Personal Robot Building

[Daniel Brim]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

I have an idea. Make a telepresence robot.

It would be something that you can drive around remotely, or program to goto a certain place, and it would have stereoscopic video cameras and microphones, with an RF link, so the operator can see what the robot sees

it would be like you are where the robot is, instead of where you are.

the operator would wear a headset, and 3d vision glasses, like the V920 on this website : www.icuiti.com

you could also have a speaker on the robot, so the operator can talk to people through the bot. If you make the bot somewhat humaniod in apperance, people would be more likely to interact with it as if they were talking to a real person.

I can think of lots of applications for this. People who are shut-ins or bedridden could send the bot out - it would be their eyes and ears and feet.

to make it easy, the drivetrain could be like a wheel chair, which would look familar to people, and allow it to go most places that anyone else could go.

To extend the range you might be able to operate it though a cell phone link.

I think this would be an excellent platform for experimentation and learning.

In fact, I would like to have one myself :^)

if it worked over a cell phone link, you could have remote meetings through these - you could be in NY and the tele-you could be moving around a factory or lab in LA, and it would be like you were there.

if you are going to build something like this, let me know. I might be able to help you out with the video stuff. If so, email me at work: kenneth_wittlief@icuiti.com

Ken, that would be really, really cool, and very practical! I would love to help on something like this (inbetween the SATs, ACTs, APs, and travel) during the offseason. I don't know much about building robots (just extruding, revolving, and constraining using Inventor), but it would still be "an excellent platform for experimentation and learning" as you said.

-Daniel

[Ian Curtis]

We were considering building a robotic button maker after the ordeal we went through trying to make buttons. Wouldn't be that hard really and it would be really cool and useful.

[Alexander McGee]

Originally Posted by Tytus Gerrish

how about Somthing with no wheeles, anphibous cababilty and a Skirt?

Tytus, you just love those hovercrafts. You should make a trip up here to MI and ride ours. Those things are fun on ice!

[Not2B]

Here's another idea. Make a good base for outdoors, and load it with sensors. See if you can stage your own "Grand Challange" in the bacl yard on in a park.

I also started thinking it would be cool to have a robot that could run a dog's aglity course. (Maybe skip the platform section cuz it would be too hard.)

JUst more ideas... My "personal" robots are never that cool... yet.

[Not2B]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

I have an idea. Make a telepresence robot.

It would be something that you can drive around remotely, or program to goto a certain place, and it would have stereoscopic video cameras and microphones, with an RF link, so the operator can see what the robot sees

There was a story on the news about these very things. Detroit Medical Center just started using these to help doc's visit patents in other buildings. Kinda, no, really cool.

Newspaper version

[Andy A.]

Sparks-

I and a fellow team mate (JamesCH i think is his name around here) have been working on a number of 'personal' robots for about the past year. The whole thing started as a theses project of his, revolving around the idea of using off the shelf parts to make a small remote controlled, semiintelligent vehicle that could preform a variety of tasks by being very modular. We ended up adapting an old clodbuster R/C car and using outdated IFI equipment from our team. Not only did his project turn out nicely, it's given us a powerful and flexible drive base that we've since used to prototype and test ideas on for other projects. It's proven powerful enough to haul heavy loads, fast enough to out pace most R/C cars and nimble enough to move around in a crowded room. It looks pretty neat to. It's our F-150 meets mars rover - It'll take anything anywhere and has the brains to use it when it gets there.

My suggestion is to first focus in on your drive base. Get it running, and drive it into the ground and see what breaks. Then fix it. Rinse wash and repeat. Getting a reliable and powerful drive train is as important for any robotics project as it is in FIRST. Once you have a bulletproof base, you can then focus on putting all sorts of stuff on top. We've had good luck using wireless cameras. They are simple to use, cheap and are worth tons of 'ooooohhs and ahhhhs' when you start driving it down the hallway of your school, and no one can see who's controlling it.

Just remember that you have the real privilege of using IFI equipment. There isn't really anything better out there for the money. It's powerful, simple, and extremely forgiving. It takes care of all the really hard stuff (making a arm is one thing, making the computer power to control it is about 50 things). Take care of it all, and it'll go a long way for you.

-Andy A.

[JamesCH95]

I'm James, the kid who works with Andy. I would second everything that Andy said, and I would like to emphasize "vigirous field testing." You shouldn't be afraid to push whatever you build to, and sometimes past, it's limits. You should always be looking at how to you can tweak or upgrade your robot for better performace. As for the wireless video cameras, two servos will go a long way towards it's flexibility and usefulness. What ever you wind up doing with it, have it be original, either in it's application or how you do it. My thesis robot that Andy helped me with had a modular control unit. That unit had the battery, RC, Victors and the camera on it and could be swapped between several different chassis. The clod-buster worked the best with 4wd and 4ws, but there were 1 or two other chassis it could use.

Get parts on eBay! The video camera I used on my project cost $25 with shipping, a pretty sweet deal. There is alomost anything you want on eBay at a good price, I highly reccomend it.

I hope to see a post of your final product, it should be good. PM me if you need any help... there are few problems with this kind of project Andy or I haven't delt with.

[John Gutmann]

wooo hooooo i got my skyway wheel hubs and sprockets from innovation first now all i need to do is mount the motor plates that the motors are mounted to and connect the battery and hope it wont break!

[Mike]

Like someone previously said, 2 wheeled balancing bots are pretty cool. I'm building one now.

<shameless plug> You can check out the progress of mine at http://mikebot.blogspot.com/ </shameless plug>