tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84776362011-12-14T19:10:49.727-08:00What could you do if you applied modern-day computer programming tools to developing a robot?Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comBlogger201100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1106728156919269372005-01-26T01:24:00.000-08:002005-01-26T13:34:58.080-08:00

Jeff Birt wrote me a great email on the Seattle Robotics Society mailing list and I thought I would share his questions and my answers to the blog community as a whole: Are you pleased with your choice of EPIA mb? I'm pleased with my Via EPIA 5000. While it is "only" 500 MHz, that's more than enough CPU for my needs. The only reason I would change would be to move to the smaller 10 cm x 10

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1106553647560280252005-01-23T23:51:00.000-08:002005-01-24T00:00:47.560-08:00

I've rebuilt my Windows XP Embedded image using the updated XPe Service Pack 2 release. All the basic electronics are mounted, including my repurposed ER1 stepper motors/wheels and the ER1 control box that drives them. I was getting excited that I was pretty close to finishing my indoor chassis. Ah, but another wrinkle appears -- the ER1 software really, really doesn't want to sit on top of XP

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1106214458374470192005-01-20T01:40:00.000-08:002005-01-20T01:47:38.373-08:00

Below are a couple of snapshots of the "mostly finished" chassis rework for Cylon. I've finished the cabling to attach a USB device, the Brainstem, and the on button as well as added a few mounting areas to the sensor plane. OK, I'm ready to test -- I connect the power, press the on button, and....nothing. Hmm, it seems like I'll have to go through and do some additional wire testing, line by

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1106213953142667612005-01-20T01:39:00.000-08:002005-01-20T01:39:13.143-08:00

Side view of the same 

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1106213923148246812005-01-20T01:38:00.000-08:002005-01-20T01:40:06.066-08:00

Aerial view of the finished brain & sensor planes of the new Cylon chassis 

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1106031529143205832005-01-17T21:59:00.000-08:002005-01-18T00:17:07.986-08:00

Yes, Virginia, I'm using Windows. Windows XP Embedded, specifically. I want an environment where I can write the logic for my robot using C# & the .NET Framework which is the programming environment I use in my day job for which I've developed quite a liking. I don't want to load up my robot with my 40 kilogram Dell Dimension, heck I don't even want to load my robot down with a 10 kg laptop.

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1106018112656286962005-01-17T17:49:00.000-08:002005-01-17T20:37:30.373-08:00

So you want to create a robot. You've got a great idea -- you're going to use that old Palm Pilot you have sitting around, or maybe a Pocket PC, or maybe you agree with Via and think a Mini-ITX PC motherboard is going to 'be all that'. Heck, you even have an old set of rollerblades you haven't used in two years, an erector set, and some windshield wiper motors you've been saving from your '57

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1105901600108423732005-01-16T10:18:00.000-08:002005-01-17T23:11:22.666-08:00

I'm converting Cylon over from a simple single-level robot to a multiple level robot, as stated in a previous entry. I'm doing this to give me more room to mount sensors, get more distance between sensors and logic (to help deal with electromagnetic interference), and to help protect the components better from damage. This introduces a new problem though. How do I carry signals between levels?

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1105822063349869242005-01-15T13:36:00.000-08:002005-01-15T12:47:43.350-08:00

Hey, two tips I've recently learned that I'd like to share: Silicone Sealant is your friend. The GE Silicone II sealant you can find at your local hardware store is waterproof, a great insulator, withstands up to 400°F, dries in 30 minutes, goes on cold, and withstands vibration pretty well. This is a great alternative to hot melt when you need to seal or add vibration resistance to something.

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1105816473030176672005-01-15T10:38:00.000-08:002005-01-15T11:19:27.506-08:00

Winter is here in the Seattle area, and that means cold and rain. Cold and rain means that I don't get outside to run Cylon around my block nearly as much. To keep me moving forward in the interim I've been working on an 'indoor' base for the robot which is keeping me busy, but has kind of limited my progress. The first iteration of Cylon's chassis is built on the Tamiya TXT-1 RC Monster Truck

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1096693466817610582004-10-01T21:55:00.000-07:002004-10-01T22:09:49.606-07:00

On the SRS Mailing list, the topic of how to code up a Kalman filter came up. I said I'd post some sample code of how I implemented a simple Kalman filter.The core concept of a Kalman filter is that each "number" consists of two parts -- the value of the number and the variance, or uncertainty / error range of the number. When you add numbers together or update a number, you have to take both the

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1096474939131969932004-09-29T09:16:00.000-07:002004-09-29T09:24:36.206-07:00

One robot builder I spent a lot of time talking to was Ted Larson who submitted a robot for Robo-Magellan named Odessey. I was very interested in Ted's work on his sensor systems, especially his gyroscope & accelerometer based inertial navigation sensor. Ted also has a couple of good pictures of the contest.

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1096350842347681752004-09-27T22:51:00.000-07:002004-09-27T22:54:02.346-07:00

I'm really intrigued by the bump sensor created for the Merriwether robot for the Robo-Magellan contest. These guys have quite the innovative solution to getting a good 180° of collision coverage.

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1096348187921922902004-09-27T22:00:00.000-07:002005-01-15T11:16:49.396-08:00

One of the reasons I have been pursuing Windows XP Embedded and the .NET Framework 2.0 as the brain of Cylon is to be able to build on top of a high level programming language that gives me much more power to write detailed algorithms. Here are two example methods from the CylonControl class that should give you an idea what it looks like to write robot control code in C#: private void _Track()

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1096347109979695012004-09-27T21:47:00.000-07:002004-09-27T21:56:47.533-07:00

Cylon has two major UI components. GpsViewer for finding, averaging, and plotting course waypoints (click to enlarge) CylonUI for viewing the current state and telemetry of the robot while it is in operation: Uh, obviously I'm an API developer, not a UI guy. My design skills are a bit, ah, primitive. One cool thing I did with GpsViewer is use the Tablet PC SDK to ink-enable the app.

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1096346061959007712004-09-27T21:28:00.000-07:002004-09-27T22:17:14.900-07:00

On the SRS mailing list, the topic came up of what the GPS lat/long co-ordinates of the contest were. I saved my co-ordinates so I could come back and re-run the race later, so here they are: The three midpoints are each in an area that has a clear, straight-line shot from the previous waypoint. Each midpoint is also out in the open, it was my intention to use dead-reckoning between each

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1096231442610301812004-09-26T13:17:00.000-07:002004-09-28T03:21:26.486-07:00

OK, let's look at the software components of Cylon: Brainstem.NetA Managed C++ recompilation of the Brainstem GP board which is used to do all the sensor & motor I/O. GpsReaderA library that talks to a Gps unit over RS-232 and converts the Gps's output into managed objects (AKA GpsPoint, GpsFix events). It understands the NMEA-0183 protocol which is commonly used by consumer GPSes. It has

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1096220441825648632004-09-26T10:39:00.000-07:002004-09-26T11:10:30.146-07:00

Cylon's Electronics (Click to enlarge): Cylon's Chassis (Click to enlarge):

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1096178963184638082004-09-25T23:08:00.000-07:002004-10-01T01:23:57.173-07:00

After many months of ramp-up today was the day. We charged up the batteries, packaged up the critical triage equipment in case of failure, and hiked the whole family out to the Seattle Center for the Seattle Robotics Society's Robothon conference. Once there, Cylon joined the lineup for the Robo-Magellan contest. The goal was to cross about 100 meters of varied city park-like terrain (grass,

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8477636.post-1096178498071444472004-09-25T22:47:00.000-07:002004-09-25T23:14:58.823-07:00

I'm Jay Beavers. I'm owned by my robot, Cylon. Cylon has been working on me for the past year or so. Before my life was enslaved by Cylon, I played around with smaller, less costly, less possessive robots. I started down this dark path with Lego Mindstorms -- I purchased one of the first Mindstorms kits from a FAO Schwarz store in Seattle the first day they were out. From there, I fell into

Jay Beaversnoreply@blogger.com