Lithium Ion Batteries for RobotICs. Part 1 - This article discusses Liion batteries and describes a universal Lithium ion battery charger with a Smart Battery interface based on an Atmel ATMEGA8 microcontroller using GCC ver.3.2 Overview Lithium ion batteries are becoming a practical__
Lithium Ion Batteries for RobotICs. Part 2 - Liion Batteries Talk to your Battery Many of the newer battery packs are Smart. There is an intel-Duracell spec on this that many battery makers follow. it uses the SMBus (System Management Bus, an i2C derivative) to provide communications between__
Lithium Ion Batteries for RobotICs. Part 3 - The Charger Literature on the batteries is rather spotty. I learned enough to believe Li-ion would work for me. The only thing I needed to do was find or build a charger. My first battery turned out to be from an AMS Tech Rodeo 7000 laptop - they__
Lithium Ion Batteries for RobotICs. Part 4 - The Software You will require the latest (as of July, 2002) version of GCC, version 3.2 as provided on the AVRFreaks GCC web page, to be able to program the ATMEGA8 and take advantage of direct i/O register assignment mode which is new in this__
Little Autonomous Robot using PIC Micro controller - Here is a neat tutorial on how to build a small autonomous robot using PIC 18F4620. There are a lot of pictures and circuit schematics to help you get it done easily. The robot description isn’t uploaded completely yet. Work is still in progress, but then the important parts and circuits are put up. This I guess should be more than enough for any robotics enthusiast. __
Making a FRED photopopper - This photopopper circuit is built from two "Fred" solarengines wired together. __ Contact Eric Seale
Making a Simple Circuit effective whisker bumper - Several Projects, scroll down. We all have need of that last line of defense when the SONAR glitches, the IRPD doesn't and our bot is on a collision course with a table leg. That last defense against re-kitting is a bumper. I have made a few from microswitches, miniswitches and other things - usually they work, sometimes they need too much force to work and "ugh" collision. This example is another type of sensor that doesn't use a switch, its parts are super cheap and it works just great. Its a "whisker" bumper. Here are the parts you need to build one too. ____ Designed by Dennis Clark
Making Plexiglss Robot Wheels - Some hints on how to make plexiglas robot wheels. __ Designed by DC Reagan
MicroPower Solar Engine - A 'micro power solar engine' has been a goal since my introduction to BEAM Robotics. I believe that if there wasn't one before, I there is one now. What i'm presenting to you looks very similar to one of the circuits found in Steven Bolt's web pages. As you will see, I made only minor changes to that design and not without help. __ Designed by Ken Huntington
Miller popper - The 1uF timing caps should be adjusted to give the right discharge duration. The series 1N4148 diodes may not be required. For those not familiar with the photopopper and Miller SE operation, it works as follows:The main caps charges up until the voltage reaches the trigger of the 1381 which is equal to the rated trigger level plus the photodiode photovoltaic voltage (~.5V) plus the 1N4148 forward voltage (~100mV AT 5) plus the voltage drop (AT 5uA) across each leg of the 100K pot. The pot can therefore be used to match the 1381 trigger levels. The PD photovoltaic voltage is proportional to the light level. The SE whose PD has the lower light level will have a lower combined trigger level and will fire first. __ Designed by Bryan Yeung and Wilf Rigter
Miller solar engine - The Miller solar engine uses a 1381* voltage detector (a. k. a. , a voltage supervisor) IC to drive a voltage-based (type 1) solar engine. The 1381 is normally used to reset CPUs and Micros when the power supply drops too low for reliable operation. So 1381s detect and switch when the input voltage crosses the rated upper and lower threshold voltages. The upper- and lower-switching voltages are slightly overlapped so that the turn-on voltage is a few hundred mV above the turn-off voltage. This hysteresis keeps input noise (around the switching threshold) from resulting in multiple output cycles as the transition occurs. __ Contact Eric Seale
Mini-Sumo Robot Ring - A mini-Sumo ring is small, lightweight, and can be transported in a car. Having your own personal ring gives your robots the advantage of plenty of practice and experimentation. it's easy to build a competition-quality ring when you know the tricks. __ Contact David Cook
Mockman 2.0 - This project has returned from beyond the grave for a tune-up. Compressed, harsh, and '80s sounding are fitting descriptions of its sonic character. Yes, it is a niche sound which is quite the opposite of some JFET-based distortions developed by the 'groove, however we feel it is a great time capsule of an era fondly remembered by many. Whether you are looking for a simple weekend project or willing to play a cover of an '80s hard rock anthem, the Mockman will suit your needs. __ Contact holler @ runoffgroove.Com
Motor Walker - An overview of the P5v2 walker electronics by Wilf Rigter__
NEWT - my attempt at making a real test stand robot. This one is retired, but there are some interesting pictures of Sonar at work. __ Designed by DC Reagan
Nitinol (muscle wire) - A demonstration robot arm can be made with a short length of Nitinol and a few extra components as shown in the animation above. Nitinol is called Flexinol and possibly vise versa by the layman, but the two are not the same in performance. This website describes the two materials as equal but you should go to Dynalloy website to see the differences. __ Contact Collin Mitchell
Nocturnal Solar Engine-SIMD1 V0 - The original SiMD1, the V0 does its magic with just a resistor and a Germanium diode. SiMD1 V0 is the original SiMD1 design, and is based on a simple concept -- charging the storage capacitor through a Ge diode (for minimum forward voltage drop). __ Designed by Wifl Rigter
Nocturnal Solar Engine-SIMD1 V2 - The V2 has two flavors, essentially modifications of the V0 and V1, but with a transistor and resistor replacing the diode. This variant turns on earlier (i. e. , before it's so dark) and "cleaner" than the V0 and V1. __ Designed by Wifl Rigter
Nocturnal--solar engine - Nocturnal -- These solar engines charge up when it's light, and discharge (i. e. , power a load) when it's dark. Nocturnal solar engine designs are built for just one thing -- to provide power to a nighttime load. This means that unlike other SE designs, they charge continuously when there's light, then only release their power when it's dark -- essential behavior for BEAMbots that you only want to be active at night -- "crickets", night-lights, "pummers", and other such ornaments. __ Contact Eric Seale
Nu-based stepper Motor drive - A nifty (single-IC !) circuit to drive the bipolar stepper motor that's a part of floppy drives: __ Designed by Wilf Rigter
NuStepper - Uses just a single IC ('though not one you're likely to have in your "parts box") to give you reversible motor drive __ Designed by Wilf Rigter
Op-amp based Nv nets - A more complex, but more flexible way of implementing bicores and quadcores and such. At first glance, just another bicore variation, but with a higher component count. it seems to reverse the BEAM drive toward simplicity (i. e. , more parts, no apparent increase in functionality). But wait __ Contact Eric Seale
Open GPS Tracker - The Open GPS Tracker is a small device which plugs into a $20 prepaid mobile phone to make a GPS tracker. The Tracker responds to text message commands, detects motion, and sends you its exact position, ready for Google Maps or your mapping software. The Tracker firmware is open source and user-customizable __ Contact mike [AT] opengpstracker.org |