#robotics Logs
May 23 2013
#robotics Calendar
00:21 MrCurious a6 and a7 are analog in only
00:45 Ademan Do servos exist in this form factor? http://robotbits.co.uk/motors-gearboxes/120-1-90-deg-motor-gearbox/prod_93.html
00:46 GargantuaSauce they do if you add feedback!
00:47 MrCurious hahah
00:47 Ademan :-/
00:48 MrCurious 2 magnets and a one or 2 hall effect sensors
00:48 MrCurious early on the tears (closer to the motor part of the train)
00:49 Ademan Speaking of
00:49 Ademan Anyone know how this works: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ecs87/bot-logic-hexapod-with-arduino-powered-30-amp-robo?ref=category ?
00:49 Ademan they claim their board can detect servo positions, but it just uses the standard 3 pin hobby servo connector
00:49 Ademan my best guess is they measure current draw and infer distance from desired position, but nothing more
00:50 Ademan And I guess if I remember the old position you can reasonably confidently infer which side of the current desired position it is
00:51 MrCurious measure current draw on servo should give a measure of force
00:51 GargantuaSauce yeah i'm sure it just measures current
00:51 GargantuaSauce ....150 for a 16 channel servo controller
00:51 GargantuaSauce jesus fuck
00:52 MrCurious for a shiney servo controler...
00:52 MrCurious shiny
00:52 MrCurious its very shiny, you need it. if you get this one shiny thing, you will be ok, and can hold it forever
00:52 MrCurious then again, if you only need to measure force on one servo at a time...
00:53 MrCurious just put a current sensor in line with the master servo power feed
00:53 MrCurious and it will read a sum of resistance
00:53 GargantuaSauce 250 for a quadropod made with $5 servos
00:53 MrCurious some bang for much less buck
00:55 GargantuaSauce those legs look pretty flimsy too
00:57 MrCurious unless its hard pvc plastic?
00:58 GargantuaSauce maybe
00:58 GargantuaSauce their kits dont appear to have any spares in any case
00:58 MrCurious note $250 is for a 4 legged bot
00:58 GargantuaSauce and a bad leg crash WILL snap those femurs i am sure
00:58 GargantuaSauce yep
00:59 GargantuaSauce i do kinda like the current feedback idea, not that its probably all that useful
01:00 GargantuaSauce i wonder if i should find some cheapass 8-channel 8-bit ADCs and redo my servo controller board
01:04 GargantuaSauce headers on both sides of the board
01:07 MrCurious reminds me i have been meaning to see if i can cut aluminum (2mm) plate with a scroll saw
01:09 GargantuaSauce The normal Vin connector is blocked by a spade lug connector to prevent connection of a power supply to the power jack on the Arduino. Applying power to this connector while connected to the BOT-LOGIC Shield could damage the Shield as well as the Arduino. The spade lug is not connected electrically and serves no other function.
01:09 GargantuaSauce couldnt spare a cent for a diode eh
01:13 MrCurious put that in comments :)
01:14 GargantuaSauce nah that is a can of worms i dont want to open
01:14 GargantuaSauce if i start tearing into one dumb kickstarter i won't be able to stop at that
01:14 GargantuaSauce and there are a loooot of dumb kickstarters!
01:15 GargantuaSauce i think my favourite part is the closed-design frame explicitly based on thingiverse content
01:20 GargantuaSauce but perhaps i can take heart in the possibility for peddling my own overpriced shit when i get my own hexapod design up and running
01:26 MrCurious anyone played with the MQ-x gas sensors?
01:27 MrCurious like MQ-2,3,7...
01:30 MrCurious CO sensors are cheap, CO2 sensors not so cheap
01:53 MrCurious friend just invoked rule 34 on the rescue rangers....
01:53 MrCurious cannot un-hear
02:05 Triffid_Hunter MrCurious: I'm aware of them, haven't played with
02:06 Triffid_Hunter MrCurious: basically they have some sort of semiconductor that changes its resistance or capacitance or something in the presence of whatever gas, then you fire up a heater to return it to its naked state and take another reading
02:06 Triffid_Hunter so definitely a cyclical thing, and generally takes at least a few seconds per reading
02:08 MrCurious curious how one would calibrate them...
02:08 MrCurious expose them to two known concentrations of the target gas
02:08 MrCurious and note teh voltage
02:11 rue_shop3 SWEEEEET
02:11 rue_shop3 the robots lives!
02:12 MrCurious pictures, or the sexrobot doesnt exist
02:12 rue_shop3 its a stepper based robot, and I dont have time for that much time-lapse video
02:13 rue_shop3 ok the interface libraries work, now I just have to hook it up to the interpolator
02:13 MrCurious roaming bot or more like a cnc robot
02:13 rue_shop3 its an arm
02:13 MrCurious cool
02:14 rue_shop3 http://eds.dyndns.org/~ircjunk/robots/arm4/p1010990.jpg
02:15 rue_shop3 I have more work to do yet tho
02:16 rue_shop3 'its midnight, I only have about 6 hours left tonight
03:03 Jak_o_Shadows robot works!
03:04 Jak_o_Shadows Really need a h-bridge, it's stupid fast at full speed
03:06 rue_house heheh
03:07 Jak_o_Shadows Just a quick motor theory question: The current draw of a motor increases as load increases?
03:09 rue_house with a dc motor, yes
03:09 Jak_o_Shadows Thought so. Going to price H-bridges. Is the relationship somewhat linear or something? IE if i have 2.36A no load, and 12A at stall, can I calculate somewhere in the middle?
03:38 MrCurious rue_shop3: you going to run ROS on that?
03:39 rue_shop3 ITS STUPID TO RUN AN OS ON AN 8 BIT MIRCOCONTROLLER
03:39 rue_shop3 THEY ARE FOR DEDICATED SOFTWARE
03:40 rue_shop3 hmm it wont kick out of the mode for setting the step time
03:40 rue_shop3 (which i will do with a timer later)
03:42 MrCurious gonna guess the tingling and swelling on this 4 day old cut means its infected.
03:42 rue_shop3 :s
03:43 rue_shop3 I'm gathering some great tricks for keeping myself togethor
03:43 MrCurious i dont follow
03:44 rue_shop3 cuts, blisters, the like
03:45 MrCurious ahhh. i painted the area with neosporin. hoping that will penetrate
03:48 rue_shop3 I suppose installing the firmware works better if I plug the programmer into the microcontroller
03:48 MrCurious made that mistake 4x tonight
03:49 rue_shop3 aha, I forgot a break in a case statement
03:49 Jak_o_Shadows I have made that mistake far too often
03:50 rue_shop3 sweeeeet speed control!
03:50 rue_shop3 ok
03:50 MrCurious on mac, if you are using arduino ide, and have the serial terminal open and unplug, it will gray screen you.
03:50 rue_shop3 I need to solder on the zero sensors!
03:53 rue_shop3 I'm falling asleep tho :(
03:55 MrCurious dont be like a little kid. dont worry that the world will forever go away themoment your eyes close.
03:56 MrCurious i lose so many worlds that way
03:56 rue_shop3 this board is sweet
03:56 MrCurious link
03:57 rue_shop3 mega32, 3x74ls595 running 3x 2803 drivers, rs232 via max232, onboard 12V to 5V converter (smps)
03:57 rue_shop3 I made it :)
03:57 rue_shop3 Lola8088, helped
03:57 Lola8088 Woo!
03:57 rue_shop3 totally!
03:57 MrCurious nice
03:57 rue_shop3 MrCurious, I'll take a pic later
03:58 MrCurious cool
03:58 MrCurious throw a pillow if you suffer from insomnia
04:02 Lola8088 MrCurious, did you just start a pillow fight?
04:04 MrCurious why does "pillow fight" always bring the same black teaddy image to mind...
04:04 Lola8088 I don't think you want to see these blokes in black teddies.
04:04 MrCurious and why is teddy always wearing that ridiculous get-up....
04:06 MrCurious why is it if i do any hardware hacking or programming after 9pm, i am up all night with my brain stuck in gear. is this common?
04:11 MrCurious Rachel Maddow is blowing my mind
04:12 MrCurious "its a giant conspiracy to take away our guns... and enslave us... to the giant wasps..."
04:15 theBear did somebody say teddy ? <grin>
04:16 theBear i love roosevelt
04:20 MrCurious as robots take over more and more of manufacturing, and creep into the service industry, i wonder how long until enough people are unemployed that we need to have a pay/purpose paradigm shift, or a way to dispose of unemployed people...
04:21 theBear i've got a few ideas, they may not be popular tho
04:22 MrCurious do they involve you in a 3rd floor balcony, wearing snappy boots, waving a hand around, and speaking unintelligibly with gusto
04:22 MrCurious or a spiny flower logo?
04:25 theBear oooh, i hadn't even thought of that one, but it's going on the list
04:27 MrCurious thinking insomnia day 2 will render me very unplesant tomorrow
04:32 rue_shop3 heh
04:32 rue_shop3 it might need debouncing
04:32 rue_shop3 .
04:32 rue_shop3 .
04:32 rue_shop3 AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa
04:32 rue_shop3 AaAaAaAaAaAa
04:32 rue_shop3 AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa
04:32 rue_shop3 AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa
04:32 rue_shop3 AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa
04:32 rue_shop3 AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaA
04:32 rue_shop3 aAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa
04:32 rue_shop3 AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaA
04:32 rue_shop3 aAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa
04:32 rue_shop3 AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa
04:32 theBear you aight rue ?
04:32 rue_shop3 AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaA
04:32 rue_shop3 aAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa
04:32 rue_shop3 AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa
04:33 rue_shop3 AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa
04:33 MrCurious he is bouncing
04:33 rue_shop3 AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaA
04:33 rue_shop3 aAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaA
04:33 rue_shop3 aAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa
04:33 theBear i know what he's doing
04:33 rue_shop3 AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaA
04:33 rue_shop3 aAaAaA
04:33 rue_shop3 .
04:33 theBear just doesn't look healthy
04:33 rue_shop3 .
04:33 rue_shop3 those are high and low sensor transitions
04:33 rue_shop3 funny, cause its an optical sensor
04:33 MrCurious he is gonna do himself a mischief
04:33 theBear optical sensors bounce ?
04:33 rue_shop3 this one apparently does
04:33 theBear heh, there's no denying it
04:33 MrCurious or its spinning much faster than you think it is
04:33 theBear wonder how
04:33 rue_shop3 oh wait
04:34 Jak_o_Shadows even ultrasonic sensors sometimes give silly answers. You have to somewhat verify all data inputs
04:34 rue_shop3 the . are steps being finished
04:34 rue_shop3 so, there was only 1 step that happened in there
04:34 theBear so what is the aaaaah, just it freaking out and screaming ?
04:34 rue_shop3 yea, it all happened between two steps
04:34 rue_shop3 A means channel 0 went high
04:34 rue_shop3 a means it went low
04:34 MrCurious got a input floating?
04:35 rue_shop3 thats the channel with the optical limit on it
04:35 MrCurious work it manually and slowly and see if it makes more sense?
04:35 theBear optical limit ? like polaroid sunglasses ?
04:35 rue_shop3 so, I shoudl limit the code to reporting the sensors only once after the step
04:35 rue_shop3 http://eds.dyndns.org/~ircjunk/robots/arm4/p1010990.jpg
04:35 MrCurious are you reversiong the motors once you hit teh zero point,
04:36 rue_shop3 see the sensors about half way up, at the back, with the little pcb comming off it
04:36 MrCurious reversing
04:36 MrCurious auto-miscorrect
04:36 rue_shop3 no, its just passing thru
04:36 theBear grrr, i need something to replace the ridiculous foreigner-on-world-tour-on-a-budget backpack i 'lost' some months ago.. shopping just ain't practical with a regular backpack and a pushbike
04:39 rue_shop3 ok I know the next thing to fix then
04:39 rue_shop3 I'm calling it a night
04:42 rue_house I just made a cup of sugar with a bit of tea in it, apparently muscle control is out the window
04:44 Jak_o_Shadows I was having a hard time holding my hands steady earlier
04:44 Jak_o_Shadows Thankfully i wasn't soldering
04:44 theBear i just pumped up my bike tyre, muscle control is minimal
04:45 theBear arms are floppy
04:46 theBear i gotta start exercising
04:47 rue_house I rode my bike to the shop my truck was being fixed at, they ache
04:47 theBear poor rue
04:47 rue_house I proved out a good one today
04:48 rue_house I needed a pipe that perfextly fit a bearing in, I took one that was way too big, cut an arch out f it, crushed it back down round in the vise, and used the lathe to trim the inside a) round b) the right size of round
04:48 rue_house its SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET
04:49 theBear huh ? wouldn't that be hopelessly off center ?
04:49 rue_house its for a bearing holder
04:49 rue_house I'm welding the outside down
04:49 theBear ahh
04:49 rue_house need to fit the bearing into it
04:49 theBear in that case, hooray
04:50 rue_house BUT, once the inside is boared out, I COULD turn the outside too
04:50 theBear fwoo, arms so floppy
04:50 theBear i can't aim my hands
04:50 theBear lol, bored out :)
04:50 theBear unless there was a pig of some kind involved
04:50 rue_house I got myself a good sunburn with the welder today
04:51 theBear hehe, technicians tan
04:51 rue_house from the top of the glove to the sleve on my t-shirt
04:53 rue_house this is cool the PC works out which motors to step, and the avr times it out for the pc
04:53 rue_house replies with '.' when the pc is ok to trigger the next step
04:53 rue_house pc works out which motors to step
04:53 theBear orright, time to run my errands... y'all have fun now !
14:29 rue_house robot.Interpolator.axii[0].target = 0;
14:29 rue_house robot.Interpolator.axii[2].target = -2;
14:29 rue_house robot.Interpolator.axii[1].target = -7;
14:29 rue_house SimotaniouslyLinearlyInterpolateMultiAxis( &robot.Interpolator );
14:29 rue_house I love this code
15:18 sw0rdfish hi
15:35 dunz0r rue_house: Haha, Java?:)
15:39 rue_shop3 C
16:50 dunz0r rue_house: Oh, looked very java-esque with that camelCasing.
21:24 rue_shop3 dunz0r, do_you_space_your_variables_out_with_underscores ?
21:31 GargantuaSauce if your variables have more than three letters you are noobin' it up
21:42 MrCurious https://joindiaspora.com/posts/1653418
21:42 Curious snic
21:59 MrCurious can anyone tell me exactly when it was that TV started sucking this bad?
22:00 Tom_itx mid 60's
22:00 MrCurious http://imgur.com/TFIveDb
22:01 MrCurious i think it was around 1999
22:01 MrCurious TV's over oops, outta shows
22:02 MrCurious ooh! under the dome premeres june 24
22:04 MrCurious i want to be a mime when i grow up http://imgur.com/r/funny/d7v7a15
22:10 dunz0r rue_shop3: yes_I_do. But_I_try_to_keep_function_names_short :P
22:11 GargantuaSauce also on what planet does java have a unary & operator
22:38 MrCurious i suppose if i solder this sensor package up, i will feel better about myself
22:45 GargantuaSauce it's workin for me
22:45 MrCurious yes, i think you are right sir!
22:46 MrCurious step 1, plug in iron....
22:47 MrCurious time to kick the liars and light our fires!
22:50 GargantuaSauce new iron tips arrived today
22:50 GargantuaSauce so much variety!
22:50 GargantuaSauce was using a really small needle tip probably made for smd, for everything previously
22:50 MrCurious reminds me. why do tips dull/erode?
22:50 orlok sanding/filing?
22:50 GargantuaSauce because the heat makes the metal oxidize (faster)
22:51 MrCurious i should indulge myself in tip-variety
22:51 orlok i have never seen one erode, not with the use i put them through anyway
22:51 MrCurious they start sharp, then end round and fat
22:51 GargantuaSauce they dont really erode away but the surface becomes much less conductive
22:51 orlok soldered up a DB25 -> DB9,DB9, mini-din cable last night
22:51 GargantuaSauce and is harder to wet
22:51 orlok just need to solder up the other sides tonight, and get the pinouts right
23:24 GargantuaSauce woo, new hot ends wired
23:48 MrCurious 0=40cm 1=154cm 2=24cm 3=33cm 4=0cm 5=173cm 6=37cm 7=13cm 8=0cm 9=61cm
23:54 dunz0r GargantuaSauce: The planet where I'm not very good at Java :P
23:55 rue_shop3 well damnit
23:56 rue_shop3 I made a tamper for sand, and when I was all done I ran it for a bit and the motor started smoking
23:56 dunz0r I did read Java in programming 101, but that's more than ten years ago.
23:56 rue_shop3 good longer than I wanted to make too
23:56 GargantuaSauce well i rescind your license to snark about it until you become fully versed in its....nature
23:56 MrCurious 1 dead ping
23:57 MrCurious sadly the enclosure is sealed
23:57 dunz0r No snarking. Just guessing based on camelCasing.
23:57 dunz0r Since it's common in Java. C and C++ too though.
23:57 dunz0r Just because I use underscores doesn't mean everyone else does.