Omniwheel Robot

July 13, 2011 by Brian Benchoff 8 Comments

Like all of us, [Jonathan Guberman] has a list of projects and builds that ‘will get done when I have time.’ His Kiwi drive robot is no exception. It’s intended to be one piece of a much larger project, but he decided to document it anyway (we think in the hope of getting is rear in gear).

The robot uses a holonomic drive to get around. A holonomic drive uses three fixed wheels placed 120 degrees apart. The wheels can be independently controlled and with some vector addition the robot can move in any direction and rotate 360º inside its own wheelbase. Of course the wheels will have to be able to roll in two dimensions, so an omniwheel is used. Everything is controlled with a Wiimote nunchuck, and the movement is very smooth.

[Jonathan] has had a few projects featured on Hack A Day before, like his Mechanical Pac-Man and his adorable Portal turret plushie. [Jonathan] really demonstrates his artistry and skill in his project, so we’re really wondering what his ‘larger project’ actually is. Take a guess in the comments section, that might get [Jonathan]’s rear in gear.

Check out the video of the omnidirectional robot after the break.

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Crafting A Hexapod With An RC Controller

July 11, 2011 by Mike Szczys 3 Comments

Here’s a fantastic project that lets to drive a hexapod around the room using an RC controller. [YT2095] built the bot after replacing the servo motors on his robot arm during an upgrade. The three cheapies he had left over were just begging for a new project, and he says he got the first proof-of-concept module put together in about an hour. Of course what you see above has gone through much improvement since then.

The three motors are epoxied together, with the one in the middle mounted perpendicular to the motors on either side of it. Those two are responsible for the front and rear leg on each side, with the third motor actuating the two middle legs. It’s a design we’re already familiar with having seen the smaller Pololu version. You might want to check that one out as there’s some slow motion video that shows how this works.

[YT2095] added control circuitry that includes an RF receiver. This lets him drive the little bot around using a transmitter with four momentary push switches on it. We love the idea of using copper clad for the foot pads.

Amazing Hemispherical Omnidirectional Gimbaled Wheel Robot

July 9, 2011 by Mike Nathan 33 Comments

hemispherical_omnidirectional_gimbaled_wheel_robot

Bradley University grad student [Curtis Boirum] has built a robot which uses quite a unique drive system, one we’re guessing you have never seen before. The robot uses a single motor to drive its hemispherical omnidirectional gimbaled wheel, propelling it across the floor at amazing speeds with uncanny agility.

The robot uses a simple two axis gimbal for movement, which houses a small brushless RC airplane motor. The motor spins a rubber wheel at high speeds, which propels the robot in any direction at the flick of a switch, thanks to a pair of RC servos. When the servos tilt the gimbal, they change which side of the wheel is touching the ground as well as the gear reduction, eliminating the need for a mechanical transmission or traditional steering mechanism.

While he originally thought that he had invented the concept, [Curtis] found that this technology was nearly 100 years old, but that most people had forgotten about it. We’re pretty sure people will remember it this time around. How could you not, after watching the demo video we have embedded below?

We think it’s a great concept, and we can’t wait to see what other robot builders do with this technology.

[via Gizmodo]

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Humanoid Robot Listens To Music, Plays Along On His Theremin

July 8, 2011 by Mike Nathan 13 Comments

robot_playing_theremin

Researcher and YouTube user [mspetitegeek] along with her lab mate [Tatsuhiko Itohara] have been fortunate enough to spend some time working with the HRP-2 humanoid robot from Kawada Industries. Their research has seemingly been focused on using the robot to create real-time interactions with humans for entertainment purposes, at the very least.

The program they created allows the HRP-2 to listen and watch its human counterpart while he plays the guitar in order to recognize a beat pattern. Once the robot catches on, it plays along on his Theremin, matching both notes and rhythm perfectly. Since the human operator is clearly playing at a fairly relaxed pace, we are curious to see a demonstration where the robot required to match a snappier tune – it could be quite interesting.

In the meantime, we’re content to just sit back and enjoy the Mogwai-esque tones of the HRP-2 rocking the Theremin.

Keep reading to see a short video of the HRP-2 in action.

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ArduDelta Would Make A Great Pick And Place Machine

July 7, 2011 by Brian Benchoff 23 Comments

[Bogdan] sent in a great build of a delta robot he originally posted on the Arduino forum, but he didn’t receive much feedback there. We think a build like this deserves a lot more credit.

After working for 7 months on his robot, [Bogdan] has a pretty stable (and very classy) platform made out of wood. The platform and arms in delta robots are usually extremely light to reduce the inertia of the tool so [Bodan] crafted these out of carbon fiber tubes and plexiglas. Everything is controlled by an Arduino Mega2560 encased in a plexiglas enclosure with a 20×4 LCD, status LEDs, and an infrared receiver.

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Propeller-based Robot With Basic Object Avoidance

July 6, 2011 by Mike Nathan 6 Comments

propeller_development_robot

The Parallax Propeller is a pretty powerful MCU as [Dino] recently discovered in his latest Hack a Week installment. He wanted to build a simple robotics platform that he could use for testing out various sensors, and he figured he might as well learn about a different type of micro controller in the process.

He pieced together his robot using a pair of old Roomba motors he had sitting around, mounting them on a standard RadioShack project box. A Propeller MSR1 control board runs the show, and a Propeller PING sensor is used to get an idea of what the robot’s surroundings look like. He is an admitted newbie when it comes to using Propeller micro controllers, but [Dino] was able to give his robot some rudimentary object avoidance abilities fairly easily. A few small bugs aside, he had the robot up and running in short order, a testament to how easy it is to work with the Propeller platform.

Stick around to see a brief video covering the robot’s construction we have embedded below.

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Kinect-controlled Quadrotor

July 5, 2011 by Mike Nathan 10 Comments

kinect_quadrotor_control

The team over at the Flying Machine Arena has been busy combining two of our favorite toys – quadrotors and Kinect.

Like many other hacks, they are using Kinect to monitor their joint positions, mapping a handful of actions to the operator’s movements. Once the quadrotor is aloft, it can be directed around the room using the operator’s right hand. The gesture recognition system responds almost instantly, guiding the vehicle in all directions with ease. When the user’s left hand is raised, the quadrotor does a mid-air flip and awaits its next command, while a quick clap of the hands brings the machine to rest on the ground.

For the protection of anyone testing out the system, overhead motion tracking cameras are used to keep track of the Kinect’s position, creating an invisible midair barrier through which the quadrotor is not allowed to pass.

If you have a minute, check out the video below – controlling quadrotors looks way more fun than any Kinect game we’ve come across.

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