#robotics Logs

Apr 08 2012

00:54 katsmeow-afk http://openeuphoria.org/forum/117916.wc#117916
02:39 rue_house X problems
02:39 rue_house its leaking memory
04:22 Skwint seriously irritated with this stupid programmer now
04:22 thylne what language?
04:22 Skwint sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. Usually doesn't. When it does, it usually stops working soon.
04:22 Skwint Pololu AVR programmer
04:22 Skwint not a language
04:23 Skwint if I'd made it myself I'd be looking for a dry joint
04:24 Skwint omg ... wiggling the USB connector around makes it start and stop
04:24 Skwint dodgy hardware :(
04:24 thylne facepalm
04:24 Skwint spent days with the damn thing trying to work out what I was doing wrong and it's basically badly made :(
04:27 Triffid_Hunter Skwint: so solder the cable direct to it. I have one and it works fine
04:27 Triffid_Hunter bit irritated at needing windows software to read any error message, but since I've changed the brownout voltage from like 4.7v it behaves quite well
04:29 Skwint so basically you cut the end of your USB cable off, unsoldered the socket, and attached the wires to the board?
04:29 Skwint that sounds ... a bit ridiculous
04:31 Triffid_Hunter Skwint: mine doesn't have a dodgy socket. oh, have you tried another cable?
04:31 Triffid_Hunter just as likely to be an issue with the cable as the socket on the board
04:31 Skwint well, that is an idea
04:32 Triffid_Hunter Skwint: one of my pet peeves with USB is how poor the connectors are in terms of reliability
04:33 Triffid_Hunter you knew where you were with a DB9, and even ethernet isn't bad but these f*ckn usb connectors are utter crap
04:35 Skwint good call on the cable
04:35 Skwint replaced it and it's working now!
04:45 Triffid_Hunter Skwint: now chuck the other cable before you forget and try to use it.. or cut the connectors off or something
04:46 Skwint I'll cut the dodgy connector off - maybe I will find a use for the rest of it
04:46 Skwint at the very least there's a good USB connector on the other end and who knows?
04:49 Triffid_Hunter :)
05:43 Skwint OK, amazinjg what a working programmer does for you - my robot now spins its wheels, scans the area in front of it, and steers to attempt to avoid obstacles
05:44 Skwint I expect the first test run will result in it doing something that can't be described as avoiding obstacles
06:11 Skwint wooo! It works! It drove so fast into my door that it broke the range finder off, and then it tried to reverse through the radiator :)
06:13 sw0rdfish hey
07:34 ckkitten hands Skwint a chocolate easter eg
08:02 wint wonders if it is possible to automate the
08:04 ace4016 fertilize it nad it will open up by itself...there might not be chocolate in it anymore though...
08:11 sw0rdfish good afternoon... katsmeow-afk, lol one of the wired.com articles we talked about yesterday is posted at a forum I'm in and this college kid said "This...is...awesome!!!". So yeah, thats how some people are I guess :S
08:12 ace4016 what was the article about?
08:21 sw0rdfish oh
08:22 sw0rdfish http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/ff_nsadatacenter/all/1
08:22 sw0rdfish adn
08:22 sw0rdfish and*
08:22 sw0rdfish http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/04/shady-companies-nsa/?intcid=story_ribbon
08:22 sw0rdfish they're basically the same story...
08:23 sw0rdfish lol I only read certain paragraphs only as I don't have time really + a few of the comments like the first 10
08:23 sw0rdfish or so
08:24 ace4016 ah, that one
08:24 ace4016 i think it's a bit silly to have survailence of that magnitude directed towards the *citizens* of the country...and not say...the enemy
08:25 ace4016 almost like they're preparing for something the citizens won't like very much
12:46 rue_house hmm it looks like I'v never used the fifo library I made
12:49 Skwint you have an entire library for fifo?
12:54 home so close...
12:54 home rue_house I got a soldering iron
12:54 home and some solder flux
12:55 rue_house cool!
12:56 rue_house what d you mean flux?
12:56 rue_house for electronics you want rosin core solder
12:56 rue_house :)
12:56 rue_house its 1 fire Skwint
12:56 rue_house file
12:59 home rue_ not sure XD
12:59 home rosin core is used to help the metal not oxidize right?
12:59 home I never soldered before soo :/
13:00 Tom_itx yes
13:00 Tom_itx don't use acid core on electronics
13:00 Tom_itx extra flux ie paste flux helps too
13:02 rue_house home, what country you in?
13:03 home canada...
13:03 rue_house okwhat province?
13:04 rue_house bc?
13:04 rue_house territory?
13:05 e_house leans out the window and shouts "HOME CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW!?" as loud as he
13:06 rue_house home, ok well if your in vancouver I suggest going to lee's electronics on main st.
13:06 home ah
13:06 home i live on ontario..
13:06 home there is an electronics sstore that I found..
13:07 rue_house otherwise I cant help with anything really local but to say that digikey can get stuff to you pretty darn quick
13:07 rue_house good show
13:07 rue_house so they have ronsin core solder?
13:07 rue_house rosin
13:07 rue_house want to do some soldering?
13:07 rue_house have any wire?
13:08 rue_house home, are you there?
13:08 home yes
13:08 home yes
13:08 home lol
13:08 home I am actually trying to interface something right now
13:08 home but I will have eventually solder my connections...
13:08 rue_house ah, want to do some soldering later?
13:09 home sure lol
13:09 home I gotta test my connections.. XD
13:09 rue_house are you just twisting everything for now?
13:10 home I am twisting.. and hoping I dont short anything
13:10 home using some electrical tape to make sure nothing touches each other ><.>
13:10 home trying to do this project here :http://timsarduino.blogspot.ca/2010/06/major-project-work-in-progress.html
13:11 rue_house http://timsarduino.blogspot.ca/2010/06/major-project-work-in-progress.html
13:15 rue_house thats a good project
13:16 home I still need to get some servos..or h-bridges >.>
13:16 home which wont really be a problem..anyways brb
13:50 wint cheers for
13:50 Skwint someone here who knows less than me about soldering irons :)
13:51 Skwint also, rue_house, that car you helped me with about a year ago ...
13:51 Skwint I've been working and travelling but I got back to it last week and it runs around now :)
13:51 Skwint so cheers!
13:52 Skwint https://3123380891636858970-a-1802744773732722657-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/squirmy/robot/RC-car-hack/carrear.JPG?attachauth=ANoY7cr6mMbtNAmdTH1t8FJKS6JQkrVUGzrJxhzmcuXfbQcFd9gptcNpAHu4xCh9BY0KK1-o8z4tu6yjgN0X6bosfs5ji-qNiBz-IZzKbFC2LQNUbQg7jjBA54uwarHlnALdUIY_yA3sbrKNgWQ04VJ0XUEonea9lQFHHItJLTmws9IHapAyK2EcWP9MQuify5iFdqnDJPaQWaOHCsroBoMTvbUUfCDtHw%3D%3D&attredirects=0
13:52 Skwint doesn't look very professional :p
13:53 Skwint nor did that link - https://sites.google.com/site/squirmy/robot/RC-car-hack/carrear.JPG seems to work
13:56 KongfuPanda Skwint, hiya ! you made that?
13:56 home nice robot :D
13:56 Skwint yeah!
13:56 Skwint well, I took an RC car and hacked it
13:57 KongfuPanda Skwint, with AXON?
13:57 Skwint yeah
13:57 KongfuPanda Skwint, looks great ! :)
13:57 Skwint it reminds me of the early starship enterprise - wires all over the place
13:57 KongfuPanda Skwint, want to see my robot on axon?
13:57 Skwint yup!
13:58 wint is reading about EDF motors and quadcopters and wondering what would happen
13:59 KongfuPanda Skwint, http://youtu.be/4FxWpbLiw5g
13:59 KongfuPanda Skwint, it's not finished yet
14:01 Skwint that's a lot more effort than mine was
14:01 Skwint I think a walker would make a good lawn mower bot :)
14:03 Skwint I need to get my car to the point where I can make a video of it _not_ crashing into walls
14:03 Skwint then I want to make something that flies
14:03 KongfuPanda :)
14:03 KongfuPanda what is it supposed to do?
14:03 Skwint drive around very fast avoiding obstacles
14:03 KongfuPanda are you going to remote control it?
14:04 Skwint it's my first ever robot so it's "hello world"
14:04 Skwint no, although it does have a bluetooth link to my phone
14:04 Skwint which I use for debugging
14:04 Skwint a phone contains a GPS, GPRS, WiFi, video camera and tilt sensors, so I'm thinking of integrating the phone into my next robot directly
14:05 KongfuPanda Skwint, that's my first robot too :D and it works via bluetooth too
14:05 Skwint a "stop" button on the phone would be good for it - it goes faster than me on a good surface and that's a unique debugging experience!
14:06 KongfuPanda Skwint, what bluetooth card are you using?
14:06 Skwint bluesmirf silver
14:06 KongfuPanda how much did it cost you? :)
14:06 Skwint not too much - I can look at the shop I get stuff from and find out if you like
14:06 KongfuPanda I got mine from china for like 10$
14:07 Skwint ah - no, mine cost about 3 times that
14:08 KongfuPanda Skwint, are you going to make it follow a line?
14:09 Skwint no - it's a learning excercise - if I was going to do anything with it I'd play sumo, but there's noone here to play against
14:09 Skwint so I think I will learn from it, then move on
14:09 Skwint I am either going flying or submarining
14:09 Skwint and it is not an appropriate vehicle for either :p
14:09 KongfuPanda Skwint, it would be fun to add like little antennae, so that when it his a wall, it goes in a different direction
14:10 Skwint it has an IR range finder mounted on a servo - it can scan for walls
14:10 KongfuPanda oh cool cool
14:10 Skwint well, it did have - last time it hit the wall the range finder snapped off - it needs protecting better ;)
14:14 KongfuPanda Skwint, anyway, I put detailed videos how I made this robot: http://read-stuff-here.blogspot.com if you are interested.
14:15 KongfuPanda Skwint, do you use AVR studio to program axon?
14:17 Skwint yes
14:17 Skwint it's horrible, isn't it?
14:17 KongfuPanda Skwint, which one are you using?
14:18 Skwint 4
14:18 KongfuPanda AVR 4?
14:18 KongfuPanda oh
14:18 Skwint something I read said I shouldn't use 5?
14:18 KongfuPanda I got a detailed tutorial how to configure AVR 5 to program AXON
14:18 KongfuPanda it 's much better I find
14:18 KongfuPanda it checks syntax and stuff
14:19 Skwint is there much to it?
14:19 Skwint I'd cheerfully upgrade
14:19 KongfuPanda I use WinAVR compiler, AVR 5, and webbotlib 2 with project designer
14:19 KongfuPanda if you use webbot 1, it's a bit more tricky
14:19 wint
14:19 Skwint I'm pretty sure I will be using the latest, whatever itis
14:20 KongfuPanda Skwint , I put quite detailed guide , how to configure AVR 5 on that blog in videos
14:20 Skwint webbotlib1.29 it sys
14:20 KongfuPanda maybe they are a bit boring
14:20 KongfuPanda o
14:20 KongfuPanda oh
14:20 Skwint is there a big difference?
14:21 KongfuPanda Webbotlib 2 is designed completely differently
14:21 KongfuPanda instead of writing hardware.h, you open a GUI, and select what your axon has connected
14:22 Skwint that's project designer right?
14:22 Skwint I have that ...
14:22 KongfuPanda and it generates hardware.h for you, and project.c , that you can simply edit
14:22 KongfuPanda yeah
14:23 KongfuPanda I also use McUber to program the AXON
14:23 KongfuPanda what are you using?
14:24 Skwint I just hit the connect button in AVR studio
14:24 Skwint and press program
14:24 Skwint got a pololu avr programmer
14:24 KongfuPanda it's a hardware programmer?
14:25 KongfuPanda McUber is bootloader
14:25 Skwint yes
14:25 KongfuPanda cool cool
14:25 Skwint yeah - the hardware programmer just made my life a lot faster and simpler
14:28 KongfuPanda Skwint, anyway, I'm probably not going to try to explain here how to configure AVR 5, because it's quite boring, it's in videos 1 and 2 on that blog, second post
14:28 Skwint I'll have a look sometime
14:28 Skwint anything that feels a bit less clunky and ctrl-tabs properly would be nice
15:17 home lol am stuck
15:18 home have everything wired up...
15:30 home nvm
15:30 home I fixed it :D
15:44 home rue_
15:44 home i got it working...
15:45 r0b-droid hey rue
15:53 home time to solder maybe
16:28 home so soldering
16:28 home looks like I wont have time for it today..which is a bummer :/
16:36 rue_house :) i have to figure out how to get a file off my 486
16:36 rue_house floppy:no
16:36 rue_house oh wait, the widnows machine still has a floppy drive
16:39 rue_house wonder if I can find dos drivers for an ethernet card
16:41 rue_house haha I just noticed, after about 4 years of sitting in the corner, the date on the thing is still right
17:54 rueless hahah I come to you from my W3.1 486 system!
17:55 Tom_itx apparently you found drivers
17:55 Tom_itx why on earth would you digress to 3.1?
18:11 home so..soldering in headers..hmm
18:12 Tom_itx do the other parts first
18:12 Tom_itx or they will get in the way
18:13 Skwint really?
18:13 Skwint oh - you mean stick bits to the board first?
18:13 Tom_itx sometimes yes
18:14 Tom_itx plan your soldering strategy
18:14 sw0rdfish Good morning, afternoon, evening. ladies and gentlemen
18:14 Skwint fair enough - I've spent a while working around other components and it is quite annoying
18:14 Skwint especially when you slip and get molten chip casing all over your soldering iron
19:46 home I really should solder that chip XD
22:00 katsmeow-afk <cough>
22:14 zhanx thinking of hit a junk yard tomorrow
22:14 zhanx hitting
22:14 zhanx getting a seat and a shifter
22:14 katsmeow-afk that's usually a good idea, but you have asignificant other now that won't let you put junkyard parts on the dining table
22:15 zhanx true but tis for my racing sim
22:15 zhanx she thinks is cool
22:15 katsmeow-afk good :-)
22:16 zhanx as long as it tilts and feels like your driving
22:16 zhanx thats the glove she tossed down
22:16 katsmeow-afk an action junkie, eh?
22:16 zhanx yep, if i am gonna build it, it better be good
22:17 katsmeow-afk how will you do the seat movements?
22:18 zhanx not sure yet
22:18 rueless zhanx if you find an S10 pickup transmission ( standard) ~91 mail it over, dont need the clutch
22:18 zhanx thinking air
22:18 zhanx 91-96?
22:18 rueless sure
22:18 zhanx man or auto?
22:18 katsmeow-afk problem with air is once you get it moving, it keeps on moving after you closed the valve
22:18 rueless man
22:19 zhanx rue will lot its a scrap weight yard
22:19 zhanx err look
22:19 zhanx katsmeow-afk: hydro is $$$$$$
22:19 katsmeow-afk not really, if you can work at it a lil
22:20 zhanx true, i had an idea
22:20 zhanx water
22:20 katsmeow-afk run a power steering pump with a junk washing machine motor, and drive mod'ed shock absorbers as pistons
22:20 zhanx good idea
22:20 katsmeow-afk yeas, or 3inch pvc pipe, or 2inch, and tap water pressure
22:21 zhanx i can do the power steering pump idea. i like it
22:21 katsmeow-afk whichever works best for your situation
22:21 zhanx or skill
22:21 tsmeow-afk
22:21 zhanx and power steering is my lane
22:22 zhanx after all I am the division main motor sgt as of thursday, not the senior division motor sgt but one level down now
22:23 katsmeow-afk i haven't done it yet, because i was going to do this in the cellar, there's a piile of shock absorbers of various kinds down there, but courts ruled dogs have the right to enter the cellar and bite me, so i never go down tehre any more
22:23 Tom_itx rear hatch pistons maybe?
22:23 eless expl
22:23 zhanx something, weld a nut to them for duel use
22:23 katsmeow-afk yeas, if you can get some short ones, thot he shaftsa re thin
22:23 Tom_itx most have heim joints already
22:24 zhanx true
22:26 katsmeow-afk i believe those heims will be too small to sit someone on and jerk them around
22:26 katsmeow-afk my beliefs may be incorrect
22:26 zhanx i will use shocks
22:26 zhanx since i have to change them on my car anyways
22:27 katsmeow-afk i would use shocks, guarnetted you won't break something designed to hold a car up
22:27 zhanx after tomorrow i will have 4 of them
22:27 Tom_itx careful with em
22:28 Tom_itx they're gas filled
22:28 katsmeow-afk what i am thinking is they can be sawn open across the bottom, any holes in the piston plugged, and the bottom put back on (or anew bottom made) once i's tapped for a hydraulic line
22:28 katsmeow-afk might be able to do the same on top, once the piston and shaft are pulled out the bottom
22:29 zhanx i will look at them
22:29 katsmeow-afk drill and tap, no need to cut the top off,, BUT rinse away all metal bits from machining before reassembly
22:30 zhanx i need to cut and open them
22:30 zhanx to fill in the shock dampener
22:32 zhanx but before the seat is the speedo and shifter et
22:32 zhanx etc
22:32 zhanx just want to get a seat to start with
22:34 katsmeow-afk i are finding that asprin, ibuprofen, extra choline, and protein shakes do an injured body good
22:35 zhanx its the protein
22:36 katsmeow-afk my blood is unusually thick, it very seldom ever leaks out, so the asprin thins it so the ibu can get places, the choline helps nerve repair, the protein helps all repairs
22:36 zhanx k
22:36 zhanx doc said my high protein diet helps my healing
22:36 katsmeow-afk a cat once bit me, i puled the small clot that formed, and pulled on it slowly, and pulled a string of blood out, it clotted as fast as i pulled it thru the skin
22:37 zhanx wow
22:37 zhanx vampires hate you
22:37 katsmeow-afk i had a string of clotted blood about 18 inches long
22:37 katsmeow-afk hence the asprin
22:38 zhanx k
22:39 katsmeow-afk i drove a chainsaw up one big toe, nicked the end of the bone and went up over and thru the nail bed and exited the joint, lost less than a teaspoon of blood in the time it took to put the cahinasaw away and drive to hostpital 30 minutes away
22:39 katsmeow-afk i had a feelng the ibuprofen wasn't helping because it wasn't going anywhere in my blood
22:39 zhanx drink more water
22:40 katsmeow-afk i do, gallons per day usually, less now that i don't have running water and haveto buy gallons at the store, but still one gal per day
22:40 katsmeow-afk i do a lot of salt in summer too
22:43 tsmeow-afk wonders if Tom has tried those hatch cylinders on somet
22:49 katsmeow-afk i have ~50lbs of used Bimba brand stainless and alum pneumatic cylinders
22:56 katsmeow-afk Tom ?
23:02 Tom_itx nope
23:02 Tom_itx headin to sleep here
23:02 katsmeow-afk ah, happy sleeps to ye
23:40 katsmeow-afk ...
23:40 tsmeow-afk wonders where eveyone is tal
23:41 zhanx ... - - - ...
23:41 katsmeow-afk sos?
23:41 zhanx i am talking with heathkid, he is a prepper for the end of the world its funny
23:42 katsmeow-afk o
23:42 zhanx unique topic
23:42 zhanx its like it could happen
23:42 zhanx but....
23:43 katsmeow-afk is he for or against it ending?
23:43 zhanx i am trying to decide my gates for my shifter really
23:44 zhanx kat more of a planning in case it happens and he know it will happen
23:44 katsmeow-afk oh
23:45 zhanx verses me, I am like paper clips or shower rings
23:45 zhanx wait
23:45 zhanx those clips for a larger amount of paper
23:45 zhanx use the wire part
23:46 zhanx only need 4
23:46 zhanx shaft is steel
23:47 zhanx and the gates can be "buttons"
23:47 katsmeow-afk built like olde chipclips
23:47 zhanx yep
23:48 katsmeow-afk if can custom make something, find a 1968 "dual gate" or "his-n-her" shifter
23:49 zhanx well the junk yard will tell that
23:49 katsmeow-afk it was quasi poor-mans' racing, you haul it down to 1st while sitting still, then to go up a gear you just bump it, bump,bump,bump and you're out of sight and getting near 200mph
23:50 zhanx slap shifter
23:50 zhanx that is the name now
23:50 katsmeow-afk real race cars do that, but are single slot
23:50 katsmeow-afk the 68 GTO had a much tamer nother slot
23:51 zhanx the 68 goat is a nice car my dad had one
23:51 zhanx yellow with black racing stripes
23:51 katsmeow-afk hard on tires tho
23:51 zhanx so is my toy
23:52 katsmeow-afk it's hard to make someone understand, you can be sitting at a red light, and when it turns green ,, you hit it, and you canbe doing 60mph by the time you get thru the intersection
23:52 zhanx and the 20 on the dash you cant grab it
23:53 zhanx my lightning was like that
23:53 katsmeow-afk those big blocks had incredible torque to throw a car ahead
23:53 zhanx i stroked the 351w to 400 with twin turbo and a bit of nitro
23:53 zhanx 4.56 gears
23:54 zhanx i could wrap the speedo in 60 feetish
23:54 katsmeow-afk i played around with a 389 and a 289, that 389 would give anyone whiplash
23:55 zhanx my exploder is a 4.0 with a tundra supercharger on it
23:56 katsmeow-afk coming up to a red light in traffic, powerbrake it as you slow down, scared the crap out of a cop that way once, he was sure he was about to get rearended
23:56 zhanx lol
23:56 zhanx my first truck was an f-100 ranger with a 3 on the tree
23:57 katsmeow-afk see, i know what a powerful engine can do, which is why i am disappointed in the 6.4 diesel in the truck
23:57 katsmeow-afk or 6.5, whatever
23:58 zhanx 6.5
23:58 katsmeow-afk they made a 6.4 too
23:58 zhanx its a detuned
23:58 zhanx for epa
23:58 katsmeow-afk i am pretty sure this one has a 6.4 injector pump in it, it's not the electrnic injector made for the 6.5
23:58 zhanx sucks
23:58 katsmeow-afk yeas, fuel starved just as it starts making horsepower
23:59 zhanx [yep
23:59 katsmeow-afk it wants to make real hp over 2200, but starves above 2400 prm
23:59 zhanx like 2140
23:59 katsmeow-afk the turo should come on at 1500- 1800, but there's no more fuel to burn, so no point in it