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[DPRG] Robot building survey
Subject: [DPRG] Robot building survey
From: Randy M. Dumse
rmd at newmicros.com
Date: Mon Dec 11 20:33:04 CST 2006
I think the idea of this survey is very interesting, and I hope
the club members take the time to answer. I think we all will be
enlightened by the answers.
> * Why aren't you building a robot?
I have built this year, two soccerbots for the Queen of Jordan
project. I have in progress; my outdoor tank (now with all
electronics burnt out), UTA's yellow tank awaiting encoders,
clearbot partially rigged for Can Can, Lynxmotion Viper with
just added encoders to the motors, my MiniSumo was used in the
university class this spring, but is now set aside, and I worked
in the spring with Travis on his Red Octabot implementing
grippers, basic motion commands, sonar ranging, Sharp IR
Rangers.
My balancer, Boyd, has a broken frame. My EH3R walker is set
aside. My H3 walker is set aside, but was considered as a base
to implement Genghis code. I have an L robot from Jeff, but
haven't made much progress because I haven't figured how to
attach encoders to a Tamiya Twin motor set.
> * Why aren't you making any progress on your robot?
One of the problems I noticed recently was I had to keep
swapping batteries around from robot to robot. A change I made
was to order permanent rechargable stacks to be built into the
robots, so the batteries should be there when they are needed.
While my programming skills are high, my eyes are failing, so it
is very difficult for me to manage hand-eye coordination for
building or even attaching wires.
I could make quite a bit of more progress if someone wanted to
help with the physical issues, and keep me focused. My student
assistant this summer was a big help, and without his and James
and Ed Koffeman the Queen's robots would have been less likely a
success.
I am quite willing to work with others on their projects in
return for some help with mine. I don't mind programming at all,
and the more experience I get in the field, the better for me
personally. Of course, I'd perfer to use my own stuff
(electronics) because that is what I know best and am most
efficient at.
> * If you are making progress on your robot, why haven't you
> told the rest of us about it?
I don't usually attend the meetings anymore, because I live in
town all week under strange conditions (staying on a sailboat),
and on the weekends, I get to go home and sleep in a real bed.
But that's 2 hours away from Dallas. So the idea of driving
another 4 hours, or give up one of my two only days at home a
week, to make a meeting looses out.
I do however try to make the RBNOs that I can. I brought the
Queen's robots and demonstrated them at an earlier time. I
brought my balancer and my EH3R and demonstrated them in the
spring (iirc). My work with Travis was in public view there as
well.
> * What can the club do to make building a robot more
> enjoyable for you?
I've made my most progress when working with others. I don't
mind teaching what I know. So if other members want to work with
me, I am open to collaborations. Particularly if they've got the
hardware and need programming.
Randy
www.newmicros.com
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