DPRG mailing list archives: [DPRG] ProtoBot progress...

Tue Jul 10 20:51:13 CDT 2007

David,

Yes, ProtoBot really wants to come out and play with other robots.  :)  A
trip or several to Dallas is/are completely reasonable for me this fall.
Later fall and on into winter are only limited by the snow pack this winter.

Following right in line with the stages of the challenge, early on I will
most likely only be able to run dead reckoning out and back and the umbark
square with only internal sensors.  Later as I enable layered in technology
through software extensions, I will be able attempt more significant
challenges and this is just a matter of time available to dedicate to the
project.  Other than some small work on the home before first snow fall this
work this is one of only two significant projects  even on the list right
now so I suspect ProtoBot will come up to speed quickly.

There are merits to the idea of challenges as a way to rate one's status in
the amateur ranking and progress from year to year.   Competitions are also
a lot of fun and I enjoy them as well and there may be a good mix.  For any
given "event" defined as a particular gathering / weekend robot trials,
there can be localized competition where the official metrics are measured /
judged and a time / score calculated for the local entrants bragging rights.
If this is combined with a standard set of metrics such as precision,
efficiency, or other tangible / measurable unit that can be measured, to
determine ranking against a larger field (possibly robots not present at the
current event but those who ran in past events) then within a particular
level (merit badge or level of performance attained by the robot, many
robots can be ranked.

For example, the field against which robot "insert name here" will be ranked
are those robots in class AA or BB.  In this Case AA or BB may be those
robots capable of executing out and back navigation with simple obstacles.
The class equates to the merit badge where the scoring or metrics may be
time, precision, some determination on how obstacles are dealt with, etc...

-Just thoughts to chew on...

-Kenneth

-----Original Message-----
From: dprglist-bounces at dprg.org [mailto:dprglist-bounces at dprg.org]On
Behalf Of dpa
Sent: Monday, July 09, 2007 4:16 PM
To: Kenneth Maxon
Cc: dprglist at dprg.org
Subject: Re: [DPRG] ProtoBot progress...

Kenneth,

Beautiful and inspiring work, as always.

Looks like you are nearly ready for a trip to Dallas for a "JBot Challenge"
a.k.a. DPRG Long Haul competition.  I've had a couple of other out-of-town
folks express an interest in such an event this fall.  Can ProtoBot be
ready?

We were discussing three separate "challenges" that would include 1) A 100
foot Borenstein square (UMBmark) in an empty parking lot like we did last
year, 2) Wall following around the perimeter of a big building at
FairPark --
either the Science Place itself or perhaps the Aquarium Building, and 3) A
two
way-point trip across FairPark and back, somewhat like the trek from TSP to
the
WRR studios that jBot demo'd for the DPRG last year.

Dr. Huff would like to see these as challenges rather than as competitions,
more like BoyScout merit badges where everyone that completes a particular
challenge is rewarded.  I'm not sure.  Seems like folks are more likely to
show up for a competition, based on previous experiences.

Perhaps we could combine both, with a merit-based challenge but still keep
track of fastest times, best accuracy, etc, in a Book of Honor so builders
can know how their creation ranked compared to others.  Need some thought
about this.  Mostly I'd just like to get jBot together with some other
outdoor
robots and play...

Thoughts?

best regards,
dpa

> Hello David & Group,
>
> I thought to take a few minutes to share my personal robotics inspiration
of
> the week.
>
> Status today:
>
> I have a medium duty rolling chassis.  The suspension (or lack there of)
is
> hard other than that afforded by the hard foam wheels.  The main control
> board and power system boards are stuffed and operational (running minimal
> code & CPLD functions.)  The recent push has been to design/build an
> operational rolling chassis for outdoor use.  Mechanically the Initial
> design is complete with the exception of the chain drive the connects
> gearbox output stages to the front and rear motors.  (right side fore and
> aft wheels rotate together on one gearbox, while the left side shares a
> second giving differential steering operation.)  To give you an idea for
> scale, those are 10" tires...
>
> http://nikita.argia.net/kmaxon/proto_bot_142.jpg
>
> http://nikita.argia.net/kmaxon/proto_bot_controller_bd_02.jpg
>
>
> Coming Status in the next couple weeks:
>
> In the coming week, I'll mount the batteries (~10min with a hex wrench).
I
> also need to stuff and mount the RF remote control interface board, and to
> stuff both motor driver boards (visible in the lower center foreground of
> this image (mounted vertically, smaller plastic enclosure))  After this
> there is a reasonably large wiring job ahead of me, however I have already
> designed in cable disconnects for each enclosure to make them modular so
> that I can pull them from the bot for repair or bench operation.
>
>
> Future statuses, no time line set:
>
> There are many planned future add-ons.  The power supply board contains
> several additional DC motor drivers as well as Stepper motor drivers &
> configurable high power switches for later additions of a air powered ping
> pong ball vortex launcher, a small arm for retrieving objects & expended
> ammo (ping pong balls).  If all progresses well, I will be layering in
> several of the vision system components from my small robot project "Dohn
> Joe" and some of the other structured light work I've been playing with
over
> the years.   However the immediate tasks are to get this beastie up and
> running in a short time frame now that the mechanicals are sound.
>
>
> I hope the photos provide some form of inspiration to the group to get out
> there and work on their own robots.  If you care to check out some
detailed
> photos of the robot parts or other construction photos I've posted them in
> the ProtoBot section of my web site...
>
> http://www.users.qwest.net/~kmaxon/index.html
>
> -Enjoy
>
>

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