Re-making the base and first motors

After looking into what motors I would be using I decided to scrap my base and redesign it. The old base had issues with turning especially so instead of using a gear system with one motor for the wheels, I am using a motor driving both back wheels and replacing the front wheel with a smaller caster wheel.

In addition, I bought my two YG2732 Duratech wheel driving motors today from Jaycar.

The result turned out nicely; everything is in place except for the caster, but not bonded (I plan to do this using silicon). Order going out soon for the other parts.

The building is complete!

After going over the arm and seeing how flimsy and unreliable the arm and claw especially were I decided to redo the arm. One major feature I wanted to change was the direction of grabbing and the strength of the claw. The results turned out nice and solid.

Now I can start working on the heavy stuff, installing the electronics into the robot and then programming it.

The Arms

I knew already this was going to be the trickest bit so did a few sketches first:

From this final rough sketch I ended up getting the first arm prototype done now I just have to reproduce a second one for the other arm and tweak.

Everything is working and moving as required. Only problem is the joint attaches the arm to the body isn't fixed so the arm droops (why I put the red block under the hand) but I'll fix that later.

The Upper body and Head

The upper body is completed which will connect directly on top of the last section.

Pieces with holes were specifically chosen as LED lights are going to go into side each of the hollow chambers along with the motors.

Finally the head is done. The idea is that it will house the chip which will control everything. Also hoping to stick some LED lights inside as well as motorising the glass to open and close.

Its pretty damn tall in relation to its base dimensions so a concern was stability but so far it seems to be holding steady with no problems. Still when its done the front will end up with more weight on it.

Next goal is completing the arms so I can begin figuring out the technical side of things. If anyone knows anything about robotics particularly with the functioning of the arms (which I am aiming to move and pick things up) knowledge would be appreciated :)

22/12/12 (from now blogs are going to be live)

The body

I have begun building up what will be the body of the robot.

 The red centre block is where the motor to control the rotation of the body will go.

 The next section goes directly on top attached by a 360 degree spinning joint which will be drilled for the motor to connect.

Enough work for today. Happy end of the world everyone :)

21/12/12

Work begins

I started by brainstorming a general idea of what I wanted my robot to do and how it would look. I came to the conclusion that the robot:

• Would have a humanoid robot feel (However would have a 360 movement on wheels rather than legs to not over complicate things)
• Would be able to pick objects up
• Would be lit up with a series of LED light
• Would be controlled by remote control

While these were the primary aims I have ideas of later adding audio features such as speech recognition and audio playback.

Today I also started the base of the robot. The front wheel has about 100 degrees of movement and will be controlled from within the chamber behind it. The back wheels are connected by a gear system which will be connected to a motor later. They are connected by a rubber band which will be replaced by a metal chain at a later stage.

20/12/12

My vision

I recently decided to aim for a future in Mechatronics and so what better way to determine if it's what I want to do as well as get some first hand experience by building my own robot. At first I was looking to buy a humanoid robot kit but after seeing the prices I changed my mind and decided to make one from scratch using my massive stash of Lego from when I was a kid. After making this framework I will attempt to install the electronics and get my robot working all with no knowledge of robotics whatsoever. Wish me luck :D

18/12/12 (I've already started work before I decided to blog)