[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0knvD7wx6A]
[Totoro] sent in this cool little email notification device he made. Using a paper model of Wall-E, he added some servos and connected it to his computer using a PIC. Mail-E has independent arm rotation and head rotation. He admits that the PIC processor is major overkill and plans some upgrades such as making it wireless and using a little better suited chip to control it. Not bad for a proof of concept.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThMd9YR1MAg]
[Andrius] just sent in his robot Rubik’s cube solver. It isn’t as fast as the solver we saw last year but it also doesn’t require as many parts either. This project utilizes two claws, each actuated by just two servo motors. The thinking is done by a PC which calculates the necessary moves to solve the cube. Each instruction is then passed via USB to the AVR ATmega16 microcontroller that is responsible for the servo operation.
Right now it looks like the colors for each starting face have to be entered manually before a solution is calculated. We think [Andrius] is probably planning to upgrade this with the next generation of his software as he already has a webcam setup for this type of analysis.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g79mOSvSsE]
This proof of concept shows an interesting way of making robotic legs. They are using programmable spring actuators to make these legs function as though they had a “reflex”. The builder pulls the robot along on a leash. As the leg reaches its limit of backward motion, a signal is sent from the shoulder down to the knee that lifts it, causing it to return to the forward position. A signal is also sent to the opposing shoulder to suppress the lift reflex, keeping them from both stepping at the same time. The resulting motion is very organic feeling. We’re curious how this could be implemented in a robot which moves under its own power.
[via makezine]
The Linux4nano project has been working to port the Linux kernel onto the iPod Nano along with other iPods in general. Although the iPodLinux project has had luck with some older iPods, newer models protect firmware updates with encryption. One of the ways they plan on running code on the device is through a vulnerability in the notes program; it causes the processor to jump to a specific instruction and execute arbitrary code. To take advantage of this, they first need to figure out where their injected code ends up in the memory. Currently, they are testing every memory location by painstakingly loading in a bogus note and recording its effect. Each note takes about a minute to test and they have tens of thousands of addresses to check over several devices.
[Alex] continues to delight us with his projects. His third-generation tiny Braitenberg vehicle, a light seeking robot, is a big improvement over its predecessor, the mini Braitenberg vehicle. He’s moved from an Arduino based design to using the AVR ATtiny25v, replaced the breadboard with a PCB, and reduced the parts count. We think it was a great idea to use shrink tubing to shield the back of the photo-resistors from ambient light. Don’t miss the video of these little guys chasing a flashlight beam after the break. Continue reading “Tiny Light-seeking Robots”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBikHgnt16E]
Spiderbot moves with four magnetic grapplers that it can launch, detach, and aim according to it’s path planning algorithm. While the robot is definitely not a final product and is quite a bit away from moving with the same grace and speed as our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, it is definitely one of the more interesting locomotion experiments out there. The video has some nice slow motion footage of the main mechanisms as well as screen captures of the path planning.
[Via BotJunkie]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp8Y2yjV4fU]
Swedish hacker [Hans Andersson] is no stranger to puzzle-solving robots. His prior work, A Rubik’s cube-solving robot called Tilted Twister, made waves through the internet last year. [Hans’] latest project only has to work in two dimensions, but is no less clever. This new robot, built around the LEGO Mindstorms NXT system, “reads” a printed sudoku page, solves the puzzle, then fills out the solution right on the same page, confidently and in ink. It’s a well-rounded project that brings together an unexpected image scanner, image processing algorithms, and precise motor control, all using standard NXT elements.
The building instructions have not yet been posted, but if the video above and the directions for his prior ’bot are any indication, then we’re in for a treat; he simply has a knack for explaining things concisely and with visual clarity. The source code and the detailed PDF diagrams for Tilted Twister are as gorgeous as his new robot’s penmanship.
[thanks Eric]
