[bre] passed along this portrait drawing robot from the same people that brought you the chief cook robot. Like the previous project, the portrait drawing bot emphasizes man machine interaction. The subject sits down and is asked for the quill. The robot captures the subject’s image and runs it through several processing steps. One set is to determine the contours and another is to determine the fill. The robot then draws the the contours and fills returning to the ink pot each time it reaches a trajectory threshold. Quill drawing can be quite hard for novice illustrators, but the robot’s smooth trajectory calculations prevent drips and stains.
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Gaming With Roombas
Yesterday we looked at the Pac-Man Roomba casemod. In the video, creator [Ron Tajima] expressed interest in seeing Roombas participate in real life games. So we did some digging around and found some used in an interesting augmented reality game. From Brown University, these modified Roomba Create units play various games, like tag, with an underlying goal of developing smarter robots.
The setup consists of a Java powered client/server arrangement. The game server coordinates the Small Universal Robot Vehicles (SmURVs) and builds a database of events for future use. Players can also control the robots through a Java telepresence client.
The units themselves are made up of the iRobot Create with a Mini-ITX computer strapped to the top. They run Linux and communicate over WiFi with the server and players. They also have an IR emitter used in the games to “shoot” other units.
Gameplay has the server acting as the referee and humans only acting as instructors. The humans come into play when the robots are unable to respond based on their existing database of decision making policies. Through the client, players are able to see exactly what the robot sees with the addition of 3D overlays. Future plans for the game include removing the camera view and replacing with nothing but these overlays. One of the final goals of the project was to create a 24/7/365 gaming experience similar to what is found in MMOs and Xbox Live applications today.
Roomba Pac-Man
[Ron Tajima] fashioned a Pac-Man casemod for his Roomba using 448 LEDs and a SH2 MPU control unit. It features the correct arcade sounds and even the death animation. The bot has Bluetooth access thanks to his previous Wiimote hack. He hopes to use this platform to create a real world version of the game.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wsP_nmk_iw&hl=en]
For more Roomba hacking, check out the Hacking Roomba book and our previous Roomba related posts.
[via Geekdad]
Robotic Cats
It’s caturday, so let’s post some freaking cats. With a little research we found commercial, hobbyist, research, and cyborg cats.
First up is NeCoRo. Released in 2001, this is probably the most recognized commercial robot cat; renowned for its creepiness.
Automatic Muffin Maker
[Jerome] sent in this awesome Muffin maker (yes, muffins) that [Carl Boucher] and [Dominic Dussault] built for [Carl]’s final project in his Industrial Electrical Technician program. No real technical details, just some tasty inspiration. If you prefer cookies, you might want to check out fabbing with Nutella.
Simple Linux Robot With IR Camera
Here’s something else we found while writing up our duplicate Ikea Linux Cluster post. [Janne] also built this simple linux robot. The robot uses the Qwerk robot controller, a webcam with the IR filter removed (something like this one), a usb WiFi card, an IR spotlight, and a set of repurposed model airplane wheels. The WiFi adapter and webcam attach directly to the Qwerk via its on-board usb ports; the servo motors are also connected via built-in ports. Although [Janne] doesn’t post specific instructions, the Qwerk platform seems fairly easy to work with. Have a look at the Qwerk overview for more information.
PIC Controlled Spray Paint
Most people make LEDs light up for their first microcontroller project. [Alex] built a “large scale dot matrix printer.” This beast is a PIC controlled ground graffiti machine. As it rolls across the ground it deposits strategically located bits of spray paint. Rather than use actual spray paint, he opted for a set of solenoid controlled nozzles that shoot the paint downward.
