Here’s a vid of a hamster, in a hamster ball, controlling a iRobot Create. The hamster controls the robot by running in the ball in whatever direction he/she likes. The ball is supported on three rollers and an optical sensor measures which way and how fast the ball is spinning. Those values are fed into […]
I’m going back for more Attack of the Show! this Thursday! Tune in to see cool demos. I’m bringing some Twitchie robots (including Becky Stern’s stuffed scorpion, and my RoboFinger), the Tweet-a-Watt DIY power usage monitor, and everyone’s favorite light-sensitive analog synth kit, the Thingamakit. This episode will air on Thursday, February 26th at 7pm […]
Note: We had to cancel the January Dorkbot DC meeting because of weather. So, if you thought you missed James Mallos’ BEAM talk, you didn’t! Hope to see you next Tuesday! Next Meeting: 24 February 2009 7 PM – 9 PM (ET) ALWAYS FREE! Location: Smith Hall of Art, Room 114 George Washington University 801 […]
I’m converting a Twitchie kit into a finger-controlled robot arm. I built a little servo breakout on some perfboard, and added pin headers to plug a flex sensor into it, making a voltage divider circuit for the Arduino. This means the angle of the servos changes (rapidly!) as you bend the sensor. I’ll be attaching […]
Howard Gordon, of Surveyor Corporation, makers of the SRV-1 Blackfin robot platform, sent us a link to this software collaboration they did with Jeffrey Nelson, builder of the Forknife robot. Jeffrey developed an open-source Android console for the SRV-1 that allows you to remotely control and see the camera feed of the bot from a […]
This slide deck is a good resource for anyone looking to build a robot based on TI’s Beagle Board: At the Homebrew Robotics Club in Silicon Valley, on Nov 19, 2008, Nathan Monson introduced the BeagleBoard, focusing on the hardware and software features that make it popular among robot hobbyists. Building Robots with the BeagleBoard […]
By way of BotJunkie comes this robot vacuum, the Dustbot, sold by Tomy in 1985. I’d never even heard of it. The broom and dustpan is not, apparently, how it does its job. That’s just for a little light entertainment while it attempts a little light vacuuming. Tomy Vacuuming Dustbot Had Edge Sensors In 1985
