Hi Randy,<br><br>Thanks for the explanation of the football toy! I remember seeing one or two during my childhood, but didn't know about the two clear plastic sheet strips. I think you're on to something here. <br>
<br>I didn't cut my bristles because I didn't think I could cut two of them accurately enough. I haven't been able to turn my catamaran bristlebot by powering only one motor. I do have an idea for another way to do it, but it would be electrically much more complicated. (Kind of link an ultrasonic actuator works.)
<br><br>Another idea arose during the RBNO. The pager motors make my 'bot "hover" pretty well with either motor spinning, so maybe attaching a fan blade to each one would allow for some pusher-prop turning. Not really elegant, but it might be fun to try.
<br><br>I'm going to try to make some sheet plastic "feet" to replace my toothbrushes, kind of like the football player bases. Thanks for the ASCII art!<br><br>-Jeff<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Jan 9, 2008 3:15 PM, Randy M. Dumse <
<a href="mailto:rmd@newmicros.com">rmd@newmicros.com</a>> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span>I was going to mention since I saw the video Jeff, I
think the combination of some vertical and some diagonal bristles is what gave
my Cross Action B BristleBot such speed. </span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span></span></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span>I see yours used nearly vertical bristles only.
</span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span></span></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span>My childhood electric football players used two bits of
clear plastic sheet strips. Forward, it had one strip, running from side to
side (e.g. left to right of the player) set at an angle so the top of the
strip was forward placed and the bottom of the strip was aft relative
to it. The other strip in the back, also ran horizontally across the players
bottom pad, but it was set in vertically, without a cant or direction to it. I
was pretty sure this arrangement was what made the players always go (roughly)
forward when the floor vibrated. (Man that thing was loud! Like a 60-Hz
transformer hum feed into a megaphone.)</span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span></span></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span>Ascii art attempt follows:</span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span></span></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span>
|| \\</span></font></div></span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span> || \\ player
legs</span></font></div></span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span> ||
\\</span></font></div></span></font><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span>+-------------+</span></font></span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left">
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span>| player base |</span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span>+-------------+</span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span> \ |</span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span>
\ | <- strips of
flexible plastic sheeting</span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span></span></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span>
^ ^</span></font></div></span></font></div></span></font><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span></span></font></div></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span>fwd strip, aft strip</span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span>angled
vertical</span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span></span></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span></span></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span>Anybody got ideas how we're going to put directional
controls on these bristle bots yet? So far, there are varied reports on making
catamarans turn by using only one motor, mostly not successful. To throw a
mechanical weight, or bristle direction control seems problematic. Even micro
servos seem too large, as big as the rest of the robot. We need smaller
actuators than even that.</span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span></span></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span>Randy</span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Courier New" size="2"><span><a href="http://www.newmicros.com" target="_blank">www.newmicros.com</a></span></font></div></div>
</blockquote></div><br>