NINA's new Chassis

NINA's new robotic chassis. The first one was rediculously heavy! This one is still very sturdy and strong and I can lift it with one arm! All aluminum material (except for the nuts and bolts). Treads are lynxmotion with custom made hubs. The motors look a little small, but they're still very powerful (one of those motors could push around a ride-on toy and not even when its that geared down. These motors are geared down to 256:1 with a no-load RPM of 96 and a stall torque of 110 ft-lbs each. They run on 12 volts and I expect they will draw no more than 10 Amps each from the 20 AH battery pack I have constructed for them (plus I've got lots of 20 Amp fuses ready). That's if the robot is going up an incline (which I'm not intending it to do). Forward and backward will be much easier. But because the robot runs on treads and not wheels, it may make the job a little toughe. Still, I think they'll do the trick.

Update--October 27, 2010:

Finsihed building the rest of the chassis! Very stury, very light (I can actually pick it up and carry the whole thing in both hands). There are a lot of loose wires right now, but I'll definitely be sure to organize them safely before this beauty is operational. All I have to do now is plug in the electronics and run the program I've created for her. That'll be for tomorrow. I'll be sure to have my camera ready.

Update--October 28, 2010:

Connected the electronics and tested the servos. Results are shown in the new video.

Update--November 5, 2010

NINA is now fully articulated with interpolation alorithms for her servo movements! She tracks faces, shakes hands, and waves hello. NINA actually was put on display for Halloween this week where she had a line of trick-or-treaters forgetting about the candy and anxious to shake her hand. I will keep everyone updated on her progress and her programming is very easy to implement. Most of the hard part is over. Permitting the venue will allow it, I'm thinking of having her on display at the Autism Conference in February where I'll demonstrate her "social machine" functionality (Right now, NINA's main niche as a robot is to serve as an experimental social machine--to aid communication skills in those with communication disabilities like autism--particularly Asperger Syndrome.