - WANT
Ability to manipulate something (blocks, balls, etc) - NEED
Ability to avoid hitting a wall going forward and in reverse - NEED (to keep users from trying to get it to leave its confined space)
Jail break bot
"Ability to avoid hitting a wall going forward and in reverse - NEED (to keep users from trying to get it to leave its confined space)"
Maybe thats it, put them uin a cell, have thhe bot have two or three different “tools” at its disposal to escape 
I think we should start
I think we should start building up a basic robot following jklug’s rules. As we build it more ideas may come.
I was hoping we could come
I was hoping we could come up with 3 or 4 pieces so each person had somethign to work on them we combine. 1 person builds a base, 1 person build a claw that can go up down and maybe out and in, someone else builds a charging station, etc
Should we talk about/suggest
Should we talk about/suggest different parts to work with?
NEED - Webcam - another group has discussed the use of webcams for a form of telepresence, as in the camera is on the robot as it is driven. The consesus of their research was that a Trendnet wireless TV-IP110W was a reasonable price to performance cam. It would appear as it’s own node on a home 802.11g network. Alternatively, a wired cam could simply provide an overview of the area the robot operates in rather than a viewpoint from the robot. Another possible is a cheap wireless security cam that would require video capture from a whatever PC is doing the web service. This was an option abandoned due to interference experienced in the other group.
WANT - recharging - stages : first select power source to know what to charge, then come up with charger for that source, then how to find charger, then how to connect to charger. Possible 4 AA NiMh pack, using an IC (Maxim) based charger, located by IR (40kHz modulated) beacon on charger/detectors (PNA4602) for aiming on robot, using 2 conductor pole at charger, and 2 spring ring contacts on robot
NEED - object manipulation - possible re-use of Fritzs arm robot idea (3 servos) ? Make a bobcat like scoop (1 - 2 servos)? Stick one of these on top (too complex)?
NEED - obstacle avoidance - add some GP2D12s front and rear, or short range, PNA4602 and IR LEDs.
$150 for a wireless webcam
$150 for a wireless webcam is a bit expensive. I have one of these that I would like to try. I’m sure the framerate will be slower, but it could be a cheaper alternative. I’ll see how fast or slow it looks when it is sent to a PC and then broadcast live. We could also make it an adventure and use a cheap USB webcam and make it wireless ourselves. Would be another good project 
**I also **
have one of those, im currently trying to get the picture into processing, i have to find out how to change one varable and it should work.
THe picture quality is ok, good frame rate but it suffers in different light.
Light is an issue it always
Light is an issue it always shows dark but nothing an LED wouldn’t fix.
Awesome, that’s $10 cheaper
Awesome, that’s $10 cheaper than the wireless security cam found above. That Trendnet cam is usually $100 on Amazon, but sometimes drops to $60 or so inexplicably. Still much higher.
Do you have some sort of video capture to use the Ebay cam? Does it have sound?