#robotics Logs

Jan 05 2013

02:02 rue_house I dont think that there is anything the 2d game engines used to do that I cant see how to do in javascript
02:02 rue_house I think I can do a pretty good reltime robot interface
02:03 rue_house use posts to control the robot
02:03 Jak_o_Shadows1 Yeah, that's what i'm going to do. To be honest, the software side would take me a few days, getting around to the robot owuld take a while.
02:04 rue_house acually...
02:04 rue_house it looks like I may be able to connect to a tcp service on the robot directly from the javascript
02:04 rue_house that would be cool, I already have code
02:04 Jak_o_Shadows1 You can control it from your android phone, for the blog cred!
02:05 rue_house andriod tablet I got for doing it
02:05 Jak_o_Shadows1 I thought the android tablet was sitting on your robot?
02:05 rue_house hell no
02:05 rue_house there is a micropc and a wifi router on the robot
02:06 Jak_o_Shadows1 ah.
02:06 rue_house the robot runs the apache server for controling it
02:07 rue_house http://pharos.ece.utexas.edu/wiki/index.php/How_to_Form_a_TCP_Connection_Between_a_JavaScript_Program_and_Java_Server
02:07 rue_house OOooooo
02:10 rue_house oh he uses java, interesting
02:10 rue_house I wonder if that works on an tablet
02:10 Triffid_Hunter yeah there's no javascript for raw sockets just yet, use JSON for talking to firmware
02:10 GuShH you are losing respect points every time you mention java
02:11 rue_house I'd LIKE to talk to a tcp control port for the motors directly from the javascript, but if not I can do it via POSTs to some php code
02:12 Triffid_Hunter rue_house: I'd be inclined to write a small server to handle it, use connection: keep-alive so it resembles a socket in that you don't have to reconnect for every request
02:13 rue_house I wonder what a port 80 post looks like
02:13 rue_house I could find out
02:14 rue_house I dont know if I have to talk or if I can just listen
02:15 Jak_o_Shadows1 Use node.js?
02:15 Jak_o_Shadows1 Or can't jquery do that?
02:16 rue_house I dont know
02:16 Jak_o_Shadows1 jQuery can send posts and gets, with parameters. Also, use firebug.
02:16 rue_house I can send posts in normal javascript
02:17 rue_house I dont want to send a post, I want to send text to a tcp port
02:17 rue_house I dont know how much junk comes with a post
02:19 rue_house http://bytes.com/topic/javascript/answers/846508-can-done-javascript-microcontrollers-tcp-ip
02:19 Jak_o_Shadows1 http://nodejs.org/api/net.html#net_class_net_socket
02:21 rue_house is that a javascript library?
02:21 Jak_o_Shadows1 yes
02:22 rue_house why does it have an installer?
02:22 rue_house ah its chrome only?
02:23 Jak_o_Shadows1 I think it comes with an IDE
02:23 rue_house dont need that
02:23 rue_house hmm ok, too much new ground
02:23 Jak_o_Shadows1 no, but surely's there's a way to just use it
02:23 e_house rew
02:24 rue_house ok I'll start with ...
02:24 rue_house chicken....egg....chicken.....
02:25 rue_house start with a program for sending commands to the io controller
02:25 rue_house then I can call it via php
02:25 rue_house (for now)
02:25 rue_house make a javascript program to post commands
02:25 rue_house and optimize from there
02:25 Jak_o_Shadows1 i have a 236mm x 25mm piece of sheet metal here, and i'm trying to figure out how to make 2 brackets for a 10mm axle
02:26 Jak_o_Shadows1 without a pan brake, or even a nice vise
02:26 Jak_o_Shadows1 vice?
02:26 rue_house and the problem is?
02:26 rue_house tin sheers, drill, vise
02:26 rue_house drill it first
02:26 rue_house then cut out, then bend
02:27 GuShH Jak_o_Shadows1: one is something that will get you in hell, the other could in theory get you in jail but is often used to clamp things temporarily!
02:27 Jak_o_Shadows1 haha Gu
02:27 rue_house well, use librecad to draw out the peices and print the layout sheet 1:1 first
02:27 Jak_o_Shadows1 hah GuShH
02:28 GuShH Jak_o_Shadows1: got sheers, angle grinder, jigsaw?
02:28 GuShH sometimes the tools are there, you just need to get creative
02:28 Jak_o_Shadows1 Blunt tin snips, no angle grinder, no jigsaw. I have most of the materials i need, but few of the tools
02:28 GuShH how thick is the sheet metal?
02:29 GuShH on a pinch.... chisel and a hammer?
02:29 GuShH on a wooden surface, might get you slightly rounded edges but who cares.
02:29 Jak_o_Shadows1 Bolster (if i can find it), not thick, ~1mm
02:31 rue_house Jak_o_Shadows1, you need to work on tools
02:31 Jak_o_Shadows1 aye.
02:31 rue_house get a file, then yo uhave a file and sharp snips
02:31 GuShH is it point-out-the-obvious time?
02:32 rue_house dont ^ the sheer tips
02:32 GuShH :p
02:32 rue_house they should be |\
02:32 GuShH otherwise the metal will get in between.
02:33 Triffid_Hunter rue_house: post is basically POST /url HTTP/1.1\nName: Value\nName: Value\n\n(post data)
02:33 GuShH Jak_o_Shadows1: and what about a friend or family member? maybe they've got the tools
02:33 rue_house yes, I just need to start and I'll be find
02:33 Triffid_Hunter rue_house: and expects HTTP/1.1 200 ok\nName: Value\nName: Value\n\n(response data)
02:33 rue_house I'd like to avoid posting to apache that runs a php script to run a program to send the serial command
02:34 Jak_o_Shadows1 Hmm, i may be able to nick a few old tools from somebody (including a vise), but nobody close really
02:34 Triffid_Hunter there's something called WebSockets as part of html5 but on first glance it's some crazy SOAP-based RPC system instead of an actual socket
02:34 rue_house I thought you only have to listen for replies for a get
02:34 GuShH Jak_o_Shadows1: :(
02:34 rue_house java can do it
02:34 rue_house :/
02:34 Triffid_Hunter rue_house: yeah server just listens, responds when it gets a valid request
02:35 GuShH both get and post can cause invalid responses, you need to know this... hence why a response is required
02:35 rue_house the browser on the android tablet dosn't do mjpeg! have to fix that too
02:35 Jak_o_Shadows1 rue_house: If you find a nice upnp client, let me know
02:36 rue_house I wonder if having a micro http library for my C apps would be a good idea, I could have the serial program run a server on a different port
02:36 rue_house have the javascript app post directly to the app operating the io card
02:37 rue_house have to be able to trim overhead off an apache/php combination
02:38 rue_house I already have a tcp io library(wrapper) of my own
02:40 rue_house I tried my echo server...
02:40 rue_house 'This address uses a network port which is normally used for purposes other than Web browsing. Iceweasel has canceled the request for your protection.'
02:40 rue_house port 77
02:40 Jak_o_Shadows1 try a higher port
02:41 Jak_o_Shadows1 i tend to use 8080
02:41 rue_house its never told me that before
02:42 rue_house its already running on that one, its the message service for my home automation
02:51 Jak_o_Shadows1 well, i cadded up the motor bracket, but i might wait until i steal that vise before i use it
02:52 Jak_o_Shadows1 rue_house, if you've finished the motor platform, could you provide a link to the steering arrangement (if it doesn't involved two motors)
03:02 rue_house what do you mean platform, hardware or software?
03:02 rue_house I always use tractor drive
03:02 rue_house (2 motors)
03:12 Jak_o_Shadows1 yeah, hardware
03:17 Jak_o_Shadows I don't really know what you mean. I'm not too interested in two motors providing the main driving force, where one is run in reverse, or slower, to turn.
03:36 GuShH Jak_o_Shadows: what exactly are you building anyway? :p
03:37 Jak_o_Shadows A medium sized robot, that is controlled by my netbook pushing commands over serial to a msp430, that may eventually do soem openCV stuff about mapping rooms and the like
03:39 rue_bed its easier to operate the two motors
03:39 rue_bed so what were you asking me?
03:39 Jak_o_Shadows yes, but i dont' have 2 motors. I was asking you if you had a steering linkage useful for somebody who only has 1 biggish motor.
03:45 Prootington Hi! I'm a beginner wanting to learn the basics of a robotic arm.. Would anyone be able to explain the basics of a robotic arm, especially about the motors that need to be used? Thank you
03:50 GuShH Jak_o_Shadows: you can use 3 wheels, a front or rear one with traction and steering (with a servo) and the rest are fixed
03:50 GuShH servo just pivots the motor
03:50 GuShH not ideal.
03:51 Jak_o_Shadows Yeah, i was thinking about that, just a bit unsure of how to make the motor pivot. The place where i'm getting the vise from might help, i remember an old go-kart
04:02 GuShH hm
04:03 Jak_o_Shadows Eventually, i've got some aluminum strips (Sort of a __() profile), about 1.5-2mm thick that i'll build a nice frame out of, but i want to do it rough with a wooden frame first
04:06 GuShH Jak_o_Shadows: use rivets to join the parts
04:11 GuShH let's see if I can cad you my concept real fast, gotta get stuff done though :/
04:27 ShH hits re
04:41 GuShH Jak_o_Shadows: bleh couldn't be arsed to render it, here's a scaled down screenshot of the viewport http://gushh.net/tmp/drive1.png steering power ratio is 1 to 1 you'd want a smaller gear on the servo instead. the shroud is mounted to your chassis, the main axle is kept in place by a bearing / circlips. Since all the force goes to the bearing you can't carry too much weight with this design as the load is also imparted to the m
04:41 GuShH otor shaft and that's not ideal, but that's what you get with direct drive...
04:42 GuShH coupling of the servo is up to you, that's just a draft.
04:42 GuShH bicycle parts are good for this kind of thing, as you scale it up.
04:43 GuShH dual motor, direct drive... that's the simplest you can do.
04:44 Zerith Is this the appropriate place to ask a question about PID programming?
04:44 GuShH you could couple a second wheel, captive to the other side with a bracket mounted to the shaft, that would even the load on the shaft
04:45 GuShH far from ideal though
05:08 Jak_o_Shadows I was going to do brackets, bearings, to take the main part of the load. Of course, i couldn't make that in a million years, not with the tools i have now
05:09 Jak_o_Shadows Rivets is a good idea
05:09 GuShH actually all you need for this is a drill and some way to cut the metal
05:10 Jak_o_Shadows Yeah, i guess.
05:13 Jak_o_Shadows The gears part may be slightly difficult, but the metal frame and such isn't so bad really
05:14 GuShH depends on scale, you can use bicycle parts for any rugged design
05:15 Jak_o_Shadows Bicycle parts may be a tad big, but children's pushbikes may be ok
05:16 Jak_o_Shadows of course, instead of a servo i'm thinking about using a stepper, maybe, or a regular motor with a scratch-built encoder
05:18 GuShH just saying, bike parts (chains etc) are sometimes available for cheap or even free
11:07 rue_house the sprockets are hardened, if your using them, I can show you how to make hubs
11:07 rue_house but you neeed a hacksaw and file
12:12 hackman127 Are there linux based mini-computers like this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008BFXOZE/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=9to5mac09-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=B008BFXOZE&adid=1D6Z4GG21SBN01SQR1DQ
12:13 ace4016 gumstix and rasberry pi
12:14 ace4016 mainly gumstix
12:14 hackman127 ace4016: Thanks, I'll check that out!
12:16 Tom_itx http://www.embeddedarm.com/products/board-detail.php?product=TS-7200
12:17 ace4016 there's also these: http://www.tincantools.com/product.php?productid=16133
12:19 hackman127 Thanks guy! One of these days I want to get around to replacing the old laptop running one of my projects.
12:20 Tom_itx how fast does it need to be?
12:22 hackman127 The laptop is 700MHz, it would be nice to at least equal that if not better it. That Andriod stick was over 1G, which was nice.
12:25 hackman127 I've been focusing on my photography business and I've let these things go into a rather deep state of abandonment. Hopefully I'll be able to give them some attention soon. :-)
12:28 moriarty poor hackman127
12:33 theBear http://dx.com/p/u2-mini-android-4-0-network-multi-media-player-w-wi-fi-hdmi-tf-black-4gb-ddr-iii-1gb-145864 sold out, but amazing specs for the prcie
12:59 IndianaRonaldo I'm thinking about a follower-robot that targets a human and follows him around
12:59 ace4016 cool
13:00 IndianaRonaldo I don't want to use imaging. Is there any other way of communcation such that the user wears a band around the wrist and the robot can sense it for ten feet or something?
13:00 IndianaRonaldo Bluetooth sensors and radio sensors that are actually available in the market?
13:01 ace4016 well...if you give it two ears, it can perform aucoustic location
13:04 ace4016 then you just need a sonar beacon
13:05 moriarty lol IndianaRonaldo
13:05 moriarty IndianaRonaldo, ultrasonic, laser guidance
13:05 moriarty so many ways
13:06 moriarty and you can even use a GPS
13:06 moriarty easiest
13:06 IndianaRonaldo ultrasonic...well how much does it cost? an estimate?
13:06 moriarty i don't know
13:06 IndianaRonaldo Man, all your options sound so...sophisticated. Isn't there anything simple?
13:07 moriarty trilateration is the simpler method
13:07 moriarty well you could use RFID but then you'd have a limited range
13:07 IndianaRonaldo gps, you mean?
13:07 moriarty no ultrasound
13:07 moriarty you just emit a short pulse to the person and measure time of flight
13:07 IndianaRonaldo well, 10 feet is all I need
13:08 IndianaRonaldo RFID is what exactly? I mean, full form?
13:08 moriarty and then your receiver location has to be fixed or if it's moving, then you'd need some fixed reference to derive their locations
13:08 IndianaRonaldo radio freq/?
13:08 moriarty radio frequency ID
13:08 moriarty yes
13:08 IndianaRonaldo ultrasonic does sound great...but my prof is gonna flip if I ask that much mone
13:08 moriarty so if you have three fixed or moving receivers, you can determine the orientation and deduce even the way the person is facing
13:08 moriarty so you'd know whether you're following or facing the person
13:08 moriarty :)
13:09 moriarty ultrasonic is cheap
13:09 moriarty where are you?
13:09 IndianaRonaldo India
13:09 moriarty lol
13:09 IndianaRonaldo I know. The name is..childish
13:09 moriarty then hire a worker to feed the location continuously :)
13:09 moriarty it'd be cheaper that way
13:10 IndianaRonaldo bua worker?
13:10 moriarty make sure he follows the robot following the person :)
13:10 moriarty then each time the person moves, he should transmit the vector to the robot
13:10 IndianaRonaldo why would you say that?
13:10 moriarty :P much more cost-effective
13:11 IndianaRonaldo why the prejudice against Indians? well, you are not the first
13:11 moriarty it's not prejudice
13:12 moriarty it's that workers are cheap in India
13:12 moriarty so hiring them is cheaper than doing something automated
13:12 moriarty it's just economics
13:12 IndianaRonaldo no they are not. who gives you such impressions?
13:12 moriarty that's why in China, there isn't much automation
13:12 moriarty not in the factories at least
13:13 moriarty it's common sense?
13:13 moriarty :)
13:13 moriarty robots are expensive
13:13 IndianaRonaldo it's cheap for the US companies. Exchange rates. And yeah we have a population problem and we are working on tat
13:13 moriarty no it's not cheap for US companies either
13:14 moriarty that's why you only see them in large assembly belts not in Walmart checkout counters :P
13:14 IndianaRonaldo Until then, we gotta feed the people so people take up the call centre jobs
13:14 IndianaRonaldo And you also see them in your senates
13:14 IndianaRonaldo and NASA too.
13:14 IndianaRonaldo And all your top colleges, teaching stuff
13:14 moriarty NASA is different
13:15 moriarty in NASA's case it's cheaper to put a robot in space than a human being
13:15 ace4016 all this stuff sounds boring; how about we move back to talking about making robots
13:15 moriarty it's lighter for one
13:15 moriarty so your payload means that you use less rocket fuel
13:15 moriarty :)
13:15 moriarty top colleges don't use robots
13:16 IndianaRonaldo Ah fuck it. Who cares. It's a globalised world anyway. I don't give a fuck what people think about my country
13:16 moriarty and the robots that students work on are cheap kits
13:16 moriarty lol IndianaRonaldo
13:16 IndianaRonaldo ok ok...drop it. Alright?
13:16 moriarty you should be proud Indian labour is cheap
13:16 IndianaRonaldo May I get back on topic, for science's sake?
13:16 IndianaRonaldo May I, please?
13:16 moriarty if it's expensive, your country would be out of jobs
13:17 IndianaRonaldo Damn it, man.
13:17 IndianaRonaldo You gotta say it, huh?
13:17 IndianaRonaldo I said we are working on it
13:17 moriarty lol
13:17 riarty facep
13:17 dianaRonaldo is ann
13:17 moriarty you're annoyed out of ignorance
13:17 IndianaRonaldo What the hell are you talking about?
13:18 moriarty exactly
13:18 moriarty you don't even know what i'm talking about
13:18 IndianaRonaldo You think I'm proud that half the youth in my country is working their asses off for US companies from India?
13:18 moriarty why not?
13:19 IndianaRonaldo If we had our own companies and good enough ones, I mean, we would be able to have people working on actual science instead of lines and lines of C code
13:19 ace4016 IndianaRonaldo, most prepackaged sensors that would have all the features you have would typically be really expensive; you're asking for a device someone can where that communicates positional data to a robot...not particularly the most common functions to do
13:20 IndianaRonaldo ace4016, ultrasonic is cheap though like moriarty says?
13:20 ace4016 IndianaRonaldo, it's not terribly hard to get aural location working; acoustic beacon seems to be the way to go if you don't want a camera
13:20 ace4016 they can be, yea
13:21 IndianaRonaldo acoustic beacon..but I have to postprocess right? Remove the noise?
13:21 ace4016 somewhat; if it's in the high frequency range, that shouldn't be too bad
13:22 IndianaRonaldo Ok. Thanks
13:22 IndianaRonaldo To you, too, moriarty. I still don't agree with your view about my country, though
13:22 ace4016 some sensors are tuned to not only a frequency, but a pulse/chirp as well, so you don't have to do the filtering
13:23 moriarty IndianaRonaldo, hey, you wanted cheap
13:23 moriarty :D
13:24 IndianaRonaldo Damn it, moriarty. Don't start
13:24 moriarty IndianaRonaldo, if you want cheap, hire someone
13:24 moriarty if you want to automate it, it's not going to be cheap
13:24 moriarty which part of that don't you get?
13:24 IndianaRonaldo I was being relative. How hard is that to grasp?
13:24 moriarty relative to what?
13:25 IndianaRonaldo I was ready to spend 500 rupees not 5000. That's relative
13:25 moriarty then hire someone with 500 rupees
13:25 moriarty 500 rupees is US$9.20
13:25 IndianaRonaldo Fucking son of a
13:25 IndianaRonaldo damn it
13:25 IndianaRonaldo stop it
13:25 IndianaRonaldo alright
13:25 IndianaRonaldo I get it
13:25 moriarty lol what kind of acoustic beacon do you think you can get with that plus shipping?
13:25 riarty facep
13:25 IndianaRonaldo Fuck man. I'm actually laughing here
13:26 IndianaRonaldo I haven't met anyone so hellbent on fucking destroying my country's reputation
13:26 moriarty lol you should stop overreading into what people said
13:27 IndianaRonaldo that's true too
13:27 IndianaRonaldo ok, I have a few more doubts regarding this ultrasonic thing
13:27 IndianaRonaldo it's in my budget
13:28 IndianaRonaldo I have a few doubts reagrding its workign
13:28 IndianaRonaldo Will you help and not be a prick by reminding me Indian labour is cheap? PleasE?
13:29 moriarty i charge a consultation fee
13:29 moriarty my hourly rate is US$50/hour
13:29 moriarty or if you like, 3000 rupees/hour
13:31 IndianaRonaldo seriously? please. I gotta get this done by tomorrow and it's 12:30 here
13:31 moriarty what, you think my labour is free? you prick
13:32 moriarty how dare you insult my country?
13:32 IndianaRonaldo thank you very much. Glad to have met you
13:32 moriarty fuck man, i'm laughing here
13:33 IndianaRonaldo keep going
13:33 moriarty lol i've already helped you
13:33 moriarty but i won't do your homework for you
13:33 moriarty for that i charge a fee to discourage people from cheating on their homework
13:34 IndianaRonaldo Dude, I'm an undergrad. I don;t call it homework. It's called a project proposal.
13:34 IndianaRonaldo And it;s on cheating. I;m just collaborating
13:34 moriarty you sure know how to rephrase cheating
13:34 moriarty congratulations
13:34 moriarty you should collaborate during exams too
13:34 moriarty call up your niece and nephews
13:35 moriarty and collaborate to work the answers out together
13:35 IndianaRonaldo I just want to know how to use the ultrasonic sensor to selectively choose someone
13:36 IndianaRonaldo What if the person stops suddenly. It might sense him as an obstacle
13:36 moriarty uh no it won't do that
13:37 moriarty you do know what time of flight is, right?
13:37 IndianaRonaldo yup. got that part
13:37 moriarty then why would it look at him as an obstacle?
13:38 moriarty here, read this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilateration
13:38 moriarty and this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_of_flight
13:38 moriarty and this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrasonic_sensor
13:38 moriarty it should help you see how it works
13:38 moriarty it's really easy
13:39 moriarty you can implement one in FPGA
13:39 moriarty :)
13:39 IndianaRonaldo FPGA?
13:39 moriarty field programmable gate array
13:43 IndianaRonaldo brain's fried. Guess I'll get to it in the morning. Hopefully
13:43 IndianaRonaldo Thanks for the help.
13:43 IndianaRonaldo and the links
13:43 IndianaRonaldo have a good day
13:43 moriarty you're welcome
14:39 rue_house tablet browsers suck
14:39 rue_house looks like none of them can handle the mjpeg properly
14:39 rue_house I think they are trying to cache all the frames
14:40 rue_house opera seems to be the only one that can initiate the stream properly
14:41 rue_house but after a few mins of video it crashes
14:43 rue_house I wonder how fast it can reload png files
14:51 RifRaf hiya rue, am gonna try make me own gears and gearbox
14:52 RifRaf as long as me router can cut the gears, won't know till i go back to work
15:22 rue_house hey!
15:23 rue_house seen the lathe?
15:23 rue_house what you gonna make gears of?
15:26 RifRaf gonna start with acrylic
15:26 rue_house k
15:27 RifRaf machine 12mm sheet into 8mm wide gear and hub
15:27 rue_house ok
15:27 rue_house I was thinking about making a tooth cutter for the lathe, but I have all the gears I could ever need
15:28 moriarty KongfuPanda, join ##ufo, they've discovered a way to grow graphene
15:28 RifRaf redesigning foxys arms and seems the way to go, biuld the gearbox into the arm parts
15:28 rue_house ok
15:28 rue_house I'v learned to try to keep the custom parts for my robots to a minimum
15:29 rue_house the more off the shelf stuff I can use for parts that are multipleied through the robot the better
15:29 rue_house without really buying anything
15:29 RifRaf of the shelf gears are expensive
15:29 rue_house the 3d printer will change this
15:29 rue_house yea!
15:30 RifRaf well access to a good router has changed it for me now
15:30 rue_house what do they usually use it for?
15:31 RifRaf just about everything
15:32 RifRaf from ripping ally sheets into strips to 25mm thick acrylic, have done stainless on it when required
15:33 rue_house general machining house?
15:33 RifRaf sign making
15:33 RifRaf my job is to run it everyday, i like it, learning lots of cad stuff
15:34 rue_house cool
15:34 RifRaf so gonna start making use of waste materials when i cut stuff
15:34 RifRaf squeeze in a few robot parts
15:35 rue_house :)
16:21 rue_shop3 sweeet
16:21 rue_shop3 I dont ahve to make a power converter
16:21 rue_shop3 I have 2 modules here that are 36-75VDC in and 12VDC out, output is good to 17A
16:55 Tom_itx you're set then
17:57 RifRaf hah. thought i went back to work tomorrow, but just found out have a whole week more off :)
18:01 KimLaroux hahaha!
18:01 KimLaroux I know that feeling XD
18:01 KimLaroux being so disconnected from time that you can't even tell which day it is
18:01 RifRaf its great, packing the car up for another fishing trip now
18:03 KimLaroux eh
18:03 KimLaroux fishing trips... we have a meter of snow on the ground here
18:12 RifRaf we have the biggest heat wave ever they reckon, many places getting the highest temps ever recorded
18:15 Jak_o_Shadows yep, come monday, it's not gonna be fun
18:38 FaceLift Hi! I'm a beginner and would like to know a few things about robotic arms. Could anyone please explain the basics about robotic arms? Like what are the basic components needed, how to decide what parts are needed, are there specific motors for specific functions? How an arm can be modular. I'm not sure if these are valid questions but if anyone could answer what ones that are. Thank you
18:43 ace4016 FaceLift, basic components would be a frame, actuators, power supply (both electrical and hydraulic/pnuematic), and a controller
18:43 RifRaf FaceLift a very good place to start http://www.societyofrobots.com/robot_arm_tutorial.shtml
18:43 ace4016 the design will dictate exactly what the components are
18:43 RifRaf when you get through it all come back and help me, am doing the same
18:43 FaceLift oh okay thanks a lot
18:44 ace4016 RifRaf, heh
18:46 RifRaf that acticle made me start the redesign, was gonna be way to hard to program the arms the way i had them
18:49 e_shop3 requests riff pack up 10000btu/hr /day and ship it
18:50 rue_shop3 I think I fixed the tablets streaming crash problem
18:50 rue_shop3 I turned off all its cashing
18:50 rue_shop3 but there is a 2 second latency in the video
18:50 rue_shop3 o_O
18:52 Jak_o_Shadows the micro-pc is streaming video, or is the tablet?
19:49 hackman127 theBear: That's a pretty nice looking little box, but I wish it wasn't Android.
20:37 rue_shop3 "THATs not a vacuum cleaner, its a self inhaling trash can."
20:41 ace4016 rue_shop3, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmC62Eg82E8
20:43 rue_shop3 mmm
20:46 home hmm
20:46 home I got a robot going
20:46 home holy
20:46 home but it has to be tethered...
20:47 home and the wiring for it is a mess :D
20:47 home using aligator cables.. 0_0
20:50 ace4016 heh
21:04 home now
21:04 home hmm
21:04 home I am thinking of soldering the thing
21:04 home or using jumpers instead..
21:04 home its interfacing with a breadboard..to drive the motors..
21:07 Triffid_Hunter home: stock up on female crimp pins and headers
21:08 home How I wish I ahd those :(
21:24 rue_shop2 stupid client
21:24 rue_shop2 so I'm having challanges making an led flash...
21:24 rue_shop2 this isn't good
21:25 home rue_shop2: How do you make an LED flash?
21:26 rue_shop2 while(1) {
21:26 rue_shop2 Delay2(6000);
21:26 rue_shop2 SETBIT(0, PORTB);
21:26 rue_shop2 Delay2(6000);
21:26 rue_shop2 CLRBIT(0, PORTB);
21:26 rue_shop2 }
21:27 home ah asm :/
21:27 e_shop2 chuc
21:27 piney home, thats C
21:27 home ah fail
21:27 Jak_o_Shadows asm is a fair bit more complicated looking
21:27 home yeah, I a m retarded
21:28 home setbit, and clrbit got the better of me..
21:28 home and that stupid port designation..urgh
21:28 home I need a batteries...
21:28 home 5-6V
21:29 rue_shop2 6V is a common voltage
21:29 piney think of it this way, anything that short doing that much couldn't possibly be asm :)
21:30 rue_shop2 aha! it just went out
21:30 rue_shop2 I'm not too fast, I'm too slow
21:31 rue_shop2 yay!
21:31 piney rue_shop2, which microcontroller chip?
21:31 rue_shop2 atmega32
21:32 rue_shop2 running at hell-if-I-know Mhz
21:33 piney just bought an msp430 launchpad from newark, and an attiny85 chip, and an atmega328. never done microcontroller stuff before.
21:33 rue_shop2 it could be 16, awefull high divider for 1
21:33 rue_shop2 start with the 328
21:33 piney been playing with my raspberry pi for about 6 months, and am getting in to it.
21:33 rue_shop2 ah
21:33 rue_shop2 pi is a microcomputer
21:33 rue_shop2 avr is not
21:34 piney yea, i understand that.
21:34 Jak_o_Shadows msp430 is niceand cheap.
21:34 piney microcontroller is more real time, right?
21:34 rue_shop2 right now I'm programming this m32 to be an io controller for a microatx controller
21:35 rue_shop2 I dont do arm or mips etc, I just use a micro pc
21:35 ace4016 piney, not necessarily. it's a bit more raw though; typically you don't have an OS running on top of it or a very small/simple one. and less embedded peripherals
21:35 rue_shop2 x86, EASY to do software for
21:35 rue_shop2 the microcontrollers just have code on them to do what they are supposed to do
21:35 piney i got the at* chips cause there seems to be a lot of arduino code and circuits out there to copy / learn from compared to the msp430
21:36 rue_shop2 its the 430 an arm compeditor?
21:36 rue_shop2 16 "microcontroller" or some such junk?
21:36 rue_shop2 :)
21:37 piney i don't think so, more arduino competitor. 16 bit though
21:37 rue_shop2 yea, not much point on having 16 bit
21:37 rue_shop2 microcontrollers shouldn't be doing heavy math
21:38 rue_shop2 ok, now that I'm delay loop flashing an led, I need to flash it at 1hz with the rtc timer...
21:40 rue_shop2 sorry, I'm biased
21:41 piney it's all good. i've lurked in this room a while, i knew that too :)
21:52 Tom_itx rue_shop2, xor
21:56 Ademan rue_shop2: a couple days ago you posted two circuit diagrams for driving servos, I didn't grok them then but I'd like to, but now I can't find where I put them... Do you mind re-posting them?
21:56 Ademan and perhaps dealing with stupid questions as I try to wrap my brain around it? (I'm not an EE at all...)
21:59 Triffid_Hunter Ademan: pretty sure one of them involved a 4017
21:59 ace4016 >_>
22:03 RifRaf Triffid_Hunter i went and checked out clarrie hall dam last week, spent the last day of the year scoping it out
22:05 RifRaf no fish but was more trying to cover ground, beautiful dam indeed, thinking of going back this week
22:05 rue_shop2 Ademan,
22:05 rue_shop2 !assist circuits
22:05 tobbor Possibly http://eds.dyndns.org/~ircjunk/circuits
22:05 rue_shop2 look for rcenc and rcdec
22:29 theBear hackman127, did i paste that in here ? hmm, stupid graphics messing with me.... i'm just amazed how cheap it is, but there's gotta be a 99% chance it's easy to re-os
22:29 theBear i mean, it's got the specs of a $800 phone power wise
23:07 hackman127 theBear: I can't believe how cheap some of this hardware is getting. You have to ask yourself where the catch is.
23:16 rue_shop2 ah it wasn't a code error, a leg was broken off the watch crystal
23:23 rue_shop2 there, a 1Hz flashing led!
23:46 Ademan rue_shop2: ah they were there, thanks!
23:50 rue_shop2 :)