#robotics Logs

Jun 05 2015

00:55 Casper rue_house: wanna laught? I asked a chinese manufacturer if they can send me a diagram for the pressure switch that I have that went up in piece when I removed the screws...
00:56 Casper think they will send one? :D
00:56 rue_house no
00:57 rue_house I'v noticed that a number of things made in the states are routed thru china for distribution
00:57 Casper yeah, same... so will probably have to buy a new switch...
00:57 Casper ... or find a broken compressor with a 10 gallon tank...
00:57 rue_house what pressure?
00:58 rue_house ~100 psi?
00:58 Casper 100-125
00:58 Casper if I could, I'ld go higher
00:58 Casper I'm sure this compressor can do 300
00:58 rue_house with a dump valve on the side?
00:58 Casper it's rated 7A, I mesured 3.5A at 125psi
00:58 Casper yeah
00:58 rue_house manual off lever?
00:59 Casper yup
00:59 Casper ideally, 90 degree unloader
00:59 rue_house 1/4" female pipe fitting?
00:59 Casper that's the standard for fitting right? if so then yes
00:59 rue_house never seen one before.
00:59 rue_house :)
01:01 Casper I'm planning to replace the unloader by a solenoid, so I can put a silencer on it
01:01 Casper the "pshhh" is annoyingly loud
01:01 rue_house $20?
01:01 rue_house http://www.amazon.com/Pressure-switch-compressor-95-125-Unloader/dp/B00273UQQQ/ref=sr_1_3
01:02 Casper guess what
01:02 rue_house taths the same as the broken one you have
01:02 Casper that's the same model, except mine have a 90 degree unloader
01:02 Casper which seems to be a special order, I don't see them anywhere
01:03 Casper but trying to find a canadian seller
01:03 rue_house why dont you just get a longer unloader pipe?
01:04 Casper or one that sell it for less than 20$CAD :D
01:04 rue_house if its in stock from amazon, you will prolly get it in 2 days
01:04 Casper it's not the pipe the issue, it's the noise...
01:04 rue_house dispite what they say
01:04 rue_house why does the direction of the unloader change the noise at all?
01:05 Casper oh no
01:05 rue_house http://www.amazon.com/Pressure-compressor-Furnas-69JF7LY-unloader/dp/B00273N0J6/ref=sr_1_3
01:05 Casper not the noise...
01:05 Casper but would need to buy new piping
01:05 rue_house I think that one can be rotated
01:07 Casper or maybe I should try to find an high pressure tank...
01:07 Casper and just transfert the compressor
01:07 Casper but amazon.ca have some good hit too
01:08 Casper but now, starting to be tired, so will launch the "to bed" routine
01:09 Casper btw
01:09 Casper about 6 months ago, I bought some pills... today I buy a new bottle... same expiration date...
01:09 rue_house oh yea, I'm about 1 hr overdue for sleeping
01:09 Casper it's fine, but... still funny
01:09 Casper I'm almost 2 hours overdue
02:24 akaziel good morning
02:25 akaziel does somebody have a good sensor to measure speed of passing objects? dv ~ 30km/h max
02:45 akaziel Has anybody ever worked with a LIDAR-Lite around here?
02:56 akaziel hello cameronfr
02:56 cameronfr hello!
02:59 akaziel how are you today?
03:11 akaziel LiohAu_: bonjour
03:11 LiohAu_ akaziel: bonjour
03:12 LiohAu_ akaziel: juste bonjour?
03:13 akaziel comment ca va?
03:13 akaziel sorry, je regarde les specs du LIDAR-Lite
03:36 akaziel ...
04:05 LiohAu_ akaziel: ça va, mais tu voulais qqchose en particulier?
04:05 LiohAu_ ou t'a juste vu que j'étais français, et donc tu voulais me dire bonjour? :)
04:06 akaziel Bah je cherche toujours des infos sur le LIDAR-lite de PulsedLight
04:06 akaziel mais sinon c'était juste un coucou entre francophones
04:48 Loshki A cuckoo between french speakers? The EU equivalent of the chicken wing bbq?
05:03 akaziel Loshki: coucou also means hi in french
05:07 Loshki akaziel: thank you
07:52 deshipu I will just leave this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ_wVkPrKyg
08:02 Orpheon Hello, I have some decent programming background and a bit of electronics experience, but very little done with robots so far. What would people recommend as good ways to enter this? Kits? Go to electronics shop and get gears/wheels/arduino and play around? Courses?
08:02 Orpheon or even ignore robots and learn general mechanical stuff first?
08:03 deshipu Orpheon: what part of the robotics are you interested in? is there anything in particular that you would like to build?
08:03 deshipu “Would you tell me which way I ought to go from here?” asked Alice.
08:03 deshipu “That depends a good deal on where you want to get,” said the Cat.
08:03 deshipu “I really don’t care where” replied Alice.
08:03 deshipu “Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
08:04 Orpheon I've mainly been interested/fascinated in small, moving bots. I had this "robodog" thing as a child, stuff like that I always found interesting
08:04 Orpheon but in general, I mainly want to build up skill to be able to do things afterwards easily, so if there's an easier entry point, I'll take that
08:06 deshipu there is this: http://letsmakerobots.com/start
08:06 deshipu (also, great forum, I totally recommend joining)
08:07 deshipu I'm writing a guide about experiment with walking robots, if that's more to your liking: http://tote.rtfd.org
08:07 Orpheon ok
08:07 Orpheon can the PICAXE stuff be replaced with other boards?
08:07 deshipu there is also that Bob robot that a lot of people build and modify
08:08 Orpheon a hackerspace near me has a ton of stuff I could use, but probably not that specific board
08:08 Orpheon Bob robot?
08:08 deshipu Orpheon: sure, there have been "start here" robots with arduino, propeller, teensy, etc.
08:08 deshipu http://letsmakerobots.com/node/35865
08:08 deshipu that's the original bob
08:09 deshipu but people made a lot of their own versions
08:09 Orpheon ok
08:09 deshipu if you are looking for something more "ready", one of the letsmakerobots member has this kit: http://letsmakerobots.com/robot/project/poppet
08:10 deshipu but it's relatively easy to build something like that yourself
08:10 Orpheon no, this site is already great
08:10 deshipu Orpheon: by the way, are you in Zurich by any chance?
08:11 Orpheon occasionally
08:11 Orpheon I will be starting from next month, atm I am in Basel
08:11 Orpheon why?
08:11 deshipu because then I could give you the printed circuit board for that Tote robot
08:12 Orpheon haha
08:12 Orpheon well, it's just a 1h travel (I have a GA)
08:12 Orpheon the board is nice, although my main concern right now are the servos
08:13 deshipu but I guess walking robots are not so great for start
08:13 deshipu yeah, the servos are probably best ordered from china
08:13 Orpheon well, we did do some Mindstorm stuff in school, a long time ago
08:13 deshipu that's the cheapest, at least
08:13 Orpheon ok
08:13 deshipu but 2-3 weeks shipping
08:13 Orpheon ack. Ok
08:14 Orpheon yeah
08:14 Orpheon incidentally, what sites? Alibaba or..?
08:14 deshipu I use aliexpress
08:15 Orpheon oh right, that was the other part. That has only 2-3 weeks?
08:15 deshipu dx.com or ebay work too
08:15 Orpheon I read about ~6 weeks
08:15 deshipu it's up to 8 weeks, if you hit the chinese new year or other holiday
08:15 deshipu 2-3 weeks on average in my experience
08:16 Orpheon ah
08:19 deshipu but it's the cheapest source of parts, in general
08:19 deshipu of course quality varies greatly too
08:19 Orpheon yeah that was what I thought, was just unsure about the weeks
08:19 Orpheon this tote looks pretty good though
08:20 deshipu yeah, if you find good deals on aliexpress, you can build it for about $25
08:20 deshipu not counting the time you have to pour into debugging it, though
08:20 deshipu it'
08:20 deshipu it's a special kind of "fun"
08:20 Orpheon I have access to PCB making equipment, just no experience myself
08:20 Orpheon debugging is fun
08:20 deshipu but you are a programmer, so you know
08:21 Orpheon yeah
08:21 deshipu do you know how to use any pcb design software?
08:21 Orpheon no, although I know people who do
08:21 deshipu you could start with this: http://fritzing.org/
08:21 deshipu that's what I use for by simple pcbs
08:22 deshipu because it has relatively "normal controls"
08:22 deshipu most of the more advanced software is based on CAD programs from the eighties, so the controls are very... unintuitive
08:22 Orpheon ok
08:23 Orpheon fritzing is a pcb design software or a community?
08:23 Orpheon oh, nvm
08:24 deshipu both :)
08:24 deshipu it's also a company
08:24 deshipu so the program has a 'fabricate' button that sends the order to them
08:24 deshipu but you don't have to use it
08:24 Orpheon haha
08:24 Orpheon ok
08:25 deshipu you can export into a variety of formats, from pdf to gerber
08:25 Orpheon I assume it's not the cheapest form by far to send it directly?
08:25 Orpheon http://fritzing.org/static/img/fritzing-preview-bb.png so it lets you design colored boards too?
08:25 Orpheon and with images on them?
08:26 Orpheon and does it also offer simulation or do I have to search elsewhere for that?
08:26 Orpheon (or is that useless anyway?)
08:26 deshipu well, you can design boards with images on the silkscreen
08:27 deshipu but that screenshot is the "breadboard" view
08:27 deshipu not the pcb view
08:27 Orpheon ah
08:27 deshipu the breadboard view shows you the images of the components
08:27 deshipu and lets you wire them
08:27 deshipu it's useful when you want to show your prototype on a website or something
08:28 deshipu there are 3 views: schematic, breadboard and pcb
08:28 Orpheon ok
08:28 deshipu they are all linked, so if you change a connection in one, it changes in all 3
08:29 deshipu so you can design your schematic, then switch to pcb view, and draw the actual traces
08:30 Orpheon nice
08:30 Orpheon so there's a sort-of automatic conversion from schematic to actual trace?
08:30 deshipu you mean autorouting?
08:30 Orpheon also, to that first tutorial, "Paint stirring sticks, this tape, and a melt glue gun is the backbone for most of my fun with robots :)"
08:30 deshipu it doesn't work very well
08:30 Orpheon idk the terms
08:30 Orpheon ok
08:31 deshipu you have to place all the components manually
08:31 deshipu and it shows you "ratlines" -- basiaclly what connections need to be made
08:31 deshipu and then you can make most of the connections, and then hit "autoroute" to make it fill in all the rest
08:31 deshipu but it gets lost often, so it's best to do most of it manually
08:34 Orpheon ok
08:35 Orpheon where does one buy special tapes like that?
08:35 deshipu tapes?
08:35 deshipu you mean the two-sided adhesive tape?
08:35 Orpheon http://letsmakerobots.com/files/userpics/u4/500x375x1_Roll_of_double_sided_foamy_tape.jpg.pagespeed.ic.S_hLdcs1VS.jpg
08:35 Orpheon well, this foam thing, apparently
08:36 deshipu home repair shops
08:36 Orpheon I've seen double-sided tape before
08:36 deshipu you probably walked by them a million times
08:36 Orpheon huh, those exist in europe?
08:36 Orpheon wait I'm dumb
08:36 deshipu yes, I bought one in Migros
08:36 Orpheon was thinking Obi, even Migros has them?
08:36 Orpheon ok
08:36 deshipu well, the part of migros that has the pots and toys and such
08:37 deshipu not the food part
08:37 Orpheon yeah
08:37 deshipu it was next to the cord extensions and glues
08:47 Orpheon deshipu, do these servos look ok?
08:47 Orpheon http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Tower-Pro-9g-micro-servo-for-airplane-aeroplane-6CH-rc-helcopter-kds-esky-align-helicopter-sg90/1504909105.html
08:48 Orpheon or is something missing?
08:49 deshipu Orpheon: looks good
08:50 deshipu Orpheon: I think I bought from them once
08:52 deshipu be prepared for one or two servos to be faulty
08:53 Orpheon on 20, that should be ok
08:53 Orpheon your tutorial requires 12
08:54 deshipu yeah
08:54 deshipu you will have some spare ones for a bob :)
09:01 Orpheon ok
09:01 Orpheon aaaand ordered
09:01 Orpheon good
09:31 deshipu guys, does the robotics challenge stream work for you? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ_wVkPrKyg&noredirect=1
09:32 veverak nope
09:33 deshipu :(
09:38 rue_house first?
09:38 deshipu it started
09:38 deshipu I guess
09:39 deshipu they are showing some beamer screen with a control signal...
09:39 rue_house dosnt' work here
09:39 deshipu try http://www.theroboticschallenge.org/
09:39 deshipu google broke something *again*
09:40 deshipu sigh
09:40 deshipu computers
09:40 deshipu don't get me started
09:40 zaxxon didn't work at first, left it open, runs now
09:40 zaxxon no sound tho
09:41 deshipu and not much to see
09:41 deshipu the tracks say it doesn't start in another hour
09:41 deshipu damn lazy murricans, go out of the bed already
09:43 rue_house maybe its a timezone problem, the stream isn't available yet
09:45 deshipu come out and entertain me!
09:50 deshipu ok, there are some artificial-looking people
09:51 deshipu guys, you are live, don't correct your makeyp
09:51 deshipu still no sound
09:56 deshipu I want to see what's so interesting on the guy's phone
10:01 theBear your face is a timezone problem ! also the way that my computer recently started claiming that en_AU doesn't exist everytime i do something, that's a timezone problem, well, the noticable consequences are anyhow, well, that and the bugging-my-ass messages
10:03 deshipu au doesn't exist
10:03 deshipu it's an elaborate scam
10:03 deshipu everybody knows that
10:04 deshipu the whole idea is ridiculous, you would fall off
10:05 theBear i always thought that was newyork ! sure we all heard it mentioned, but you know anyone that has ever seen so called "new york" ? yeah, i didn't think so !
10:08 deshipu theBear: also, Bielefeld
10:08 deshipu seriously
10:08 theBear is he related to seinfeld ?
10:09 deshipu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bielefeld_Conspiracy
10:21 deshipu the live event is over?
10:21 deshipu wha?
10:25 zaxxon audio!
10:29 shipu opens a
10:29 deshipu meccano wheels? srsly?
10:29 deshipu on sand?
10:31 deshipu good thing they started first, it's going to take a while...
10:37 deshipu shouoldn't they, like, start getting into a car or something?
10:38 deshipu the one on the yello course is actually walking with a pretty advanced gait
10:47 shipu facepalms and then headd
10:57 zaxxon "this video has been removed by the user"
10:57 zaxxon yeah..
10:58 deshipu and it's all before they even start getting degraded communications
10:58 deshipu so far none passed
11:00 deshipu if there is another fukushima and they send those, we are soo fucked
11:02 veverak is there some way
11:02 veverak to get the video from the event?
11:02 veverak I suppose I missed stream now
11:02 deshipu http://www.theroboticschallenge.org/
11:02 zaxxon http://www.theroboticschallenge.org/
11:03 deshipu they have "technical" problems
11:03 deshipu meaning that there is some person that should have been fired
11:04 deshipu yellow course back online
11:04 deshipu but it seems they are starting from the beginning
11:04 Orpheon yellow course?
11:05 deshipu there are four feeds from the different courses on the website
11:05 deshipu http://www.theroboticschallenge.org/
11:12 deshipu weren't they supposed to get up on their own this year?
11:16 zaxxon the videos have lengths now
11:16 zaxxon no longer live?
11:18 zaxxon back to showing "live"
11:20 deshipu yeah, they can't even use youtube
11:22 deshipu I think the yello team just packed and went home
11:22 zaxxon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv9Wm20UrcU
11:23 zaxxon clicked around on their youtube chan nel
11:23 Killerspec Hi all. I am new to Arduino. I am trying to program 4 motors using the adafruit motor shield v1. I have defined my motors and trying to code so that I can make them go forward and reverse all together bit I want the speed to be variable any suggestions I am using the AFMotor library
11:27 deshipu you vary the speed using pwm
11:27 deshipu no idea how that library does that, have you tried reading its documentation?
11:28 deshipu sooo, no robot made it past the first task so far...
11:28 veverak what is first task?
11:28 deshipu drive a car
11:28 deshipu or walk that distance on sand
11:29 Killerspec I have gone through the documentation over the library but no info as to what I am looking for. I have messed around with a for loop but just wont fit right
11:29 deshipu veverak: http://www.theroboticschallenge.org/sites/default/files/images/Tasks2015.jpg
11:30 veverak drive a car?
11:31 Killerspec the object is to get the robot to move forward until the ultrasonic finds an object. It then should stop turn left and move forward slowly at first and if no other objects there with in a short space of time it should turn facing forward again
11:31 veverak I don't suppose anybody got that idea -> mount wireless adapter to car computer
11:31 deshipu is why most are humanoid :)
11:31 veverak and use it?
11:31 veverak :D
11:31 deshipu you have to do all communications through their simulated network
11:31 deshipu which simulates degraded comm
11:32 veverak k, my point is still the same
11:32 veverak and I suppose NFC could be used with ease
11:38 veverak hmm
11:38 veverak deshipu: have you ever thought about adding wheels on the legs of your robot?
11:38 veverak :)
11:40 deshipu veverak: yes, I have a plan for a logicoma model
11:41 veverak aaaah! :D
11:41 verak waas thinking of tachikomas, but na
11:42 deshipu veverak: the thing is, I can do logicoma's legs with just 2 regular servos, and 1 continous rotation
11:43 veverak yeah
11:54 deshipu Spot on course green!
12:00 LiohAu_ rue_house: when using a think like this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31kaGTE7e3I is it what you call mouting stuff on directly on the servo shaft?
12:29 deshipu aaaand that concludes the "DARPA youtube challenge". Youtube won, DARPA lost.
17:20 deshipu robosimiaaaaaan!
17:20 deshipu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgt6FPWU2Lc
17:33 SpeedEvil deshipu: that is the worst fitted exhaust pipe I've ever seen
17:37 deshipu they should have started 15 minutes ago :/
18:04 LiohAu deshipu: why are they all so slow?
18:04 LiohAu (talking about the darpa robots)
18:10 deshipu LiohAu: degraded communications
18:10 deshipu LiohAu: and limited computation power
18:10 deshipu LiohAu: they are solving set of differential equations numerically to plan their movements
18:12 deshipu LiohAu: it's much faster this year anyways
18:12 deshipu LiohAu: last year they took 3 hours
18:19 SpeedEvil Are they actual robots., or RC?
18:20 deshipu they are controlled by human operators who don't see them, over degraded comm link
18:20 SpeedEvil ah
18:20 deshipu so they get high-level commands like "go there", "pick this"
18:37 deshipu aaaand the simplest robot built for specifically for the task won
18:38 deshipu leaving all those "universal" robots in the dust
18:38 deshipu who would expect