My interest in robotics was always present, but until a certain age it was a complete unachievable skill due to my artistic and non engineering background. When I discovered the Arduino platform I started to mess with LEDs, buttons, breadboards, sensors and motors, and when suddenly I gathered everything into one piece my first robot was born. After that many robots and strange creatures appeared. Most of all, the main objective was to have loads of FUN!! I never imagined that this hobby would become a business someday!
Imagine what happen when hobbyists, engeneers, artists and all kinds of cool people from very different backgrounds, gather with a single purpose in common, to create robots, share knowledge and information, and mostly have a lot of fun!
It’s a joy to see my Talkie Walkie being featured in this nice video. Fritsl and Rik, you guys rule!!
Rui Horta was invited to run a day called “Hoje Quem Manda Sou Eu” @ Pavilhão do Conhecimento, this was a day full of digital art, interactive installations and creative robotics.
I exposed ICU and two Farrusco’s:
What a great day!!! :)
ICU is a sub-project of the SWARS (see what a robot sees) project.
This time I not just wanted to see what a robot sees, but I also wanted to give the robot the ability to understand that there is a person in the room, and stare at the person.
To detect faces I used the OPENCV library for Processing, wich turns out to be very fun to work with and is very sensitive to human faces.. and sometimes it detect faces where there aren’t any.. maybe it is a ghost face detector algorythm!!
I didn’t have time to work with the four motors, I am only working with the two servo motors on the top. Next step will be to apply inverse kinematics and have a better level of interactivity.
Unfortunately I had to pick the computer that was being used in this installation, I will need it in the next weeks, but this bot will be available to the public very soon I promise!!
This is the code I am using if someone wants to look at it, you will need to have the MegaServo library installed for the Arduino sketch, and the OPENCV lib for the Processing sketch.
This project is a collection of experiences related to seeing and percieving the world from the point of view of robotic creatures. Robots will send sensor data to the computer and will generate visual and audio landscapes in real time.
The development started during the Audiencia Zero residency in O Espaço do Tempo in Montemor-o-Novo, and will continue until the final exhibition wich will be in July.
This is a colaborative project where many friends are bringing together their skills, until now we have collaborated with:
– Pedro Ângelo with Serial Communication;
– Rui Madeira with computer vision technics and advanced maths;
– Sérgio Ferreira is a media and interaction guru, always providing precious help and advice;
– Daniel Gomes is working on a MAXMSP interactive sound;
– Nuno Morgadinho is developing an online application to remotely control robots.
– André Almeida is a computational guru and a great technology and interaction advisor.
More to come ;)
Sub-projects list:
This is the first iteration of this project, and just a quick test for something greater.. hope to have time for it in the future.
Components list:
– Motoruino (Arduino compatible board) up and running;
– Wireless camera and video converter sponsored by O Espaço do Tempo;
– Basic pan/tilt system built with PVC;
– GUI written in Processing enabling robot remote control, gives vision feedback and servos orientation.
SOURCE CODE FOR ARDUINO AND PROCESSING
The motoruino is so easy to setup, just plug the motors, sensors, upload code and your bot is ready to go.
I added a big capacitor (4700uF) on the PCB power connections as I had the Motoruino resetting randomly when a motor started (OddBot explains everything here)
This is a quick test drive with the demannu (unnamed bot).
I’ve found this two rc vehicles on a junk, they are in a very bad condition. The big one has the DC motor burned out, I will try to replace it.. brushless motor maybe.
They both have two different gear mode (hi and low speed), I am wishing to try it out.
This is the dead motor..
The small car doesn’t have the rear suspension, I could try to rebuild it but I wanted to try something different with this one. I want to go for a chopper tricycle style :D
It’s a bit weirdo, and I’m very unsure if this will work, but I will give it a try.. If it fails, I want to try with one of the original wheels on the front, the reason I didn’t try is because I don’t have a way to hold the front wheel right now, I must look on a hardware store for a strong wire and it is 2 AM right now.
Is much stylish this way, definitely, this way it would be an all terrain tricycle!! :D
Two more infrared sensors were added on the front, this way he’s more sensitive to the environment. Video is on the go..
You can see more details about the construction process on this post.
Updated version here.
It’s been quite a while without building robots… errr.. creatures..
anyhow I’m releasing this new creature, wich is still a work in progress.. and since I can’t think on a name for it, I will call it demannU, witch is “unnamed” backwards… sounds like ‘demon’, and for the sake of insanity, it looks like a little demon..
the wheels where designed by Catarina Mota, and if you go to thingiverse, you can download the source code, and print your own wheels if you have access to a 3D printer
pololu mini gears, i strongly advice this motors, very powerfull and fast
this bits will be the motors supports
and after some dremel work they look nice and ready to hold the motors
the chassis, this time I wanted to try wood, it’s quite good to work and to do fast prototyping
et voilá
It isn’t finished yet, but I wanted to share with you :) will add more sensors and more cool stuff as soon as I have time
updated version here: http://lab.guilhermemartins.net/2010/02/09/demannu-update/
May I introduce you to the new family members: Farrusco v2.5, and Farrusco Junior.
Farrusco v2 is the new generation of my first robot Farrusco.
The F2 was created with Filipe Valpereiro from InMotion.pt, and this was the robot used for the last robotics workshops season.
The F2.5 version has a cleaner design, we are using two modified servos to work as DC motors as you can see in this tutorial, the motor driver is an ardumoto, and soon I will upload more photos with new addons.
Farrusco Junior is another iteration, he has two modified servos and a small chassis. The modified servos operate as normal servos but they rotate 360º continuously, and you can learn howto hack them watching this video tutorial (in portuguese).
This robot is still a work in progress, and I will upload new pics soon.
All the components were sponsored by InMotion.pt.
This is my first experiment with the MakerBot. I am totally thrilled with this machine!!!
(photo by Tiago Serra)
SSS (servo suspension system) is designed to support standard servo motors and act as a basic suspension. It is still a work in progress and has not been tested yet.
Will update results as soon as possible (still waiting to have my lab back).
Already uploaded this part to thingiverse.
