#robotics Logs

Jan 09 2012

01:15 rue_bed cool, I'm on my way to building a 12' mecha
01:38 rue_bed just need the 8051 to be able to run about 26 pneumatic servo loops
01:39 rue_bed 40Mhz, 3 cycles or so
01:41 rue_bed but with the parallel bus it'll take less cycles to do the io
06:28 KongfuPanda hello robotics people!
07:03 KongfuPanda (͡๏̯͡๏)
09:19 rue_house error: bad argument
09:19 iateadonut i was looking for a product like lego's mindstorm that is compatible with linux for my 6-year-old daughter who keeps telling me she wants to build a robot.
09:20 iateadonut that rue_house wasn't for me, was it?
09:21 Wulong Give her arduino and servoes.
09:21 rue_house 6 yrs?
09:21 rue_house lego
09:21 rue_house 12 yrs arduino
09:22 izua iateadonut: mindstorms can do this: http://www.mpviral.com/2012/01/02/awesome-lego-machine/
09:22 iateadonut i would need xp, though, to run that.
09:22 izua you can probably do that with arduinos too
09:27 iateadonut the part at 3:19 is really cool.
09:35 rue_house you wan tot use the windows software with the lego stuff, I hear it might work under wine tho
10:54 iateadonut problem is i don't have windows.
10:54 iateadonut anyway, i guess i will start by reading oreilly's arduino cookbook.
10:54 iateadonut and go from there.
10:55 iateadonut thanks.
20:45 KayAteChef I lack mechanical skills but know some electronics concepts. Are there cheap ways to prototype 4 wheel 1:10 or 1:8 vehicle chassis?
20:45 KayAteChef I was looking up meccano sets but they seem to be unsuitable.
20:45 Triffid_Hunter KayAteChef: toy world
20:45 KayAteChef hmmm
20:46 Triffid_Hunter in context of robotics, get a tank
20:46 Triffid_Hunter or something with tank drive like the "scorcher" which they had 10-15 years ago
20:46 KayAteChef but that is probably about $300 right?
20:47 Triffid_Hunter KayAteChef: no way, this time of year maybe $50
20:47 KayAteChef hmm
20:47 Triffid_Hunter post-christmas specials and all that
20:48 KayAteChef I want to make a solar powered bot to crawl around the the back yard chasing RF beacons or something
20:49 Triffid_Hunter KayAteChef: yep, definitely get a tank from toyworld for that sort of stuff
20:49 orlok KayAteChef: 4 wheeled?
20:49 orlok and tamiya
20:50 orlok or meccano
20:50 orlok gearing, wheel size, how fast do you want it to move, etc etc
20:51 Triffid_Hunter KayAteChef_: I have a 3d printer now, so robotics just got really interesting :)
20:52 KayAteChef_ I want it to move slowly
20:52 KayAteChef_ because I want it to be solar powered and sort of efficient
20:52 orlok KayAteChef_: i suggest toys, or tamiya stuff if you want to spend more
20:53 orlok google photovore maybe
20:54 Triffid_Hunter KayAteChef: yeah check out the BEAM stuff. set it up so the solar panel charges the batteries, and when they're full(ish) it goes roaming. when they start drooping, go find a sunny spot and wait
20:55 zhanx need to finish my robot design so i can sell it
20:55 KayAteChef yeah that was the sort of idea
20:56 rue_house ah you continuing my platform idea?
20:57 rue_house should I list the one I have?
20:58 KayAteChef_ my 3g connection is poor
20:58 orlok 3g is a pile of crap
20:58 orlok :)
20:58 orlok ahahaha
20:58 orlok OPTUS 3g
20:59 KayAteChef_ yeah lol
20:59 ckinator hands orlok "2.5G", aka 2G +
20:59 duckinator also, hi
20:59 duckinator
20:59 orlok KayAteChef: i'm in vic
20:59 orlok i actually get optus network outage data as part of my job
20:59 orlok nothing currently
21:00 KayAteChef Do you work for Optus?
21:00 duckinator Triffid_Hunter: what kind of 3D printer did you get?
21:01 orlok no, i work for a company that does M2M communications over the optus network
21:01 Guest49177 line of sight links eh
21:02 orlok no
21:02 KHF no?
21:02 orlok screw line of site, hell, i hate all wireless heh
21:02 orlok i used to deal with a company that did LOS wireless comms
21:02 orlok useless
21:02 orlok we use the optus network.. GSM/GPRS/etc
21:03 duckinator orlok: here, have some cheap no-name wifi equipment! *grins evilly*
21:03 orlok for ATM communications
21:03 KHF machine to machine comms?
21:03 orlok yeah
21:03 Triffid_Hunter duckinator: prusa mendel
21:03 KHF I use Lucent PSAXs at work
21:03 KHF and Nortel Passports
21:03 orlok duckinator: This just looks like a microwave with its casing removed!
21:03 Triffid_Hunter http://youtu.be/C8OcIe47-4s and http://youtu.be/k6049YDO2KQ and http://youtu.be/0l3Z7WVfa9c are what I
21:03 duckinator Triffid_Hunter: ah, nice!
21:03 Triffid_Hunter 'm using it for these days
21:03 duckinator orlok: *zap* :)
21:04 orlok KHF: ahh, you work for a carrier?
21:04 orlok well, telco
21:04 KHF yeah kinda it is a govt job
21:04 KHF large network
21:05 orlok ahh. say no more. *cough*
21:05 KHF :D
21:06 orlok guess you are in canberra then?
21:06 KHF Darwin
21:06 orlok i'd like to try working for one of those government places you see banner ads advertising on /. and whereever that have 3 latter names, but they are all in canberra
21:08 duckinator Triffid_Hunter: wow, very nice! what do you use for modeling it? i'm trying to play with 3D printing a bit on Linux, but having a hell of a time getting any sort of 3D CAD working (a friend got FreeCAD to work and says it's good, still wrestling with it here)
21:09 KHF orlok: what did you study?
21:09 rue_house Triffid_Hunter, I think your still colliding :)
21:10 Triffid_Hunter duckinator: openscad
21:10 Triffid_Hunter rue_house: yeah I have removed the collission but haven't updated the video
21:11 orlok KHF: nothing, been a sysadmin for over 15 years now
21:11 duckinator Triffid_Hunter: oh, right. i haven't even looked into that yet, it's in the "pile of things to look at after giving up on FreeCAD" :P
21:11 Triffid_Hunter rue_house: made quite a number of adjustments to the ankle actually, also found there was no way to get the central servo in without damaging the cable, and the 624 bearing on the foot was 1mm too low
21:11 rue_house ugh were about 2 years away from all the reprap machines being built by reprap machines and nobody knowing how to make them by hand
21:11 orlok KHF: oh, nothing relevant.. i have some bullshit certificate i got and did some short courses in coding
21:11 orlok KHF: currently i spend my time laughing at PCI DSS requirements
21:11 Triffid_Hunter rue_house: heh I started cutting the pieces for mine from wood using a router bit in a pedestal drill
21:11 Triffid_Hunter oh, and a really crappy bandsaw
21:12 KHF What is DSS?
21:12 orlok Data Security Standards
21:12 orlok Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards
21:13 KHF oh
21:13 KHF what is your stake in that?
21:13 duckinator Triffid_Hunter: huh, OpenSCAD seems a lot better than i gave it credit for before, gonna try it out
21:13 orlok the M2M communications we do.. are to ATM's
21:14 Triffid_Hunter duckinator: if you're the sort of person who can write clean and readable perl, you can be effective with openscad
21:14 orlok Triffid_Hunter: hahahah hahah
21:14 orlok clean and readable perl
21:14 orlok best joke ever!
21:14 duckinator orlok: i think he means relative to the average blob of perl :P
21:15 Triffid_Hunter orlok: see slic3r for an example ;)
21:15 KHF why not have plaintext trunks and let clients encrypt their own traffic?
21:16 rue_house //[tT]hats* a joke right[?]*/
21:17 orlok KHF: Industry says no, heh
21:18 KHF the whole telco inductry?
21:18 orlok KHF: But PCI DSS isnt about that, encrypting the traffic from the clients is the least of the insanity
21:18 orlok ATM
21:18 KHF so trunks between ATM switches are always encrypted?
21:19 orlok KHF: ATM as in teller machine
21:19 KHF oh lol
21:19 KHF completely different
21:19 orlok yeah heh
21:19 orlok thats why PCI DSS
21:20 KHF aha
21:20 KHF that makes more sense
21:20 orlok so much insanity and "checking boxes"