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January 22, 2008 06:40 PM

Categories: General Robotics Robot Hacks and Mods

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Kadeiqus

Member
Joined: 01/12/2008

At first, when I thought of robotics and robots in general, I thought $$$.  To buy a kit, or even to buy a ready to walk robot can cost you a pretty penny.  But, as I have done more reading on the subject and have started to learn the ins and outs of the robot world, I new that I would have to start small and work my way up.  That way I would better grasp the over-all idea and the how's/why's it all works.  This started to open my eyes to new concepts I had not considered before.  I found that I have a lot of "Potential" just laying around my house! 

I read an article about Mark Tilden that stated some of his first robots were created from parts out of radios and walkmans.  This got me to thinking...  I have a LOT of older electronic stuff laying around that I really don't use, or need anymore for that matter.  But, all of these obects (CD Players, radios, R/C Cars, Cell Phones, & even some old Game systems) are chocked full of electronic parts that might be useful to build some little robots. 

Have any of you created anything out of spare parts like this, and if so, what are some projects you have done that you are most proud of?

Do you have any projects that you have done that some of the rest of us might be able to attempt? 

What are some ideas that you might have that can utilize this sort of resource to create something new?  Even if those ideas are just in theory, that is ok.  I just want to hear what creative works might have, or will, come out of a concept like this! 

Discussion:    Add a Comment | Comments 1-25 of 48 | Latest Comment | 1 2 Next »

Nocturnal Avatar
  Member
January 22, 2008 6:47 PM

Do a google search for BEAM robotics, you should find lots of info.

RoboGuide - Your guide to hacking all things WowWee

MrScott Avatar
  Moderator
January 22, 2008 6:51 PM

Some of my 70's vintage tinkering is described here...

Bring-out-the-droids

I was active with my pre-teen son back when Mark's beam-bots were just being described.

I've found that the motors, gears, sensors, and such are reuseable. Not so much the core electronics from appliances. 

ScottE -- Member (always) & Moderator (when needed)

Generic Member Avatar
Member
January 22, 2008 7:13 PM

The most fun I've had is putting together little solar powered BEAM bots, I've followed Mr. T ever since he first appeared on the 1997 cover of National Geographic.  Go to solarbotics.com if you want to find some really easy, fun, and educational robots to build, all can be built with discarded "junk" too : )

~AlphaCentauri

Rudolph Avatar
  Member
January 22, 2008 7:54 PM

Check out the book Bugbots, Junkbots, and Bots on Wheels. Several recipes for BEAM style bots. It's written by Mark Tilden and Dave Hrynkiw of BEAM and Solarbotics fame. The forward written by Tilden is pretty funny too, talking about how his $5 cat outwitted his $5000 robot.

Watch out, don't step in the anthropomorphization.

Kadeiqus Avatar
Member
January 22, 2008 9:40 PM

Wow, lol... it might take me a couple of days to go through the information that you all just gave.  But, I do appreciate the links and recommendation's.

I can just see the multi-colored Tin Can man in my mind.  LOL  That must have been a sight for its time!

I am curious to hear from RobosapienV2-4mem8, come out come out where ever you are!  LOL

Anyone else got any good stories of their first tinkers, or any ideas for future ones? 

MrScott Avatar
  Moderator
January 22, 2008 10:06 PM

I've been a parts gatherer since the 60's. Some of the parts I gathered then still haven't found their way into anything useful....

I hang onto high torque, low speed motors. Appliances rarely make it out to the curb without donating something to the stash of bits and pieces.

A lot of my gizmos are for animatronics, rather than robotics. A simple motor and lever system for making something wiggle. Sometimes it's for Halloween decorations. Sometimes its for a 1:6 scale diorama.

An old power screwdriver in which the battery went flat is just the thing for running a lead screw to drive a linear actuator. 

A can opener retired because of a dull wheel donates an excellent high torque, low rpm motor. They are for limited duty cycles, though, as they overheat if run for more than a minute at a time.

VCR tape transport mechanisms make another source of high-tech looking coordinated motion.

...but, mostly, it all sits around in boxes, waiting for my inspiration to strike. 

ScottE -- Member (always) & Moderator (when needed)

I,robot114 Avatar
Member
January 23, 2008 12:32 PM

Mr. Scott! you got a new avatar! Why,?!  I almost thought that you were

RobosapianV2-4mem8,  Your also rank 1 instead of Nocturnal. How?!(:^0

P.s. sorry if this is off topic.

p.s.s. I've heard of a robo named Walkman that was made out of a Sony Walkman and sold for $0.64.

"Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

MrScott Avatar
  Moderator
January 23, 2008 12:55 PM

Change is good. Took the pic for the avatar just last night.

It's a self portrait taken by holding the camera out at arms length....(not!)

It's actually a pic of my 18" Terminator figure taken with a closeup lens. What you see is what it is. 

The rank?  Whatever magic Capable Networks uses to calculate rank is at play. I've been #2 for quite a while. I expect I'll be bumped from #1 when somebody posts some good hacking content again. 

As for cobbling together stuff from scrap, I do that in all sizes. Here's my full size Terminator as seen at my house each Halloween. It's mostly just a statue, though it does have a wireless video cam that pans back and forth across the walkway, and an assortment of strobes and lights.

ScottE -- Member (always) & Moderator (when needed)

Kadeiqus Avatar
Member
January 23, 2008 5:57 PM

I saw that pic in another thread at one point.  It is very creative!  LOL  Does it have sensors that set it off when the kids walk by it so it can scare the bageebies out of them?

MrScott Avatar
  Moderator
January 23, 2008 6:52 PM

No sensor controlled actions onboard...yet. The wireless cam on the panning mount lets me monitor what it "sees" from inside the house.

This year it had a red xenon strobe, a flashing LED array, and the fogger belching clouds. I might have to actually dial it back a notch next year. Several of the smaller goblins refused to come up to the door. I had to meet them in the driveway with treats.

The Dads were eager to come forward though. Several of them gave it a good going over.

To be honest, it looks better in the dark, like many SFX do. It's torso and shoulders are made from the broken black steel frames of camp chairs. Two of those spring loaded, articulated, desk lamps were remissioned for the arms. Some bounty from the cast of electronics pile dresses up the inside of the torso.

ScottE -- Member (always) & Moderator (when needed)

GWJax Avatar
  Member
January 23, 2008 7:12 PM

I made a, well what I called the Kite walker. It would climb up the string of a box kit and once it got to the top it released a small slider plane and would climb back down for another reload. I made this some years ago out of only junk electronics. I no longer have it due to the little dive it did when I did not hook the safty line to the string, so it's in the Atlantic Ocean :( an no pics where taken. I have thought about remaking it with the new elctronics out there but never got around to it. GWJax

GWJax, To Hack and make mods on robots is a life style and comes natural and not by choice. If a robot has a screw to open it then it must be opened!

Robo BG Avatar
Member
January 23, 2008 7:12 PM

That looks really cool MrScott.  I like it.  I don't really know how to make anything like that.

Keep the robotic dreams,
-BG
http://www.robocommunity.com/article/12811/Cool-Programs-To-Use-For-Roboquad-...

Kadeiqus Avatar
Member
January 23, 2008 10:24 PM

Well you're in luck Robo BG, cause you see, with a little imagination and determination... anything is possible! That is one of the reasons that I started this thread. I don't think that a lot of people realize that potential lies all around them. They think they have to spend hundreds of dollars and have a masters Degree to be able to create something that functions. I know that at one time, I thought the same thing. But, I have since learned otherwise.

If you want to learn how to make something like MrScott's Halloween Terminator, just be creative, and give it your best shot! If you want to learn how to make robots that move and react, then start small. Nocturnal and Rudolph have both provided some good references listed at the top of this Thread. Check them out and give a few ideas a shot!

You can start with the little things. Build something simple to give yourself the challenge of finishing it. And when you do, you will realize that you have also built a foundation of confidence in yourself that you can use to build even bigger projecst on!

If you need some insperation, look to the article they wrote up about our very own Mr. RobosapienV2-4mem8! He primarily works with wood, making boats, Salt & Pepper shakers, and the such. He was inspired by the movie Short Circut back in the 80's and it turned him onto robotics. If I remeber correctly, he was already in his thirties when that happend, and he has went on to create some VERY IMPRESSIVE robots! And you wanna know the kicker? Most of what he has learned, He taught Himself!!!!! You know what are his two most powerful tools? Imagination, and Determination!

If any of you would like to read up on the article about 4mem8, you can find a link to it here!

Kadeiqus Avatar
Member
January 23, 2008 10:29 PM

GWJax said: I made a, well what I called the Kite walker. It would climb up the string of a box kit and once it got to the top it released a small slider plane and would climb back down for another reload.

That sounds very interesting GWJax!  I bet that would have been a site to see.  It's too bad that you never got a picture of him though.  Guess that is a hard lesson... that fact that robots can't swim well.

Well, at least not yet they can't!   

Kadeiqus Avatar
Member
January 23, 2008 11:23 PM

Here is a random though...  What about a Furby?  Remember those?  I wonder if you could take out the internal workings of Furby, and use them to create something more?  Maybe something that could move around and use the sensors to explore, yet retain the "Learning" aspect of Furby (As limited as it may be)

Any thoughts? 

Rudolph Avatar
  Member
January 23, 2008 11:39 PM

I think the best thing I remember about Furby was the contest to hack one to speak words unbecoming of a Furby :)

Otherwise it seems like they're mostly good for circuit bending.

edit = I found a Furby at the BigLots a few weeks ago. Package was all banged up, looked like it'd been there quite a while. They still wanted twenty five bucks for it though, not worth it to me. 

Watch out, don't step in the anthropomorphization.

RobosapienV2-4mem8 Avatar
  Member
January 24, 2008 11:56 AM

Kadeiqus: Many thanks for your comments above, You are totally right in imagination and determination, If something is NOT going right determination is the big thing to get you through the problem, next is a forum like this where you can bounce that problem and get other minds working collectivley.

One of my Robots is entirely made out of 1970-80 TTL-cmos logic chips it is called 4mem8 and is 5ft tall made out of Sagem printer motors with their encoders, the only none 1970-80 parts are some Comodrill planetery gearbox's, you can find the bot here. http://robosapienv2-4mem8.page.tl/4mem8-Robot.htm Sorry the pics are not larger, this was before I had a decent digital SLR. This project was never finished due to a rat infestation in my basement one year and the little Bas****s ate my wiring. There is no CPU, It is entirely run on fuzzy logic and sensors. Basicly once you put it in a room and set it going it will remember where it has gone and next time around it will not bump into anything, Quite cool for no CPU.

People yearn after this robotic dream, but you can't strip your life of all meaning, emotion and feeling and expect to function.


Robotic madness http://robosapienv2-4mem8.page.tl/

MrScott Avatar
  Moderator
January 24, 2008 12:32 PM

Are you sure you can call it a robot if it doesn't have legs and arms and a personality? Tongue out

But seriously, _that's_ the spirit of roll your own that got us to where we are now.  The Hollywood style robots are nice enough, but you have to start with a solid, functional foundation and build up.

My non-functional Terminator statue is "art", not a robot. It's eye candy. Your fuzzy logic equipped, room mapping trundler is a _real_ robot.

Huzzah to you. 

ScottE -- Member (always) & Moderator (when needed)

markcra Avatar
Member
January 24, 2008 12:46 PM

Wish I'd spotted this thread earlier. I'm a real hoarder and have been keeping bits of junk electronics for years! I used to help out in a video repair centre when I was at school which supplied me with a few old VCRs which had died. It's great what you can salvage from stuff, especially the older equipment which didn't go for more specific chips like microcontrollers (i.e. an old 5 1/4" floppy drive might land you a good stash of 7400 series ICs). Anything with moving parts is fair game, floppy drives, VCRs, CD/DVD drives (careful with the laser though), printers and of course junked robots. I've a few boxes of junk I'll need to get rid off when I get married next year so I might have one last chance at building some junk-bots with the stuff before finally saying goodbye. 

My favourite junk bot is called xi (cross-eye) and he's build from two motors from VCRs, IR-reciever LEDs (also VCR origin), a cell phone battery pack and a 7404 IC. Only new parts on it were two transistors.

 Another little bot of mine, spiderbot, is simply a pager motor, a coin cell battery and a switch. Copper wire soldered together holds the pieces together and gives it some character. I've a little how-to here.

markcra.com

GWJax Avatar
  Member
January 24, 2008 8:23 PM

markcra, Nice little spidy bot, simple but unique, Great Job. Tinkering and a little of imagination goes a long way. GWJax

GWJax, To Hack and make mods on robots is a life style and comes natural and not by choice. If a robot has a screw to open it then it must be opened!

Kadeiqus Avatar
Member
January 24, 2008 8:55 PM

Thanks for the Posts RobosapienV2-4mem8 and Markcra!  Those are excellent examples of the potential that is lying around our houses, when combined with a little imagination!  I would like to add... I have also seen some of the other projects you have both done, (Markcra - V1 Mods & 4mem8 - V2 w/ motorized base), both of which I have found to be very interesting and inspiring for me.  In the case of RobosapienV2-4mem8, I am eagerly awaiting to see what your finished V2 will actaully be like.  Laughing

GWJax Avatar
  Member
January 24, 2008 9:21 PM

Kadeiqus said:
GWJax said: I made a, well what I called the Kite walker. It would climb up the string of a box kit and once it got to the top it released a small slider plane and would climb back down for another reload.
That sounds very interesting GWJax!  I bet that would have been a site to see.  It's too bad that you never got a picture of him though.  Guess that is a hard lesson... that fact that robots can't swim well. Well, at least not yet they can't!   
It was, I had every one a the beach watching it and wanting one. I may try to reproduce it and post it with video and pics this time. GWJax

GWJax, To Hack and make mods on robots is a life style and comes natural and not by choice. If a robot has a screw to open it then it must be opened!

Kadeiqus Avatar
Member
January 24, 2008 10:20 PM

GWJax said: ... I may try to reproduce it and post it with video and pics this time.

Oh most definately!  If you do decide to recreate your kitewalker... try to document step by step so that some of us budding hacker/modders can attempt something simular.  A video would also be very interesting to see!

~~~

Side thought...

There is a section for RSMedia where people can upload their personalities... and we have the Mods/Hacks forum Topics...  Maybe a subsection inside mods and hacks should be added where people can post tutorials for different projects!  People could post the procedures and materials used in a step by step format so that others can attempt to recreate the project on their own, learning as they go.  We could even have a rating system for best Tutorials or Projects, voted for by the community!   ???   Just a thought, but I think it is at least worthy of consideration! 

                                                     ~ Kadeiqus
 

RobosapienV2-4mem8 Avatar
  Member
January 25, 2008 12:25 AM

MrScott: Thanks for your comment and you are so right. I just love your Terminator IT is a work of art. I must try to get 4mem8 bot back on track and restore him, But Oh, so many wires to replace.

Markcra: What a nice colection of bots, They look awesome.

Kadeiqus: Yes finishing RSV2 on mobile base needs a big kick, I have not touched it for a while because of other projects [ building more bots] I must complete this one, Programming is my problem and this is probably why it's on hold. Kadeiqus: Have you any pics of bots you have built! Or are you just starting in tis area?.

GWjax : Your kite walker sounds awesome, Please post pics/video's when time permits.

People yearn after this robotic dream, but you can't strip your life of all meaning, emotion and feeling and expect to function.


Robotic madness http://robosapienv2-4mem8.page.tl/

MrScott Avatar
  Moderator
January 25, 2008 12:34 AM

RobosapienV2-4mem8 said: MrScott: Thanks for your comment and you are so right. I just love your Terminator IT is a work of art. I must try to get 4mem8 bot back on track and restore him, But Oh, so many wires to replace. 

 If broken chairs, lamps, and duct tape is art.... I did mention the duct tape didn't I?

You've driven me back to the camera and bots three times this week,  RobosapienV2-4mem8.

Everytime I got a new avatar pic, I'd see it near yours in the forums, and I'd find myself thinking it needed to be more different. I think I've got it now. The right mix of edgy Terminator, having fun with this WowWee bot. 

ScottE -- Member (always) & Moderator (when needed)

Discussion:    Add a Comment | Back to Top | Comments 1-25 of 48 | Latest Comment | 1 2 Next »

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