#robotics Logs

Nov 08 2015

01:42 ace4016 hehe
03:38 akem hi
03:39 deshipu morgen
06:30 maiden ah, the BOM for my humanoid robot gets larger and larger...
06:34 maiden it will be interesting to see how well the Stepper motors holds up, i was going to go with BLDC motors, but steppers are built to handle larger holding torque. So that ought to be the better option. but on the other hand, BLDC will give better "load" feedback.
06:36 maiden *simpler*
06:57 deshipu you need gearboxes anyways
07:03 maiden indeed
07:04 maiden will see what i end up with in the end, the humanoid will be light-weight, so 25-50kg ;)
07:04 maiden are currently working on a x,y,z load/force sensor in the feet.
07:04 deshipu any robot above 500g is a massive pain
07:05 maiden i know ^_^
07:05 maiden lesson 1. make a harness/attachment so the robot do not fallover and break all the time ^_^
07:06 deshipu Lesson 0, make a smaller robot
07:06 maiden deshipu: you are no fun ^_^
07:06 deshipu if you like throwin away money
07:06 deshipu go ahead
07:07 maiden i once made a humanoid 10x10cm robot to compete in a sumo competition just because i was bored.
07:07 maiden the little fellow actually survived for a while, he even won a match! LOL, the other bot drove off the field...
07:09 maiden deshipu, i am trying to build a cheap solution, no one else have the patience to make it work, but i think the component prices have finally made it viable in the "hobby" grade.
07:12 maiden but you will definitely need to know your software, electronics math and physics. thats what makes it hard ^_^
07:13 maiden I see it as a fun hobby project after a masters degree in robotics and a couple of years as a embedded engineer.
07:17 deshipu I would probably start small and scale it up slowly
07:37 deshipu veverak: here?
07:37 deshipu veverak: got a moment for pm?
08:06 norias hmph
08:07 maiden hmphah!
08:09 norias truly
08:10 maiden my screen looks awesome right now :D compiling FreeCAD, KiCAD and OpenBTS on the same time ;)
08:11 robopal what machine?
08:11 maiden my work laptop
08:12 norias what's openBTS?
08:12 norias I tried FreeCAD some years ago
08:12 norias but couldn't make any progress with it
08:13 maiden if you get a BladeRF or HackRF you can set up your own GSM network with openBTS ;)
08:13 norias oh. hmm. neat
08:13 maiden will have to set up my own gsm network to do some roaming testing of our GSM/GPRS product.
08:14 maiden will probably also use it in our factory testing.
08:14 maiden FreeCAD have matured very much the last year and a half.
08:15 maiden its only the Assembly module that is stalling, but they are working on it. there is an "alternative" assembly branch that works.
08:16 maiden but to get it to work in a good way, they have to re-implement their object handling, and thats what have taken a long time..
08:18 norias i might have to check it out again
08:18 norias i got dual boot win7 / ubuntu on my work computer
08:24 maiden I have moved over from SolidWorks to FreeCAD, and a little LibreCAD and OpenSCAD
08:24 maiden LibreCAD is only 2D CAD, that i use for my laser cutter.
08:25 Tom_itx fusion 360 is free
08:25 maiden does it work in Linux?
08:25 norias yeah, that's the big thing, really
08:25 Tom_itx acad product
08:25 norias fusion 360 is not bad
08:25 norias and ...
08:25 norias hmm , whatever the solidworks-like version is
08:25 norias is not far behind
08:26 Tom_itx what would that be?
08:26 norias wait one
08:27 norias onshape
08:28 Tom_itx is it cloud based?
08:30 Tom_itx looks like it
08:30 Tom_itx 10 'private' documents
08:30 Tom_itx public unlimited
08:31 maiden onshape looks nice
08:31 maiden have missed that one
08:31 Tom_itx fusion has cam
08:31 maiden hope it works on my galaxy note as well ;)
08:31 maiden Tom_itx, so does FreeCAD :p
08:31 norias fusion cam is hsmworks
08:31 norias basically
08:31 Tom_itx i doubt it's qutie the same
08:32 maiden hehehe
08:32 norias most CAM is terrible, anyways
08:32 norias so
08:32 norias how bad can it be?
08:32 norias ok, sold me
08:32 maiden the big question is what export formats is supported
08:32 Tom_itx it remembers where you applied cuts and next tool picks up from there
08:32 norias i'm downloading freecad to play with the CAM
08:33 Tom_itx iges is one i know
08:33 Tom_itx and that's very universal
08:33 Tom_itx SAT etc
08:33 maiden norias: i would recommend that you get the latest from GIT.
08:33 norias oh.
08:33 norias i just downloaded on my win7 laptop
08:33 maiden there will be a new release around Christmas ;)
08:33 norias i see
08:34 maiden well, try it out, make sure that its newer then the .14 release.
08:34 norias .15.4671
08:35 norias i'll run (stable) on win
08:35 norias and if i dig it
08:35 maiden ok, that should be ok. I got FreeCAD 0.16 Revision: 5888 (Git)
08:35 norias put the dev track on ubuntu
08:35 maiden there is a parts library that you can check out as well
08:36 norias bleh
08:36 norias i'll play with the CAM and see if it makes decent parts
08:36 maiden ^_^ it got a nice import macro, so its just drag and drop with motors etc.
08:37 maiden http://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/index.php?title=CAM_project
08:37 maiden look here http://forum.freecadweb.org/viewforum.php?f=15
08:37 norias i'd code on CAM
08:38 norias i'm pretty deeply interested in CAM
08:38 norias HSMWorks uses Javascript for post-processing
08:38 norias which i think is brilliant
08:39 norias i think the next 2-3 years of my career will be all about digging deeper
08:39 maiden the really nice part about freecad is that it contains a python editor, so you can extend the GUI / functionallity of FreeCAD while you are using FreeCAD :D
08:39 norias trying to work with some research / university types
08:39 norias and do interesting stuff
08:40 maiden all functionality in freecad should be accessible from the Python interface, even if its implemented in C++
08:41 maiden check youtube for freecad videos, there are some really cool animations ;)
08:42 norias how do i change workbenches?
08:42 norias i made a cube
08:42 norias now i want to CAM it
08:42 norias hmm
08:42 norias found how
08:42 norias but don't see CAM in the list
08:44 norias Drawings are way way better than they use to be
08:44 norias i think last i used was .10
08:47 maiden you can chose "complete"
08:48 maiden CAM is integrated in the "PATH" workbench
08:50 maiden if you mark the object and press space, it will become hidden.
08:50 maiden managed to make a tool path for the Qube quite fast ;)
08:50 maiden *cube
09:10 veverak deshipu: yep?
12:09 rue_bed are you too wanting/working on a CAM program for linux?
12:48 SpeedEvil #linuxcnc
12:57 norias rue_bed: who, me?
13:00 rue_house sure
13:18 rue_house anyone know if there was a huge crackdown on a spam agency? I havnt' recieved 1/10 the email spam I should have
14:14 Snert one can only hope :)
14:15 deshipu you mean on google?
14:19 Snert seems like google updates their spammers list and it drops for awhile
14:21 deshipu as long as they incentivize spammers as their business model and a way of competing with small website, the problem is going to only get worse
15:44 Moon_ HAY RUE
16:42 rue_house hey
16:43 rue_house _I_ dont use google mail, I use a real mail server
16:55 SpeedEvil :/
17:41 Moon_ Still ther RUE?
17:42 Moon_ I took some wrenches , put it on the board
18:19 JEntrep hey everyone :)
18:35 SpeedEvil hey
21:45 rue_house yes
21:46 rue_house in existance, some things are real, and some things are UNREAL!
21:49 orlock rue: see my blinky light?
21:49 rue_house the nightlight?
21:49 orlock yeah
21:50 orlock i fixed the dud ground
21:50 rue_house yea, looks awesome!
21:50 orlock now it all works perfectly
21:50 orlock looks even better with all the lights working 100% reliably
21:50 rue_house yea
21:50 orlock just coring the "pulse" is a bit tricky
21:50 rue_house it looked pretty good with the dud
21:50 orlock coding, even
21:50 orlock same time period for 4 different "pulses"
21:51 rue_house did you see my clock?
21:51 orlock so i'm using a min strength, max strength, start strength, min str - max str = steps per period
21:51 orlock then divide the total time by the steps, so get time per step
21:51 rue_house strength?
21:51 orlock which is different for each "group" of led's
21:52 orlock strength = brightness
21:52 rue_house ah
21:52 orlock so the 3 rings of 6 each pulse at the same time, but with different strengths
21:52 orlock so while the outemost dimm, the inner brightens
21:53 orlock trying for a calming breathing/heartbeat type effect
21:53 rue_house so your into the eternal tweeking stage?
21:53 orlock i need to verify that the LED's work on the ESP8266
21:54 rue_house I'v snubbed that stage on 2 projects now
21:54 orlock i've been testing them via an arduino - no reason they shouldent
21:54 orlock then convert the breadboard to perfboard
21:56 orlock finish up the webserver control stuff...
21:56 orlock say, if i want to add a smallish amount of NV storage to a mcu
21:56 orlock doesnt need to be fast
21:56 orlock options?
21:56 orlock i KNEW i would want some of those eeproms sooner or later!
22:09 rue_house wait, you making the light wifi??
22:10 orlock yeah
22:10 orlock its got a microcontroller
22:10 orlock so why not
22:10 rue_house thats somehow spooky
22:10 orlock then we can tell it to dim at night
22:11 rue_house so, at night you can check on the kids nightlight?
22:11 rue_house ah
22:11 orlock also, environmental sensotr
22:12 orlock temp, humidity, air pressure
22:12 orlock (the last two are less important, but i have the sensors so why not!)
22:12 orlock so we can just hit a webpage, get the stuff
22:13 orlock and have the system automatically send it to a server too
22:13 rue_house I suppose as long as there are no cameras or microphones
22:13 orlock nope
22:14 orlock thought about it, decided not to
22:14 rue_house and it cant say "what are you doing Dave?"
22:15 orlock also
22:15 orlock http://somepicturesof.space
22:16 orlock the domain was like, $5
22:16 orlock i have to take another picture for you in a month
22:20 rue_house nice moon
22:26 rue_house how did you get blooming on one of the images?
22:26 rue_house zoom?
22:27 orlock which one?
22:27 orlock oh, the diffraction spikes?
22:27 orlock the "star shape"?
22:27 rue_house 76
22:28 orlock ahh that one
22:28 orlock crap optics
22:28 orlock and not "zoom" as such, but yeah same thing
22:29 orlock 2x tele adaptor
22:29 rue_house hmm
22:30 orlock oh
22:31 orlock some pictures of me crept in there
22:32 orlock ahh you cant really see my face
22:32 rue_house standing on the moon by the crater?
22:32 orlock 29 and 30
22:32 rue_house in space?
22:32 orlock nope
22:32 orlock in my workshop
22:33 rue_house whats your workshop doing in space?
22:33 orlock its a space
22:33 orlock where i work
22:33 orlock :)
22:33 orlock "work"
22:33 rue_house so you created a whole alternate universe just for somewhere to work?
22:38 anonnumberanon rue_house, sounds like my room
22:38 anonnumberanon I hate stepping on transistors bare-footed.
22:39 rue_house a dip in the foot in the morning after jumping out of bed is the worst
22:39 rue_house hara SMT!
22:43 anonnumberanon So I think soldering and desoldering smoke is really bad for you. I desoldered 3 lbs worth of components from trash-picked stuff last Thursday and Friday I got a cold when I usually am never sick.
22:44 rue_house was there ANY ventilation?
22:44 anonnumberanon a bit
22:44 rue_house :/
22:44 rue_house put in a fan, have it pull the air away from you, not push air at you
22:46 anonnumberanon well I did have a computer fan duct taped to my desk but that wasn't nearly enough, yeah, I need something larger, hopefully when i move because I get hired I will be able to build a quick super fan setup for that purpose.
22:47 anonnumberanon On another note I just received one of these Chinese blue 7-segment LCD screened 5-bit current meters. Trying it now.
22:48 anonnumberanon did you get anything else done on the giant walker rue_house ?
22:49 rue_house thats not giant
22:49 rue_house and no, I'm truying NOT to work on it more
22:49 rue_house it was just supposed to be a quick project
22:50 anonnumberanon Good. You know your limits.
22:50 rue_house there is a lot of work I can do on the clock too, but I'm trying to avoid workin on that too
22:51 anonnumberanon Why which thing are you prioritizing now?
22:51 rue_house the power supply
22:51 anonnumberanon A new one or a better of the old one?
22:55 rue_house https://hackaday.io/project/296-bench-power-supply
22:55 rue_house that one
22:56 rue_house I'm having problems with the error amplifier
22:58 rue_house mainly that its unstable / oscillating
22:58 rue_house next I have to make an inverting amplifier that has a gain of about 10
22:58 anonnumberanon Okay I remember that last point. So wouldn't it fix the output with a good sized capacitor at the output?
22:59 rue_house no, it just changes the freq of the oscillation
22:59 rue_house I have to adjust the gain of the error amp,
22:59 rue_house I'm getting closer
22:59 Hyratel1 rue_house, what's with the knobs?
22:59 Hyratel1 silver printing filament?
23:00 rue_house silver paint
23:01 Hyratel1 neat. so shape taken directly from billet knobs?
23:01 rue_house yup
23:01 rue_house with printers lumps added in
23:02 anonnumberanon rue_house, Are you saying you need to adjust the gain of the feedback loops of the two small SMPSes? I've heard of a cascading potentiometer idea but I don't know if that would apply here (potentiometers first to adjust and then resistors for forever).
23:02 rue_house those little smps boards wont work
23:02 anonnumberanon Wow you're removing them?
23:03 rue_house they do current feedback on the - rail, if you cross the outputs they blow each other up
23:03 rue_house so I have to make my own pwm converter
23:03 Hyratel1 so they're low-side switching, rue_house ?
23:03 rue_house they are high side switching with low side current monitor
23:03 anonnumberanon Hyratel1, what does that mean?
23:03 Hyratel1 ew
23:03 rue_house and no other curent protection
23:04 Hyratel1 low side switching is tuning the - on and off
23:04 Hyratel1 which is logistically easier for electronics
23:04 Hyratel1 at least for FETs anyway
23:05 rue_house I'v solved the high side current monitor problem
23:05 rue_house that took some work
23:06 Hyratel1 do tell
23:07 rue_house https://hackaday.io/project/296-bench-power-supply/log/11062-current-monitor-working
23:08 rue_house https://hackaday.io/project/296-bench-power-supply/log/13198-images-of-current-sensor-board