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Cover.qxd 3/6/2008 11:23 AM Page 1
Let your geek shine.
Meet Leah Buechley, developer of LilyPada
sew-able microcontrollerand fellow geek. Leah
used SparkFun products and services while she
developed her LilyPad prototype.
The tools are out there, from LEDs to conductive
thread, tutorials to affordable PCB fabrication,
and of course Leahs LilyPad. Find the resources
you need to let your geek shine too.
2008 SparkFun Electronics, Inc. All rights reserved.
Sharing Ingenuity
S P A R K F U N. C OM
Full Page.qxd 3/5/2008 4:10 PM Page 2
Check out the RoboNova-1 and all the other Hitec Robotics products at
www.hitecrobotics.com <http://www.hitecrobotics.com>
Check out the RoboNova-1 and all the other Hitec Robotics products at
www.hitecrobotics.com
12115 Paine Street . Poway CA 92064 . 858-748-6948
April 25-27, 2008
University of Phoenix Stadium
Glendale Arizona
Visit EFExpo.com For Details
JOIN US AT
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Model Gear Type Torque(oz) Speed(sec) Bearing Dimensions Weight Protocol
6V / 7.4V 6V / 7.4V L x W x H (oz)
HSR-8498HB ........ Karbonite.......... 103 / na........... 0.20 / na.......... Dual BB........ 1.57 x .78 x 1.45........ 1.75 ...... *HMI/PWN
HSR-5498SG ............ Steel............. 153 / 188......... 0.22 / 0.19 ........ Dual BB........ 1.57 x .78 x 1.45........ 2.10....... *HMI/PWN
HSR-5980SG ............ Steel............. 333 / 417 ......... 0.17 / 0.14......... Dual BB........ 1.57 x .78 x 1.45........2.36 ...... *HMI/PWN
HSR-5990TG.......... Titanium.......... 333 / 417 ......... 0.17 / 0.14......... Dual BB........ 1.57 x .78 x 1.45........2.39 ...... *HMI/PWN
HSR-1425CR.............Nylon .............. na / 57.............. 16 rpm........... Dual BB........ 1.59 x .77 x 1.44.........1.6 ............PWM
*HMI Is Hitecs Multi Protocol Interface which allows the programming of our servos via a PC using the optional
interface kit (Part No. 78206) PWM is the standard R/C protocol and allows the programming of the
robotics servos using the HFP-20 field programmer (Part No. 44430).
9
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Dont let your robot take a fall, make sure it can go the distance by using one of Hitecs high powered robotics servos.
From the sport level HSR-8498HB to the stump pulling torque of the Titanium geared HSR-5990TG,
Hitec has a servo for your robotics project.
Hitec Goes
The Distance!
p p p g q p p g q g ,
Hitec has a servo for your robotics project for your robotics p t.
Hitec Goes
The Distance!
Hitec Goes
The Distance!
Hitec Goes
The Distance!
36 Designing and Building a
Robot From Scratch
by Brian Benson
Part 2 covers the actual design where
you determine what you need for
parts and how to choose them.
42 The Gecko Vampire
by Fred Eady
Build from scratch a PIC-based step
and direction controller that will act
as an intelligent front end to a
stepper motor drive.
50 The Making of Apis
Mellifera: When PICs Fly
by Tony Pratkanis and Bob Allen
This build is the bees knees in
homebrewed autonomous
flying robots.
56 Turn a Kids Ride-on Car
into a GPS Guided
Autonomous Robot
by John Overstrom
Follow Johns first venture building a
prototype vehicle that he ultimately
hopes to expand into a robotic
lawn mower.
64 The Appliance of Science
by Peter Smith
A report on the first annual Franklin
Institute event.
67 Reviving an Androbot BOB
by Robert Doerr
BOB gets a co-processor and the
gift of gab.
74 BasicBoard Robotics
by William Smith
Using this new development platform
will make quick work of building
your own bot.
PAGE 50
PAGE 36
Features & Projects
4 SERVO 04.2008
TOC Apr08.qxd 3/5/2008 4:23 PM Page 4
04.2008
VOL. 6 NO. 4
SERVO 04.2008 5
Features
24 Form vs. Function: Does art have a
place in combat robotics?
26 Non-Kinetic Energy Weapons
29 Manufacturing: Milling With Robots
Events
31 Results and Upcoming Competitions
32 Robots at Thinktank
Robot Profile
34 Roadbug
SERVO Magazine (ISSN 1546-0592/CDN Pub Agree#40702530) is published
monthly for $24.95 per year by T & L Publications, Inc., 430 Princeland Court, Corona,
CA 92879. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT CORONA, CA AND AT ADDITION-
AL ENTRY MAILING OFFICES. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to SERVO
Magazine, P.O. Box 15277, North Hollywood, CA 91615 or Station
A, P.O. Box 54, Windsor ON N9A 6J5; cpcreturns@servomagazine.com
Departments
06 Mind/Iron
20 Events Calendar
22 New Products
40 Robotics Showcase
73 Robo-Links
81 Menagerie
87 SERVO Webstore
97 Advertisers Index
Columns
08
Robytes by Jeff Eckert
Stimulating Robot Tidbits
10
GeerHead by David Geer
Rovio, Robotics House Sitter
14
Ask Mr. Roboto by Dennis Clark
Your Problems Solved Here
78
Lessons From The Lab
by James Isom
NXT Packbot: Part 4
82
Robotics Resources
by Gordon McComb
Power Tools for Robot Construction
90
Appetizer
by Dan Kara
Robotics Events Reflect Hot Market Segments
93
Then and Now by Tom Carroll
Robot Shows
PAGE 10
This Month In
THE COMBAT ZONE ...
TOC Apr08.qxd 3/5/2008 3:59 PM Page 5
Published Monthly By
T & L Publications, Inc.
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EDITOR
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techedit-servo@yahoo.com
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Jeff Eckert Tom Carroll
Gordon McComb David Geer
Dennis Clark R. Steven Rainwater
Fred Eady Kevin Berry
Bob Allen Tony Pratkanis
William Smith Pete Smith
Brian Benson Robert Doerr
John Overstrom Dan Kara
James Baker Mike Jeffries
John Frizell James Isom
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Copyright 2008 by
T & L Publications, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
All advertising is subject to publishers approval.
We are not responsible for mistakes, misprints,
or typographical errors. SERVO Magazine
assumes no responsibility for the availability or
condition of advertised items or for the honesty
of the advertiser. The publisher makes no claims
for the legality of any item advertised in SERVO.
This is the sole responsibility of the advertiser.
Advertisers and their agencies agree to
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and all claims, action, or expense arising from
advertising placed in SERVO. Please send all
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Machine Pains
Place a drop of noxious fluid
next to an amoeba and it swims
away; place food particles nearby
and it engulfs them. These instinctive
or innate behaviors are critical for the
amoebas survival. In humans and
other higher organisms, pain
avoidance and pleasure seeking are
translated into layers of complex,
learned behaviors. By virtue of
feedback mechanisms that include
skin temperature sensors and our
visual system, for example, we learn
that a gas flame is hot and painful
to touch. Through learning, we
associate pain with objects recently
in contact with the flame and
avoid damage.
Although you probably dont
dwell on the survival value of your
ability to avoid extreme temperatures
or similar painful situations, only the
most advanced autonomous robots
have been endowed with these
capabilities. Truly autonomous,
learning robots have mechanisms for
recognizing and avoiding pain.
Recognition infers sensors of
some type, and avoidance suggests
an ability to associate behavior with
particular combinations of sensor
values. For example, a rescue robot
that seeks out heat sources
presumably to differentiate injured
humans from surrounding rubble
should not advance if the
temperature of the heat source is
above body temperature or if there
is a crackling sound that increases
in intensity as the robot approaches
the heat source. Otherwise, the
robot may move into a crackling
wood fire or roaring natural gas
fire and destroy itself.
Sensors, then, are necessary but
insufficient for learning. Moreover,
the capabilities of sensors define the
limits of learned behavior. In the
case of the heat-seeking rescue
robot, a simple IR detector would be
less useful than a pyrodetector alone
or, preferably, in combination with a
directional microphone. In addition
to sensors directed at the external
environment, an autonomous,
learning robot can benefit from
internal sensors. The ability to
monitor, for example, motor and
battery temperature, battery voltage,
current drawn by motors, servo or
joint position, and servo or motor
speed can be invaluable in avoiding
internal damage.
Its non-trivial to build a robot
Mind / Iron
by Bryan Bergeron, Editor
Mind/Iron Continued
6 SERVO 04.2008
FIGURE 1. The
CrustCrawler
Smart Arm.
Mind-Iron Apr08.qxd 3/4/2008 6:52 PM Page 6
with a matrix of internal and external
sensors because of space and weight
limitations and the limited I/O
channels and processing power
provided by a typical microcontroller.
One solution is to use smart
actuators with built-in sensors, such
as the Dynamixel Actuators
(www.robotis.com). As described
in the March 2007 issue of SERVO,
these smart actuators have built-in
sensors for position, speed, load,
voltage, and temperature. Moreover,
the actuators are designed to be
networked through a single, three-
conductor cable that carries data,
voltage, and ground.
The AX-12+ and considerably
more expensive and more powerful
RX-28 and RX-64 smart actuators
provide an auto-shutdown mode
that responds to temperature and
load extremes. Moreover, the
embedded sensors can be read by a
microcontroller or computer attached
to the actuator network.
One of my latest projects is
exploring how the AX-12 based smart
arm from CrustCrawler
(www.crustcrawler.com) can serve
as the basis of a learning, semi-
autonomous arm. As shown in Figure
1, the construction of the smart
arm is rather simple, thanks to
sensors embedded in the actuators.
In contrast, I found that adding
position, speed, load, voltage, and
temperature sensors to each of
the six servos on CrustCrawlers
conventional SG6-UT arm impractical.
The added weight of the sensors and
stiffness of the cabling significantly
reduce the speed and lifting capacity
of the arm.
Why a learning arm thats
sensitive to pain? If youve worked
with a robot arm, you know that
one of the greatest challenges is
determining the allowable joint
positions for a given load.
Overextend a robotic arm for a
given load and at best the arm
simply stutters. Worst case, the
servo under the most stress fails
an expensive proposition. Just as
with a human arm fully extended,
a robot arm is more susceptible to
injury and overload for a given
load. Fully contracted, the arm is
stronger and capable of handling
heavier loads.
In a multi-jointed robotic arm,
there are multiple allowable and
illegal joint position configurations for
a given load. These configurations
can be programmed a-priori into the
arm controller or computer, assuming
a fixed load and operating conditions.
However, change the load and mount
the arm on a mobile vehicle that may
be on an incline and suddenly the
a-priori calculations are of little value.
Whats needed is an arm in which
the controller monitors the joint
positions and operating parameters
of each actuator and, in real-time,
orchestrates movement that
distributes the load to minimize
changes of damage.
A robotic arm should learn when
not to extend a particular joint any
further before it actually detects an
abnormally high load. You know, for
example, not to attempt to curl an
automobile blocking your path. Your
musculo-skeletal system also employs
lower-level protective mechanisms.
Sense organs in your tendons and
muscles regulate how far and how
fast you can move a joint. This
local feedback allows you to run
without hyperextending your knee
joint. Furthermore, by resetting your
tendon and muscle sensors (e.g., by
actively stretching), you can train your
joints to accept a wider range of
movement. Similarly, actuators in a
robot arm should learn locally and
have the ability to reset or relearn
range of motion and maximum
speed.
As noted earlier, sensors are
necessary, but insufficient for
association or learning. Neural
networks and genetic algorithms
are two often used approaches to
providing robot arms with learning
capabilities. Of course, youll need to
move past a simple microcontroller
to a full PC control platform to fully
exploit these technologies. The
USB2Dynamixel PC interface and
open source VB.NET API available
from the CrustCrawler website is a
painless way to connect the Smart
Arm or Dynamixel-based arm of your
own design to a PC.
Robot arms capable of learning
have been described by researchers
in military and academic research
laboratories for over a decade.
However, thanks to affordable smart
actuators and control systems, you
can build a system of your own. If
youd like to explore learning and
robot arms, Google root arm
learning. A particularly approachable
review is available through the Space
and Naval Warfare Systems Center
(www.nosc.mil/robots/research/
rsmt/learning.html). SV
SERVO 04.2008 7
Mind-Iron Apr08.qxd 3/4/2008 6:57 PM Page 7
8 SERVO 04.2008
Monkey to Bot Interface
Successful
Back in January, history was
made when researchers at Duke
University (www.duke.edu) via the
Network Brain Machine Interface,
connected a monkey brains motor
and sensory cortex to a humanoid
robot located at the Japan Science
and Technology agency. As certain
neurons fired at different phases
and varying frequencies, the signals
were interpreted and converted to
control the robots legs. Thus, as the
monkey walked on a treadmill, the
bot imitated its movements. The
monkey was provided with video
feedback and apparently understood
what was going on.
According to Dukes Miguel
Nicolelis, The most stunning finding
is that when we stopped the treadmill
and the monkey ceased to move
its legs, it was able to sustain the
locomotion of the robot for a few
minutes just by thinking using
only the visual feedback of the
robot in Japan.
The obvious practical application
relates to overcoming severe paralysis
and, in fact, the next goal is to
develop prototype robotic leg braces
for use with humans. The bot, by
the way, is a 200-lb machine with
51 degrees of freedom, developed
by Sarcos (www.sarcos.com).
$30 Million Purse Offered
Lets say its 1996 and youre a
couple of Stanford University students
playing around with a new search
engine concept. A decade later, your
little project is raking in about $16
billion a year and, frankly, you dont
know what to do with all the money.
One solution is to set up a foundation
and offer to give away $30 million
of it; hence, Googles X Prize
Foundation.
The money is divided into a $20
million grand prize, a $5 million
second prize, and another $5 million
for bonuses. To claim the grand prize,
you simply have to land a spacecraft
on the moon and unleash a robot
that travels at least 500 m and sends
video, still images, and other data
back to Earth. The bonus money can
be had by performing additional
mission tasks such as discovering
water ice, roving greater than 5,000
m, and rendezvousing with old moon
landing hardware.
To register a team or sign up
for email updates on the competition,
visit www.googlelunarxprize.org.
But hurry the grand prize drops
to $15 million after December 31,
2012 and disappears completely on
January 1, 2015.
Fill er Up, Squirtbot
Back when gasoline cost
$0.30/gal, service stations were so
eager to earn your business that they
would offer free glassware
and steak knives, check your
oil and water, and, yes, send
out a high school kid to
pump the gas for you. Today,
you get to pay 10 times as
much for self-service, get a
good whiff of the fumes,
and occasionally soak your
socks with unleaded. The
latter may help kill the green
stuff between your toes,
but it can also counteract
the intended effects of your
aftershave, which probably
cost almost as much as the
This humanoid robot operates
under remote monkey control.
Photo courtesy of Japan Science
and Technology Agency.
Google Lunar X Prize launch at WIRED NextFest.
Photo courtesy of Google, Inc.
The return of the gas station
attendant:Tankpitstop. Photo
courtesy of Rotec Engineering BV.
by Jeff Eckert
Robytes.qxd 3/1/2008 7:59 AM Page 8
gasoline. But something resembling
old-fashioned service may be
returning via the Tankpitstop robotic
filler developed by the Dutch
company, Rotec Engineering. Its
robot arm, using an array of sensors,
opens your cars filler door, unscrews
the cap, inserts the fuel nozzle, and
fills the tank for you. According to
Rotec, it will work with any car that
does not employ a filler keylock and
whose physical characteristics have
been stored in system memory. The
$110,000 system is expected to be
operating in a handful of Dutch
stations within the year. To see it in
action, visit www.rotec-engineer
ing.nl/movie.html.
Empty er Out, Suckbot
Its not immediately clear how
Alexander van der Lely came up with
the Astronaut designation for his
companys robotic milking system,
unless it has something to do with
the cow that jumped over the moon.
But if I were a cow, its sure where
Id be hanging my udders. The
system, which boasts maximum
comfort and freedom including a
soft rubber floor, adjusts itself to
each cows behavior, allowing her to
choose the most comfortable
milking position and either nod off
or grab a snack at the same time.
Her udders are pretreated with
brushes to ensure optimum
stimulation and the self-cleaning
teat cups are fitted with pulsation
units for enhanced results.
According to Lely, For the dairy
cow, the Astronaut robotic milking
system is democracy at its best!
Something to think about in this
election year ...
The newest version the A3
is so efficient that a single dairy
employee can drain 1,200,000 L
(317,000 gal) out of the herd every
year. This is sufficient to make
more than five million bowls of
cornflakes soggy, which is pretty
impressive. It also incorporates a
variety of features to ensure a
top-notch milk harvest, including
the Milk Quality Control (MQC), the
Gravitor weighing unit, and digital
analysis of the cows behavior. For
details, visit www.lely.com/en/.
Are You Ready for Some
Football?
You may be familiar with the
RoboCup competition,
in which teams of
robots compete at
football. But it is
actually ftbol,
better known in North
America as soccer. But
now, folks who prefer
the American game
can link up with the
Robotic Football League
(www.roboticfootball
league.com) whose
engagements are
based on American
Rules Football.
As of this writing,
the new league appears
to have three teams: the Capacitors
(motto: To crush your enemies, see
them drive before you, and to hear
the lamentation of the women.); the
Highlanders (motto: There can be
only one); and the Resistors (no
information provided). In a recent
game held at HobbyTown USA in
Westminster, CO, the Resistors
defeated the Capacitors 82 to 78,
with the high scores resulting from
each teams inability to mount a
competent defense. Teams can be
made up of two, three, or six robots
that throw, catch, and tackle just like
the real thing. It appears that home-
built bots are permitted, but at least
one commercial, preassembled one is
available: the 2.4 GHz radio-controlled
AI-01 from Active Innovations (www.
active-innovations.com). Its
throwing arm can fling the ball
about six feet, and it can skitter
across hardwood, tile, short carpet,
and other flat surfaces. The
four-motor bot will cost you only
$139.95, so you can afford to get in
on the ground floor. Complete rules
are available at the RFL website. SV
Robyt es
Bessie is drained in comfort.
Photo courtesy of Lely Group.
The AI-01 RFL robot.
Photo courtesy of Active Innovations, Inc.
SERVO 04.2008 9
Robytes.qxd 3/1/2008 8:00 AM Page 9
10 SERVO 04.2008
R
ovio uses a single VGA CMOS
sensor to facilitate image
capture and digitization so
that images can be processed, stored,
and transmitted over a network to
the end-user via access points or
the Internet.
Rovios built-in computer eye
operates like an IP camera on the
network, according to Davin Sufer,
chief technical officer of WowWee
Robotics. During Rovio setup, a
Wireless Access Point (WAP) assigns
an Internet Protocol (IP) address to
Rovios web server. This enables the
user to connect with Rovio from any
web browser across the Internet and
check on things at the home front.
The user can hear audio and see
video that Rovio has collected during
surveillance, too.
During Rovio setup, software
enables the users computer with an
ActiveX control so they can use the
Internet to receive compressed video
and audio transmissions from Rovio.
If they use the same
computer to connect to
Rovio remotely, they can
use its Internet Explorer
web browser to receive
these communications.
If the consumer uses
another computer for
remote interaction with
Rovio, they will receive
streaming MJPEG video
only and no audio.
The ActiveX control
lets users stream audio
from their remote PC
through Rovios speakers,
from wherever they are so
long as they have an
Internet connection. It
also lets them hear audio
from Rovios microphone, so they
can listen in on what is happening
at home. Rovios owner can speak
to people in the remote location
(home) and hear their responses,
too, says Sufer.
Three omni-directional wheels
mobilize Rovios mechanical drive
base. While the motors that drive
Rovios wheels are still in pre-
production (product not available
until later this year), there are plenty
of details to whet the appetite for
the release of more information,
and eventually Rovio itself.
Rovios mechanized neck and
sensor-equipped head rest in the
down position until called upon to
raise to the up position, from which
it can look forward and around at
children, pets, or potential intruders,
or for fires or other disturbances.
The CMOS sensor can be
pointed in basically any direction by
moving the robot around (side to side,
forwards, and backwards rotation, as
well as by tilting the head upwards
and downwards), says Sufer.
From its third, looking up
position, Rovio can check people out
as he travels the halls, rooms, and
corners of an office or abode
independently. Thanks to its NorthStar
system, Rovio knows where it is in
relation to its base station and the
Contact the author at geercom@alltel.net by David Geer
Rovio, Robotic House Sitter
Out of the west rides a three-wheeled guardian named Rovio.
When the family is not at home, Rovio roams, the internal landscape
(carpets, hardwood floors, tile), keeping a CMOS sensor eye open at
all times, monitoring property, pets, and the home environment.
Photos are courtesy of WowWee.
This is a front angle view of Rovio, the mobile
robot, which has web cam and audio capacity.
Rovio has tucked its head, web cam, and neck
away atop its body.
Geerhead.qxd 3/1/2008 8:25 AM Page 10
GEERHEAD
rest of the paths it must travel.
Internet and
Navigational
Capabilities
Rovio has a built-in web server
that hosts a browser-based user
interface. Consumers can use the
interface to control Rovio and
access streaming audio and video
based on sounds and images Rovio
has recorded.
Rovio uses an indoor
navigation sensing system to
get around. Rovio is completely
autonomous, finding its way from
the base station to each point in the
house and back again. People can also
control Rovio remotely if they choose.
Rovio will periodically return to
the base station to recharge its
batteries. The base station houses
infrared beacons that enable Rovio
to know its position relative to that
home base. The beacon is actually a
projector which projects two infrared
spots onto the ceiling. Rovio can see
these spots from anywhere in the
room and uses them to navigate
around, says Sufer.
Additional beacons are available,
which users can place in rooms
throughout the house to extend the
navigational coverage of Rovio.
Rovio also uses peripherals such
as a light-based indicator for reading
its battery charge level, as well as a
headlight for lighting up the night
and a USB port for easier web and
software setup via computer.
To use Rovio, a consumer will
need at least a single WAP connected
to the Internet. Rovio can connect
through access points to make its
sounds, images, and web interface
available anywhere in the world.
Connecting WAPs throughout a
larger house will make it easier for
Rovio to connect where broader
wireless coverage may be required to
extend Rovios reach.
Once Rovio is set up via the
web interface, users will not need a
computer to make a physical
connection directly to Rovio unless
Rovio needs updates later on.
Users control the Rovio robot via
a web browser, which brings up the
webpage interface hosted on the
Rovio robot itself. Most PC browsers
support this but we do not yet have
an official list of supported browsers,
explains Sufer. WowWee will also
make it possible to control Rovio
from phones with Internet capabilities
and mobile Web browsers. The cell
phone control does not include audio
support yet. As with the computer
version, users will be able to drive
Rovio around manually or use its
navigation system.
Consumers can also control Rovio
through a video game console,
through its web browser. They
can move the head up and down
and change the volume on the
microphone or turn it off. Rovios
microphone is in its head with the
CMOS sensor.
Setup
Through a direct connection to
Rovio via its USB port, users can install
Rovio with a simplified installation,
via the setup wizard. Rovio detects
the computers settings and guides
the user through the setup process.
While the setup wizard is still
under construction, the process will
be familiar to anyone who has used
similar, intuitive software wizards
before. The wizard scans for available
wireless networks. It prompts the user
to choose a preferred network and
the access point password if there is
one. The wizard tests the connection
and informs the user when they can
disconnect the USB cable.
When the end-user installs the
base station, it sets up a coordinate
system in the room for navigation.
The user must put the Rovio in front
of the base/charging station and tell
the system via the browser to save
home. This saves the base station
as the home point in the coordinates.
The end-user can save different
locations as waypoints between the
SERVO 04.2008 11
Rovio docked in its base station.
Rovio, front view.
Rovio does not require a computer
on the Internet within its local network.
All Rovio needs once it is set up is to
talk to a WAP that connects to the
Internet. Rovios web server handles the
rest. The WAP must use DHCP to assign
an IP to Rovio as it would to a computer.
The consumer can use a remote
computer to connect to the WAPs
external IP from anywhere on the
Internet. The web request goes from
the access point to Rovio. Rovio
sends back video and audio from its
web server via the Internet.
Rovios base station has no link to
the Internet and no IP address. Its only
functions are to offer a reference
beacon so Rovio can navigate back to
the base and recharge itself.
LINKS TO ROVIO
12 SERVO 04.2008
home base and other sections of the
house so long as there is coverage
from infrared beacons in the other
rooms. Built-in LED lights make it
possible for an end-user using a
remote web browser to see where
the robot is going so they can
maneuver it more easily in the dark.
Rovios Future
WowWee is looking into the
possibility of enabling Rovio to
navigate stairs. We are looking at
some options for this, but it makes
for a more complex item, says Sufer.
WowWee has to address the related
safety issues around robotic stair
climbing. We dont want anyone
tripping over it on the stairs, says
Sufer. There are mechanical and
cost-related complexities to evolving
Rovio into a stair climber. SV
GEERHEAD
WowWee Robotics
www.wowwee.com
Release about NorthStar
system on Rovio
www.evolution.com/news/
release/HSF-C
Rovios appearance at CES 2008,
head up
www.crn.com/it-channel/
205602179;jsessionid=VEWZAML
RZKZWIQSNDLOSKH0CJUNN2JVN
?pgno=18
RESOURCES
Rovio with web cam head and neck
up. The head and neck can assume
three positions: down, up, and
looking up at people, for example.
Whats the difference?
Price!
Youre correct, the one on the right costs
less because its from Jameco! When
youre looking to purchase major name
brand passives or semiconductors, be
sure to check out Jameco first. They also
offer money-saving generic equivalents
at about 20% less, so youll save even
more! And if you should find a lower
print-advertised price for a product
Jameco offers, just let them know and
theyll offer that product for 10% less
than the other companys price, right
down to Jamecos cost! Wouldnt it be
worth your time to check out Jameco
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Visit www.Jameco.com/NVT
Call 1-800-831-4242
14 SERVO 04.2008
Q
. Ive seen posts and even
some articles that use various
ways to create a wireless
connection from a robot to a
computer. How easy is it to configure
a wireless connection? I am easily
confused by the jargon and have
held off getting anything because
I dont want to waste my money on
something Ill never get to work.
Paul Humour
A
. You arent the first to feel
intimidated by the technology
and the terminology. Most
robotics hobbyists are not experts in
all things and can use a hand up on
occasion. I too have pondered the
mysteries of wireless communications.
Sometimes it just seems like magic.
Since you mentioned the word
money, Im going to assume that
cost is a factor in your choice of
wireless technology, so Ill go into
detail about two very affordable
options for hobbyists that wish to
unwire their robots. The first is
Bluetooth and the second is Zigbee.
Both of these technologies are 2.54
GHz low power wireless radios. That is
to say that their power is in the 1 mW
to 60 mW range, which means we
can expect to get ranges from 50 feet
to 300 feet, depending upon where
we are. Inside, the ranges are less
than outside for a variety of reasons.
Since I doubt that you want to
hear about multi-path reflections and
dBm readings, Ill focus instead on
how to configure them on your
computer and your robot. Along the
way, Ill give the costs and options
that seem most affordable and that I
know work. Finally, I recognize that
not everyone uses a Windows PC;
some use Macs and some Linux. I
will show how to configure for the
Windows and Mac platforms; I dont
have a Linux machine, sorry. There
are a LOT of steps in these procedures
below; even so, I left the most
obvious ones out and focused on
the steps that were either confusing
or hard to discover.
Using Bluetooth
The first wireless solution that
Ill talk about is Bluetooth. Bluetooth
works by explicitly pairing a master to
a slave. This is what we want to do,
so that is fine by us. There are dozens
of ways to get Bluetooth on your
computer, so which should we
choose? If you have Bluetooth built in,
then your solution is complete on the
computer side. If you dont, then you
need to get a USB Bluetooth adapter.
I looked at several and chose two
that were middle of the road in cost,
meaning $20 or less. The first one I
tested was the Zoom 4320AF model
which retails for about $20 (see
Figure 1). The second one I tested
was the Azio Bluetooth V2.0 + EDR
model for about $17.
Next we need to have a Bluetooth
device to connect to. The people at
www.sparkfun.com have several
reasonably priced units to choose
from. I chose the two lowest priced
ones that had what I wanted, namely
a simple connection interface. The
first one is the Bluesmirf WRL08332
board. They sell this for about $50.
Bluetooth says it has a 30M (100 feet)
range, indoors Id give it about 50
feet. SparkFun has a longer range unit
the Bluesmirf WRL00582 that
sells for about $65 and has a 100M
(300 feet) range. Note that these
ranges are line-of-sight outdoors;
indoors you just dont get that range.
These modules are super simple to
use. They have six pins: Power (3.3V
to 6V), Ground, Tx out, Tx in, RTS out,
and CTS in. You simply need to supply
power and ground, connect the Tx
in line with the Rx line of your robot
Tap into the sum of all human knowledge and get your questions answered here!
From software algorithms to material selection, Mr. Roboto strives to meet you
where you are and what more would you expect from a complex service droid?
by
Dennis Clark
Our resident expert on all things
robotic is merely an email away.
roboto@servomagazine.com
Figure 1. Zoom Bluetooth USB adapter.
N
E
W
MrRoboto.qxd 3/1/2008 8:47 AM Page 14

microcontroller, the Rx out line to the
Tx line of your microcontroller, and
jumper the CTS to the RTS and youre
done! Figure 2 shows what the board
looks like. These modules are very
small, about 1.5 cm by 5 cm (about
3/4 inches by 2 inches) so they should
fit on even small robots. When the
Bluesmirf module has power, a red
LED in the lower left of the board is on.
Installing Bluetooth on
Windows 2000 or XP
Lets start with the Windows
platform either Windows 2000 or
Windows XP. I usually dont install the
hardware drivers that come in the box
as theyre almost always outdated.
Instead, I go right to the website to
download the most recent one. When
you look for a driver, start by going
to a companys Tech Support section
and look for downloads or drivers. In
this case, I found what I wanted at
www.zoom.com/techsupport/blue
tooth/bluetooth_usb_class2.html.
Download and install
the correct driver for your
operating system. Dont
plug your Bluetooth
adapter in until either the
installer tells you to or you
have installed the drivers. You dont
want the OS getting in the way of
the process. After the reboot, look for
the Bluetooth symbol in the lower
right of your screen. It looks like an
oddly shaped B; youll see that letter
on the packaging of your adapter.
That will show you what to look for.
Double click on it to start up the
Wizard. Youll see the screen shown in
Figure 3. Choose the Express Mode.
Just keep hitting the Next button
until you get to the device discovery
screen that looks like Figure 4 where
you will see the chosen device show
up in the display. Select the device
and click the Next button until you
see the Com Port Setting screen in
Figure 5. Note that it says that it
gave us COM port 40. (Yes, thats
right, COM port 40.) You wont be
able to use Hyperterm with that COM
port number, it maxes out at four.
Fortunately, there are other terminal
port emulators out there that can
use a COM port 40. The one that I
recommend is RealTerm (www.
i2cchip.com/realterm).
The SparkFun Bluesmirf WRL08332
defaults to 9600 baud; the WRL00582
defaults to 115200 baud. To configure
RealTerm to talk to our 9600 baud
Bluesmirf directly, you would click on
the Port tab, select 9600 baud, and
COM port 40 from the drop down
lists as shown in Figure 6.
Click on the Open button to
connect. If you are talking to your
USB adapter, the baud rate doesnt
really matter. I like to make it match
SERVO 04.2008 15
Figure 2. SparkFun Bluesmirf module.
Figure 3. Bluetooth Wizard settings.
Figure 5. COM port setting. Figure 4. Select a device.
the Bluesmirf module just
so I remember what it
should be set to. When the
module is paired to your
USB Bluetooth adapter, a
green LED in the lower
right corner will come on.
Thats it! Youre done.
You now have a wireless
serial port connection from
your Windows computer
to your robot that you
can use any way you like.
I tested the pairing
procedure above with an
Azio BluetoothV2.0 + EDR
adapter using the same drivers I
installed for the Zoom adapter. It
worked perfectly.
Installing Bluetooth on
Macintosh OS X
The process is quite different
on the Macintosh OS X platform.
Im using OS X 10.4 (Tiger) and I
recommend that you use at least
10.3 (Panther).
First, just plug in your USB
Bluetooth adapter. Then go to your
System Preferences screen, look in
the Hardware section, and click on
Bluetooth; now click on the box next
to Show Bluetooth Status in the menu
bar as shown in Figure 7. Exit System
Preferences. Now the menu bar will
have that odd looking Bluetooth B
on it. Click on that icon and click on
Setup Bluetooth Device. This will bring
up the setup assistant; choose the
Any Device radio button as shown in
Figure 8. Now click on Continue and
look for the Passkey Options button.
Click that and select Use Specific
Passkey and then click OK (see Figure
9). This screen will eventually find your
SparkFun Bluetooth device (remember,
it needs to be turned on now).
Click on Continue to move to
the next page. This page gathers
information on the Bluetooth device;
when it is done, click Continue. On
this page, you will enter 0000 for
the passkey and again click Continue.
If you are using the WRL00582
Bluesmirf module, then the passkey
is 1234. (Dont type the quotes.)
This next page asks you to select
16 SERVO 04.2008
Figure 6. Configuring RealTerm.
Figure 7. System preferences.
Figure 8. Bluetooth setup assistant. Figure 9. Selecting passkey type.
some functionality of
the device; there isnt
any, so dont be
alarmed just click
Continue again. You
now will have the
Congratulations
screen. You are done,
so just click Quit.
With the Macintosh,
however, youll need
to start an application
that uses the Bluesmirf for something,
like a terminal emulator. This type
of application doesnt come on a
Macintosh unfortunately, youll need
to go find one. There are two
shareware applications that I have
found useful that work on OS X:
one is Zterm and the other is
QuickTerm. You can get Zterm on
VersionTracker at www.version
tracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/
10529 and Quickterm at www.ver
siontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/
macosx/28230&vid=278553.
To configure Zterm to connect
to the Bluetooth adapter that you
just configured, you click on the
Settings menu and pull down to
Modem Preferences. Youll see your
Bluetooth device very obviously
named, as in Figure 11.
Now youre done! You just have
to connect your Bluesmirf to your
robot and talk away. To test your
connection, I recommend using
another computer or the serial port
on your same computer and send
data back and forth to check the
connection. I configured mine on a
solderless breadboard with an
Acroname RS-232 converter and
plugged the serial port of my
computer into that. When I did
range checks, I connected up a
serial LCD module to output to (see
Figure 12) and wandered
around until I lost the
connection.
Using Zigbee
(Maxstream XBee)
Bluetooth is a master/slave
type of wireless connection; the
Zigbee protocol upon which the
Maxstream XBee modules are
based is peer-to-peer networks.
By peer-to-peer, we mean that there
is no master every node is the
same. There can be a lot more than
just two devices talking to each
other with XBee modules. I chose the
Maxstream XBee modules because
they are very inexpensive and very
easy to interface to. Depending upon
what has been installed on your
computer, you may not need
any drivers to install because
you can talk to them directly
using your serial port with the
proper interface, of course.
The XBee modules are
slightly bigger than the
Bluesmirf. The XBee 802.15.4
OEM module (1 mW power)
is about 2.5 cm square
(1 inch); the XBee Pro 802.15.4
(60 mW) is about 2.5 cm by 3.3
cm. The XBee
Pro has much
greater range than the XBee module.
Figure 13 shows an XBee module and
breakout carrier boards that SparkFun
sells for them. The carrier boards are
SERVO 04.2008 17
Figure 10. All done!
Figure 11. Zterm configuration.
Figure 13. XBee module and carrier board.
Figure 14. 3.3V interface circuit for XBee.
Figure 12. Test setup.
Part Description
R1 2.7K 1/4 watt resistor
R2 4.7K 1/4 watt resistor
C1 .1 F ceramic capacitor
C2 47 F electrolytic capacitor
U1 LE33CZ 3.3V regulator ($0.86 at Digi-Key)
U2 XBee module ($19 at Digi-Key)
Table 1. XBee Interface circuit parts list.
necessary because the XBee modules
pins are on 2 mm centers; our
prototyping boards are on 2.54 mm
(0.1 inch) centers. The carrier
boards allow us to plug them into
breadboards for easier interfacing.
These modules are 3.3V only, so you
will need to provide an interface to
your 5V microcontrollers to use them
because they are NOT 5V tolerant.
Fortunately, it is not difficult, nor is it
expensive to build an interface for an
XBee module to your microcontroller.
Figure 14 shows a simple one that
works great and Table 1 shows the
parts list and the cost of the major
components.
Installing XBee on Windows
2000 or XP
There arent usually any drivers
that you need to install to use XBee
devices if you use your serial port to
connect to an XBee module. You need
to provide the means by which your
XBee module can communicate over
RS-232, however.
There are multiple ways to handle
this. Maxstream makes developer
boards that you can plug an XBee
module into and connect directly to
a computer. So do other companies.
Table 2 shows descriptions and
providers for some of these boards.
However, you can get by on the cheap
by building your own RS-232 interface
to the boards. Table 3 details where
to get a selection of RS-232 translator
boards inexpensively.
While it is true that you wont
need drivers to use the XBee modules,
Maxstream provides a very useful
tool for uploading firmware to their
modules if new versions or bug fixes
are released called X-CTU. Go to
www.maxstream.net to get the
latest version of this utility. To save
you time, here is the URL to use:
www.digi.com/support/product
detl.jsp?pid=3257&osvid=0&s=
268&tp=4, then choose your
operating system.
X-CTU includes a nice terminal
emulator that can accept any COM
port number, as well as a few other
useful tools. It is unlikely that you will
need to update the firmware to your
XBee units, but if you do, X-CTU is
the tool that you will use to do it.
However, there are more pins that
need to be accessed to do the
firmware update, so youll want to
get one of the development boards
mentioned in Table 2.
The most convenient one to get
is the XBIB-U USB based board (see
Figure 15). This will need to use a
special driver. Remember when I said
that I go to the site to get the most
recent drivers? In this case, I
recommend that you stick with the
CD that comes with the board.
Navigating the support site for
Maxstream requires going through
many pull-down menus, only to find
that you need to go to FTDI Chip to
get the latest driver. Here is where
you will find the Windows drivers for
the XBIB-U board: www.ftdichip.
com/Drivers/VCP.htm, then select
your operating system.
To install, download the installer
and start it. Make sure that
you dont have the XBIB-U
plugged in yet. Follow the
directions until the installer
tells you to plug in your
board. As with most drivers,
this is an exercise in clicking
on the Next button until it
is done.
When you are done, you
will have a new COM port
for the XBIB-U board; mine
ended up on COM 5. No
worries, the X-CTU program
will open any COM port.
If you plug your board in on
a different USB port than
when you first installed your
drivers, Windows may try
to install them again. My
18 SERVO 04.2008
Board Supplier
XBIB-U USB developer board Maxstream, via Digi-Key ($60)
XBIB-R RS-232 developer board Maxstream, via Digi-Key ($60)
Zirf Board with XBee Pro www.oricomtech.com ($63)
Table 2. XBee Computer Interface Boards.
Adapter Supplier
S13-SERIAL-INT-CONN RS-232 adapter www.acroname.com ($12)
#126 23201a RS-232 adapter www.pololu.com ($12)
#127 23201a RS-232 adapter kit www.pololu.com ($10)
Table 3. Inexpensive RS-232 adapters.
Figure 15. XBIB-U developer board. Figure 16. X-CTU utility.
system brings up two windows telling
me that the driver it wants to install is
older than the one installed. I tell it
not to copy over the newer one.
Start X-CTU by clicking on the PC
Settings tab. Here you will find a list
of COM ports; select the one that
looks the most like PKG-U (COM 5).
To make sure all is good, press the
Test/Query button; it will return OK,
the module type, and its firmware
version. Now click on the terminal
tab to talk to your XBee module
(see Figure 16). Typing in the terminal
window will send data to any
networked XBee module. If you
have started another XBee unit on
a prototyping board using the circuit
in Figure 14, as well as this one on
the XBIB-U board, then they will be
networked with both of them
Broadcasting, or sending data
to everyone.
To network two XBee devices
together so that they can talk to each
other without broadcasting, you need
to use the venerable modem control
code approach. To configure two
XBee modules to network with each
other, type in the commands shown in
Table 4; each side of the table has the
commands for that device. Look
carefully the commands are very
similar for the two nodes, but they are
different. The module will return OK
when you hit return after typing the
command. If you mistype a command,
the module will return ERROR. The
two nodes are now set to network
with only each other. In short, you
have just created a wireless serial
connection between them. The
modules will lose their settings if they
are powered down. To retain this
programming, issue an ATWR
command to write the settings to
non-volatile memory. If there is no
activity for about 10 seconds, the
modules will exit command mode
and be in data mode acting like a
serial cable again. To immediately
return to data mode without waiting,
issue the ATCN command.
There are many configuration
parameters that you can change,
including the data rate. The XBee
defaults to 9600 baud, and will go up
to 115200. To see all the things that
you can change, download
the manual at www.digi.
com/products/wireless
/point-multipoint/xbee-
series1-module.jsp.
Installing XBee on the
Macintosh OS X
The Macintosh has no
serial ports so you will have
to either use a USB/RS-232
adapter and the homemade serial
port shown earlier or use the
XBIB-U developer board. Because
Maxstream currently does not
support the Macintosh for the
X-CTU tool, there is no reason to use
the more expensive development
boards, except for the convenience
of not having to build the equivalent
yourself. I like convenient, so I did
use the USB development board.
The driver for this board is
custom, so you need to go to
www.ftdichip.com to get it; you
want to install the TDIUSBSerialDriver
_v2.1.9.dmg package for OS X
10.4 (Tiger). There are other drivers
there for other Macintosh operating
systems. Look here for the list: www.
ftdichip.com/FTDrivers.htm. Youll
want the VCD flavor of the driver.
When you open the disk image
(.DMG file), youll see a single
package. Run it and when it is
done youll need to reboot. This is
somewhat of a surprise; normally you
dont have to reboot after installing
drivers on a Macintosh, but this one
adds things to the kernel. Remember
that the installer will ask you to
supply your administrator password to
continue on. After you have rebooted,
you will see a new modem connection
if the XBIB-U board is plugged in. If
you are running a terminal session,
type ls /dev/cu.* and youll see
/dev/cu.usbserial-1B13. The last four
digits will depend upon the port that
you have the board plugged into. To
talk to it, bring up your trusty Zterm
tool and set its modem preferences
as shown in Figure 17.
For convenience sake, click the
Settings menu item and Terminal, and
click on the box for Auto Linefeed
which will have the terminal send a
line feed with each carriage return.
Final Thoughts
To wrap up (whew!), you now
know how to configure a Bluetooth or
Zigbee wireless connection between
your computer and your robot whether
you are using a Windows operating
system or a Macintosh. It seems like
there are a lot of steps when you are
reading this, but in most cases it will
go very fast at the keyboard. The
purpose of this article is to show you
where to go to get the components
and procedures so that you dont need
to go and look them all up yourself.
I hope that I covered those
bases and made this as painless as
it can be! Be sure and contact me
with any more questions at roboto@
servomagazine.com and Ill do my
best to answer them. SV
SERVO 04.2008 19
Figure 17. Zterm modem for XBIB-U board.
Unit 1 Unit 2
+++ +++
ATID3332 (set PANID) ATID3332
ATCHC (set Channel) ATDHC
ATMY01 (set my address) ATMY02
ATDL02 (set target address) ATDL01
Table 4. XBee Explicit Command Programming.
Dennis Clark is an embedded
programming engineer specializing in
home automation, sensors, and robotics.
He is the first author of Building Robot
Drive Trains with Michael Owings and
author of Programming and Customizing
the OOPic Microcontroller, both published
by McGraw-Hill and has written articles
for other publications. He has been a
programmer and engineer for over 20
years and his first robot was an arm made
in 1980 out of machined steel.
MEET THE NEW AUTHOR
Know of any robot competitions Ive missed? Is your
local school or robot group planning a contest? Send an
email to steve@ncc.com and tell me about it. Be sure to
include the date and location of your contest. If you have a
website with contest info, send along the URL as well, so we
can tell everyone else about it.
For last-minute updates and changes, you can always
find the most recent version of the Robot Competition FAQ
at Robots.net: http://robots.net/rcfaq.html
R. Steven Rainwater
A Ap pr ri i l l
2-6 Robotica National Festival of Robotics
Portugal
Includes RoboCup and other events for
autonomous robots.
http://robotica.ua.pt/robotica2008
5 PennState Abington Fire-Fighting Robot
Contest
Penn State Abington, Abington, PA
This is a regional for the Trinity College Fire
Fighting Robot contest. Autonomous robots
must locate and extinguish a flame in a scale
model of a home.
www.ecsel.psu.edu/~avanzato/robots/contests
12 Robofest NYC
SONY Wonder Technology Lab, New York City, NY
Not to be confused with RoboFest which occurs
in Michigan later this month!
www.visionedinc.org/robofest
12-13 Trinity College Fire Fighting Home Robot contest
Trinity College, Hartford, CT
The well-known championship event for fire
fighting robots.
www.trincoll.edu/events/robot
17-19 FIRST Robotics Competition
Atlanta, GA
National Championship for the regional
FIRST winners.
www.usfirst.org
18 Carnegie Mellon Mobot Races
CMU, Pittsburgh, PA
The traditional Mobot slalom and MoboJoust
events.
www.cs.cmu.edu/~mobot
19 Istrobot
Slovak University of Technology, Bratislave,
Slovakia, EU
Includes IEEE micromouse, mini Sumo, and
free-style events.
www.robotics.sk
19 RoboRodentia
Mott Gymnasium, California Polytechnic,
San Luis Obispo, CA
Autonomous micromouse-like robots must
navigate a maze, pick up balls, and place balls
in a nest.
http://tiedye-srv.csc.calpoly.edu/~jseng/
robotics.html
19 UC Davis Picnic Day Micromouse contest
University of California, Davis campus, CA
Standard micromouse contest.
www.ece.ucdavis.edu/umouse
26 Historical Electronics Museum Robot Festival
Linthicum, MD
Events include fire fighting, FIRST, and robot Sumo.
www.robotfest.com
26 Penn State Abington Mini Grand Challenge
Penn State Abington, Abington, PA
Autonomous outdoor ground robots must
navigate around the campus, both on and
off-road, avoiding obstacles.
www.ecsel.psu.edu/~avanzato/robots/
contests/outdoor
26 RoboFest
Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, MI
Includes game competition two autonomous
robots work together. Also robot exhibition,
RoboSumo, RoboFashion show, and mini urban
robot challenge.
http://robofest.net
Send updates, new listings, corrections, complaints, and suggestions to: steve@ncc.com or FAX 972-404-0269
20 SERVO 04.2008
continued on page 62
Events.qxd 3/5/2008 9:25 AM Page 20
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LifeSized Mousetrap Game,
MAKE and CRAFT Labs, Make
PIay Day, SwapORamaRama,
Bazaar Bizarre Craft Fair, Rockets,
Robots, Food Makers, Fire Arts,
Art Cars, Green Tech and morel
MakerFaire.com
SERVO 10.2007 21
RoboPhilo
R
oboBrothers has
applied their
technical know-how to
RC humanoids, and
have just released the
RoboPhilo. Designed in
the US, RoboPhilo is
armed with 20 servos,
allowing turning
movements of the
head, waist, and legs, in
addition to standard joint
movement of the limbs.
RoboPhilo comes with a powerful robot controller with
24 servo channels and up to eight I/O interfaces. A
specialized interrupt driven kernel is used to handle
motion and remote controls on demand. RoboPhilo is
readily programmable directly from a PC. Designed for
the entry-level hobbyist, the kit price is $399; ready to
walk is $499. Optional SDK to develop C programs to
control and integrate new functions is available at $99.
For further information, please contact:
New G-Series SCARA Lineup
E
PSON Robots has introduced
the EPSON G-Series, high
performance SCARA robots for
their micro power drive con-
trollers. EPSON G-Series SCARAs
provide the high speed, high
precision performance results even
with high payloads. Combined with the
powerful EPSON Micro PowerDrive
Controller, the new G-Series robots provide
best-in-class performance combined with
ease of use all at a low price.
EPSONs original smart motion control technology is
combined with a new high rigidity arm design to achieve
ultra-high speed, ultra-high precision, and low vibration.
The G-Series SCARA robots have greatly improved their
speed over current models and are able to carry out high
speed operation, short and long moves, and transport light
or heavy payloads with excellent performance results. All
G-Series robot arms are available in standard, Class 10
Clean, or IP54/65 configurations. They are available in
tabletop, wall, or ceiling mount configurations, as well.
SMC-04 USB Servo Motor
Controller
I
mages Scientific Instruments, Inc., is now offering
the SMC-04 Servo Motor Controller with integral
power supply which allows manual and Windows PC
control of four hobby servomotors (Hitec/Futaba).
Manual Control Servo motors may be controlled
manually via on-board potentiometers. Each knob
proportionally controls the corresponding servo. The
servo will move as fast and as far as you rotate the
corresponding knob. Universal three-position headers
make it easy to connect servo motors by just plugging
them into the board.
Windows PC Control The Windows program is
included with the controller. It uses the PC USB port to
communicate to the servo motor board. Each program
incorporates an adjustable servo motor speed control
and is controlled by an
individual slider. In
the script writing
mode, every servo
motor movement
is automatically
recorded and
written into the
onscreen script area.
The onscreen script
New Products
CONSUMER ROBOTS
INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS
MOTOR CONTROLLERS
N
N
E
E
W
W
P
P
R
R
O
O
D
D
U
U
C
C
T
T
S
S
22 SERVO 04.2008
2403 Research Dr.
Livermore, CA 94550
Tel: 9253710922
Website: http://robobrothers.com
Robo Brothers
18300 Central Ave.
Carson, CA 90746
Tel: 5622905910
Website: www.robots.epson.com/g-series.htm
EPSON
Robotics
APR08NewProd.qxd 3/5/2008 1:12 PM Page 22
may be saved, loaded, played, and looped. Updated
Windows PC programs are always available for download
on Images website.
Integrated Power Supply An onboard voltage
regulator and rectifier allows you to power the servo
motors and controller board from a variety of power
supplies and wall transformers. Power 7-24 VAC or VDC
can be supplied to the 2.5 mm onboard power jack to
power both board and servo motors. Direct leads are
also available for DC battery power.
C What Happens
C
What Happens, by David
Benson, is a series of
explanations and examples for
those who want to learn to
program PIC microcontrollers
using the C programming
language. It is assumed that
the reader has no knowledge
of PIC microcontrollers or
programming, but does have a rudimentary
understanding of electronics. The reader will learn to
create programs by making selections from a large
variety of built-in functions provided in the CCS C
compiler, writing his/her own functions as needed, and
writing executable statements. The reader will C what
happens by programming a PIC with the newly created
code and exercising it using a simple circuit described
in the book. The subject matter is laid out in a logical
progression from simple to not-so-simple and is illustrated
with lots of examples. The table of contents is available
on the publishers website.
RoboSight
R
oadNarrows Intelligent Systems now has a new line
of products that is going to completely change how
robots see and respond to their environment. Truly
intelligent sensors will now be available that use the
power of silicon neural networks to do advanced pattern
recognition in real time.
These new intelligent sensors will be compatible with
almost any robot platform, such as Lego NXT, Khepera
III, CoroBot, Vex, POB-Bot, e-puck, iRobot Create, and
KoreBot, as well as microcontrollers from Microchip,
Atmel, and Parallax.
In collaboration with Recognetics, Inc.
(Longmont, CO), RoadNarrows Intelligent Systems
is giving true sight to robots. The first product
RNR RoboSight Lite is a self-contained module
that will give even the most simple robots the ability
to quickly respond to complex visual stimuli never
before possible.
RoboSight gives a roboticist the ability to train a
robot to recognize what it sees by using an on-board
camera and a simple push button control system.
Switching the RoboSight from train mode to run mode
will enable recognition of the robots surroundings. If
the robot sees a trained image, it will report that a
match is made and output a category ID through
I
2
C or digital signal outputs. This allows the user to
easily program the robot to react to different
objects, scenes, colors, or positions of objects. A user
can program up to 10 different categories onboard
without needing a PC, or an advanced user can
train up to 256 categories using the external serial
connection.
For example, a robot can be trained to find a
stuffed giraffe in a childs room full of stuffed animals.
The trainer would put the giraffe in various locations in
the room with different backgrounds and with different
mixes of animals and then train the RoboSight to
recognize the giraffe in a variety of situations. Using a
set of programmed responses such as move randomly,
move forward, and stop, the robot could be set to
move randomly until it sees the giraffe, then stop
or move forward to get closer based on the output
from RoboSight.
Many neurons can be used for training in each
category. RoboSight has 1,024 silicon neurons working
in parallel, available for image recognition resulting
in incredibly quick response times. Other scenarios are
possible, such as recognizing faces, staying on a path,
and simple text.
We invite inquiries from potential distributors and
customers for more information and for pre-orders.
RoboSight is marketed and sold by RoadNarrows LLC,
and will be available soon.
PROGRAMMING
SENSORS
1151 Eagle Dr. #140
Loveland, CO 80537
Tel: 8002759568
Email: oneway@roadnarrowsrobotics.com
Website: www.roadnarrowsrobotics.com
RoadNarrows
LLC
PO Box 1414
Hayden, ID 83835
Tel: 2086644115
Website: www.sq-1.com
Square 1
Electronics
Website: www.imagesco.com
Images Scientific
Instruments, Inc.
SERVO 04.2008 23
APR08NewProd.qxd 3/5/2008 1:13 PM Page 23
Featured This Month:
Features
24 Form vs. Function:
Does art have a place in
combat robotics?
by James Baker
26 Non-Kinetic Energy Weapons
by Mike Jeffries
29 MANUFACTURING:
Milling With Robots
by James Baker
Events
31 Jan/Feb 2008 Results and
Apr/May 2008 Upcoming
Events
32 Robots at Thinktank
by John Frizell
ROBOT PROFILE Top
Ranked Robot This Month:
34 Roadbug by Kevin Berry
24 SERVO 04.2008
W
hen you were a kid and
you drew pictures of cool
fighting robots, what did they look
like? Were they giant samurai
warriors with a chainsaw on one
arm and a laser gun on the
other? Were they metal dinosaurs
with machine guns on their back,
or giant spiders with flame
throwers? If its so cool to build
such theatrical, organic robots,
why do most of our combat
robots today look like spinning
hockey pucks or a steel briefcase?
In the early days of combat
robotics, there were people who
put their hearts and souls into
creating mechanical art. These
machines were beautiful and
belonged in a gallery, but we
fought them against each other,
adding our own sound effects as
they acted out our childhood
dreams of cartoon-style monster
robot battles. Everything in the
world was just awesome.
One day, however, a mighty
robot warrior stomped slowly into
the battle arena, the ground
shook, and the crowd cheered.
A boring box on wheels lied up
opposite, then drove across the
arena floor at great speed.
Without any weapons or tactics,
the boring box destroyed the
mighty warrior with pure kinetic
energy and momentum. The age
of the box was upon us, and the
robotic dinosaurs followed their
organic brothers into extinction.
by James Baker
Does art have a place in
combat robotics?
FORM VS.
FUNCTI N
A great paint job can transform
even the most basic of shapes.
CombatZone.qxd 3/3/2008 3:00 PM Page 24
SERVO 04.2008 25
I am oversimplifying of course,
as I tell my fanciful story of steel
dragons slain by logical engineering
solutions. The engineer is the logical
box builder who realizes that a
simple, strong robot is the best
solution. (The engineer is also
responsible for the spinners,
wedges, and all robots focused on
performance over all else.) The
romantic builder has self-expression
as his motivation. The romantic
builds robots that are the subject of
a Saturday morning cartoon or an
80s movie. They breathe fire and
transform into spiders, or they
would, if they survived a fight.
In 2008, the sport of robotic
combat is long established. The
speed and power of the robots are
increasing year by year. Standards
keep going up and robots are so
strong now they are literally bullet-
proof. This would suggest that the
engineer has won and the romantic
builder has left the sport forever. In
reality however, robot combat has
developed a number of practical
artists. Romantic engineers.
My team has some robots that
are pure logical solutions and there
is nothing wrong with that. If you
want to win, zero compromise is
understandable and commendable.
We also have dedicated art-bots,
which are not entered into real
fights as they are too fragile, and
the weapons are compromised in
their function in order to make
them look cool. The real difficulty
comes in finding the right balance
and creating a robot that is unique
and artistic, but that can still be
competitive in full combat.
How do you put a little heart
into your robot without giving your
opponent an advantage by doing so?
The most obvious way is with a cool
paint job. In my experience, a robot
has never lost a fight because it was
too colorful, so a paint job should
not affect your robots performance
unless you are really unlucky.
I watched in horror once as
my freshly painted robot Unity
disappeared during a fight, as I had
accidentally painted it the exact
shade of red used in the arena
lighting. Every time the lights
cycled through blue, green, yellow,
then red, my robot would vanish
completely. This is an example of art
interfering with function in a very
extreme and unusual way, but the
principle still applies. Making the
robot look good is okay, as long
as it does not interfere with your
robots function.
Many robots are built originally
as simply shaped machines, with
curved pieces attached afterwards
to make them look a little nicer. This
costume jewelery can be spikes
and blades, extra armor, or extra
pieces to use up spare weight in an
aesthetically pleasing way. The
results are often quite remarkable,
and robots can evolve over time to
become more or less elaborate.
Once in a while, you will
have builders that achieve the
unthinkable the perfect
application of both engineering
and art. I am sure you will have your
own builders in mind when I say
the word genius. To me personally,
robots such as the current UK
All efforts went into Hellraisers look,
to the expense of performance.
The wedge is a boring shape,
but it can dominate fights.
Pure engineering makes for highly effective,
but uninspiring machines.
Former UK champion, Razer.
Organic robots look great,
but often struggle in competition.
Tantrum combines competitive engineering
with artistic themes.
26 SERVO 04.2008
champion Big Nipper and former
champion Razer are outstanding
examples of artistic and engineering
talent, that combined, elevate their
builders to the level of genius in my
opinion. This is the holy grail of robot
building in my eyes, and is the
motivation for writing this article.
Creativity sustains our sport. Some
are gifted mechanically, others
electrically. Some are talented drivers
or remarkable artists. Engineering,
design, driving, painting, and
sculpting, are all an art. Does art
have a place in combat robotics?
I cannot speak for the rest of the
world, but in the UK it does, and
that place is reigning champion. SV
NON-KINETIC ENERGY
WEAP NS
Rammer
Ramming robots are the most
basic design in robot combat. A
ramming robot relies purely on
strength and power for success.
Ramming robots often incorporate
spikes or heavy chunks of metal
on the front of the frame that are
intended to penetrate the armor
of the opposing robot. Ramming
robots use their drive power to send
their opponents into the walls or
any hazards in the arena. Strong
rammers are even capable of
breaking spinning weapons.
They all have one thing in
common, though. They are very
hard to immobilize. They are often
invertible, durable, and have those
powerful drive systems.
Wedge
Wedge robots are similar to
ramming robots. They share the
powerful drive system, strong chassis,
and good armor. Wedge robots are
among the most common type of
robot in combat today. In fact, many
robots incorporate a wedge into
their design in one form or another.
For some, its the backup plan if the
weapon fails. For other robots, the
wedge acts as part of the weapon,
be it leading into spinning blades or
a hiding place for a powerful arm.
These robots are all about
mechanical advantage. They get
under their opponent and use
their drive power to flip them or
shove them at high speeds into an
obstacle like a rammer does.
Lifter
Lifting robots can be
viewed as the next step
up from a wedge robot.
They perform essentially
the same functions
they both make the drive
system of the other robot ineffective.
There are a few different methods
of constructing lifting arms.
The most basic is pushing or
rotating a single hinged piece of
metal. It is very effective in its
simplicity. For this style of lifting
arm, linear actuators are often used.
Linear actuators act like pneumatic
pistons, but slower and in an often
lighter package.
Another popular lifting system
uses a four bar linkage. This system
allows the bar to lift and push at
the same time. It also lets the arm
tuck nicely back into a flat chassis.
This system has proven extremely
effective when built properly.
Some lifters drive the arms with
an electric motor. With that system,
the arm is attached to a rotating
shaft. The shaft has a sprocket or
gear on it which is driven by an
electric motor. These systems require
heavy gear reduction to be effective.
Hydraulic lifting arms have
sometimes been used, but are
uncommon in combat robotics.
They are often too heavy and slow
for most applications of this nature.
Hydraulics are better suited
for systems that require large
amounts of torque and not
much speed.
Lifting arms require a
very strong drive and chassis
system to be effective. If it
cannot take the abuse, a
more aggressive weapon can
deliver while the lifter is trying
Wedge-rammer.
Wedge. Hinged arm lifter.
by Mike Jeffries
SERVO 04.2008 27
to get under its opponent. It will
not be successful.
Flipper
Flipping robots are
essentially lifters that run at
much higher speeds. Flipping
robots normally use pneumatics
to power their arms due to the
high flow rates achievable in
pneumatic systems. Pneumatics can
be used in any lifting system that
can be operated by an extending
rod. Flipping robots are able to
throw their opponents into the air,
possibly dislodging vital components
or causing them to land in a manner
that would prevent them from
driving. Flipping mechanisms
normally require more weight than
a lifter, as more power is needed to
send a robot into the air than to tip
it. A prominent flipping system in
European robots has the piston
attached to a hinged plate that fires
out of a wedge shaped chassis. The
plate is hinged at the bottom, which
causes the swing of the plate to not
only lift the opponent but toss it
away from the flipper robot.
Another common flipping arm
is hinged at the back of the robot.
It extends to the front, then bends
down to meet the ground with
some means of getting under
another robot attached. The
pneumatic piston is either mounted
vertically or in a position that when
the piston has reached maximum
extension, it will be vertical. This
reduces the loss of force due to
leverage some other systems have,
allowing for a very powerful throw.
These flipping arms tend to throw
the opponent vertically and often
spinning into the air.
Grabber
Grabbing robots are a
variation of the basic lifter.
Grabbing robots use some
sort of device to get a
hold of their opponent
which allows them to
manipulate the opposing robot in
ways that other types are not able
to. While some grabbing robots do
not use a lifting mechanism in
conjunction with their grabbing
mechanism, the two work together
well. Most arenas used today do
not have dangerous hazards in
them, but grabbers could still be
used to remove your opponent
from a match by putting them over
an arena barrier or into a pit.
Grabbers are a good option
against many opponents in the
right arena. They do have one major
weakness, however. If they face a
robot with a spinning weapon
mounted in an area the grabber
tries to pass through, there is a very
good chance that their grabbing
mechanism will be forcefully
removed from the rest of the robot,
making its primary mode of combat
inoperable.
Crusher
Crushing weapons can be very
devastating when used properly.
They are not nearly as common as
spinning or flipping weapons, but
are on par with them when you
look at damage potential and
combat effectiveness.
Crushing arms are normally
powered by hydraulic systems or
high torque linear actuators. They
tend to be slow, but extremely
powerful. The goal of a crusher is to
penetrate the armor of its opponent
and dig the arm into some vital
component. Even if after achieving
penetration, nothing vital was hit,
they still have a very firm grasp on
their opponent. They can take them
into any arena hazards or just drive
them into the wall.
An effective crushing robot
needs to have an agile drive system,
a solid chassis, and a strong arm.
Due to the nature of the crushing
robot, it needs to be able to get to
the weak points on its opponents to
be effective. The forces that are put
into the chassis by the crushing arm
are enough to warp a weak frame.
A solid frame for the area that this
force is transmitted into is vital.
Kinetic Energy
Weapons
Hammer
Hammer robots have many
options when determining how to
operate their distinct weapon. Many
different power sources are capable
of powering an effective hammer.
The most basic method of
actuating a hammer is to directly
Four bar lifter.
Flipper.
Crusher.
Grabber.
28 SERVO 04.2008
attach the piston to the hammer
arm. This system makes it difficult
to get a large swing angle but
allows for a light weapon drive. This
method has been used on many top
hammer robots and the simplicity of
this system makes it an easy design
to start with.
Rack and pinion hammer systems
are somewhat heavier, but have a
major advantage they can swing
180 degrees or more. The only
rotational limit is the rack and pinion
setup itself and the stroke of the
piston pulling the rack. Adjustment
of the gears in the rack allow for
precise control of the arms swing.
Spring fired hammers use
powerful coiled springs to shoot
the hammer downward onto the
opponent, then a heavily geared
down electric motor to retract the
hammer and ready it for the next
swing. The spring can generate a
great amount of power, but this
weapon system is much slower
than many of the other options for
powering a hammer weapon.
Running the hammer directly
off a motor is a simple method for
making this type of robot. Many
of these systems are chain driven
to achieve the proper speed and
reduce the stress on the shaft of
the motor driving it. Motor driven
hammers tend to be fast but not as
powerful as pneumatic hammers.
Thwack
There are two types of thwack
robots. One is a horizontal thwack,
the other is an overhead thwack.
Both types have been effective in
combat, but horizontal thwack bots
are more common as they tend to
be easier to make.
Overhead thwack robots have
the entire main body of the robot
rotate with the hammer. This means
that the majority of the mass must
be contained within the diameter
of the wheels. The striking object
tends to be light because a heavy
weapon would be much harder to
flip over the top of the robot.
Properly balancing the rotating
body of the robot is essential to
getting a good swing. Swinging
the weapon is achieved by quickly
reversing the direction of travel and
using that torque to rotate the body
180 degrees.
The other type of thwack bot
spins its entire body horizontally to
cause damage. The impact points
on the robot can be connected
directly to the body of the robot or
a mass can be attached to the end
of a pole. Both methods have been
effective in the past.
The main difficulty with
this design is that translational
movement while the weapon is
active is difficult. There are solutions
to this, though. Most systems that
attempt to fix this problem rapidly
adjust the speed of individual
wheels to cause it to slowly move
in the desired direction.
Vertical
Vertical spinners come mostly in
two varieties: bar and disk. Both do
basically the same thing. The idea
with a vertical spinner is to use the
ground to your advantage. When a
spinning object hits a robot, half the
energy goes to each robot. Vertical
disks use the ground to absorb that
energy while the opponent only has
its weight to resist the force. Vertical
spinners require a lot of strength in
the frame that supports the weapon
to avoid damage during impacts.
Many vertical spinners have a
support going down from the shaft
of the spinning disk to help absorb
the impact. Vertical spinners are
prone to gyroscopic issues when
turning. If you try to turn too quickly
with a vertical spinner, it may tip to
one side. You risk either flipping over
or losing traction as the wheels are
lifted off the ground. The hazard
here is that when you are doing
this, the other robot is able to better
position itself for a counter attack.
Vertical spinners tend to have wide
drive systems to counteract this force.
Drum
Drum weapons are the cousin
of the vertical disk. Unlike vertical
disks, drums tend to have a fairly
small diameter. They are also
normally very wide, often covering
the majority of one side of a robot.
Gyroscopic forces become less of an
issue with the drum design. They
also have a much wider impact area.
Drums are often spun at a
higher rpm than other spinners.
Drum robots dont rely on one
big hit. Drums are meant to get
to speed quickly and hit many times
in rapid succession.
A common drum variant
referred to as an eggbeater
removes the drum portion of the
design, using just the impact bars
and supports in the structure of
the weapon.
Horizontal
The horizontal spinner is a wide
category. It includes shell spinners,
overhead spinners, front mounted
spinners, and undercutters.
Shell spinners have a rotating
mass that surrounds the chassis of
the robot. These spinners develop a
high amount of kinetic energy when
spinning due to the large mass of
the spinning object. The shells also
double as a kinetic armor when
the weapon is operational. Shell
spinners are most effective when
the shell is short in height. A low
center of gravity keeps them stable
after powerful impacts.
Overhead spinners normally use
bars. This weapon is not as power-
ful as a shell spinner, but it is easier
to build and weighs less. The weight
savings allow for a stronger drive
system or frame. The simplicity makes
it an easier project for a new robot
builder. These weapons, when used
right, can be extremely effective.
Front mounted spinning
weapons are almost identical to
overhead spinners. Instead of having
the blade on the top of the robot, it
is mounted into a frame that comes
out one side. This allows the blade
to be lower to the ground and the
robot that wields it to be taller
without losing effectiveness.
SERVO 04.2008 29
Undercutters do just what the
name implies. The idea with this
weapon is to remove the wheels
and anything else sticking out the
bottom of the opposing robot.
Undercutter blades ride close to the
ground, which makes them difficult
to avoid in a match. The blades
often have a material beneath the
bar to prevent them from hitting
the arena floor. All horizontal
spinners have problems with
over- and under-steering. When you
spin a large mass at a high velocity,
it causes the chassis to want to
rotate. The rotation of the weapon
will cause the robot to turn much
faster in one direction and have
trouble turning in the other. It will
also have some difficulties driving in
a straight line. SV
M
any guides have been written
in the past about building
robots. These often include some
information or suggestion as to
what tools are essential. Having
seen so many different people build
robots in so many different ways, I
can tell you from my own personal
experience that the only essential
tool is motivation. By this, I mean a
person without a single wrench can
build a complex robot by subcontract-
ing the fabrication work to people
with the necessary tools and skills.
In this case, the builders other tool
is money, as it enables him/her to
have their design made for them.
Having said that, most robot builders
like to do as much of the work on their
machines as possible which is good
but some are neater than others.
Over the years, I must have seen
a hundred robots with wandering
lines of randomly spaced bolts, badly
fitting panels, and hastily drilled,
uneven holes made in a desperate
attempt to get within weight. You
can always spot the ones built using
a milling machine, as everything is
neat, in line, evenly spaced, and
looks professionally made.
Do I Need a Milling
Machine?
The answer quite simply is no.
Many robots are built without
access to milling machines, and
they do just fine.
What Can I Do With a
Milling Machine?
A milling machine is a heavy-
duty tool for drilling, cutting,
pitching holes, and generally
emoving metal in a very precise
way. Most of the things you can
achieve on a milling machine can
be done using cheaper tools, but
the precision offered by the milling
machine allows you to do things
much more easily. To bolt a flat
plate to a bulkhead using tapped
holes is easy enough using rulers
and scribes, then a hand drill. But
what if you are slightly out with
your marking? Or the drill moves a
little? Will the plate fit? This is not a
problem with one or two holes, but
what if your robot has hundreds
of holes, all needing to line up
perfectly with the tapped holes
underneath? Or, maybe you need
to make a new lid for your robot.
The milling machine allows you
to pitch holes exactly where you
want them. Pitching them
mechanically means that they are
in a perfectly straight line, in a
pattern, or even at exact points
on a circle, so you know things
will fit first time every time (assuming
you got your measurements right).
So, the first thing you can do with
a milling machine is to put your
holes where you want them to the
thousandth of an inch.
Once you have your holes in the
exact places you want them, the
milling machine can help you do
something else that is perfectly
possible without one tapping a
hole. Done by hand, this is easy but
time consuming. A milling machine
will have speed settings that allow
you to run the tap slowly into your
hole, hit reverse, and presto
threaded hole. It also insures that
for longer threads, you are perfectly
square to start, so an inch into your
hole the tap is not getting stuck
against the side, as it sometimes
can if you do it by hand.
With all of the holes tapped
and perfectly located, you can now
MANUFACTURING:
Milling With Rob ts
by James Baker
A 30 lb robot chassis milled from solid aluminum.
PART 1 Why Should I?
30 SERVO 04.2008
do something else anyone with a
drill can do: countersink for tapered
head bolts. The difference again is
that you know the countersink will
be perfectly centered above your
holes, so the bolts will fit correctly
and as you can control your depth
of cut, they can all be perfectly flush
to the surface of the plate. Not
only does this look a lot better than
the handmade versions, it is also
stronger as the full head of the bolt
is used and not just one side as for
a badly fitting bolt.
These techniques add to the
look and quality of your work in
general, but it can all be done by
hand with more simple tools. One
example of a milling machines
capability over hand tools is making
a gearbox. A large number of
robots use gear reduction in their
drive. Gearboxes can be bought, but
nothing is as useful as a custom
built gearbox. Having gearboxes
custom made can be very expensive,
so the milling machine now
becomes a very viable tool indeed.
From squaring up and making
gearbox housings, to drilling the
holes and bearing pockets, a milling
machine ensures everything is
precise. This job would be very,
very difficult to do accurately by
hand, in which case your gearbox
would wear its bearings, gears or
shafts out quickly, it would have a
lot of drag, or worse still, it would
jam up completely.
Losing Weight
There are many things a milling
machine can do that cannot easily
be achieved with simple tools. By
far, the most useful to the robot
builder is precision material removal.
There are already enough
books telling you how to do
this, so I will explain why you
should do this. The how will be
covered in Part 2.
A solid bar of aluminum
one inch thick is pretty strong.
If I said you could have a bar of
identical size that was almost
as strong but five times lighter,
you might think Im referring to
composite materials or
advanced alloys. But the
answer would be no.
By using a milling machine to
remove material from the center
section of the bar, you can
dramatically reduce the weight
without compromising the strength.
Selectively reducing the thickness of
a material makes many lightweight
structures possible that are just not
viable using hand tools.
Milling My Robots
My garage has a Super-Lux
milling machine from Chester UK
ltd, (www.chesteruk.net) sitting
in the far corner. This weighs just
under 1,300 lbs and is wired into
my regular household electricity
supply. You can get these kinds
of machines from different
manufacturers for around $3,000,
and Im sure there are plenty of
similar suppliers close to wherever
you live. My mill has served me well
on projects right up to 220 lb
combat robots, but I could have
done 90% of the jobs on a mill half
the price. This is important when
deciding which milling
machine you want to buy.
It needs to be suitable for
your purposes. Ask yourself
these two questions before
buying anything.
Do I see a benefit to
having it?
There really is no point
buying a milling machine
or any tool for that matter
Spinning components must be accurately
pitched to keep them balanced.
Perfectly parallel edges mean panels fit easily.
An entire 30 lb robot chassis milled
from solid aluminium.
Cutting channels to remove whole sections is
better than drilling holes to reduce weight.
CombatZone.qxd 3/5/2008 10:37 AM Page 30
SERVO 04.2008 31
if it does not add to the number
of things you can make already or
reduce the time it takes to produce
parts. However, the benefit does
not need to be just a practical one.
An average person who buys a piano
gains nothing but skills and enjoyment
from their new purchase, but that is
still a benefit. If you gain enjoyment
and skills from using the milling
machine, I would say thats as impor-
tant as anything else you may gain.
Will I actually use it?
It is amazing how often tools
are bought and used only once or
twice. I must admit, my milling
machine sat idle for a year once the
job I bought it for was finished. If
you buy a milling machine to build
some special gearboxes or other
complex part, is it actually cheaper
to get a professional to make them
for you instead. You should see real
savings over the life of the machine
to justify the high cost of buying one.
Remember also, if you plan to
make small parts, buy a small
machine; do not spend more than
you need to. There is nothing more
frustrating than wasting $5,000 on
a machine you never use, except
knowing a $1,000 machine would
have done the job anyway. If you are
sure it will be well used, buying a
milling machine might be right for you.
If you decide to buy a milling
machine, do your research, talk to
the salesmen about the tools that
come with them, and the tools you
will need that cost extra. Make sure
you pick up some eye protection
and a book of useful techniques and
tutorials. Finally, have fun! It can be
very rewarding to produce beautiful
pieces of engineering, especially
when fellow builders compliment
your work. SV
Visit James Bakers website at
www.xbotz.com.
The Super-Lux
milling machine.
A huge amount of
material is removed
when milling.
Milling pockets
in the material
dramatically
reduces weight
without sacrificing
strength.
Results Jan 11
Feb 10, 2008
R
oboWars 5 was held January
19th and 20th at SideTracked
in Oakleigh, Melbourne, Australia.
For more details, go to www.robo
wars.org. Results are as follows:
13.6Kg/30 lb Featherweights
1st: Rapture, Dyrodium; 2nd:
Bender, Rotwang; 3rd: Inspector
General, Technomagic.
R
oaming Robots held their
Swindon Smash 2008 event on
January 27th in Swindon, England.
For more details, go to www.roam
ingrobots.co.uk. Envy and Ripper
EVO won the heavyweight
competitions, with DB5 and Venom
winning the featherweight
competitions.
W
AR NW
Model
Hobby Expo 2008,
was presented by
Western Allied
Robotics in Seattle, WA February 9th
at the Monroe County Fairgrounds.
For more details, go to www.
westernalliedrobotics.com.
EVENTS
Results and Upcoming Events
32 SERVO 04.2008
Results are as follow:
12 lb 1st: Death Dealer, Team
DMZ; 2nd: Raven, Team DMZ; 3rd:
Shag, Team Guasswave.
3 lb 1st: Itsa, Team Bad Bot;
2nd: Altitude, Team Velocity; 3rd:
Hurty Gurty, Team Death by
Monkeys.
Upcoming Events for
April-May 2008
R
oaming Robots will hold an
event on April 6 at the Fenton
Manor Sports Complex, City Road,
Fenton, Stoke on Trent, ST4 2RR,
UK. Go to www.roaming
robots.co.uk for more details.
R
oaming Robots will hold an
event at Aylesbury, UK on
May 11th in the town center. This
is the fifth year for this location.
Heavyweights and Featherweights
will fight it out throughout the day.
R
obots Live will hold an event
April 12th and 13th at Olympos
Burgess Hill, The Triangle, Triangle
Way, Burgess Hill, West Sussex,
RH15 8WA UK. Go to www.
robotslive.co.uk for more details.
R
obots Live will hold London
MCM Expo on May 24th and
25th at the London ExCeL Centre.
S
eattle Bot Battles 2008 will be
presented by Western Allied
Robotics in Seattle, WA on April 12
at the Seattle Center Center
House. Go to www.westernal
liedrobotics.com for more details.
One and three pound bots.
Format: Double Elimination or
Round Robin (RFL rules); no ICE or
open flames. Entry Fee: $25 for first
3 lb or 1 lb robot. Additional robots
are half price. Special entry fee
considerations for builders who
are under 18. Arena: 8 x 8.
R
otunda Rumble will be
presented by Synergy Robotics
Entertainment in Minneapolis, MN,
on April 25th through the 27th. Go
to www.kickbot.org for more info.
Perform in front of thousands
of screaming fans at the largest
tourism destination in the world.
The Mall of America, Synergy
Robotics Entertainment, and the
CRCA are proud to announce
Rotunda Rumble. Rotunda Rumble
will feature multiple weight classes
in both the STUDENT and
PROFESSIONAL leagues. The main
event will run 150 gram, Ant (1 lb),
Beetle (3 lb), Hobbyweight (12 lb),
15 lb, and Featherweight (30 lb)
classes. Prizes: Student 15 lb Class,
$2,500 in merchandise for 1st Place;
trophies to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place.
Professional 12 lb and 30 lb Class,
$500 to 1st Place, Trophies to 1st,
2nd, and 3rd Place.
B
otsIQ: The Competition 2008
will be presented by BotsIQ
in Miami Beach, FL on April 30th
through May 4th. Go to www.
botsiq.org for more details.
All teams are welcome to
compete in the following categories:
Table Top (task oriented same
game as last year); 15 pound
competition middle schools,
high schools, and post secondary
institutions; 120 pound competition
high school and post secondary
institutions.
C
arolina Combat Robots will hold
their CCR Memorial Day Qualifier
in Greensboro, NC on May 24th. Go
to www.carolinacombat.com for
more details.
An East Coast Nationals
Qualifier! Carolina Combat Robots is
having its third event in Greensboro,
NC. The arena is a 16 ft x 32 ft steel
structure with 1/4 steel floor and
1/2 of Lexan for the walls. The
event will include robots from 150g
Fairyweight to the 120 lb
Middleweights.
T
he robot fighting year in the UK
ended with a bang on December
29, 2007 in Birmingham at the
Thinktank, a science museum that
celebrates the history of invention
and discovery, with 40 machines
coming from all around the UK for a
featherweight event in the only arena
capable of handling spinners. The
competition was in Thinkspace
exhibition hall and a daypass to the
museum allowed visitors to watch
the fights; 850 spectators attended.
It was the last competition in
which featherweights are limited to
12 kg. From January 1, 2008, the
limit goes up to 13.6 kg/30 pounds;
the result of an initiative by the gov-
erning bodies of robot sport in the
US and UK to agree on international
standards for combat robots.
This was the first UK event
ever held purely as a tag team
competition. The concept is simple.
Robots fight in teams of two,
against a second team of two, and
only one of the two on a side fights
ROB TS AT THINKTANK
by John Frizell
at any one time. But the idea of
having a robot in the arena and not
attacking somebody was too much
for the competitors and it was
unanimously agreed to ignore that
aspect of the rules.
Some teams signed up just for
whiteboard fights but 28 entered
the main competition including 12
pushers, eight flippers, and seven
spinners; some of which were
pushers hurriedly equipped with
discs to take advantage of the rare
opportunity to run them and a lone
axe bot. Two of the flippers were full
pressure machines which fed their
rams with CO
2
at full bottle pressure.
Another was the venerable Rip, a
machine that appeared on Robot
Wars in 2003 and had been
reassembled for this occasion.
The 14 tag team bouts
produced seven winning teams in
the first round and a lot of
spectacular clashes. Several bots
were thrown right out of the 6 x 7
meter arena, including one which
was sent flying by the powerful
vertical spinning disc of Hornet
from Scotland. One team a flipper
paired with a spinner emerged
victorious from a seven team losers
melee to bring the numbers up to
eight for the second round.
The second round produced more
shattered bots and four winning
teams. But the pushers and spinners
were starting to disappear. The
spinners did tremendous damage
but thanks to Newtons third law
and strong counter attacks,
they suffered a lot of damage
themselves. Hornet was probably
the most destructive of the robots.
With its 1.8 kg disc spinning at
4,000 rpm, it cut through 4 mm
Hardox steel. This was the first time
anyone has seen this done by a
feather, as well as cutting a slot in
the arena polycarbonate amor. It
was even a hazard to itself
bending the 4 mm bolts that
secured its 3 hp disc drive motor until
it was in danger of losing its drive belt.
In Round 2, Hornet got at the
underside of Rip and crushed its
base, pushing its drive motors up
inside it. But in return, Hornet was
flipped onto its disc and stalled by
Rips partner Beauty which went on
to immobilize Hornets partner
Drumroll and win the bout.
With a one day event and some
very destructive robots (there were
pushers running 1 hp a side which
slammed their opponents onto the
arena kickplate, flippers that threw
their opponents for yards and, of
course, the spinners), quick repairs
were the order of the day. Some
robots (like TTT, which came apart
after a battering by Wedgie and
Cyberon) could not be fixed in the
time available. But there were some
fast improvised solutions in the pits.
Rip had some of its underside
removed, and with its remaining
bottom plates hammered and bent
back into place and secured with a
handful of cable ties, it was ready
for the semi finals. By the time
the semi finals began, the character
of the fights was changing the
spinners were all gone and the
field consisted of five flippers,
two pushers, and the axe. When
they ended, the pushers were
gone, as well.
The final saw Beauty, a full
pressure flipper, and Rip, facing
Little Hitter and G3, the other full
pressure flipper. When start was
called, Little Hitter (the axe) was
promptly thrown out of the arena
by Beauty. Rip followed up by
doing the same to G3 and Beauty
celebrated their win by tossing Rip
out of the arena, as well. Beauty
and Rip were the convincing
winners of the event in a bout
that lasted less than 30 seconds.
Looking ahead, there are a
total of 19 events planned for 2008
including separate UK heavyweight
and featherweight championships.
The three ton arena that provided
such good service at Thinktank is
booked for May and there are
rumors of more spinner-capable
arenas to come. SV
Little Hitter, the only axe wielding machine
in the competition, which made it all the
way to the final battle.
Little Spinner, a highly destructive
undercutter, made it to round two
before its titanium blade broke in half.
The Thinktank arena,
packed with robots for a fun fight.
Beauty, the powerful
flipper, showing its
massive buffer tank
and ram.
The underside of Rip, hastily patched with
cable ties, as it goes back into battle.
SERVO 04.2008 33
ROBOT PR FILE
by Kevin Berry
TOP RANKED ROBOT THIS MONTH
Weight
Class
Bot Win/Loss
Weight
Class
Bot Win/Loss
150 grams VD 26/7 150 grams Micro Drive 7/1
1 pound Dark Pounder 44/5 1 pound Dark Pounder 28/3
1 kg Roadbug 24/10 1 kg Underkill 11/5
3 pounds 3pd 48/21 3 pounds Limblifter 12/1
6 pounds G.I.R. 14/2 6 pounds G.I.R. 8/2
12 pounds Solaris 42/12 12 pounds Rants Pants 11/2
15 pounds Humdinger 26/4 15 pounds Humdinger 26/4
30 pounds Helios 31/6 30 pounds Billy Bob 8/0
30 (sport) Bounty Hunter 9/1 30 (sport) Bounty Hunter 9/1
60 pounds
Wedge of
Doom
43/5 60 pounds Texas Heat 8/3
120 pounds Devil's Plunger 53/15 120 pounds Touro 5/0
220 pounds Sewer Snake 35/9 220 pounds Brutality 4/0
340 pounds Shovelhead 39/15 340 pounds
Psychotic
Reaction
4/1
390 pounds MidEvil 28/9 390 pounds MidEvil 3/0
Top Ranked Combat Bots
Rankings as of February 9, 2008
Historical Ranking is calculated by Current Ranking is calculated by
History Score Ranking
Roadbug Currently Ranked #1
Historical Ranking: #1
Weight Class: 1 kg
Team: Team Chaos Robotics
Builder: Dirk Stonehouse
Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
BotRank Data Total Fights Wins Losses
Lifetime History 34 24 10
Current Record 19 14 5
Events 7
R
oadbug has competed in
Kilobots XI - 11/10/2007;
WBX-IV Bushwacked - 7/21/2007;
Kilobots X, Spectrum 2007 -
1/20/2007; WBX-3 - 7/22/2;
WBX-II - 8/27/2005; Kilobots VII -
3/5/2005; Kilobots VI -
10/23/2004; Kilobots V -
6/26/2004. 4.0. Details are listed
below:
Configuration: Two wheel drive
wedge.
Frame: Bent 2 mm aluminum;
serves as side and rear armor.
Drive: Two stock Tyco Fast Traxx
370 size motors through a Fast
Traxx gear box.
Wheels: Two, 2-3/8 diameter
rear 1/10 scale pan car foam tires
mounted on 1/10 aluminum pan
car hubs.
Drive ESC: Robot Power
Scorpion HX.
Drive batteries: Two cell Apogee
Lipoly.
Weapon: 2 mm thick Ti
wedge, bolted directly to the side
armor and vertical plates with a
combination brace/magnet mount.
Also uses 0.032 spring steel
finger wedges mounted to the
sides for more control of an
opponent when pushing them
around.
Armor: Titanium, aluminum, and
polycarbonate.
Future: I plan to rebuild
Roadbug as a more compact
invertable wedge.
Design philosophy: Roadbug
has been an ongoing evolution.
Being my first attempt at
building a combat robot, it
has undergone many revisions
and has become a very simple
but powerful, fast, robust design.
I built Roadbug using stuff I had
laying around, proving that a
cheap simple bot can be a
winner. SV
Photos and information are courtesy of
Dirk Stonehouse. All fight statistics are
courtesy of BotRank (www.botrank.com)
as of February 12, 2008. Event attendance
data is courtesy of The Builders Database
(www.buildersdb.com) as of February 12,
2008.
34 SERVO 04.2008
http://RoboGames.Net
June 12-15th, 2008
San Francisco, CA
Events:
Compete at RoboGames 2008!
Last year, over 1000 builders from around the world brought over 800
robots to San Francisco, in the 4th annual international event. This year,
we expect even more robots and engineers to compete. Be one! With 80
different events, theres a competition for everyone - combat, androids,
sumo, soccer, Lego, art, micromouse, BEAM, or Tetsujin! More than half
the events are autonomous. Even if you just come to watch, youll be
overwhelmed with the diversity.
Last year, RoboGames hosted teams with over 800 robots from Argentina,
Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Nether-
lands, Peru, Singapore, Slovenia, Sweden, Taiwan, UK, and the USA.
Be a RoboGames Sponsor!
RoboGames is the worlds largest open robot competition - letting people
of any age, gender, nationality, or affiliation compete. Sponsoring Robo-
Games not only helps more people to compete, but also gets your
company unrivaled press coverage and visibility. The event has been
covered by CNN, ESPN, Fox, CBS, ABC, NBC (live), EBS Korea, NHK
Japan, BBC, and countless print and web companies. Your logo can be
everywhere the cameras turn!
Rent a Booth!
Booth spaces are at the front of the venue, ensuring lots of traffic. With
3000-5000 people each day, youre company will get amazing traffic!
-SERVO Magazine
36 SERVO 04.2008
There is one thing that is true about design ... it is an
iterative process! While I have outlined the following steps
in the order that is the best way to approach a design, you
will find that you will spend much of the time going back
and forth making adjustments, changing your mind, and
fixing problems.
Different Types of Frames
The first step in designing your robot is deciding upon
a frame type and layout. A frame is what holds the entire
robot together and there are many different types of
frames. These include the base plate frame, welded stick
frame, unibody, and milled frame. Each of these has their
own unique attributes that make them better or worse for
different situations.
Choosing a frame type early is important because
it will influence what types of components you choose
to use and how you will lay them out. For example,
wheel chair motors will easily work in a welded stick
frame, but will be more difficult to implement in a base
plate frame.
Base Plate Frame
The base plate frame can be the
easiest and most simple frame to build
and it is best suited towards simpler
robots. In these frames, the main
tructure is simply a thick flat sheet of
metal or plastic that all the components mount to. This
s a very popular frame type for beginners and those
without many tools. In most cases, it requires just a saw
and drill. However, for more complicated robots
especially ones that require high strength at low weight
this type isnt ideal.
Welded Stick Frame
The welded stick frame is often
made out of extruded metal such as
tubing, angle, or u-channel which is
welded together to form a type of
stick frame. All of the components
then bolt onto the frame. A good example of a completed
bot with this type of frame can be seen in Figure 1. The
benefits of this frame are that its easier to manufacture
I
n Part 1, we went over
the first part of the
design phase. Starting
with I want to build a robot
we came up with a goal for
the robot, and a specific
set of criteria we wanted it
to meet. Next, we brain-
stormed many different
ideas, compared them
analytically, and chose the
one that was best. We
decided upon a horizontal
bar spinner much like an
upside-down lawn mower.
With that done, we can now
begin the actual design! In
this installment, I will be
discussing how to determine
what you need for parts,
how to choose them,
developing your design,
and more!
Part 2
b y B r i a n B e n s o n
Designing and Building a
ROBOTfrom
SCRATCH
Benson2.qxd 3/4/2008 7:29 PM Page 36
with limited tooling (a saw, welder, and drill) and it is more
suited towards complicated robots.
Unlike the base plate frame, you arent limited to
mounting on a single flat surface. Builders often like this
frame type because it can be easier to maintain compared
to other types; especially for combat robots because armor
is separate rather than an integral frame member. The
downside for this type of frame is it can be heavier than
other types and it is more difficult to hold close tolerances.
Unibody Frame
The unibody frame usually consists of
steel or aluminum plate stock cut out to make
a 3D jigsaw puzzle that is then welded
together. This is similar to the welded stick
frame except it can be much stronger, but
also heavier. (Although for combat robots,
this type isnt much heavier than the welded stick frame
because the frame also acts as the armor.) Just note that
some builders run into problems trying to repair this
frame type when it becomes damaged because it cannot
be disassembled.
Milled Frame
The milled frame is often made of
milled out or pocketed aluminum rails
that screw together to form a 3D
jigsaw puzzle. Its comparable to the
unibody in weight, but is easier to
repair at the expense of having a weaker frame. The ability
to take the frame apart generally allows you easier access
to components and the ability to replace individual frame
rails. It is also much easier to hold close tolerances with this
type of frame which may be important for some robots.
For these reasons, this is a popular frame type but it can
be hard to manufacture because as its name suggests
it requires a mill.
Combination Frames
These different frame types are
by no means exclusive to one another.
It is common for some builders to
combine different frame types. An
example of this might be a base plate design that also
incorporates a unibody shell which is mounted to the base
plate with a welded stick frame. There are also many other
types of frames not listed here, but they are less common.
Chooing the Frame Type
After looking at the different options, I chose to use
the milled frame. My robot needs to be as low to the
ground as possible, so wasting space with a welded stick
frame didnt make sense. I didnt have the capabilities
to weld aluminum, so a unibody frame was out. For a
horizontal bar spinner, the frame needs to be as strong
as possible with minimal weight, and so as a builder in
possession of a mill, this type made the most sense.
Combined with a reasonably strong base plate, this
would allow me many options for mounting components
and would be an efficient use of weight.
For your robot, you will need to weigh the pros and
cons of each type and decide what will work best for you.
Look at what types of frames robots have used and how
well they worked. The best way to avoid mistakes is to
learn the ones others have already made!
Choosing the Components
When choosing components, you need to pay close
attention to your design specifications. These are your
goals and parameters for your robot, so you want to be
sure the parts you select will satisfy the requirements
you decide upon. There are thousands of possibilities for
different components and combinations. This makes this
part of the design process the most tedious.
In order to choose your parts, you need to determine
what you need in terms of the type and the amount, and
then more specifically what the ratings of the parts need
to be. Once you know this, you can then find all the
components that are applicable and find the best combina-
tion.
Drive Train
Nearly all mobile robots have some sort of drive train,
SERVO 04.2008 37
FIGURE 1. Nefarious, a Team Davis creation,
is a prime example of a welded stick frame.
TABLE 1. Creating a table of motor options allows
you to more easily compare them.
Total Total Geared
Weight Torque External Geared Total
Motor Quantity (lbs) Voltage RPM (in-lb) Gear Ratio RPM Torque
Astro 940 w/Gearbox 4 8 18 1584 388 N/A 1584 388
18 volt Dewalt 4 10 24 1450 496 N/A 1450 496
Dustin Motor 2 7 24 2000 246 1:1.25 1600 307
Table 1. Motor Options
so it is a good place to start when choosing the
components for your robot. Start by reviewing your
design specifications and doing some number crunching.
You will need to determine how much speed and torque
is necessary at each wheel. These calculations can
be found at http://robot-club.com/teamtoad/
motor-math.html.
With these requirements known, you can look at all
available motor units that are within these specifications.
Remember to check a variety of sources including used,
new, and surplus. Its always a good idea to take a look at
what people before you have used and how well it worked
for them, but dont be afraid to try something new, too!
While you compile your list of candidates, create a
table to compare the different options. In the case of my
planned robot, I came up with the options shown in
Table 1.
Auxiliary Motion Systems
Most robots have more than just a drive train.
Whether it be a gripper arm, vacuum, or weapon system,
you will need to go through the same process that you
did with the drive train. Determine what types of
components you will need such as motors, servos, linear
actuators, pneumatic components, etc., and create the
same type of table.
For my robot, I already knew exactly what motors I
wanted to use to drive the weapon system because I
already had them. I decided on using two 24 volt, three
inch Magmotors, capable of delivering up to 4.5 HP each.
Electrical System
Now that you have your options for the motors,
actuators, etc., you need to determine what you want to
use for batteries and speed controllers. For batteries, you
will need to do the appropriate calculations to determine
what capacity, voltage, and current requirements will be.
Again, create a table to compare the different options
that you find.
Next, look at different controllers and find the ones
that are rated to handle your different components.
Remember to look back at your design specifications to
see if anything might apply, such as battery life. This part
of the design process can be made much easier by using a
very handy drive train calculator available at http://
architeuthis-dux.org/torquecalc.asp.
Compiling Your Findings
Once youve decided on these particular components,
create a table of possible, practical combinations.
Remember to keep your maximum weight or space in mind
when creating the different combinations and customize
your organization of the info so it makes sense for your
situation. For my planned robot, the options I chose to
compare are shown in Table 2.
Final Decision
Now that you have all the viable options organized for
easy comparison, its time to choose one. For this, you can
again use a pairwise comparison chart (as talked about in
Part 1) to decide which combination is best. You should
also keep in mind that some components will require more
resources then others. For example, in Table 1 the Dustin
appears to have the greatest power at the lowest cost. But
because only two motors are used and additional gearing
is required, using them would require a way to transmit
the power to four wheels.
The other two possibilities are standalone units which
are a more efficient use of space and weight. Therefore,
while Dustin motors may appear to be lighter, in practice
they will be considerably more heavy and take up more
space.
One other important factor that will help you in the
decision making process is keeping the layout of the robot
in mind. Some combination numbers will look great and
might seem to be the lightest and cheapest, but will it fit
right into your frame type?
I decided to go with Option 1 in Table 2 for my robot.
I only needed a minimal drive train, so this selection made
sense because it took up the least space and weight while
offering plenty of power to get around. My planned
weapon system was going to use up a lot of weight, so
I had to make up for it anywhere I could. Now that my
parts are selected, the next step is to decide on the layout.
Component Layout
At this point, many builders make the mistake of
picking a general frame that is oversized in order to
guarantee everything will fit and then laying out the com-
ponents with too much extra space. While this does work,
it makes your entire design inefficient. Instead, what you
should do is begin by laying out the components and
designing the frame around that. You can experiment with
different layouts using anything from graph paper to CAD
(computer aided design) programs. Dont worry about
designing the specifics of the frame yet, just outline how
things will mount on the frame.
When you have some different layouts, evaluate them
based on how easy it will be to wire, how efficiently the
space will be used, and the ease of repair. Most builders
forget the last one, and in competitive robots this can be
especially detrimental because repair time at competitions is
often at a premium.
In order to try out different layouts for my projects, I
38 SERVO 04.2008
TABLE 2. A table of component combinations will allow
you to easily compare the different options and more
easily choose the best one.
Auxiliary Auxiliary Drive Train Auxiliary
Option Drive Train Motion Batteries Drive Batteries Controller Controllers Total Weight
1 Astro Two Magmotors Four 24V Two 18V Two RS80Ds Contactor 39
3.6AH Nicad 24AH Nicad
2 Dustin Two Magmotors Four 24V Two 24V Two IFI Thors Contactor 50
3 Dewalt Two Magmotors Four 24V Two 24V Four Victor 883s Contactor 45
Table 2. Component Combination Possibilities
used grid paper to sketch out several setups. By using a
simple scale such as one grid square equals two inches
you can quickly get an idea of what will work and what
wont. When this was done, I chose the layout that worked
best and then placed the components in a CAD model.
The initial result of this is shown in Figure 2. The rough
placement has been determined, but I havent worried
about exactly where everything will go.
Final Design
At this point, hopefully you have tried dozens of
combinations of components, layouts, and maybe even a
few frame types as youve iterated your planned design.
You should now know where all of your major components
will go in relation to each other, how your wires will be
routed, and how you are doing on weight. Now you can
narrow down the exact placement of the parts, where and
how each one will mount, the exact frame materials, and
exactly how much your robot should weigh. Even this is an
iterative and tedious process, so have patience as you work
out the details.
When you have completed this step, take another
look at your design specifications and goal statement and
make sure everything matches up with them. This way,
nearly every detail of the robot has been planned,
including all of the screw holes, so this makes the build
process easier and your weight calculations more accurate.
One thing to remember is wires, bolts, and random things
will quickly add up. It is much easier to add weight than
it is to lose it!
Sleep On It
Okay ... youve spent countless hours on the design
and are ready and excited to order the parts and begin
building. Dont! At this point, it is critical that you
simply walk away from the entire design and project
for anywhere between two days and two weeks. This
will allow you to get a fresh perspective on everything
and allow your subconscious to stew over it. When you
have been working so closely with a design, its very
easy to miss flaws or weak points. By walking away from
it, you give yourself space and time to take another
look at it. I can guarantee you from experience that by
simply not working on your robot design for awhile and
then going back to it you will be able to make drastic
improvements and save countless hours later on. This
technique also helps when you run into problems. Many
times when I am working on a design problem, I find that
if I walk away from it the answer will suddenly dawn on
me within a day or two.
Other Design Tools
So far, all I have talked about for actual design tools
are grid paper and
CAD. However,
there are other
approaches you
can take when
working on the
design. Try using
a white board
or a cardboard
mockup of all the
components with
a cardboard or
even wood frame.
If you choose not to use a CAD approach, the best
way to keep track of your weight is by using a spreadsheet.
Create a list of all the components, their weights, part
number, cost, and source. This will not only prove useful in
weight calculations, but also down the road when you need
to order spares. It is also flexible so that you can update
different values and see how it affects the final weight.
Conclusion
In Part 1, we analytically came up with an idea for
a robot along with a goal and design specifications.
This time, we discussed choosing a frame type, choosing
components, determining the best layout of your
components, and turning that layout into a finalized
design. Next time, we will discuss how to turn all this
into a physical reality! For more information on myself or
my robots, visit www.robotic-hobbies.com. SV
Note: Although the ultimate finished robot from this series will be a
combat robot, the planning and designing steps given can be applied
to any type of robot build.
FIGURE 2. In the
initial design stages
CAD is an effective
way to layout your
components to
determine proper
spacing and do
weight estimates.
FIGURE 3. As you finalize the design, CAD can be
used to engineer the robots every detail.
SERVO 04.2008 39
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40 SERVO 04.2008
ShowcaseAPR08.qxd 3/4/2008 7:18 PM Page 40
SERVO 04.2008 41
Running water, daylight and holy silver bullets are
also potent vampire killers. If your vampire pest was once a
mortal human being (most all of them were), every vampire
killing tool Ive just called out will do the job. However, if
your vampire smells of silicon and steel, forget about
getting any killer results from the garlic and wood as only
a steady stream of running water and a carefully placed
bullet will kill a G203V Gecko Vampire stepper motor drive.
My soldering iron is still hot from our last project. So,
put some water on your soldering iron tip cleaning sponge
and get your Moto-Tool ready to grind and spin some drill
bits. Fire up your soldering iron as this month were going
to scratch build a PIC-based step and direction controller
that will act as an intelligent front end to a Gecko G203V
stepper motor drive.
Enter the Vampire
The V in G203V does indeed stand for Vampire.
The idea is that the Gecko G203V is virtually indestructible.
To understand why, we must examine the G203Vs
ancestral roots. The Gecko G203V is really an armored
Gecko G201. The G201 is the most basic and eldest of
the line of GeckoDrives. Unlike its vampire cousin, you can
kill the G201 if you are not careful.
Ive removed the cover from my G201 in Photo 1 to
give you an idea of where the Gecko G203V came from.
Note the heavy use of discrete CMOS logic within the
innards of the G201. Despite CMOS circuitry being able
to eat just about anything thrown at it, the STEP and
DIRECTION inputs of the G201 are optically isolated. The
idea is to sacrifice the Gecko and save the controller if
something goes awry at the stepper motor end. You
can easily see the G201s socketed eight-pin optoisolator
PHOTO 1. Discrete CMOS circuitry rules the G201. All of the
Geckos are equipped with an integral heatsink, which has been
machined for easy mounting to a larger heat-conducting surface.
In Transylvania, cloves of garlic, sharp
wooden stakes, hawthorn branches, and
a cross are just a few of the necessary
tools one needs to combat vampires ...
42 SERVO 04.2008
Eady.qxd 3/1/2008 9:09 AM Page 42
IC in the lower right corner of Photo 1.
A separate set of stepper motor power supply inputs
are provided through the far left pair of removable screw
terminals. Even though you see a 100 F electrolytic
capacitor in the proximity of the stepper motor power input
pins, you must still install a 470 F across the stepper motor
power input pins if the bulk stepper motor power supply
is more than one foot away from the G201. The stepper
motor bulk power source must be an unregulated supply
whose output falls between +24 VDC and +80 VDC.
When operated within the specified voltage range, the
G201 can supply as little as 300 mA or as much as 7.0A to
the stepper motor coils. The maximum amount of current
delivered by the G201 is governed by a standard 0.25W
5% resistor, which connects between the pair of screw
terminals located at the extreme right corner of Photo 1.
The resistance values for a corresponding current output
are silkscreened onto the G201s cover. However, you
can calculate your own current limit resistor value using
the following formula:
For output currents between 0.3A and 2.0A:
R = 47 * I /(2-I)
where R = resistance in K
I = desired output current
For output currents between 1.0A and 7.0A:
R = 47 * I /(7-I)
where R = resistance in K
I = desired output current
When it comes to math, I believe half of what I see
and all that I can compute. So, it seems that if we calculate
the resistor value for a motor current of 1.0A, we will get
a different result depending on which of the current limit
resistor formulae we use. For instance, lets calculate the
current limit resistor for a 1.0A load using the 300 mA to
2.0A formula:
R = 47 * 1 / (2-1) = 47K
Now lets do the same using the 1.0A to 7.0A formula:
R = 47 * 1 / (7-1) = 7.83K
The 47K value is a standard off-the-shelf 5% resistor
value. The 7.83K value is not. The next lower 5% value to
7.83K is 7.50K. Lets use the power of Bills Excel to get an
idea of how close the 7.50K resistor value is to our target
motor current. Take a look at Screenshot 1, which is a
run of the 1.0A to 7.0A formula around the center value
of 7.83K. I condensed the spreadsheet data output as
were only interested in obtaining a good resistor match
for a 1.0A output current. The next common 5% resistor
value above 7.83K is 8.20K. As you can see in
Screenshot 1, you can select an output current value
that is about 4 mA below the target 1.0A output current
using a 7.50K resistor.
The alternative option is to make the 1.0A target and
overshoot it by 4 mA with an 8.20K resistor. I know that
I have a 7.50K 5% resistor in my inventory. If youre not
a spark head like me, you may not have a full set of the
common 5% resistor values. Youre more likely to find that
8.20K resistor on the wall at RadioShack and Ill bet thats
why the 8.20K value is stamped on the G201 cover as the
1.0A current limit resistor.
PHOTO 2. Heres a look at the G201 as it would appear
out of the box. The screw terminals are removable to
aid in mounting the G201 to an external heatsink.
SCREENSHOT 1. If you havent discovered the beauty of
an Excel spreadsheet in an electronic application, behold.
This took all of two minutes to formulate and compute.
SERVO 04.2008 43
Gecko VAMPIRE
Eady.qxd 3/1/2008 9:11 AM Page 43
The G201 also has other knobs that you can turn. The
potentiometer located at the top right of Photo 1 is used
to dampen motor noise at low rotational speeds. Just
below the potentiometer is a jumper block that is used to
select normal current range (1.0A to 7.0A) and reduced
current range (0.3A to 1.0A). Automatic current reduction
is also in the jumper selections.
However, when reduced current range is selected (no
jumpers), you cant jumper automatic current reduction
into the mix. Automatic current reduction reduces the
motor phase current to 33% of the set value one second
after the last step pulse when the motor is stopped. Our
G201 is jumpered for normal current range operation with
automatic current reduction enabled.
The G201s maximum step frequency is 200 kHz with
steps generated on the falling edge of each step pulse.
A G201 step pulse must be logically low for at least
0.5 S and logically high for a minimum of 4 S. Driving
the G201s optically isolated control inputs requires a
+5 VDC power source as the optoisolator LEDs are
arranged in a common anode configuration.
The current sink drive requirement for each G201
optoisolated input is 16 mA. Any Microchip PIC can easily
handle sinking this much current but other microcontrollers
may have a problem with sinking 16 mA without a current-
sinking buffer connected between the microcontrollers I/O
pin and the G201s optoisolator input.
Photo 2 fills in the blanks. The location of the bipolar
stepper motor phase connections is revealed, as well as
the hardware logic behind the optoisolated control inputs.
The G201 must be attached to an external heatsink if you
intend to drive a stepper motor at 3.0A or more. The screw
terminals are removable to accommodate attaching the
G201s integral heatsink to a bigger chunk of metal.
The G201 DISABLE input is not optoisolated and when
grounded, forces all of the motor winding currents to zero.
The G201s DIR (DIRECTION) input requires some
special handling. The direction can only be changed
within a window that begins with the falling edge of the
STEP pulse. Ideally, the direction should be changed
simultaneously with the falling edge of the STEP pulse. This
really isnt as tricky as it sounds. If a PIC is used to generate
the G201 control signal and the G201 STEP input is driven
with a PIC PWM subsystem signal, each time the PIC timer
value matches the PWM period timer the PWM output
goes logically low and an interrupt is generated. We can
use the interrupt to trigger the execution of an interrupt
handler that controls the G201 DIRECTION input.
Okay, now that youre checked out on the G201,
please divert your attention to Photo 3, which happens
to be the bowels of the Vampire. The very first noticeable
difference is that the number of CMOS IC devices has
been drastically reduced. Also, the G201s large thru-hole
current sense resistors have been replaced in the G203V
by physically smaller SMT current sense resistors.
Eight power MOSFETs are mounted under the printed
circuit board (PCB) you see in Photo 3. You can mentally
visualize the MOSFETs orientation by following down the
groups of six solder joints to the immediate right of the
SMT current sense resistors. The MOSFETs are laid out in a
left-to-right manner with their pins meeting at the six-pack
solder pad spine that runs from the top to the bottom of
the Gecko G203V PCB. If you look back at Photo 1, youll
see that the MOSFET layout you see here for the Gecko
G203V is a holdover from the G201.
Another commonality of the G210 and G203V can be
more easily seen in Photo 3 than in Photo 1. There are four
IR2104S half-bridge drivers servicing the eight MOSFETs.
Using my fingers and toes, that adds up to a pair of
complete H-bridges with four MOSFETs and two IR2104S
devices per H-bridge. The IR2104S devices are located
directly to the left of the 120 F electrolytic capacitor in
the lower left corner of Photo 3.
The majority of the CMOS logic we saw in Photo 1 has
been relegated to the Xilinx XC2C64A CoolRunner-II CPLD.
We wont get heavy into CPLD theory here as I will be
doing some Xilinx CPLD stuff over in Nuts & Volts
(www.nutsvolts.com). Lets just say that the CoolRunner-II
CPLD has been programmed to replace the logical work
done by all of those CMOS ICs you see on the G201
PCB in Photo 1.
Now for the things we cant see. The Gecko G203V is
short-circuit protected. You can even attach the stepper
motor power backwards and not release the magic smoke.
If you apply too high of a voltage or try to cook the Gecko
G203V, it will go into survival mode to fight another day.
PHOTO 3. A Xilinx CoolRunner-II CPLD on the Gecko G203V
printed circuit board has replaced the bulk of the CMOS ICs
that were the mainstay of the G201 circuitry. Note the more
ergonomical orientation of the motor dampening potentiometer.
44 SERVO 04.2008
Gecko VAMPIRE
Eady.qxd 3/1/2008 9:11 AM Page 44
The Gecko G203V control inputs are all optically isolated
and referenced to the controllers common ground instead
of the controllers common +5 VDC.
This control input arrangement relieves the burden on
the microcontrollers I/O as the Gecko G203V inputs only
require 2.5 mA of current to drive the optoisolator LEDs.
Another advantage of the G203Vs common cathode
optoisolated input scheme is that the STEP, DIRECTION,
and DISABLE inputs can operate at 2.5V, 3.3V, and 5.0V
logic levels.
The G203Vs maximum step frequency is 350 kHz
versus the G201s 200 kHz. In addition, the direction
change restriction has been lifted as the G203V can
process a change direction command at any time with
200 ns setup and hold timing.
The G201 current limiting logic we discussed, as well
as the minimum and maximum phase current output
amperage, has been carried over into the G203V design.
The same holds true for the dampening potentiometer,
which has been reoriented on the G203V for easier user
accessibility.
There is no need to add the external 470 F electrolytic
capacitor to a G203V design and the G203Vs minimum
stepper motor voltage is now +18 VDC instead of the +24
VDC minimum that is required by the G201.
A look at the upper left corner of Photo 3 reveals
what looks to be an NEC PS2501A photocoupler, which is
standing in place of the G210 jumper block we saw in
Photo 1. The G203V has no adjustments or jumper
settings other than the motor dampening potentiometer
and the current limit resistor.
Hey, youre beginning to grow a tail! Thats okay, as
at this point we know enough about the G201 and G203V
to put them both to use, if we desire. Since we have the
beginnings of a Gecko look and a couple of GeckoDrives in
our hands, lets do something with a soldering iron instead
of selling car insurance on television.
Designing a G203V Controller
There is one fundamental design point that you must
understand to design with a GeckoDrive. Take a look at
the Gecko G203V shown in Photo 4. The G203V POWER
GROUND input is not electrically connected to the
optoisolated COMMON input. The idea is to provide an
unregulated bulk power supply that is suitable to drive your
stepper motor. Attach the unregulated bulk power supply
to the G203V POWER GROUND and +18 TO 80 VDC
terminals. The G203V COMMON input is meant to be
attached to the ground system of the low-voltage power
supply that is servicing the controller.
In our case, the controller is actually a PIC18F2620 and
its associated power supply, clock circuitry, and I/O
subsystem. Depending on your requirements, the
PIC18F2620 can be replaced with a PIC18LF2620 to
allow the PIC-based G203V controller to operate at
voltages below +5 VDC.
Recall that the G203Vs optoisolated inputs can work
with logic rails that lie below the standard +5 VDC logic
levels. With the G203Vs COMMON attached to controller
ground, the PIC18F2620s I/O pins need only source 2.5
mA of current to the DISABLE, DIR, AND STEP optoisolated
inputs to control the stepper motor attached to the Gecko
G203Vs PHASE outputs.
Ive laid out all of the G203V controller connections
and components graphically in Schematic 1. The stepper
motor bulk power supply can be customized to suit your
stepper motors needs. I used an AMVECO 62084 18 VAC
@ 2.7A toroid transformer to drive the GBU601 full wave
bridge and filter capacitor you see in Photo 5.
Be sure to choose a working voltage for C4 and C5
that safely exceeds the maximum output voltage at the
bridge rectifier. My bulk power supply delivers +28.8 VDC
unloaded. The AMVECO toroid can deliver its rated
current with no problems. So, be very careful with the
bulk supply as it will leave a mark if you short it out.
Note that our linear bulk power supply only feeds the
G203Vs POWER GROUND and +18 to 80 VDC power input
terminals. The power for the PIC-based controller can be
had directly from a regulated +5 VDC wall wart or indirectly
through the LM2940 fed from a clean +9 VDC to +12 VDC
power source. Naturally, all of the power for this project
can come from a bank of batteries.
As with the bulk power supply, you can use a
microcontroller of your choice. Im using the PIC18F2620
here because it does not require an external crystal, has
PHOTO 4. The G203V Vampire is pin-compatible with
the G201 with the exception of the COMMON terminal,
which is referenced to the controllers ground on the Vampire.
Note also that the PHASE names are more stepper
motor datasheet correct than the G201s PHASE A, PHASE B,
PHASE C, and HASE D nomenclature.
SERVO 04.2008 45
Gecko VAMPIRE
Eady.qxd 3/1/2008 9:12 AM Page 45
plenty of SRAM and
program Flash, and offers
ample analog and digital
I/O. The ICSP connection is
designed to be Microchip
ICD2 and Microchip REAL ICE
compatible, which means
that you can use regulation
Microchip development tools in
the controller design process.
The PIC18F2620 Im using
in this project is socketed. So, if
you have a PIC programmer that can program the
PIC18F2620, you can eliminate all of the ICSP programming
/debugging hardware from your hardware build.
Everything else you see in Schematic 1 should not be a
surprise. If it is, I always answer reader email messages.
Lets build this thing.
Scratching Up a G203V Controller
The slab of FR4 supporting this project is a custom
perfboard design of mine that is available from ExpressPCB.
Ive provided the custom perfboards ExpressPCB layout for
you as a download from the SERVO website (www.servo
magazine.com). The customization of the perfboard PCB
design is really not customization at all. I simply order a
PCB full of 0.1 inch centered plated-through holes. The
plated-through holes make it really easy to mount
components on the top or bottom of the board and
make a connection on either side.
I used the plated-through holes to my advantage when
assembling the Gecko G203V-to-controller plug-in interface.
In Photo 6, I used 5 mm terminal block headers to hook the
46 SERVO 04.2008
RED
+ C4
22000F@35
115VAC
BLUE VIOLET
R3
10K
BLACK
GREEN
U2
G203V
+18 TO 80 VDC
PHASE A
PHASE A
PHASE B
DISABLE
PHASE B
COMMON
CURRENT SET
POWER GROUND
DIR
STEP
CURRENT SET
C3
.1 F
- +
GBU601
+5VDC
BIPOLAR STEPPER MOTOR
8.2K
+9-12VDC +5VDC
C2
.1 F
U1
PIC18F2620
2
3
4
5
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
10
9
1
6
7
8
19
20
RA0
RA1
RA2
RA3
RB0
RB1
RB2
RB3
RB4
RB5
RB6/PGC
RB7/PGD
RC0
RC1/CCP2
RC2/CCP1
RC3
RC4
RC5
RC6/TX
RC7/RX
OSC2/RA6
OSC1/RA7
MCLR
RA4/T0CKI
RA5
GND
GND
VDD
C7
.1 F@16
+ C9
220 F@16
330
C8
.1 F@16
BROWN
330
+ C6
220 F@16
+5VDC
YELLOW
C5
.1 F@ 50
R2 1K
RED
NOTES:
1. CHOOSE APPROPRI ATE WORKI NG V OLTAGES FOR C4 A ND C5.
2. A LL CAPACI TORS RATED A T 1 6 WORKI NG VOLTS UNLESS OTHERWISE
SPECI FI ED.
AMVECO 62084 TOROID
R1
100
ICSP CONNECTOR
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
2
3
4
5
6
C1
.1 F
0
VR1
LM2940
VIN
G
N
D
VOUT
330
SCHEMATIC 1. The bulk power supply is nothing
more than a standard linear power supply. The
components you choose to use must be able to
provide the intended voltage and current you
need to safely drive your stepper motor.
PHOTO 5. This design is taken
from Power Supply 101. A
50VA AMVECO toroid is feeding
a high-current bridge rectifier,
which is backed up by a big
honking filter capacitor. This
is the meat and potatoes
of electronic gear.
AC goes in at the
top and DC comes
out at the bottom.
Gecko VAMPIRE
NOTES:
1. CHOOSE APPROPRIATE WORKING VOLTAGES FOR C4 AND C5.
2. ALL CAPACITORS RATED AT 16 WORKING VOLTS UNLESS OTHERWISE
SPECIFIED.
Eady.qxd 3/5/2008 3:04 PM Page 46
G203V up to my PIC18F2620-based Gecko controller.
The 5 mm terminal block headers I used just happen to
be the same terminal block headers used by the G203V.
You can get the 5 mm terminal block headers in 24-pin
breakable form from Digi-Key by ordering part number
ED1682-ND.
I designed in an ICSP (In Circuit Serial Programming)
adapter for the Microchip ICD2 and Microchip REAL ICE
that allows the use of the RJ-12 cable that is common to
both of the Microchip development tools. Ill make sure
to post the adapter ExpressPCB layout file for you on the
SERVO website.
With the exception of the DISABLE, DIR, and STEP
status LEDs and their current limiting resistors, all of the
SMT capacitors and resistors are mounted on the underside
of the FR4 slab you see in Photo 6. The 220 F capacitors
are actually surface-mount units. I carefully straightened
the leads from their original 90 bends and discarded the
plastic mounting plates. The newly parallel capacitor leads
fit perfectly into the 0.1 inch centered holes of my plated-
through perfboard.
To the immediate left of the 220 F capacitor pair
lies the LM2940 low dropout +5V regulator. The LM2940s
feeding tube is in the form of a two-pin male BERG
connector, which lies just beyond the LM2940s heatsink
tab. Note that the 8.20K current select resistor is screwed
down with a 5 mm terminal block.
The PIC18F2620 and its ICSP portal are shown at the
far right in Photo 6. Once I got
everything wired in and tested, I
screwed down the Gecko G203V and
installed the ICSP adapter. The finished
G203V controller and its slave Gecko
G203V are shown in Photo 7 along
with the PIC18F2620s ICSP adapter.
Since the Gecko G203V is optically
isolated from the PIC18F2620-based
controller, we can test the controller
firmware without having to attach the
controller to the Gecko G203V.
If youve been wondering what
the DISABLE, DIR, and STEP
status LEDs were for, theres
your answer. We can generate
the G203V control signals with
the PIC18F2620 and view the
results via the status LEDs,
which are attached to the
actual G203V control input
pins. Lets spin up some G203V
controller firmware.
Lizard Code
Coding the G203V is just as easy as designing its
interface hardware. Lets begin by defining the
PIC18F2620-to-G203V interface:
//*******************************************************
//* GECKO CONTROL INTERFACE DEFINITIONS
//*******************************************************
#define DISABLE LATB0
#define DIR LATB1
#define CW 1
#define CCW 0
#define ON 1
#define OFF 0
Theres no rocket science here. The DISABLE and DIR
definitions are taken directly from Schematic 1.
Ive also defined some convenience terms
so that our HI-TECH PICC-18 C source code
speaks to all that we must read and
understand.
We can manually generate steps for the
G203V. However, that would be a waste as
the PIC18F2620 has some very nice timing
subsystems. So, we will activate TIMER1 and its
interrupt structure for use as our general-
purpose delay timer. TIMER2 will be used to
support the generation and timing of
the G203V step PWM signal. This may
be a good time to download the
controller source code from the SERVO
website as the TIMER1, TIMER2, and
interrupt source is listed there for you.
What you will see in the Gecko controller
PHOTO 6. The highly integrated Gecko G203V allows this
controller project to be built on a simple perfboard with a
very small number of supporting components. Most all of the
SMT capacitors and resistors (with the exception of the
status LEDs and their associated current limiting resistors)
are mounted on the bottom side of the perfboard.
Gecko VAMPIRE
SERVO 04.2008 47
PHOTO 7. All thats left to
do before performing the
final smoke test is screw
in the bulk power supply
and the stepper motor.
Eady.qxd 3/1/2008 9:14 AM Page 47
source code is that a millisecond timer is established using
TIMER1, while TIMER2 is configured to support the
PIC18F2620s PWM engine.
The PIC18F2620s internal CPU clock is set up to run
at 8 MHz sans PLL. Heres a peek at the PIC18F2620 clock
and I/O initialization C statements:
//*******************************************************
//* INITIALIZE CLOCK AND IO PORTS
//*******************************************************
OSCCON = 0x70;
PLLEN = 0;
TRISA = 0b11111111;
TRISB = 0b11111100;
TRISC = 0b11111011;
Another look at Schematic 1 reveals the fact that
our PWM signal emanates from CCP1. Thus, it is the only
connection and only output pin used on PORTC. Likewise,
outputs RB0 and RB1 are the sole Gecko-oriented PORTB
I/O pins. That leaves a bunch of communications, and
analog and digital I/O for you to play with in your personal
Gecko controller application.
If youve got the complete set of Gecko controller
code in front of you, you can see that we simply check
off the subsystems in the initialization function one by one.
We make sure the analog-to-digital converter is disabled
as we are not utilizing it. Then, we configure the PWM
registers before activating TIMER1 and enabling all of
the PIC18F2620s interrupts. Once all of the necessary
PIC18F2620 subsystem preparations are complete, we
execute the main program code:
void main(void)
{
//*******************************************************
//* INITIALIZE
//*******************************************************
init();
DISABLE = OFF;
DIR = CW;
sdelay1(2);
TIMER2ON;
//*******************************************************
//* MAIN SERVICE LOOP
//*******************************************************
do{
sdelay1(5);
DIR ^= 1;
}while(1);
}
The main loop enables the G203Vs PHASE outputs
(DISABLE = 0FF), sets the initial stepper motor direction to
clockwise (DIR = CW), and enables the PWM (TIMER2ON).
The green status LED glows inside the G203V and the
stepper motor spins, changing direction every five seconds.
What a wonderful world!
That Tail is Getting Longer
FeDEx says use them when it absolutely, positively has
to be there overnight. Use a GeckoDrive when your stepper
motor absolutely, positively has to turn reliably each and
every time.
Theres plenty of PIC18F2620 I/O, program Flash, and
SRAM left. Youve earned the right to call yourself a Gecko
expert. So, now its time for you to put some pushbuttons,
potentiometers, and optical switches to work with the
G203V and its companion PIC18F2620-based controller
and move something. See you next time! SV
Fred Eady can be reached via email at fred@edtp.com
Gecko VAMPIRE
GECKODRIVE www.geckodrive.com
GeckoDrive G201; GeckoDrive G203V
Microchip www.microchip.com
PIC18F2620; MPLAB ICD2; MPLAB REAL ICE
HI-TECH Software www.htsoft.com
HI-TECH PICC-18 C Compiler
Resources
P
erform proportional speed, direction, and steering with
only two Radio/Control channels for vehicles using two
separate brush-type electric motors mounted right and left
with our mixing RDFR dual speed control. Used in many
successful competitive robots. Single joystick operation: up
goes straight ahead, down is reverse. Pure right or left twirls
vehicle as motors turn opposite directions. In between stick
positions completely proportional. Plugs in like a servo to
your Futaba, JR, Hitec, or similar radio. Compatible with gyro
steering stabilization. Various volt and amp sizes available.
The RDFR47E 55V 75A per motor unit pictured above.
www.vantec.com
STEER WINNING ROBOTS
WITHOUT SERVOS!
Order at
(888) 929-5055
48 SERVO 04.2008
Eady.qxd 3/1/2008 9:15 AM Page 48
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50 SERVO 04.2008
One reason that flying robots have not filled the
airspace in backyards and robotics clubs is because flight
imposes engineering obstacles that must be overcome.
These obstacles are similar to those that confronted the
early versions of bees and birds. In order to fly, bees and
birds developed the ability to navigate in three-dimensional
space and overcame weight limitations that kept them
earthbound.
Our robotic blimp mimics many of these developments
so we decided to call our flying robot Apis Mellifera,
which is the scientific name for the western honey bee.
Apis Mellifera is a blimp-based robot that flies around in
three-dimensional space, hugging either the floor or ceiling,
all the while avoiding obstacles.
The fossil record and recent scientific experiments tell
the story of the evolution of flight in bees and birds. Our
story of robots taking flight is told in the next few pages
of SERVO Magazine that is currently in your hands. In
telling our story, we will compare how evolution
engineered bees and birds for flight, with our own
efforts to design a flying robot.
Proto-Apis Mellifera
Our story begins a little over a year ago. Bob Allen (the
hardware guy) visited the home of Tony Pratkanis (the
software guy) where he found Tony working on an
autonomous blimp. This primitive version of a flying robot
consisted of two blimp envelopes, a large solderless
breadboard, motors on each envelope, and a large balsa
wood gondola tying it all together. Proto-Apis Mellifera,
as we will call it, measured 0.7 meters by 1.32 meters or
about the dimensions of a medium-sized hawk.
This monstrosity was reminiscent of Archaeopteryx,
a birdlike creature that lived over 150 million years ago.
Archaeopteryx was halfway between a modern bird (with
modern feathers) and an ancient dinosaur (with heavy
toothed jaws that limited flight). Over the next 85 million
years, the descendants of Archaeopteryx would shed
those toothed jaws, develop hollow, light-weight bones,
and eliminate heavy appendages in order to develop the
flying ability of modern birds.
In order for proto-Apis Mellifera to evolve into a
capable flying machine, it, too, would need to shed
weight so that all of its anatomical features (motors,
sensors, processors, wires, and batteries) could be carried
by a single blimp envelope. The payload capacity of a single
envelope filled with helium is just about 150 grams (or
about the weight of 1,500 honey bees or one parakeet).
Fortunately, with Bobs knowledge of hardware, it didnt
When PICs Fly
by Tony Pratkanis and Bob Allen
B
ees do it. Birds do
it. Why shouldnt
robots do it, too
fly through the air,
that is? Although there
have been some military
and commercial robots
that fly, there have been
very few homebrewed
autonomous flying
robots.
Allen-Pratkanis.qxd 3/3/2008 3:37 PM Page 50
take 85 million years to redesign and create Apis Mellifera.
Anatomy of Apis Mellifera
All organisms whether bee, bird, or bot have
certain requirements for life. These include mechanical
structures or skeletons to maintain shape and to physically
support other structures, sensors and nerves, a brain or
central processor, a means of locomotion, and a way to
store energy. In addition, flight requires an organism light
enough to be lifted yet strong enough to withstand the
stresses of aerial movements.
Mechanical Structure
To support their body parts while maintaining the
ability to fly, birds have a light-weight structure made out
of hollowed-out bones and light-weight feathers. Because
insects have an exoskeleton made of chitin (a rather strong
but light-weight material), bees had to shed less of their
weight during the evolution to flight. Our robotic blimp
consists of two main structures an
envelope and a gondola and went
through a similar evolutionary process.
The mylar blimp envelope was
purchased from Plantraco. We used
the large size envelope (0.35 by 1.32
meters) as it allows the blimp to carry
a maximum payload. Given that it
takes a great deal of helium to fill
the blimp, small helium tanks used
for filling balloons available at large
retailers are not large enough for the
blimp. Our experience has taught us
that it is best to fill the envelope at a
local party store or other supplier of
helium (such as welding facilities) and
then use the smaller balloon tank to
top off when needed.
The gondola basket is the heart of the blimp. It holds
the CPU, PCB, motors, and batteries. It is made of balsa
wood secured together with insta-glue. We cut and
trimmed the balsa wood as much as possible to save
weight. The gondola attaches at the base of the blimp
envelope with Velcro.
In placing the basket onto the blimp, care must be
taken to insure equal weight distribution and to prevent the
SERVO 04.2008 51
Apis Mellifera
gracefully moves
through space.
A front view of
Apis Mellifera.
The unattached gondola of Apis
Mellifera; the gondola supports the
PCB, motors, and an IR sensor.
thrust motors from rotating the blimp. In addition, the
gondola was designed with feet on the underside of the
basket to prevent damage to the motors and propellers
should the blimp come in contact with the ground.
Sensors and Nerves
When compared to other similar animals and insects,
birds and pollinators have some of the most advanced
and complex sensors and nervous systems in the animal
kingdom. Birds are capable of spotting prey from hundreds
of meters and adapting their behavior to capture even a
moving target. Although having a smaller brain than birds,
bees have complex eyes and a well-developed sense of
smell to allow them to detect food and avoid predators.
Unfortunately, the mechanical sensors available to the
homebrew roboticist are not as advanced as their biological
counterparts. On Apis Mellifera, we used the Sharp 2Y0A02
long-range IR sensors for obstacle avoidance, as well as
for floor and ceiling following. Five IR sensors were placed
around the blimp envelope: two in the front and one each
on the top, bottom, and the rear of the blimp.
The Sharp sensor has a maximum range of 1.54
meters, giving the blimp time to make a course correction
to avoid obstacles. We would have liked to use more IR
sensors, but because each sensor weighs about five grams
(equivalent to the weight of a single hummingbird), we
could not afford the additional weight added sensors
would bring.
The nervous system for our robot consists of three
intertwined wires running from each sensor to the CPU.
These wires run along the outside of the blimp envelope
and are up to a meter in length. Here we learned another
lesson about the evolution of flight.
Our original sensor wires were 26 ASWG wires and
thus very heavy. To minimize the weight of the wires, we
switched to 30 ASWG. These wires were successful in
reducing weight but introduced a new set of problems.
Because the lighter gauge wires were very brittle and
subject to breakage, they became the blimps number
one source of failure. One way we are considering dealing
with this problem is to place the wires within the mylar
sheath for protection.
CPU and Brains
The stereotypical view of birds is that they are not
very smart or, quite literally, are bird-brained. Recently,
scientists have found that birds (especially crovids and
parrots) are capable of complex problem-solving and have
advanced perceptual processes needed for flight. (Ravens
can solve spatial problems and are considered to be as
smart as canines. -Ed.) Birds are capable of this advanced
cognition because of their development of the brain region
known as hyperstriatum. The hyperstriatum functions
similarly to the cerebral cortex in primates and represents
a homologue evolutionary development.
As with humans and the folding of the cerebral cortex,
birds have evolved to fit more neural matter
into the same or smaller physical space in a
natures version of Moores law (although
the doubling of processor power takes
considerably longer than 18 months).
In contrast to birds, bees have considerably
less neural matter. Although pollinators have
advanced sensors and brains compared to other
insects, the average bee has approximately
850,000 neurons a rather limited processing
unit. To solve the cognitive demands of flight,
bees evolved effective but simple algorithms
and heuristics in other words, a software
instead of a hardware solution.
We made extensive
use of this software hack
52 SERVO 04.2008
Breadboard used on
Proto-Apis Mellifera.
The current PCB which
weighs 34 grams.
The first custom PCB still
over-weight at 57 grams.
in designing Apis Mellifera, as we describe in the section
on cognition. In addition, bees increased their CPU power
through eusociality or swarm intelligence an aspect
that we are currently working on and would like to add to
our robots.
The CPU and PCB used in Apis Mellifera followed a
similar evolutionary process with more computing power
packed into less physical space as our board went from
breadboard to a custom PCB and then to a second, smaller
custom PCB.
The blimps PCB is one of its heaviest components. It
contains the blimps processor, motor control circuits,
sensor control circuits, and batteries. Proto-Apis Mellifera
used a 40-pin BASIC Stamp (BS2p40) as its processor, and
a BS2p24/40 demo board (which has been discontinued).
The demo board comes with a large solderless breadboard,
which was used to contain two H-bridges (model
SN754410NE) to control the motors.
This CPU was very heavy, weighing in at a whopping
155 grams (equivalent to the payload capacity of a
single blimp envelope). The Proto-Apis Mellifera used
Sharp GP2D02 IR sensors that had two wires for serial
communication (clock and data) and two additional wires
for power and ground. The extra wire added additional
weight to the unit.
On the current, one-envelope version of Apis Mellifera,
we used a custom-designed printed circuit board. This
custom PCB went through two revisions. The first version
weighed 57 grams and when combined with all the other
components, proved to be too heavy to be lifted by a
single envelope. The second (and current) version of the
CPU weighs 34 grams. This reduction in weight was
obtained by moving all the components closer together.
The current PCB contains similar features to the older
demo board used on proto-Apis Mellifera, but uses a PIC
18F8520 as its processor. Since the PIC 18F8520 has
analog-to-digital converters, we used analog IR sensors.
This saved weight because the analog sensors do not
require a clock wire. To control the motors, we used the
same model H-bridges (SN754410NE) on the current PCB
as we used on the demo board.
Means of Locomotion and Flight
Wings, Motors, and Propellers
Birds and bees both evolved light-weight wings
to fly, but they use very different strategies. Bees
wings evolved to flap at very high rates, giving
them the ability to hover, but consuming
considerable energy. In contrast, birds wings flap
slowly when compared to bees, and thus offer
birds much less maneuverability. Nevertheless, these
slow flapping wings have one critical advantage:
lower energy consumption. Birds can catch air
currents and glide on their outstretched wings for
long periods of time, thereby conserving energy.
With our robot, we chose the ultimate option in
minimizing energy consumption: a blimp. A blimp does not
have to expend energy to stay aloft; it only must expend
energy to move horizontally or to change its altitude. A
blimp, however, suffers from air currents; it is like a feather
buffeted by the vast, invisible, three-dimensional torrents of
air currents. These air currents often push the blimp around
the room and rotate it in interesting ways.
To thrust our blimp, we use four Hobby Engineering
regular pager motors equipped with propellers from
Plantraco. These motors met our two critical requirements:
use the smallest motors possible in order to minimize
weight problems and use efficient motors that do not
rapidly drain batteries. Two of these motors were
horizontal, and two were vertical.
The horizontal motors were placed along beams
suspended down from the gondola. To attach the motors
to the beams, we used a drill to cut holes in the beams
that were sized to fit tightly around the motors. This
prevented us from having to glue or tape the motors to
the supporting structure.
We placed the vertical motors on the sides of the
gondola so that they were not obstructed by the blimp
envelope. In an earlier version, we found that placing the
vertical motors close to the center of the blimp blocked the
air flow from the motors and thus neutralized their effects.
The propeller on the left vertical motor had to be put on
backwards, so the motor could rotate backwards. Rotating
the left vertical motor backwards counteracted the force
of the right vertical motor, preventing the rotation of the
blimp when the vertical motors were activated.
Energy Source
As noted, flying creatures of the animal kingdom use
a large amount of energy. To supply this needed energy,
birds have developed highly efficient digestion systems to
fuel higher levels of respiration and metabolism (compared
to similar animals). Meanwhile, bees have developed a
means to use energy-rich sugars at a metabolic rate close
to maximum capacity.
As any builder of autonomous robots knows, energy
SERVO 04.2008 53
A vertical (upper) and horizontal (lower) motor
on the gondola of Apis Mellifera.
consumption is a major obstacle given the choices of
batteries now on the market. Although we attempted to
minimize energy consumption with a blimp design, our
robot still needed power. For Apis Mellifera, we found
that rechargeable camera batteries (of type CR123)
provided the most energy for the least amount of weight.
Aerodynamics
With their sleek aerodynamics, eagles and pelicans
swoop and glide with grace; hummingbirds and bees dart
around the landscape with the agility of a pro-bowl running
back. In contrast, Apis Melliferas blimp design creates a
number of aerodynamic issues. The blimps objective is to
navigate and avoid obstacles. This is made difficult by the
fact that the blimp drifts and is heavily inertial in its flight,
very much like an astronaut on a space walk. Activating the
motors for one second, for example, does not mean that
the blimp will go forward for one second and stop it
means that the blimp will go forward and then slow down
over a period of time. Therefore, the blimp must be
programmed to counteract these types of movements.
Given this lag in response, long-range IR sensors are
required to provide enough time to react to obstacles.
Another aerodynamic issue we encountered came
when mounting sensors and wires. Any surface that
flaps (such as a hanging cord or wire) will cause the
blimp to spin out, meaning it will turn back and forth
and eventually make a full 180 degree turn. If the blimp
is not balanced with equal weight around its center of
mass, it will rotate during flight.
Finally, we desired to have a blimp that weighed slightly
more than 150 grams for a simple reason: In case of failure,
the blimp will always descend rather than ascend into the
heavens along with our CPU and other components. One
problem with obtaining this goal is that the weight of the
blimp can vary as a function of the amount of helium in
the envelope (the helium leaks out slowly over time) and
by room temperature (with the blimp contracting in colder
climates). This means that the blimp must be rebalanced
when conditions change. To make the weight easily
adjustable, the blimp was ballasted with Elmers Poster
Tack tacking material (a putty-like substance that is less
messy than regular putty) attached to the blimp envelope.
The Cognitions of Apis Mellifera
How do bees think and navigate in the complex
three-dimensional space needed for flight? An answer
can be found in an intriguing experiment conducted by
Karl von Frisch. He placed a beehive at one end of a bridge
over a deep ravine and led foraging bees to either a feeding
station on the bridge, or a feeding station below the bridge
at the bottom of the valley. He found that bees generally
followed the land down to the feeding station at the
bottom of the valley, and rarely went to the feeding station
on the bridge. Von Frisch concluded that bees follow
the ground when looking for food. In other words, bees
reduce three-dimensional space to two dimensions to ease
the navigational burden.
Our blimp uses the same ground following algorithm
used by bees. A switch on the PCB allows Apis Mellifera to
hug either the floor (as with bees) or the ceiling (something
that makes sense only in an interior
environment). The blimps software
must control two main tasks: the
horizontal movement and the vertical
movement of the blimp. These two
tasks are separate and do not interact
with each other.
Controlling the vertical movement
of the blimp is easy: If the blimp is
too close to the ground, activate the
vertical thrusters and, conversely, if
the blimp is to close to the ceiling,
activate and reverse the vertical
thrusters. The horizontal movement
is a little more complex. If an obstacle
is detected in front of the blimp, the
blimp must: (1) apply reverse thrust;
54 SERVO 04.2008
Item Part Number Supplier website
Sharp IR Sensors GP2Y0A02YK www.acroname.com
H-Bridges SN754410NE www.hobbyengineering.com
Regular Pager Motors H01202-01E www.hobbyengineering.com/
PIC 18f8520 PIC18f8520-I/PT www.microchipdirect.com
Blimp Envelope Replacement 52 https://secure.plantraco.com/
Blimp Balloon cgi-bin/order/select_items.cgi?
cid=1&af=none
Propellers Tri-Turbofan Propeller https://secure.plantraco.com/
cgi-bin/order/select_items.cgi?
cid=2&af=none#
CR123 Batteries Local drug store or RadioShack
Balsa Wood Local hobby shop
Velcro Local drug store
Custom PCB Contact us!
Components for Building Apis Mellifera
WEBSITES:
Tony Pratkanis www.formicite.com
Bob Allens company, Ologic www.ologicinc.com
Homebrew Robotics Club www.hbrobotics.org
Apis Mellifera Website www.formicite.com/dopage?=
bots/apimel.html
BOOKS:
Gould, J. L., & Gould, C. G. (1995). The Honey Bee. New
York: Scientific American Library.
Silbey, D. A., Elphick, C., & Dunning, J. B. (2001). The Sibley
Guide to Bird Life and Behavior. New York: Alfred Knopf.
Resources
(2) turn away from the obstacle; (3) counteract the turn
thrust; and (4) apply forward thrust. If an obstacle is
detected behind the blimp, it must thrust forward to avoid
the object. If the blimp has drifted for a while without
encountering an obstacle, it should apply a small amount
of forward thrust to prevent it from getting caught in a
particular location.
The software was written for the PIC using the CCS C
complier. The entire program is approximately 400 lines of
code, with about 150 lines involved in motor control and
about another 20 doing IR monitoring. The code had to be
written so that it could perform both horizontal and vertical
navigation simultaneously. This was a non-trivial issue
because the PIC does not support multitasking. This means
that the code could not contain any wait statements.
Instead, we use a horizontal state variable, a vertical state
variable, and a time variable.
Each time a pass through the main loop is made, the
time variable is decremented. When the time variable
reaches zero or a horizontal sensor is tripped, the horizontal
state variable is changed. The value of the horizontal state
variable controls the behavior of the horizontal motors.
This approach, though more complex than using wait
statements, has multiple advantages. The first is that
vertical navigation and horizontal navigation can be
performed without code duplication. The second is that the
blimp automatically reacts to obstacles while it is backing
up and turning.
Tasted Flight
Leonardo da Vinci put it this way: Once you have
tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your
eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there
you will always long to return.
Of course, this is not totally true. While bees
descended from wasps, ants did as well. Ants have since
left behind their flying abilities save for sporadic nuptial
flights. Nevertheless, flight has given bees and birds many
evolutionary advantages, allowing their kind to disperse
into new ecological niches and to spread around the globe.
We believe that flight will take robotics to new heights
and open up new opportunities as home roboticists take
Leonardos sentiments to heart and send their robots to
the heavens. SV
Tony Pratkanis and Bob Allen are members of the
Homebrew Robotics Club of Silicon Valley hosted by
Carnegie Mellon UniversityWest. Photos are courtesy of
Michael Garrod.
About the Authors
SERVO 04.2008 55
56 SERVO 04.2008
I have been an electronics
hobbyist since I was young and an
engineer for many years. Throughout
these years, I have been scavenging
parts from cast-off hardware and
from the trash at work, so I have a
reasonable supply of parts and
materials available in my scrap boxes. I
also have a laptop computer from my
work and a handheld GPS unit for
hiking. The project presented in this
article utilizes scrap box parts with a
few purchased items to build a GPS
guided autonomous robotic car.
My ultimate goal is
to develop a robotic
lawn mower.
A robot that mows a lawn in a
controlled fashion requires developing
a precise navigation system, identifying
and tracking local objects, performing
obstacle avoidance, and perfecting
other systems. I wanted to start by
developing a prototype vehicle that
can navigate around my yard and the
neighboring field to serve as a test
bed for these systems.
Finding The Platform
Looking at what is available for
hobby robots, I found that few of the
robot kits available are rugged enough
or large enough to bounce around in
the outdoors. I wanted a pre-built
test bed that did not require much
hardware development. Fortunately,
many people have purchased ride-on
cars for their children, and these toys
get cast off as the children get older
or as the batteries die. While these
cars have several drawbacks, they can
carry more weight than I needed and
are large enough and durable enough
for my purposes.
I was able to get a car from a
thrift store for $5 that had two weak
6V batteries and no charger. I went to
my local recycling station to discard an
old battery, and saw a new looking
12V sealed lead acid battery. I took it
home to try out; it had one weak cell
but other than that, it performs very
well. So my total cost for the car and
the main power source was $5. Figure
1 shows a view of the car with all of
the components installed.
Modifying The Wiring
For high/low speed control and
forward/reverse, these cars use simple
switches. I removed all of this original
wiring to convert the car to computer
control. I considered using a radio
control (RC) speed controller for the
drive motors, however, I have many
relays that I recovered from the
trash at work. The relays are easily
interfaced to control electronics using
transistors and resistors, and on/off
control is simple to implement in
software. The relay wiring and drive
FIGURE 1. (Above)
The completed car. Many trim pieces
originally installed on the car were
removed to provide flat mounting
surfaces for the various assemblies.
I
have been reading SERVO
Magazine and Nuts & Volts for a few
years, but throughout this time I have not
been doing any robotics myself, so I decided that I
needed to start experiencing things first-hand. This
article describes my first venture into the world of robotics.
OverstromRev1.qxd 3/5/2008 7:34 AM Page 56
circuits can be seen in the schematic
in Figure 2.
Beefing Up The Steering
The hardest part of this project
was building and controlling the
steering mechanism. The forces
required to move the steering and
hold its position while moving around
a field are far greater than a typical
RC servo can handle, so a more
substantial mechanism was needed.
These cars have a lot of slop in the
steering mechanisms, so it is best to
eliminate most of the original parts.
I constructed a steering rack using
a threaded rod; it can apply high
forces and is installed on the bottom
of the car near the original tie rod
that controls the steering of both
wheels. Figure 3 shows the rack
mechanism and linkages installed on
the car. The threaded rod I used is
5/16 diameter with 18 threads per
inch, therefore 18 rotations are
required to move the steering mecha-
nism one inch. With this mechanical
advantage, the steering would be too
SERVO 04.2008 57
FIGURE 2.
This schematic shows the relay wiring.
Four-pole double-throw relays
allowed for some safety features.
The power for the steer right relay is
routed through the steer left relay and
vice versa; this prevents shorts if both
relays are actuated simultaneously. The
wheel drive relays are wired as an
on/off and forward/reverse; the con-
tacts were connected in parallel to
support the high current.
FIGURE 3. The underside of the car
with the steering rack and linkages
installed. All the original steering
wheel components were removed.
Steering Mechanism Parts
Virtually all of the material for the
steering mechanism came from my
scrap box and I am sure many people
have similar materials available. The
parts I used were:
2 - Small ball bearings
1 - Length of threaded rod
2 - Switches
2 - Hall devices
3 - Magnets
2 - Relays
1 - Motor and 2 gears
(from a battery powered electric drill)
Misc pieces of angle iron
Relay Drive and Motor Control
4 - 1N4148 Diodes
4 - 2N222A Transistors
4 - 470 ohm 1/4 W Resistors
4 - Four Pole Double Throw Relays
2 - Normally Closed Momentary Contact
Switches
1 - 22 pF Ceramic Capacitor
1- 1 ohm 25W Resistor
(hand wound from nichrome heater wire)
slow if the motor-to-threaded rod gear
ratio was too large, so I only used two
gears from the electric drill providing a
gear ratio of 5.5:1. With this ratio, the
steering can move from center to full
right or left in about 0.5 seconds.
Building The Control System
I decided to control the car using
a microcontroller but with a limited
knowledge in this area, I wanted to
purchase a self-contained package
that included training and all the
hardware and software I would need
to get started. I purchased a Parallax
(www.parallax.com) Whats a
Microcontroller training package for
$80. It includes a book, a BASIC
Stamp Homework Board, a servo,
electronic parts, and all that is needed
to complete a beginning level project.
This course is geared towards
someone that has no electronics
experience, but even if you are
experienced in electronics, you can
still learn a lot about using the BASIC
Stamp. All of the Stamp electrical
interfaces to the car are shown in the
schematic in Figure 4.
The feedback from the steering
assembly to the BASIC Stamp is via
two Hall devices: one detects shaft
rotations and one detects right or left
of center. The right/left of center
sensor is accomplished by a mechanism
I call a shuttle magnet. This magnet
slides back and forth in an enclosed
slot cut in the housing that holds the
center-detecting Hall device. When the
steering mechanism moves to the
58 SERVO 04.2008
FIGURE 4. This schematic includes the Stamp I/O circuits; the circuits are all powered by the Stamp 5V regulated power.
FIGURE 5. Close-up of the rack assembly.
- The shuttle magnet is visible in the right side
of the covered slot.
- The Hall device is behind the magnet in
another slot.
- The rotation counting Hall device is located in
the white plastic housing on top of the limit switch
on the right.
- The rotation magnet can be seen in a small
depression drilled in the gear.
- The arm with foam padding and black electrical
tape actuates the two end-of-travel limit switches.
Control Schematic Parts List
2 - Hall Magnetic Sensors
2 - 1K ohm 1/4 W Resistors
1 - 10K ohm 1/4 W Resistor
1 - Normally Open Push Button
Switch
1 - Ping))) Ultrasonic Sensor
1 - HM55B Compass Module
1 - BASIC Stamp Homework
Board
1 - Magellan Meridian Color or
equivalent GPS unit
1 - Piezo Speaker
right of center, a magnet on it pulls
the shuttle magnet along the slot and
away from the Hall device. When the
shuttle magnet reaches the end of its
slot, it stops and remains stuck in
place, held by the attraction of the
nearby angle iron.
The shuttle magnet remains there
waiting for the return of the steering
mechanism. The behavior is similar for
steering to the left of center except the
slot ends at the Hall device, holding the
magnet where the device can detect
it. Figure 5 shows a close-up of the
steering rack assembly with the
shuttle magnet and slot. At startup,
if the software detects the magnet, it
will move the steering right until it
senses a change. Likewise, if it does
not sense the magnet it will move the
steering left until it senses a change.
The software monitors this sensor
any time the steering is in motion,
and any change causes a reset of the
steering counter. This keeps the
software counter in sync with the
actual hardware position.
Similar to the wheel drive motors,
the steering motor is controlled in an
on/off fashion via relays. This makes
for crude control of the steering,
however, the software compensates
for this by counting rotations of the
steering rack. This provides position
knowledge to 1/18 of an inch.I found
that the steering mechanism can take
several rotations to coast to a stop
after power is removed. The software
compensates for this in two ways:
First, it only moves half of the desired
change in any one move, and second,
it counts how many rotations it
overran. Frequently for small moves,
the go-halfway approach results in
the steering coasting to its desired
location in one step.
The mechanical motion of the
steering mechanism is one of the
largest delays the software has to
contend with. To prevent over-
steering, the software moves the car
in incremental steps when the steering
offset is large. This allows the steering
mechanism to get to the desired
position. Also, since the car can
change its heading very quickly with a
large steering angle, this allows the
compass subroutine to get up-to-date
readings.
The steering software includes
limits to prevent the steering from
going too far. While this works very
well now, during debugging it
frequently ran all the way to the ends
of the mechanism.
To prevent damage, the steering
rack includes limit switches; these
prevent further motion in the
offending direction and are
independent of any software. I highly
recommend including independent
safety switches in any design where
there is a mechanical end of travel.
Navigation
My approach to get steering and
navigation working was to start with
straight line motion using an
electronic compass, then add GPS
information for travel to various
waypoints. Straight-line motion sounds
very simple, but in reality, it can be
quite difficult to achieve when your
robot operates in environments that
vary from smooth operation at high
speed to bumping across a field that
has a steep slope.
Straight-line testing also allows
you to push the car off its desired
heading to observe its recovery.
Frequently, a control loop will exhibit
damped oscillations in response to a
large offset, and observing how a
robot responds to these inputs can
help you tune your software.
I purchased a Parallax HM55B
#29123 compass module for $30 to
use as a heading sensor. Parallax
provides software and wiring
diagrams to interface directly to
the Stamp. I mounted the compass
module on the body of the car away
from metal parts and away from any
other wiring. These compasses consist
of two magnetometers mounted at
90 degrees to each other inside a
single IC. Software is required to
convert the raw readings into a
magnetic heading. The magneto
meters also have DC offsets and
differences in gain that need to be
SERVO 04.2008 59
FIGURE 6.
This schematic shows the power
wiring for the car; all the original
car wiring was removed.
A GPS GUIDED AUTONOMOUS ROBOT
Power Schematic Parts
1 - 33 F 35V Electrolytic Capacitor
1 - 50 F 16V Electrolytic Capacitor
2 - 22 pF Ceramic Capacitors
1 - LM317 Voltage Regulator
1 - 2.2K ohm 1/4 W Resistor
1 - 330 ohm 1/4 W Resistor
3 - Single Pole Single Throw Toggle
Switches
1 - Double Pole Double Throw Switch
1 - 1A Fuse with inline fuse holder
1 - 30A Fuse with inline fuse holder
accommodated. Compensation
software is available for download
free from Parallax, but I wrote my
own software that is optimized for
my modules behavior.
Another component I purchased
is a Parallax PING))) ultrasonic range
finder for $30. This is used as a safe
to start sensor and also stops the car
when it observes an obstacle in front
of it. This sensor is installed on a
floppy mount made of eight gauge
stranded copper wire. The purpose of
the floppy mount is to raise the sensor
further above the ground and to
isolate it from the cars vibration. This
single sensor is not very effective at
preventing collisions but it is a first
step at obstacle avoidance. More
sensors will be required to scan the
entire region in front of the car.
I did not originally plan to use an
audio output device in the robot but
the BASIC Stamp kit included a small
piezo speaker and this has turned out
to be a very useful feature. It is nearly
impossible to read a laptop monitor or
observe LEDs in bright sunlight and I
was having a difficult time trying to
determine where the software was
failing, so I added the speaker and
various FREQOUT statements to help
debug the code. This proved so
useful that I never removed the
speaker and I have added various
sounds to provide user feedback
and to provide a warning when the
car is about to start moving.
My handheld GPS unit includes an
RS-232 serial interface for communica-
tions with a computer. I started to
research the NMEA formats used by
GPS units, but found it easier to
monitor what was coming out of my
unit by connecting it to a laptop and
running a Hyper-terminal window; all
the data is in ASCII text. Once I decid-
ed on a suitable place in the data
stream to capture Latitude and
Longitude, I coded this into a test
program on the BASIC Stamp. I was
surprised at how easy it was to get
the interface between the Stamp and
the GPS working. I connected the
ground and signal wires between the
two, set the data rates the same on
both, and I was getting data. I
FIGURE 7.
This view shows the battery and motor
compartment in the rear of the car.
- The main power and steering power cut-off
switches are also mounted in the back.
- Forward/reverse and drive motor off/on relays
are visible through the plastic.
- Two 6V batteries that help supply the 24V
needed for the relays are visible, as well as the
voltage dropping resistor for the steering.
- The two small switches control power to the
BASIC Stamp and the relay coils.
FIGURE 8.
This view shows the front of the car where all the
electronics are installed (away from the electrically
noisy drive motors).
- The BASIC Stamp is mounted on the left front fender.
- The GPS unit is resting in its pillow.
- The small black device on the right is the compass module.
- The PING))) ultrasonic sensor is facing forward on its
floppy mount.
- The assemblies inside the car are the 9V power
supply board and the relay drive transistors installed on
a terminal strip.
60 SERVO 04.2008
configured this interface to run at
4800 baud because at 1200 baud my
GPS unit was providing data that was
18 seconds old; this caused some
serious problems with navigation. The
Latitude and Longitude are provided
in degrees/minutes to four decimal
places which equates to about 0.7
feet. In reality, the GPS data is not
that accurate. I considered dropping
one digit, but I decided to use it as
provided.
To simplify the software, it only
reads the decimal portion of the
minutes of Latitude and Longitude;
this works well for my location, but
would need to be modified if your
robot is crossing Lat/Long minute
lines. I store the GPS waypoints in the
Stamp versus trying to use waypoints
in the GPS unit; this allows direct
control by the program and I didnt
have to figure out any control codes
to issue to the GPS unit.
Protecting The GPS
The GPS unit is the most
expensive component on the car
and I wanted to be sure it was well
protected from shock and vibration. I
was having difficulty designing an
acceptable mount, until I found one
of those squishy pillows with a filling
made of small foam beads. This is an
excellent material for shock isolation
because the loose filling cannot
transmit the vibrations through it. The
pillow fits nicely in a compartment in
the front of the car and all I have to
do is push the GPS unit down into the
pillow with the antenna end pointing
up, and it is safely secured.
Powering The Robot
Im sure that many robot projects
end up with multiple batteries to
provide independent power for several
components. This is more likely if
you are trying to use available parts,
because each device may need
different voltages. At one time, I had
eight separate batteries on the car. I
finally reached the breaking point and
spent a weekend re-wiring the power
systems to allow the steering motor
(6V) to use the 12V main battery (I
put a homemade power resistor in
series). I used two 6V batteries in
series with the 12V main battery to get
the 24V for the relays, and I made a
well filtered 9V regulated supply that
runs off the main battery; this supplies
the BASIC Stamp and all the sensors.
The power system schematic is shown
in Figure 6; views of the battery
compartment and front mounted
components can be seen in Figures 7-8.
About The Code
The general sequence of operation
is as follows:
First, the code allows the option
of entering new waypoints. Waypoints
are entered by moving the car to each
desired point then momentarily
pressing the pushbutton. The software
takes six GPS Latitude and Longitude
readings, averages them, and stores
the result in EEPROM. Since its in
permanent memory, a given course
can be run multiple times once its
been entered.
The normal start-up sequence:
1. Centers the steering.
2. Takes a GPS reading.
3. Reads the first waypoint location
from memory.
4. Calculates a heading from its
current location to the destination.
5. The software then takes a
compass reading and calculates the
difference between the current
heading and the desired heading, and
uses this to calculate a steering angle.
The compass calculations include
compensating for desired headings
and compass readings that are on
opposite sides of North (0 or 360
degrees).
6. The software then reads the
PING))) sensor to determine if there is
an obstacle.
7. It then outputs a series of beeps
to either indicate that it is blocked
or to warn that it is about to start
moving. Once moving, the software
continually checks for obstacles, reads
the compass heading, and makes
steering corrections as needed. GPS
readings are taken infrequently when
the car is well away from a waypoint
and increase as the car approaches a
waypoint. Once the car reaches a way-
point, it reads the next waypoint from
memory and calculates a new heading
and steering angle. One feature of the
software is that it never makes a turn
of greater than 90 degrees; if the new
heading is greater than 90 degrees, it
simply goes in reverse and calculates
the steering angles accordingly.
Cost
Actual cost of purchased items for
this project was less than $150 mostly
due to using materials on-hand and
purchasing only what was necessary.
Upgrades
I am continuing to add new
features to this project. Currently, I am
working on an ultrasonic network that
will supplement the GPS for precise
navigation. SV
You can download the two code listings from www.servomagazine.com
GPS Guided Car.bs2
' This program allows user to set waypoints by pressing button at start-up
' then moving car point to point and pressing button at each waypoint.
' If button not pushed at start up, or when done setting waypoints, it navi-
' gates the car waypoint to waypoint based on GPS inputs. Desired headings
' are based on GPS, actual headings are based on Compass inputs.
' This version includes reverse running - car will travel in reverse versus
' turn more than 90 degrees
EEPROM Waypoint Reader.bs2
' This routine reads waypoint Latitude and Longitudes that have been previ-
' ously entered into the Stamp EEPROM and displays them in a Debug window.
' The last waypoint is marked by a 10000 Decimal in the EEPROM memory.
' This program will overwrite the existing program and the operating program
' must be re-loaded. The waypoints will not typically be affected by these
' operations.
SERVO 04.2008 61
26 RobotRacing
University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Autonomous cars must race head-to-head on
outdoor courses. A two car drag race on a
20 meter straight course is followed by a multi-car,
multi-lap race on a 150 meter circuit course. The
circuit course is bounded by orange cones and
GPS waypoints are provided.
www.robotracing.org
26-27 Trenton Computer
Festival Robotics Contest
College of New Jersey,
Ewing Township, NJ
In addition to being the worlds
oldest and largest personal computer
show, the Trenton Computer Festival
also includes a robot contest with
events like Sumo, Maze Navigation,
Precipice Avoidance, and the
DesignAThon.
www.tcf-nj.org/web
30 BattleBotsIQ
Miami Beach, FL
Student-built RC vehicles destroy each
other. Continues through May 4th.
www.battlebotsiq.com
M Ma ay y
3 Tech Museum of Innovations
Annual Tech Challenge
Parkside Hall, San Jose, CA
A different robot challenge is
designed each year. Check the rules
on the website for the details of
this years challenge.
http://techchallenge.thetech.org
10 DPRG RoboRama
Fair Park, Dallas, TX
All new events this year including
two contests for indoor robots that
involve navigating a course
delineated by orange cones. There
will also be four contests for outdoor
robots including Out-and-Back,
Borenstein Squares, an obstacle
course, and the Long Haul.
www.dprg.org/competitions
continued from page 20
62 SERVO 04.2008
Events-pg62.qxd 3/5/2008 9:31 AM Page 62
64 SERVO 04.2008
The Institute is a modern, hands-
on type of museum situated in the
center of Philadelphia. It houses many
large exhibits in a bright modern
building which also includes an IMAX
cinema. It is, in many ways, an ideal
venue for a robotic combat event with
a regular audience, excellent facilities
with good food, easy parking, and
best of all, its own, custom-built
arena. It even has a high wire bicycle
running up above and across the
foyer (Figure 1)! The first event was
held on Saturday, October 20th.
Teams traveled from as far as
Canada and Colorado, and those
driving had a most unpleasant trip as
the weather the day before was a
constant rain covering much of the
East Coast. Luckily, the rain had
stopped by Saturday morning as it
was necessary to get into the venue
before the 7.00 AM deadline. The
early start was required so that the
event could be completed in one day.
All teams made it in time and passed
The Appliance
of Science
T
he Northeast Robotics
Club (www.nerc.us) has
held a very successful
event every February in
Harrisburg, PA and this
year, they partnered with
the Franklin Institute
Science Museum (www2.
fi.edu) to add a second
major event.
The First Annual Franklin Institute Event
by Peter Smith
Smith.qxd 3/1/2008 9:28 AM Page 64
fairly smoothly through the
registration and safety
procedures. This is somewhat
of a first for NERC events
where it has almost become
a tradition of folks building
their bot on the morning of
the event and not actually
getting started with the fights
until after lunch.
The arena itself (see Figure
2) was a beauty to behold.
It has a sturdy sectional
aluminum frame, 1/2 thick
polycarbonate, and a very
smart looking wooden floor.
This floor was laid using
Pergo type laminated
veneered panels. This resulted
in a very smooth, seamless
surface but one that was also
very slippery which was to
prove a slight problem for
some of the bots. The one
thing that really could have
been an issue was the bumper rails which were of thin
wood on inadequate mounting brackets. This might have
been a problem if any of the big blade 30 lbers like Totally
Offensive or Relic had been present, but it proved adequate
with only the shell spinner Tripolar posing any real risk of
breaking through it.
There was a brief opening ceremony by the director
of the institute and then the competition got underway.
There were only four beetleweights so that part of the
competition was a round-robin where each robot had to
fight each other and the one with the best record won.
The blade spinner Pure Dead Brilliant was looking to be an
easy winner after beating Messing with Sasquatch and
Destructive Crab when an insufficiently tightened screw
allowed its entire innards to be ejected after a particularly
energetic hit by the last competitor in the class, Yeti. This
gave the first place to Yeti, with the spinner having to settle
for second. There was a larger number of bots in the 12 lb
hobbyweights class so it was run as the usual double
elimination. Highlights were the Pyrrhic victory of L.T.F.D.
over Gigarange; a very close battle between Ntertainment
(Figure 3) and Surgical Strike with the former winning on a
split decision, and a dramatic final between Ntertainment
and the innovative invertible full body spinner Ingor (Figure
4). This final match was a classic and ended with a huge
hit which shot pieces of Ingor in all directions. This match
gave Ntertainment the overall win with Ingor taking second
and Not a VD getting third.
If there was a prize for the most damaged bot, then
L.T.F.D. would have been a serious contender (Figure 5).
It had narrowly beaten Gigarange in its first fight, losing to
Ingor, and had finally drawn Surgical Strike for its third fight!
The builder, by this time, had decided it was time to build a
new bot and asked for it to be destroyed past the point of
FIGURE 1. The arena can be
seen in the background.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 3 FIGURE 4
The Appliance of Science
SERVO 04.2008 65
FIGURE 5 FIGURE 6
rebuilding to give her a good excuse. Surgical Strike obliged,
completing what the two others had so ably started. The
30 lb featherweights fought round-robin with both Tripolar
and Billy Bob doing well. Billy Bob got first place after the
fight with its closest rival. Billy Bob is on a bit of a run
having won at Motorama 2007 and a second placing at
RoboGames last June.
The new 30 lb sportsman class was well supported
and as at Motorama, the flippers dominated. Mangi
put in a good show with its axe but could not resist
the CO
2
power of Bounty Hunter (Figure 6). The other
flipper Upheaval lost to Bounty Hunter in the winners
bracket, then beat it in the first round of the final match.
NERC operates the brackets using pure double
elimination so they had to fight again as Bounty
Hunter had only lost one match. In the second
encounter, Bounty Hunter dominated to get a
deserved first place. The competition wound up by
late afternoon and the excellent trophies for 1st, 2nd,
and 3rd places were awarded. A large extra trophy,
the Franklin Cup (Figure 7), was awarded by the
Institute for the most innovative bot and this went
to Ntertainment.
Overall, it was a great event. The only negative
was the constant, excessively loud music which Im
sure can be looked at for next time. Thanks to all the
Franklin Institutes staff for their help and support
and special thanks to Roger Brooks of the Institute for his
enthusiastic commentary and NERCs Alan Young who
was the prime mover in getting the event held at such a
magnificent venue. It is hoped that next year we will be
able to have a full two-day event in the fall to complement
Motorama in the spring. SV
Photographs by Peter Smith and Brian Benson.
FIGURE 7. The
figure is GORT
from the movie
The Day the
Earth Stood
Still.
FIGURE 8. Ntertainment throwing
Mephit at Franklin.
The Appliance of Science
Hitec Robotics invites all humanoid roboticists this April 25th-
27th at EFX (the Electric Flight Expo) at the University of Phoenix
Stadium in sunny Arizona. Humanoid robots of all types and
brands (both homemade and kit-form) are welcome to compete
in the first annual Hitec Robotics Cup.
The Hitec Robotics Cup is composed of three different events:
Robo Speed: Robot sprint of 3m
Robo Mission: An obstacle course with stairs, blocks, and turns
Robo Duel: One on one fighting match between bots
Winners in all three categories will receive cash prizes & trophies!
Full rules and registration details available at our website. If you
have any questions about the event please email
tonyo@hitecrcd.com or go to http://www.hitecrobotics.com
1st Annual Hitec Robotics Cup
66 SERVO 04.2008
A
ll of the new electronics just plug in and bolt on
so that no alterations are done to the original shell.
The February 08 issue covered how a Handy Board was
upgraded to act as the main controller for the robot and
how to make it drive larger motors. In March 08, a method
of multiplexing the sonar transducers was shown so that all
five sonar sensors in the head could be used. The original
encoders for the main drive motors were also wired up to
get some feedback from them.
Many issues came up and were resolved along the way,
which I hope will help with your own projects. Some of the
examples shown here were selected because of parts I
already had on hand and others just to show a different
method of doing something. When doing prototypes,
everything is fair game. Once you get it together, you may
change it around a few times before you get it the way you
want. This article builds upon the previous ones and will
cover adding a co-processor to control BOBs head assembly
and some lights on the body. Well also cover adding a
SpeakJet chip so BOB can talk and a method of sharing a
single serial line so that the Handy Board can talk to either
the co-processor or the SpeakJet.
Adding a Little Helper
Instead of the Handy Board controller keeping track of
every detail and operating every peripheral device itself,
some of the tasks can be offloaded to another processor.
For the BOB project, it seemed like a good idea to let
another microcontroller handle some tasks like the lights
on the body and the closed loop control of BOBs head.
For this, I chose to use an SX48 protoboard from
Parallax as it is inexpensive, easy to program, and has plenty
Over the last couple months, Ive been using a lot of
leftover parts to revive an early Androbot BOB prototype.
He was missing all of his brains and had been sitting for
years as an empty shell. Although I would have preferred to
find the original electronics, I decided that I should at least
use some extra parts from past projects to get BOB rolling again.
PART 3 Adding a Little
Helper (co-processor),
Speech, and Extras
Reviving an
Androbot BOB
SERVO 04.2008 67
by Robert Doerr
The SX48 co-processor board.
Doerr3.qxd 3/3/2008 3:28 PM Page 67
68 SERVO 04.2008
of I/O. The power into the SX48 co-processor board will
be 9V from the custom power board covered in March. It
feeds the onboard 5V regulator present on the protoboard
to power the SX48 and LEDs on the body.
This co-processor will perform closed loop control of
the head, drive the eight LEDs on the chest of the robot,
control the four sets of LEDs near the wheels of the robot,
and provide status back to the Handy Board. It will act as
an intelligent serial based peripheral that the Handy Board
can tell what to do.
The first item is a very easy one: controlling the eight
LEDs on the front of BOB. The light panel has a common
+5V supply to each one of the anodes of all LEDs and a
small current limiting resistor on each cathode. To light
a particular LED, all that is required is to ground the
appropriate pin for that LED. I just wired up a ULN2803 to
port E on the SX48 to drive these LEDs. This chip will invert
what we send out to that port so that the LEDs will be on
for each bit that is a 1 on port E. Since the current limiting
resistors on the original BOB
light board were only 200 ohm,
extra resistors were installed on
the SX48 to further limit the
current to those LEDs.
There wasnt a lot of room
left on the protoboard to mount
the resistors so I just used some
small surface-mount (1206 sized)
ones I had on hand. These were
soldered on the bottom of the
board in line with the cable that
goes to the lights. They wouldnt
sit flat so each one is standing
up on its side.
Sending data to the display is then trivial. Just send the
byte with the eight-bit pattern of what you want to display
to that port. Having the display completed first helped in
troubleshooting the encoder and limits for the head later on.
NOTE: Ive found that having some small
surface-mount parts around (1206 package) are great
for prototyping like this! You may want to keep some
of the common resistors (220 ohm, 560 ohm, 4.7K and
10K) and caps (.1 F and .01 F) on hand. Since they
are small, you can easily add them on your boards
anytime you need to squeeze in another part.
As you may recall from the February article, there
were a couple new H-Bridge boards made that allowed the
Handy Board to control larger motors. The one that was
based on the L298 wasnt large enough to handle the main
drive motors at 24V, but can easily handle the head motor
running at 12V. A 16-pin DIP socket was installed on the
SX48 protoboard and the L298 based
H-bridge plugs in with a ribbon cable.
The SX48 can easily generate the
appropriate signals to control it. One
bit will control the direction of the
motor and one of the 16-bit timers will
generate the PWM to control the speed
of the motor. Driving the motor is only
half of it. The encoder assembly has to
be connected to get some feedback
so we can control it. The original
encoder consists of three optical photo
interrupters and a large encoder disk.
The physical layout of the sensors and
encoder was very clever. There are two
rows of holes in the encoder disk. The
outer ring has holes all the way around
the disk while the inner ring only has a
single hole to tell when the head is
straight forward. Two sensors on the
outside edges are for the quadrature
encoder which tells what direction the
head moved and how far. The third one
REVIVING AN ANDROBOT BOB: Part 3
Close-up view of bottom of board
with LED resistors. Just the base with the main electronics.
BOB with some new stuff inside. New additions (close-up).
(in the middle) is placed so that it just misses the outer
holes in the encoder disk. It only picks up the single hole
in the inner ring used to detect if the head is centered.
Wiring it up was a breeze. It only needed +5V, ground,
and the outputs from the sensors were already conditioned
by a CD4093 for direct connection to three pins on the SX48
to get the encoder data. One unique feature of the BOB
head assembly is that the motor and head are connected
with a clutch assembly that can slip. The encoder itself is
secured to the head. This way, if the head moves the encoder
can tell the controller that the head moved and how much.
I took advantage of this to add a cool little feature. If
the head ends up moving quite a bit and the controller is
not actively moving it, then someone probably moved it. If
this happens a couple times, then BOB can tell whoever is
moving his head to STOP THAT! or some other random
phrase to let people know he doesnt appreciate it. My son
thought it was hilarious and kept asking when I would have
it done so he could try it out and have BOB tell him to stop.
From the Handy Boards perspective, this is very easy to
control. It uses one of the Handy Board libraries called
pa7_9600.icb which will turn the Digital In 9 to a general-
purpose serial output port. It uses a standard 9600 baud,
eight data bits, and one stop bit and TTL signals
(non-inverted). To control the lights on the chest, the
Handy Board can send the L command (for lights)
followed by a byte with the bit pattern to display. Sending
a C will clear any errors that had been flagged.
An I will initialize and home the head. Sending S
followed by two bytes (2s complement) will set the target
position for the head with 0 being the center. Sending a
G will tell the controller to move the head to the specified
target position. The F command followed by a byte will
turn on the appropriate lights near the wheels.
The software on the SX48 controller is written in SX/B
with some portions in assembly. The extremely time-critical
tasks are all done from within the Interrupt routine. The
Interrupt based serial routines are ones that Jon Williams
(Nuts & Volts Stamp Applications columnist) had written
and posted to the Parallax forums for the SX series chips. I
added some code in the Interrupt handler to enable/disable
the serial code (more on that later) and also read and
update the encoder for the head.
The rest of the program is SX/B for all the foreground
tasks. These include code to home the head, handling
active movements of the head, and also watching for
known commands coming in through the serial port.
When the robot is powered up, one of the first things
the head controller has to do is home the head and put
everything in a known state. To start, we have absolutely
no idea where the head is (except that it is probably still
attached to the robot) and have to find the center position.
Since we have to make some sort of assumption, I decided
to assume that the head was probably to the left of center.
It will move the head right until it sees the center, exceeds
too many encoder counts, or takes too much time without
getting a new encoder reading. If it didnt find the center, it
then tries moving the head left using the same checks as
above. If it fails to find the home position, then it will flag
this as an error. Otherwise, it stops at the center position
and resets the encoder to zero.
After a few variables are set up, the program starts the
main program loop. When a known command shows up in
the serial buffer, it is dealt with immediately as long as there
are no parameters required. Otherwise, it sets a flag that a
valid command has been received and will hold off processing
it until the rest of the command shows up. If it was an invalid
command, it just dumps the byte and sets an error flag.
Next, the code checks to see if we are still actively
moving the head. If so, it checks the desired encoder value
against where we are. It then sets up a new speed value if
needed (ramp up or down) or will stop the motion if the
target has been reached.
If there are no active movements going on, then
the code will check the current encoder value against
our current position. If were within limits, then it will just
loop back and check for new commands coming in. If it
SERVO 04.2008 69
BOB head motor and encoder.
SX48 board and body lights.
70 SERVO 04.2008
is outside the
limit, then it will
set up a new
movement and
automatically
move the head back to its proper place. If this happens
more than once and it was a large difference, then we can
assume that someone moved the head manually. In this
case, we set a flag so the main Handy Board controller can
tell the head it was moved. That will let the robot speak
some phrases to discourage someone from messing with
him. Once the Handy Board acknowledges that the head
had been moved, it can reset this flag.
Getting the Handy Board to
Share a Serial Line
As I mentioned earlier, I am going to use one of the
Handy Board libraries to send out serial data via one of the
lines normally set up as a digital input. Those of you familiar
with the BASIC Stamp modules and similar processors are
probably used to having any pin being available as a serial
output. This is not always the case with all processors which
may have a dedicated pin (or pins) set up as a serial port.
Many may have a dedicated UART chip for serial data. In
those cases, it isnt always easy to just add another serial port.
There are two serially addressed slave devices that the
Handy Board needs to control: a SpeakJet chip to provide
the speech for the robot
(and sound effects), as
well as the SX48 based
co-processor. Since it
wasnt straightforward to
add another serial port
and there are other
devices Ill want to include
down the road, I know
Ill need a similar solution for it, so it made sense to add a
serial multiplex circuit to share the serial line so it could talk
to either device. A single data out from the Handy Board
can select which device will hear what the Handy Board has to
say. When I originally sketched up how it would work, I
tried a CMOS 4066 based approach. This is a bi-directional
CMOS switch. It had the Handy Board connected to
two switches. One switch went to the serial in on the
SpeakJet and the other switch to the serial in on the SX48
co-processor board. The selection line from the Handy
Board went to control one switch and also through an
inverter on a 74HC14 to control the other switch. That
way, only one switch would be selected at any given time.
These are all mounted on the SX48 board along with the
SpeakJet. There was just enough room to accommodate
all the parts.
After wiring it all up, it did work but there were noise
issues and random characters at times. It also seemed to
get some random characters at times when the Bluetooth
link back to the PC was active (it was mounted pretty close
at the time). This is another case where having the eight
LEDs on the front of BOB wired up came in handy.
I made a simple program on the SX48 board to
display whatever was sent to the SX48 through the serial
connection. When the SpeakJet was active, it would
still see random garbage intermittently. The addition of
pull-down resistors didnt seem to help a whole lot. After a
bit more research, I came across a Maxim application note
about selecting a CMOS switch. When I was done reading
it, I decided that the best CMOS switch to use was just not
to use one. (I was reminded of the old War Games movie
when the computer exclaimed The only way to win is
not to play.) So, I decided to scrap the use of the
4066 and to use a 74HC00 Quad NAND gate instead.
Luckily, these chips had the same pin count and power
connections. It just took a little rewiring to make it work.
Once the board was rewired, it seemed to be fine but I
would get an odd character on the SX48 board (the default
device) when power was first applied. It appears that the
SX48 was up and ready much faster than the Handy Board
was. As a result, it thought it saw a single character from
the Handy Board as the Handy Board was initializing. To get
around this issue, I just added a flag in the Interrupt routine
that receives the serial character to tell if it was enabled or
not. When the SX48 starts up, the Interrupt routine is
temporarily disabled. After a slight delay, the Interrupt
routine is enabled and will then start looking for serial
characters. It gives enough time for the Handy Board to
Special BOB chest light panel.
Footlight board.
LCD active and powered up. (Temporary location.)
come up and for that line to
stabilize. It is still active in plenty
of time to be ready for when the
Handy Board is ready to talk to it.
Works great now!
Issues With the
Audio Amp
The SpeakJet chip requires
some sort of audio amp to
properly drive a standard eight
ohm speaker. Going through some
boxes with parts and boards from
past projects, I found a tiny little mono audio amplifier
board (with a volume control) which I thought would do
the job. (Thats what I thought!) It was a commercial kit
based on the TDA7052 and all fit on a board that was
about one inch square. I wired it up to the audio out of the
SpeakJet, connected the speaker, and fed it 9V which was
well within the range specified in the kit. When sending
out speech to the SpeakJet, I could hear it but it sounded
distorted and after a while just quit working. (Great, did I
do something to kill the SpeakJet or was there some other
random problem?) After some troubleshooting, everything
pointed to the audio amp chip being bad. Of course, it isnt
a common chip and I didnt have one on hand. I called the
local electronics shop and discovered they didnt have them
either. I had time to work on the BOB project and wanted
to keep going. This is where an inspired hack comes in!
SERVO 04.2008 71
Temporary replacement amplifier chip. Audio board installed in robot.
Schematic for
additions to
Parallax SX48
protoboard.
Anyone who has worked long hours on a project only to hit
a wall will appreciate this one!
In desperation, I used an LM386 amp, an extra eight-pin
DIP socket, some wire, a few caps, and went to town. The
result was an interesting little replacement to get me by until I
could order some additional TDA7052 chips. As you may
recall from the December 07 issue, this isnt the first time
Ive had to make a custom adapter to replace a chip I didnt
have or an obsolete chip. This seemed to work for a while
but the contraption got a lot warmer than I thought it should.
The replacement TDA7052 chips showed up within a
week and I was back in business. I put the new TDA7052
chip in and tried it out. It acted just like the original one.
Rats! Initially, I thought the first TDA7052 chip was messed
up from a previous experiment. Apparently it was a larger
problem. I started suspecting a ground loop or other
problem but according to the datasheet on the TDA7052 it
should have been fine. Well, since that chip was sort of an
odd duck and it gave me grief, I ripped it out. I just decided
to replace it permanently with a LM386 based amplifier.
Since the amplifier PCB was already mounted nicely to the
chassis, I wanted to keep that. I just rewired the board to
accept the LM386 in place of the TDA7052. There was
really only one pin that matched up with the LM386, so it
took a bit of work to do the conversion. It was all done
underneath so the board still has a nice clean look to it.
After the rewire, the speech sounds fantastic and the chip
never gets warm. Another problem solved.
Some Status, Please
Since we have the SX48 helping out with the control of
the head, it would be useful to get some status info back to
the Handy Board. We can get by with just adding a couple
of extra status bits from the co-processorto do this. Two of
the extra unused SX48 lines are brought out and connected
to two Handy Board analog inputs on the expansion board.
These are used to signal that the head moved or that the
controller is busy. The head moved flag is used so that BOB
can complain if someone moves his head. Later, maybe hell
look around to see who did it and try to follow them!
That SX48 has a lot of I/O and still had some left. The
upper four bits of port C are going to be used to control
the extra four sets of lights near the wheels of the robot.
These lights were connected in the original TOPO robot
and also on the TOPO II robots. The TOPO III did away
with the lights and it appears that although BOB had the
lights at the wheels, they may never have been wired up.
Since they are there, we might as well use them!
Wiring them up will be trivial compared to everything
thats been covered so far. Each of the footlight boards has
four connections. These are 12V for the lights, ground, and
a line to switch on and off each set of three LEDs. On the
footlight board, each control line runs through a 5.1K ohm
resistor to a 2N3904 NPN transistor to switch each set of
LEDs on and off. With that current limiting resistor in place,
we can connect the SX48 board directly to the footlight
board to control it.
Relocating the LCD
The Handy Board has a small 16x2 LCD screen plugged
directly into it. The firmware expects it to be there at all
times. Since the Handy Board is buried in the middle of the
robot, the screen would be useless where it was. Having
that screen available is great for debugging and displaying
data so I wanted to use it. All it took was using a piece of
ribbon cable as an extension. When doing so, youll want to
keep these lines as short as possible since they are
connected directly to the 68HC11 data lines. If they are
too long, you will compromise the stability of the system.
Dont make any extension cables longer than you have to!
In this case, the cable is approximately 12 long. It was cut
from an older style IDE cable of which only 13 conductors
are used. Making it was easy. You just tear each wire
down an inch or so on each end to open them up. Then
each wire on one end was soldered directly to the LCD
display. The other end was soldered to a 14-pin header
that plugs in where the original LCD did.
Conclusion
Adding an extra microcontroller to offload tasks can
help make the overall programming of the robot easier
and can let the main controller focus on higher level tasks.
When you run out of available serial ports, it is possible
to multiplex a single port so it can talk to two devices.
Hopefully, these examples illustrate ways that can resolve
issues you may face when working on your own projects.
72 SERVO 04.2008
RobotWorkshop (authors website).
www.robotworkshop.com
Main Handy Board website.
www.handyboard.com
SX48 series processors. Offers free software
development tools like SX/B.
www.parallax.com
Online user forum for the SX series of microcontrollers.
http://forums.parallax.com/forums
Source for SpeakJet chips.
www.speechchips.com
Online user group for SpeakJet chip.
groups.yahoo.com/speakjet
Main website for the SpeakJet chip.
www.speakjet.com
Maxim application note about selecting the right
CMOS analog switch.
http://pdfserv.maxim-ic.com/en/an/AN638.pdf
WEB REFERENCES
There are multiple ways of accomplishing the same
goals and these made sense for this particular project,
considering the parts I had on hand.
Now BOB can move around and start acting more like
the autonomous robot he was supposed to be. He can use
all his sonar sensors to get some sense of distance, he can
move his head to look around, control the lights on his chest,
and talk. The next areas to cover are adding extra sensors
(ambient light, ambient sound level, temperature), use of
Handy Board I/R, two original BOB sensors (I/R motion and
I/R heat sensor), wireless operation and downloading via
Bluetooth, and programming BOB (building a library of low
level routines and adding smarts and autonomy).
Keep those old robots alive! SV
Robert Doerr can be reached via email at rdoerr@bizserve.com.
Electronic Parts & Supplies
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www.c-stamp.com
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SERVO 04.2008 73
G
etting started with the BasicBoard is really simple.
The unit comes with a pre-programmed demo
that will run right out of the box. To set up the
BasicBoard, first unpack it (and cable and power adapter if
you purchased the full starter package) and plug the
nine pin straight through serial cable into the appropriate
connector. Then plug the other end into the serial port of
your computer. Next plug the 12 volt power adapter into
the 2.1 mm single pin power connector. Plug the power
adapter into the wall socket and watch your BasicBoard
come to life.
The pre-programmed demo program will begin to run,
describing all the features of the BasicBoard. Figure 1 shows
the physical layout, which includes:
2x16 LCD
Four momentary switches
Eight LEDs
Eight-ohm speaker
External communication port
Potentiometer
8K memory for programming
Four A/D ports for external sensor connections
Three Digital I/O pins for various expansion
features
Three Servo motor connections for driving
servo motors directly
Serial communication back to the PC for
debugging code or serial communication on
the PC screen
Five volt regulator
External unregulated power port for running
the I/O from a separate power supply
Basic language compiler for creating powerful
programs
Atom micro with Atom firmware installed. The
Chip can be removed and built into a
permanent setup, if desired.
FIGURE 1.
BasicBoard
Features.
74 SERVO 04.2008
BasicBoard
Robotics
by William Smith
Several years ago, I started a new hobby of
programming embedded controllers using a
development board known as the BasicBoard. I
found it easy to use since you could program it
in the Basic language and have all the features
you could want already built in like LEDs,
switches, speakers, LCDs, and expansion ports to
connect servos and sensors. The robot shown here
is a simple robot I built around the BasicBoard.
W.Smith.qxd 3/5/2008 2:52 PM Page 74
Using the BasicBoard
Any electronic development requires
two main parts: hardware and software.
Weve already gone over the hardware,
which has all the components described
above pre-wired to the Atom 40 pin
microcontroller. The software is the
Atom Basic language compiler that
converts the English looking Basic
software commands into the code the
Atom micro needs to execute.
Its just like a PC where the
BasicBoard is the computer and the
Atom software is the software you
would load and run on it. The biggest
difference is the BasicBoard requires a
PC with serial port to program it. Then,
once programmed, the unit will run by
Software
The BasicBoard is built around the Basic Atom chip. Its list of
software commands is included here:
ADin Convert up to eight analog signals to digital values
(uses onboard A/D converters).
BRANCH Computed GOTO (equivalent to ON..GOTO).
BUTTON Debounce and auto-repeat input on specified pin.
CLEAR Clear all user RAM locations, setting all variables to zero.
COUNT Count oscillations on PIN.
DATA Initialize EEPROM with data.
DEBUG Used in conjunction with the built-in ICD.
DEBUGIN Used in conjunction with the built-in ICD.
DO..WHILE Repeat a group of commands while expression
is false.
DTMFOUT Output DTMF signals on PIN.
DTMFOUT2 Two pin DTMF, higher quality signal.
END Stop execution and enter low power mode.
FREQOUT Output frequency on PIN.
FOR..NEXT Repeat statement(s) specific number of times.
GOSUB...RETURN Call Basic subroutine at specified label.
GOTO Continue execution at specified label.
HIGH Make pin output high.
HPWM Built-in hardware pulse width modulation.
HCAPTURE Capture internal timer value based on
external event.
HCOMPARE Set pin when timer value equals compare
value.
HSERIN Hardware asynchronous serial input.
HSEROUT Hardware asynchronous serial output.
I2CIN Receive data from I
2
C device (EEPROM).
I2COUT Send data to I
2
C device (EEPROM).
IF..THEN..ELSEIF..ELSE..ENDIF Conditional statements.
INPUT Make pin an input.
LCDREAD Reads RAM on LCD.
LCDWRITE Send text to an LCD.
LET Assign result of an expression to a variable.
LOOKDOWN Search table for value.
LOOKUP Fetch value from table.
LOW Make pin output low.
NAP Power down processor for short period of time.
OUTPUT Make pin an output.
OWIN Receive data from 1-Wire device
OWOUT Send data to 1-Wire device.
PAUSE Delay (1 millisecond resolution).
PAUSEUS Delay (within 1 microsecond resolution).
PAUSECLK Delay based on internal hardware timer.
PEEK...POKE Read/Write specific RAM location.
PULSIN Measure pulse width (10 s resolution).
PULSOUT Generate pulse (10 s resolution).
PWM Output pulse width modulation on pin.
RANDOM Generate random value.
RCTIME Measure time high to low on pin (reading a
potentiometer).
READ Read byte from on-chip EEPROM.
REPEAT...UNTIL Repeat a group of commands until
expression is true.
RETURN See GOSUB command.
REVERSE Make output pin an input or an input pin an output.
SERIN Asynchronous serial input (8N1).
SEROUT Asynchronous serial output (8N1).
SERVO Control analog servo motors digitally.
SHIFTIN Read binary data on PIN w/ flow control.
SHIFTOUT Output binary data on PIN w/ flow control.
SLEEP Power down processor for a period of time.
SOUND Generate a specific tone from frequencies
0 to 16000.
SOUND2 Same as SOUND but two channel, two pins.
SOUND8 Generate up to eight tones on eight pins; play
complex songs.
SPI Read and write to/from any SPI device.
SPMOTOR Control any stepper motor.
STOP Stop CPU and SLEEP forever.
SWAP Swap two variable values.
TOGGLE Make pin output and toggle state.
WHILE...WEND Repeat a group of commands while
expression is true.
WRITE Write byte to any on-chip EEPROM.
XIN X-10 input.
XOUT X-10 output.
SERVO 04.2008 75
FIGURE 2
itself, disconnected from the PC.
The BasicBoard can be used to run pre-configured
programs or the included Atom Basic language compiler
can be used to write your own programs. The unit comes
with a booklet with seven sample programs. If you work
through them, you will understand how to load and run
your own programs. It also shows you how to modify,
debug, and compile your own BasicBoard programs.
Hardware
The built-in features are pre-wired, but in order to
use them you need to know the connections. Table 1
shows the list of connections and the Atom software
label name.
The schematic of the BasicBoard is shown in Figure 2.
Having everything preconnected makes it much easier to
build a robot. I hate having to connect a bunch of wires
to control my robot only to find a broken connection
somewhere is causing a problem.
Robotics
The robotic platform I used came from budgetrobot
ics.com and is called the Scooterbot. I had an original one
that used roller blade wheels. I replaced those with the newer
wheels Budget Robotics offers called the
O-Wheels. This worked great because they
have a flat surface that I could put a black
and white sticker on, so I could add a
sensor to detect rotation of the wheel.
Figure 3 shows the wheel detector and
the O-Wheel with the sticker installed.
I wrote a simple program (shown
in Listing 1) to sense the wheel rotation
and count the revolutions. The sensor
is a custom designed part with an IR
detector pair.
Conclusion
I plan to expand on this robot
platform and write about it here in
SERVO Magazine. I have a lot of great
ideas for this robot, so hopefully I can
pass on a few tips for your own robotic
project. If you have any questions or
comments, please contact me at
beginnerelectronics@gmail.com SV
76 SERVO 04.2008
Listing 1
This program demonstrates how to control a wheel with
a wheel detector sensor. This program assumes the
wheel has 50 sections, 25 black, 25 white. If the
sensor picks up 50 pulses, then one complete revolution
of the wheel is completed.
Servo drive motor is on P21 pin and the sensor is
connected to P24.
counter var byte pulse count variable
sens var in24 Sensor connected to P24
Main
Move wheel one revolution
for counter = 1 to 50
if in24 = 1 then test for a high signal (white)
white:
servo 21, 1200, 1 Drive servo motor
serout s_out, i9600, [white, 10,13] Send status
if in24 = 1 then white Exit if black is seen
elseif in24 = 0 Test for low signal (Black)
black:
servo 21, 1200, 1 Drive servo motor
serout s_out, i9600, [black, 10,13] Send status
if in24 = 0 then black Exit if white is seen
endif
next Increment count
Goto Main Do it all again
Sources
BasicBoard and Sensor
BeginnerElectronics.com
ScooterBot and O-Wheels
BudgetRobotics.com
FIGURE 3.
Wheel Detector.
SERVO 04.2008 77
Let new ideas spring forth!
All modules shown actual size
TReX dual motor
controller
$99.95
TReX Jr: all the great features
of the full TReX in a lower-
power, lower-cost package.
TReX Jr
$59.95
Orangutan LV-168: full-featured
robot controller perfect for low-voltage
robots.ATmega168 uC, 2-channel H-
bridges, 8x2LCD, buzzer, and more.
Orangutan LV-168 $59.95
TRe X dual mot or cont rol l e r:
innovative design allows instant
switching between radio control
(RC) or analog voltage and
asynchronous serial
(RS-232 or TTL) with
a mu l t i t u d e o f
additional features.
Find out more at www.pololu.com or by calling 1-877-7-POLOLU.
Table 1
BasicBoard Atom BASIC Label
LED0 P0
LED1 P1
LED2 P2
LED3 P3
LED4 P4
LED5 P5
LED6 P6
LED7 P7
SW1 P18
SW2 P19
SW3 P12
SW4 P13
POT P28
Speaker P20
LCD RS-P17, E-P16, DB4-DB7: P11-P8
Rx/SWB P15
Tx/SWA P14
Servo1 P21
Servo2 P22
Servo3 P23
A/D1 P29
A/D2 P30
A/D3 P31
A/D4 P27
Digital1 P24
Digital2 P25
Digital3 P26
W.Smith.qxd 3/5/2008 9:00 AM Page 77
78 SERVO 04.2008
// castling bonuses
B8 castleRates[]={-40,-35,-30,0,5};
//center weighting array to make pieces prefer
//the center of the board during the rating routine
B8 center[]={0,0,1,2,3,3,2,1,0,0};
//directions: orthogonal, diagonal, and left/right
from orthogonal for knight moves
B8 directions[]={-1,1,-10,10,-11,-9,11,9,10,-10,1,-
1};
//direction pointers for each piece (only really for
bishop rook and queen
B8 dirFrom[]={0,0,0,4,0,0};
B8 dirTo[]={0,0,0,8,4,8};
//Good moves from the current search are stored in
this array
//so we can recognize them while searching and make
sure they are tested first
by James Isom
LESSONS
FROM THE
LABORATORY
LESSONS
FROM THE
LABORATORY
NXT Packbot:
Part 4
STEP 3:
Parts:
Parts:
Parts:
STEP 1:
STEP 4:
Parts:
STEP 2:
W
elcome to the final installment of Packbot instructions. Theres
not much left now, so lets get right to it and wrap it up.
Connect wires to each of the three motors and run them around the friction
pins to the front of the Packbot. The ultrasonic sensor wire can stay towards
the back. Looking from this perspective, the right motor will be connected
to Port C, the bottom left motor to Port B, and the top left motor to Port A.
The ultrasonic sensor will eventually find its way to Sensor Port 1.
Cap off the rear cable management
system with a 1 x 5 lift arm.
LessonsFromTheLab.qxd 3/5/2008 2:43 PM Page 78
Parts:
Parts:
STEP 5:
STEP 8:
STEP 6:
STEP 9:
Parts:
Parts:
Parts:
Parts:
STEP 7:
STEP 10:
SERVO 04.2008 79
These four pins
will eventually sit
in the front row
of holes on the
bottom of the
NXT brick.
Place the NXT on the four pins protruding
from the chassis.
Turn the Packbot around and place the two
friction pins in the NXT brick as shown.
Place the 3 x 5 lift
arm on the two
friction pins so that
the shorter end lines up
with the red bushing pin.
80 SERVO 04.2008
STEP 11:
Push the red bushing pins
in to secure the NXT brick
to the Packbot chassis.
Congratulations! Youre finished!
There are many things you can do with a flexible
platform like this. Other sensors will be easy to add to
enhance the LEGO Packbots autonomous capabilities and
the rotating front tread arms make for some incredible
agility through considerably rougher terrain than your
average LEGO robot chassis.
You are probably anxious to start exploring the Packbots
capabilities. I think the best way to get to know your Packbot
is to use Brian Davis NXT remote and control programs
first seen in the Lessons from the Lab article in the
December 06 issue of SERVO. If you cant find it, I have
posted the build instructions for the remote and both
transmit and receive portions of the control programs on
my website at www.legoedwest.com. You can also go
to www.servomagazine.com to purchase back issues.
I know both Brian and I would like to see any
modifications or special tasks you come up with for your
LEGO Packbot. Send pictures, video links, and your stories
to isomj@legoeducation.com. We look forward to seeing
them. A big special thanks to Brian Davis for letting me
share his creation with all of you. Happy roboting! SV
Make sure your motor wiring is correct!
STEP 12:
THE CARDBOARD ROBOT RUMBLE
SERVO 04.2008 81
The Cardboard Robot Rumble was held last summer in
the Bay area in California. After scoping out territory, two
cardboard robot armies (Valencia vs. Mission) clashed on
Clarion Alley. The humans eventually rose up against the
robot overlords and the day was saved.
More details are always available at http://laughing
squid.com.
Menagerie - APR08.qxd 3/5/2008 2:41 PM Page 81
82 SERVO 04.2008
C
omedian Tim Allens most
enduring character is Tim Taylor,
of the 90s television show Home
Improvement. Tim was the over-
zealous host of a how-to program on
using and abusing! tools and
hardware. In just about every eposide,
Tim attempted to improve some
tool by adding extra horsepower. And,
of course, it always backfired.
Tim was a man who obviously
loved tools and what they could do.
For many, part of the fun of building
robots is playing with the tools used to
construct them in the first place! The
right tool makes robot building easier,
faster, and safer. For larger projects
or those that require you work with
denser materials such as metal
power tools cut the job down to size.
You use the power of the tool to
enhance your construction capabilities.
In this column, we will review
some major makers and sellers of
power tools useful in building robots.
Of course, there are many kinds of
power tools and none are specifically
engineered for robot construction,
but what follows are the most
common and most useful.
The Power Behind
Your Power Tools
Power tools are equipped with a
motor usually electric or air to
make them work. They get the job
done faster and are best suited for
working with harder materials like
polycarbonate plastic or aluminum
metal. Electric tools are further divided
into two general forms: AC or battery.
AC powered tools plug into a wall
outlet. That means you have to work
where an electrical socket is nearby.
You can extend the range of the tool
somewhat by using an extension cord.
Battery operated tools use
rechargeable batteries, so you dont
need a wall outlet or extension cord.
You plug the tool (or the battery)
into a recharger, and once recharged,
you can use the tool until the
battery wears down. The obvious
disadvantage to battery operated
power tools is battery life. If you use
the tool for extended periods, youll
need extra batteries so you can switch
them out. You can use one set of
batteries while the other set is on the
recharger. Air tools require a tether to
a compressor or air tank. Most air
tools require a compressor (or air
source) that can deliver about 80-100
pounds per square inch (PSI) of
pressure. This means you probably
wont be able to use the small 12
volt mini-compressors used for filling
automobile tires while stuck out on
the road. And, depending on the
needs of the tool, the compressor will
have to deliver a certain volume of air
a rating known as SCFM or CFM
for standard cubic feet per minute.
Tools like the drill or impact wrench
consume between 3-5 SCFM.
Which is better electric (AC or
battery) or air? They both have their
pros and cons. Electric tools are more
mobile because you only need an
electrical outlet and possibly an
extension cord. If the tool is battery
powered, you can use it up to the
capacity of the battery anywhere,
even out in the field. Conversely, air
tools often have more torque for
their size, and if maintained properly,
last longer than the average electric
power tool. However, air tools need
a constant source of compressed air,
which means a bulky compressor or
large air tank.
The absolute most common
power tool is the electric drill.
They are also the most familiar to
everyone, regardless of previous
robot construction experience. The
drill uses a drill bit to make holes in
something. Theyre also useful at a
slower speed as power screwdrivers.
Take the drill bit out and replace it
with a screwdriver bit. Set the drill
motor to a slower speed (or just apply
a little bit of pressure on the trigger)
and you can install or remove screws
in record time. Youll need a reversible
drill for this; most already are these
days, but check before you buy. A
model that is reversible and lets you
adjust the speed is ideal. For more
robust constructions is the drill press.
Its a drill motor mounted on a sturdy
column. These are used when you
need more control and precision over
the holes you bore into the material.
On the low end of the scale is the
portable drill conversion kit, which lets
you mount your handheld drill motor
to a stand. If you have the space and
budget, I highly recommend a bench
drill press. These plug into the wall
socket and their speed is adjustable
either electronically (turn a knob on
Power Tools for
Robot Construction
Tune in each month for a heads-up on
where to get all of your robotics
resources for the best prices!
RoboResources.qxd 3/3/2008 3:20 PM Page 82
the front of the tool) or by adjusting a
rubber belt on stepped pulleys. Other
common power tools you may have
occasion to use include:
Circular saw. General-purpose
handheld power saw. The blade varies
in diameter from about three inches
to over eight inches, depending on
the size and capacity of the saw. (The
most common is 7-1/4). These saws
are mostly used for cutting wood,
but theyre also useful for lightweight
plastics and foam core products.
Saber saw. Another type of hand-
held power saw; it acts like a power
hacksaw. The blade moves up and
down (reciprocates). Select the
appropriate blade for the material
you are cutting. There are blades for
wood, plastic, non-ferrous metal (such
as aluminum or brass), and steel.
Table saw. This type has a blade
that comes up from a flat stationary
table. You can vary the height and
angle of the blade from the table,
allowing you to make slots or angled
cuts. Variations on the stationary saw
include the radial arm saw, where the
cutting blade is mounted on a sliding
arm. To cut, you move the arm back
and forth.
Scroll saw. Like a saber saw, but
mounted in a stationary base. Scroll
saws are often used for intricate cuts,
mostly for fine woodworking. But
they are also useful for cutting light
plastics and other material for
robotics. Variations include the band
saw, which uses a long (40 inch or
longer) continuous blade. Band saws
are useful for heavier and thicker
materials.
Power sander. A sander may be
hand-held or mounted to a bench.
This tool makes short work of sanding
down wood or plastic. A handy
variation of this tool is the
combination belt sander and disc
sander; it includes a 1 (or so)
continuous belt on one side and a
rotating disc (4-6 diameter) on
the other.
Grinder. Either hand-held or
mounted to a bench, the grinder is
a kind of power file that removes
excess material and is used for harder
materials than the power sander.
Choose the grinder wheel that
matches the material you are using.
Many bench-mounted grinders are
double ended, letting you mount two
wheels, each for a different material.
Specialty Power Tools
For the well-equipped robot shop,
you may want to consider the power
lathe and mill. These are by no means
must have tools, but when operated
by a skilled worker, either or both of
these greatly extend the variety of
components you can build for your
robots.
A lathe is used to rotate a part
against a cutting tool. It is typically
used to contour round or cylindrical
material, like threads on a rod. A mill
is like a vertical drill press. Instead of
a cutting bit that just goes up and
down, on a mill the work piece
itself can be moved horizontally and
laterally. This allows the mill to
produce complex shapes, instead
of just holes. Both the lathe and the
mill come in computerized versions
CNC (computer numerical control).
These let you greatly automate the
fabrication process. Rather than being
operated by hand cranks, the tool is
operated by motors, which are
connected to a desktop computer
usually a basic PC running Windows
or DOS. In the typical scenario,
software on the PC translates a
two-dimensional (more rarely, a three-
dimensional) picture into a set of
data points, so that it can move the
motors in a pre-defined pattern.
A third type of machine is the
CNC router. It combines a high-speed
cutting tool (like a wood router) and
a mechanism that moves the router in
the X, Y, and Z axes. This movement
is also managed by a computer. The
router is the ideal tool for creating
robot bases. With this tool, you can
drill holes of most any size (down to
the diameter of the routing bit, which
can be as small as 1/16). You can
then under precise computer
control cut out the shape of the
base to produce the final piece.
For building personal robots,
the smaller desktop mill, lathe, and
router is usually more than adequate.
You dont need (and probably dont
want) the large industrial versions of
these machines. Desktop tools can
handle pieces of the typical size
found in personal robots, and
because they are smaller they are
less expensive and easier to use.
The typical starting price for the
better made non-CNC tool is $500.
As you add computer control, price
climbs to $1,500 and into the $2,000
range. A good desktop CNC router is
about $3,000. Software is not always
included in these prices, and the
software can add $300 to $1,000
(and more) to the price.
If youre interested in acquiring
a desktop mill, lathe, or CNC router,
youre well advised to get information
on as many of them as possible. In
the resources listing that follows,
youll find several informational sites
that discuss desktop lathes and mills.
Also included are numerous sites that
talk about retrofitting a manual lathe
or mill for CNC, and building your
own CNC router from the ground up.
Buy, Rent, or Borrow
Of all the tools in the robot
builders shop, power tools likely
represent your largest investment. You
could easily spend several thousand
dollars on even basic tools. Obviously,
you will want to carefully choose the
tools that you purchase for keeps, and
consider other ways of borrowing or
renting the rest. Some ideas:
Your friends and neighbors can be
great sources for great tools. If you
borrow tools from someone, however,
be absolutely sure you return them,
on time, in the same condition as you
got them. That means cleaning them
up after youre finished. And, if you
damage a tool, be upfront about it.
Offer to buy a replacement.
If you attend school, see about
SERVO 04.2008 83
84 SERVO 04.2008
using the tools in their shop. Schools
typically limit tool use to only those
students enrolled in a shop class. Few
loan out their equipment.
Most types of power tools can be
rented from local rental yards. Most
are priced by the hour or day. You
may be asked to leave your credit
card as a deposit. Or, if you dont
have a card, provide cash equal to
the replacement cost of the tool.
Construction clubs provide the
hardware and assistance for those
needing tools on a per-project basis.
One such venture is TechShop at
www.techshop.ws. They offer
fully-equipped workshops where you
rent time on the machines by the
hour, day, or longer. Check their Web
page for locations near you.
Sources
Here are some online sources for
power tools, including lathes, mills,
and CNC. Of course, dont forget
the local home improvement and
hardware stores for basic power
tools, replacement bits, blades, and
other accessories.
Blue Ridge Machinery and Tools
www.blueridgemachinery.com
Mills and lathes, both desktop
and brutes, at decent prices. Printed
catalog available.
BobCAD CAM, Inc.
www.bobcadcam.com
CAD/CAM CNC software for
Windows.
Campbell Hausfeld
www.chpower.com
Campbell Hausfeld is one of
the premier names in home and shop
air tools. CHs air tools include: air
hammers, drills (including reversing
type), ratchets, screwdrivers, sanders,
nailers, and staplers. I use two
reversing drills, keeping either drill
bits or screwdriver bits in them,
depending on what Im doing. Quick
disconnect couplers allow for fast
tool changes.
Campbell Tools Co.
www.campbelltools.com
Campbell targets the miniatures
market (trains, steam engines, etc.),
and these same precision tools can
be used for higher-end robotics work.
The company is a reseller for Sherline,
Prazi, Smithy, and others.
Carken Co./Deskam
www.deskam.com
Carken publishes CAD/CAM CNC
software:
DesKAM 2-1/2 D CAM from DXF
or 3D CAM from STL files.
DeskART Carve or engrave your
computer image files.
Desk Engrave Turn your True Type
fonts into G-Code or DXF.
DeskNC for DOS or Windows Run
your CNC equipment directly from
your PC.
DeskNCrt Operate your CNC
equipment in closed loop using
encoders.
CNCez PRO
www.cncezpro.com
CNC simulation/educational
software. Web page is in multiple
languages.
Delft Spline Systems/DeskProto
www.deskproto.com
3-D software for CNC machines.
DesktopCNC
www.desktopcnc.com
This is an informational site for
people wanting to build a desktop
CNC machine. I particularly liked the
comparison tables about CNC desktop
mills, lathes, routers, and software.
Flashcut CNC
www.flashcutcnc.com
CNC mini mills and lathes. Based
on Sherline products. Complete and
retrofit.
Grizzly Industrial, Inc.
www.grizzly.com
Woodworking and metalworking
tools. Large showrooms in Bellingham,
WA, Muncy, PA, and Springfield,
MO.
Harbor Freight Tools
www.harborfreight.com
Harbor Freight built a business
on selling value-priced tools, much
of it off-brand, but still perfectly
workable. (I still regularly use the
Chinese-made drill press I bought
from Harbor Freight over 20 years
ago.) They offer hand and power
tools, pneumatic tools, and even
metal mills and lathes. Retail stores
in selected areas of North America;
check the website for a store locator.
HobbyCNC
www.hobbycnc.com
Plans and basic starter kits for
building your own CNC router. Their
CNC package includes three stepper
motors, stepper motor controller
electronics, and assorted hardware
(minus the case).
International Sales &
Marketing Group
www.ismg4tools.com
Importer of the German-made
Prazi precision mill and lathe. Check
their web page for a list of dealers.
Many CNC System/EasyCut
www.easycut.com
Makers and sellers of CNC
routers and 3D engravers, from
12 x 12 inches to 108 x 60 inches.
MAXNC, Inc.
www.maxnc.com
Makers of desktop CNC mills
and lathes.
MicroKinetics Corporation
www.microkinetics.com
Desktop mills and lathes, as
well as full-size production machines.
Stepper motors, servo motors, and
motor controllers for CNC.
Micro-Mark
www.micromark.com
Micro-Mark is about precision
tools. They sell precision and miniature
tools of all descriptions, including
desktop mills and lathes, as well as
hand tools, bits and other accessories,
small hand-operated motorized tools,
casting supplies, and raw metal,
plastic, and wood (well, its not really
raw, its in sheet, tube, or other
manufactured form).
MicroProto Systems
www.microproto.com
MicroProto is the CNC branch
of TAIG Tools, makers of precision
desktop lathes and mills. The standard
TAIG is manually operated; MicroProto
adds stepper motors and control
circuits so that you can control your
machine from a computer. Available
with or without the SuperCam
software from Super Tech &
Associates.
Minitech Machinery Corp.
www.minitech.com
Minitech manufactures and sells
desktop CNC mills, lathes, and routers.
Middle to high-end.
Next Wave Automation
www.nextwaveautomation.com
Affordable three-axis CNC routers.
A unique feature of the companys
product line is that parts are inter-
changeable between the versions.
You can start out with a basic model,
and upgrade it using most of the
original parts.
Nick Carters TAIG Lathe Pages
www.cartertools.com
Informational site on TAIG lathes.
From the site: Welcome to my pages
devoted to the TAIG Lathe. Since
buying one over five years ago, I have
become increasingly enthusiastic
about the TAIG lathe, its economy,
capability, and over-all style. The TAIG
lathe is especially good if you are a
novice to metalworking, and seek to
learn the basics without a large
investment of money and space. It
is my hope that these pages are a
useful resource for all TAIG users.
Northern Tool & Equipment Co.
www.northerntool.com
Northern Tool & Equipment
Catalog Company is a supplier of
products to the DIY crowd, whether
they be small businesses, auto shops,
or home tinkerers. Northerns main
product lines are generators, small
engines, pressure washers, and hand,
air, and power tools. The company is
also known for stocking thousands of
mechanical parts, including:
Casters, from small to heavy-duty.
Plastic, metal, and other construction
materials.
Shaft couplers, including Lovejoy
three-piece jaw couplers.
Go-Kart parts (such as centrifugal
clutches, chains, sprockets, and
wheels).
Hydraulic cylinders, pumps, and
hoses.
Penn State Industries
www.pennstateind.com
Hand and motorized tools (mostly
for wood). The Library section contains
information about the tools (many in
Adobe Acrobat PDF format), as well
as plans for home-based projects.
RB Industries, Inc.
www.rbiwoodtools.com
RBI makes scroll saws, wood
planers, and drum sanders. Their
Hawk brand scroll saws are the
notable product here, as they can
be used to cut out precision parts in
wood, plastic, and even metal. Ive
had one of their 16 inch scroll saws
for over a decade, and its one of my
most cherished tools. These things are
expensive, but they last a life-time.
Robo Systems
www.robosys.com
Robo Systems makes Accucadd,
RoboCAD, and related CAD/CAM
software for Windows.
Rockler Woodworking and
Hardware
www.rockler.com
Rockler carries hand and power
woodworking tools, hardware,
and wood stock (including precut
hardwood plywoods). Among
important hardware items are
medium-sized casters, drop-front
supports (possible use in bumpers or
joints in robots), and drawer slides.
Sears, Roebuck & Co.
www.sears.com
Sears sells lots of stuff, but of
prime interest to robot builders are
their tools. They used to have a big
catalog sales department, but didnt
see the Internet coming, and got rid
of it. You can buy Sears tools at
their local stores, from Bob Vilas TV
SERVO 04.2008 85
Sherline is a premier maker of miniature desktop lathes and vertical mills.
commercials, and online and mail
order. Sears also operates specialty
hardware and home improvement
stores (Sears Hardware, and Orchard
Supply Hardware).
Sherline Products
www.sherline.com
Sherline is a premier maker of
miniature desktop lathes and
vertical mills. Theyre a staple in
home machinery shops, and there
is an active trade in parts and
accessories on eBay and other online
auctions. Sherline doesnt offer CNC
versions or retrofits of their products
(though they sell them CNC ready),
but many other companies offer
retrofit kits. So, you can purchase a
manually-operated lathe or mill now,
and upgrade it to CNC should you
wish to automate your production.
Shopsmith, Inc.
www.shopsmith.com
Shopsmith makes the famous all-in-
one woodworking tool that combines
table saw, sander, lathe, horizontal
boring machine, and drill press.
Super Tech & Associates
www.super-tech.com
Super Tech manufactures and sells
desktop CNC and mills, as well as low-
cost, general-purpose CNC software.
Their MiniRobo which I purchased
for my own shop is a compact yet
versatile router that uses a Dremel or
RotoZip tool for cutting, drilling, and
engraving into plastic, wood, and soft
metals. Other products include TAIG mills
and lathes, and the RoboTorch a large
gantry-style CNC plasma cutting rig.
TAIG Tools
www.taigtools.com
TAIG Tools makes small desktop
(micro) mills and lathes. Versions of
the machines can be manually operated
or connected to your computer for CNC.
Sold through dealers. Be sure to check
out their regular Internet specials. You
can get a nice mill or lathe for less than
you think. Note that several companies
offer CNC retrofits for the TAIG line;
TAIG also provides CNC versions of
some of their tools. See also MicroProto
Systems (www.microproto.com) for
CNC versions of TAIG mills and lathes.
Toolsforless.com
www.toolsforless.com
Power tools, hand tools. Stocks
some 50,000 power and hand tools,
hardware, parts, and accessories.
Tormach
www.tormach.com
Makers and sellers of affordable
personal CNC tools, including mills
and lathes. Also offers CAD/.CAM
software packages at good discounts
for purchasers of their machine
products. Check their website for
useful articles on CNC basics. SV
86 SERVO 04.2008
Gordon McComb can be reached
via email at robots@robotoid.com
CONTACT THE AUTHOR
Tormach PCNC 1100 Features:
Q Table size 34" x 9.5"
Q R8 Spindle 1.5 hp variable speed to 4500 RPM
Q Computer controlled spindle speed and direction
Q Precision ground ballscrews
Q Digitizing and tool sensing support
Q 4th axis and high speed spindle options
3 Axis Mill
$6800
plus shipping
When youre serious about hardware, you need serious tools.
Whether milling 0.020 traces on prototype PCBs or cutting
steel battle armor, this CNC mill can do it all. Weighing in at more
than 1100 lbs, the PCNC can deliver the hardware end of your
combined hardware & software projects.
Precision CNC
Machining
Mill includes Control, CAD and CAM
software. Optional stand, coolant system,
computer and accessories are extra.
Product information and online ordering at www.tormach.com
Robot Builders Cookbook
by Owen Bishop
This is a book for
first-time robot
builders, advanced
builders wanting to
know more about
programming robots,
and students in
further and higher
education tackling
microcontroller-
based practical
work. They will all find this book a unique
and exciting source of projects, ideas, and
techniques to be combined into a wide
range of fascinating robots. $29.95
123 Robotics Experiments
for the Evil Genius
by Myke Predko
If you enjoy tinkering
in your workshop and
have a fascination for
robotics, youll have
hours of fun working
through the 123
experiments found in
this innovative project
book. More than just
an enjoyable way to
spend time, these
exciting experiments also provide a solid
grounding in robotics, electronics, and
programming. Each experiment builds on
the skills acquired in those before it so
you develop a hands-on, nuts-and-bolts
understanding of robotics from the
ground up. $24.95
FIRST Robots: Rack 'N' Roll
Behind the Design
by Vince Wilczynski / Stephanie
Slezycki
The second annual
book highlighting the
creativity and process
behind 30 winning
robot designs from
the 18th annual
international FIRST
Robotics Competition.
The FIRST organization,
founded by Dean
Kamen (inventor of the Segway), promotes
education in the sciences, technology, and
engineering in collaboration with sponsors
including Motorola, Xerox, NASA, Delphi,
General Motors, and other companies
invested in science education. $39.95
Mechanisms and Mechanical
Devices Sourcebook
by Neil Sclater / Nicholas Chironis
The fourth edition
of this invention-
inspiring engineering
resource covers the
past, present, and
future of mechanisms
and mechanical
devices. Youll find
drawings and
descriptions of more
than 2,000 compo-
nents that have
proven themselves over time and can
be incorporated into the very latest
mechanical, electromechanical, and mecha-
tronic products and systems. Overviews of
robotics, rapid prototyping, MEMS, and
nanotechnology, along with tutorial chapters
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A
s a conference developer serving
the personal, service, and mobile
robotics industry, I am constantly
challenged with finding the sweet
spot in the market where sweetness
is defined both by creating and
running a profitable event, as well as
serving the needs of the attendees
and sponsors. Growing the overall
robotics industry is also a bonus.
From a strictly business standpoint,
conference developers try to avoid
overlapping coverage with existing
events, particularly their own events
lest they cannibalize their own
products. This is especially true in the
mobile robotics and intelligent systems
industry, which is characterized by a
large number of smaller companies,
many of which have been spun out
of academia, or are in their initial
stages of funding. Such companies
simply cannot afford to do every
event in their target market, so they
must choose between a variety of
event offerings.
Conference development and
production is a business like any other.
Conference developers, therefore,
must deliver a product that their
customers (again conference
attendees and sponsors) find of
value, otherwise they will take their
business elsewhere. This requires that
conference tracks are aligned with
industry segments that have broad
rather than narrow appeal, as well
as focusing the content on market
segments that are expanding.
There are any number of ways
that a market can be evaluated as
to its size and expected growth.
Examining quantitative studies from
reputable market research firms is one
option, but for event developers
research typically arrives after markets
have been established and therefore
too late to provide a first-to-market
advantage.
A better, but more subjective
approach is to look to soft evidence.
For example, the number of column
inches dedicated to a particular
segment within the industry press (or
even in the general press), funding
by venture capitalists, or even the
amount of ads for engineers or sales
personnel, can indicate a
company/market that is expanding.
Personal contacts, as well as an
understanding of research and soft
money funding trends, provides
additional clues as to what is hot
and what is not.
In much the same way that
conference developers look to a
variety of sources in an effort to
anticipate a given market, job seekers,
investors, technology providers, OEMs,
retailers, and other members of the
channel can examine conference
focus areas and tracks to gauge the
strength of specific industry sectors.
For the robotics community, academic
and hobbyists events can provide
some insights into the business side
of the robotics business. However,
for the purpose of serious market
evaluation, more business focused
events would better serve.
Robotics Trends RoboBusiness
Conference and Exposition, now in
its fifth year, focuses on the business
development and technical issues
involved with the commercial
application of robotics and intelligent
systems technology to develop entirely
new markets and product categories,
open additional lines of business,
and enhance existing product lines.
Robotics Events Reflect
Hot Market Segments
by Dan Kara
Tracks and focus areas at robotics events provide
insights into hot sectors and submarkets.
90 SERVO 04.2008
Appetizer.qxd 3/4/2008 7:38 PM Page 90
As such, the tracks and focus areas
within the event provide insight into
which markets and sectors within
the mobile robots and intelligent
systems industry are experiencing the
greatest growth, investment support,
and market success. (DISCLOSURE
ALERT The author is the Chairman
of the RoboBusiness Conference
and Exposition.)
The various vertical market
segments within the robotics industry
differ in the amount of funding and
purchasing that is directed toward
them at this time, and how dollars
will flow in and out of them in
the future, as the technology and
markets develop. For its part,
the RoboBusiness Conference and
Exposition focuses on the following:
Healthcare Robotics
Security and Defense
First Responder Robotics
Consumer Robotics
Consumer Robotics
Improvements in applied
engineering coupled with commodity
manufacturing techniques, have
made it possible to cost-effectively
engineer and sell a variety of
consumer robotics products that
work as advertised and can be
had at a reasonable price point,
effectively creating a completely
new, consumer electronics market
consumer robotics. This market,
which can be taxonomized as
follows, will eventually become the
largest segment within the personal
and service robotics industry:
Intelligent Toys
Entertainment Robots
House Care/Lawn Care
Assistive Technology
Educational Robotics
Healthcare Robotics
A number of surgical robotics
companies have secured multiple
rounds of funding from venture
capitalists followed by going public
(usually on the NASDAQ). As a
group, these companies are doing
quite well, with estimates of the
surgical robotics market in the
USA alone forecast to be worth
approximately $2.5 billion by 2011
(BCC Research), with an expected
average annual growth rate of 43%
in the period 2006-2011. But the
current robotics darlings of Wall
Street represent just a fraction of the
larger healthcare robotics market.
Driven by demographics (a boomer
turns 50 every seven seconds),
increased expectations and the
healthcare industrys need to reduce
costs while improving services,
the healthcare robotics market,
including healthcare automation and
quality-of-life technologies in addition
to the aforementioned surgical
robotics segment, is expected to
demonstrate strong growth in a
variety of areas both in healthcare
centers and in the home, including:
Hospital/Pharmacy Automation
Surgical Robotics
Assistive Technology
Rehabilitation Technology,
Telepresence Systems
Security and Defense
Incorporating Security and
Defense as a track within the
RoboBusiness event was an easy
choice, even given the number and
size of existing events that cover the
market. In this case, the market is
sizable and fragmented enough to
support multiple conferences.
There are approximately 4,000
ground robots employed by the US
military (13 systems), up from less
than 100 in 2001. Unmanned
aerial vehicles are also found in
abundance, as well as their water
based counterparts.
The war in Iraq drives much of
the militarys current robotic activity.
However, the Department of Defense
(DoD) has invested robotics research
since 1990 (and even before that)
and will continue even when the war
winds down. These research efforts
are now transitioning to acquisition
for programs such as the Future
Combat Systems (FCS) initiative, a
$161B modernization effort for the
US military. Spending on robotics for
the security and defense markets in
other areas of the world is also
expected to increase. Projected
worldwide spending on unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs) alone is
staggering:
Approximately $55B to be spent
over 10 years (Teal Group)
UAV market $13B+ by 2014
(Forecast International)
UAV market $15B by 2010
(Visiongain)
What is not recognized by most
of the robotics community is that the
largest military robotics segment is
not directly involved with fighting
on the front. The point of the spear
is just that, the tip of a much larger
construct. Other growing sectors
within the security and defense
robotics market integrated within
the RoboBusiness event include:
New Technologies for Military
Robotics
Mobile Surveillance
Tactical Operations
Military Logistics, Operations,
Transportations, and Other
Non-traditional Uses
First Responder
Robotics
The first responder robotics
market is a bit more difficult to
judge, but it does have a number
of factors that mark it as an industry
segment on the move. First, the first
responders market is in many ways
defined as the intersection of the
healthcare robotics and
security/defense markets, both of
which as we have seen are large
and growing. In addition, robotics
technology is considered a key
enabler for a variety of counter-
terrorism and immigration initiatives.
Both counter-terrorism and
immigration efforts continue to
be funded heavily. First Responder
Robotics also maps to a number
of growing submarkets including:
Law Enforcement and Public
Safety
Search, Rescue, and Recovery
Explosive Ordinance Disposal
SERVO 04.2008 91
Unmanned Vehicles
HAZMAT Operations
Law Enforcement and Public Safety Robotics
The Work is Done For You
Event development, including robotics events, is a
business like any other. To be successful, conference
producers must focus on the most successful industry
segments, but often before they are fully mature so as
to reap first-to-market advantages. In this sense, event
production is like any other business. Where event
production and general business differ is that the former
must focus on a number of hot sectors at one time in an
effort to cast a wide audience acquisition and sponsorship
net. Conference tracks and focus areas within events such
as the RoboBusiness Conference and Exposition, therefore,
provide insights into a range of robust robotics markets.
Canny individuals understand this and recognize that much
market segmentation and evaluation work has been done
for them. SV
Dan Kara is President of Robotics Trends, the producer of the
RoboBusiness (www.roboevent.com), RoboDevelopment (www.
robodevelopment.com), and RoboNexus (www.robonexus.com)
conferences, and publisher of Robotics Trends (www.robotics
trends.com), an online news, information, and analysis portal covering
the personal, service, and mobile robotics market. He can be reached at
dk@roboticstrends.com.
92 SERVO 04.2008
The Consumer
Electronics Show
Typical of everything in life, as
time goes on, things change. The
same thing applies to shows; robot
and technical shows in particular.
Displays are glitzier, lights flashier, and
the atmosphere of todays events are
definitely higher energy affairs. The
Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is
no exception. Early January in Las
Vegas each year is the annual CES,
an electronics enthusiasts dream that
fills the huge Las Vegas Convention
Center. If you want to see anything
new in consumer electronics
including robots or want to
introduce your product or robot to
the world, this is the place to go.
Over 100,000 industry people
crowd the aisles and booths to see
things that are absolutely amazing.
Virtually, every consumer electronics
company in the world is touting their
products as the latest, the best,
the most innovative, the largest
screen, the greenest in power
consumption, and enough superlative
accolades to make a person go into
overload with all the hype. CES is not
open to the general public, however.
The 2008 show was no exception to
this trend. TV news shows, magazines,
and newspapers highlighted many new
products and the one type of electronic
product that seemed to pique the
interest of the many technical writers
was you guessed it robots. The
Robotics TechZone hosted by Robotics
Trends was one of the must see areas
for the media, though there were
lots of robots scattered across the
convention center.
Television and print media
coverage noted many very positive
comments from the attendees about
the use of robots in the home. I dont
need to convince the readership of
SERVO of the importance of robots
in our modern society but it is obvious
that the rest of our community is
beginning to accept the idea of these
devices in their homes, as well. One of
the cool robot things in my opinion
from CES was the Mr. Clock radio
robot alarm clock radio that can wake
you with 30 different voices, and the
head, mouth, and eyes all move and
light up to these sounds (Figure 1). It
may have looked a bit like one of the
robots from the Robots movie and
has a non-digital radio coupled to a
digital clock, but, it is another must
have. The media says it is for kids;
I guess that Im still a kid at heart.
The Earliest Robot
Exhibitions
Back in March of last year, I wrote
about robot organizations and some
of the robot trade shows associated
with these groups. I have also men-
tioned in previous articles, the
International Personal Robot Congress
Show that was held in Albuquerque,
NM many years ago and will not cover
that again. In the very beginning,
robot conferences and associated
expositions were held by the industrial
robot organizations such as the
Robotics International of the Society
of Manufacturing Engineers, RI/
SME and the Robotics Industries
Association (RIA). As a robotics
engineer for Rockwell back in the
80s and 90s, I was quite fortunate
to be able to go to many of the robot
conferences and exhibitions.
Of course, it made my management
a bit happier if I delivered a paper and
saved them the cost of the conference.
The delivery of these papers exposed
me to some amazing people who
knew far more than I did about all
aspects of the field and also got me
invited to some very interesting robotics
labs across the country and Europe.
Industrial Robot
Conferences and
Exhibitions
The IEEE Robotics and Automation
Society actually began in the 1940s,
a
n
d
ROBOT SHOWS
b y T o m C a r r o l l
FIGURE 1. Mr. Clock Radio.
SERVO 04.2008 93
Then&Now.qxd 3/4/2008 8:15 PM Page 93
94 SERVO 04.2008
long before the first industrial robot
was installed in a New Jersey automobile
plant. The IEEE/RAS is more attuned
to applied and theoretical applications
of robotics and automation, with
papers delivered at conferences. The
first of the annual robot exhibitions
and conferences geared strictly to
industrial robots that I attended were
the RI/SME Robots 6 Conference in
Detroit, MI in April of 1983.
A conference on a particular
subject is always highlighted by
displays of products applicable to that
subject, and robotics is certainly no
exception. When there is a gathering
of people whose interest centers
about a certain product line, they
usually enjoy having a hands-on
session or at least a demonstration of
various manufacturers products.
For this RI/SME trade show, the
exhibition center (Cobo Hall) was
filled with products from the many
manufacturers of industrial robots,
most from the US. As strictly a
conference attendee, I didnt deliver
a paper at this first conference but I
was amazed at the many styles and
applications for the growing industry.
The next years conference, the
13th ISIR (Industrial Symposium for
Industrial Robots)/Robots 7 was held
in Chicago. Would you believe that
there are two other ISIR robot
organizations: the International
Symposium on Intelligent Robotics
and the Institut des Systemes
Intelligents et Robotique, each with
exhibitions. After listening to a few
presentations delivered by people
whose names nobody could
pronounce and with the overhead
projector images filled with so many
equations and formulas, many
attendees would just head to the
exhibit hall. Manufacturers showed of
their robots abilities by having them
carve (burn) our names in wooden
business card holders. Others handed
out cute plastic models of their robots
for us to have on our office desks.
Exhibitors didnt hand out handfuls of
electronic and mechanical parts like
the big Wescon and other electronic
shows, but they made up for it by
having some truly amazing robots
on display.
I remember one very large robot
shooting basketballs into a hoop. It
seemed to look more like a 20 foot
cobra standing on end than a
typical articulated robot arm, and
its movements were driven by a series
of cable tendons tugged on by
motors in the base. It was very
interesting but had accuracy and
payload problems. Another robot
showed its strength by picking up
bowling balls and placing them
in another location. Industrial
applications? Nope, but fun to
watch. With a growing interest in
non-industrial robots, the National
Personal Robotics Association
(NPRA) was formed under the
auspices of the RI/SME with a
later change to the National
Service Robot Association. I was
invited to sit on the board of this
new group.
I delivered a paper entitled
Robotics Innovations: From Garage
to Space at the 1985 Robots 9
Conference in Detroit. A few of
the manufacturing-only people
were a bit uninterested in my topic,
but I was surrounded by attendees
afterwards who were very interest-
ed in mobile and space robots.
In the exhibits, I began to see
more and more robots that werent
assigned to a spot on a factory floor
such as automated guided vehicles
(AGVs) to move parts around a facto-
ry, cleaning robots, anthropomorphic
robots, hazardous duty teleoperated
robots, underwater ROVs, and guid-
ance systems for mobile robots. My
interest was in space robotics and
many of the subsystems on display
could be adapted to space-borne
projects of mine.
I attended many of these RI/SME
robot conferences and exhibitions
and noticed the gradual changes
in the industry as there were fewer
and fewer US manufacturers and
more and more service robots
applications that truly interested me.
Attendees at these shows were clearly
interested in ALL types of robots.
Robot Shows of Today
Todays robot shows have evolved
into so may categories of exhibitions,
contests, competitions, variations of
FIRST type events, robot combat
matches, robot soccer matches, and
other sports, robot groups exhibits
for their communities, and just plain
show and tell sessions at various
robot group meetings. Higher-level
conferences are being held around
the world and are sponsored by IEEE
and other major technical societies.
One of the more interesting robot
conferences and exhibitions was the
International Conference on Human
Robot Interaction 2008 that was held
this March in the Netherlands, with
only minimal exhibits. It was centered
on robot assistants and companions
for the elderly.
A popular conference in March
of this year was the EUROS European
Robotics Symposium 2008 in the
Czech Republic that concentrated on
robot cognition, as will the April
International Conference on Cognitive
Systems in Germany. Another
conference a little closer to home is
the IEEE International Conference on
Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 08
to be held in Pasadena, CA the end of
May on the topic of human-centered
robotics. ICRA 2009 and 2010 are
FIGURE 2. Reem-A at Wireds NextFest.
being held in Japan and Anchorage,
AK, respectively.
For those with generous technical
conference travel allowances, the
IROS 2008, IEEE/RJS International
Conference on Intelligent Robots
and Systems in Nice, France this
September 22-26 should be a gold-
mine of information on humanoid,
entertainment, underwater, search
and rescue, and rehabilitative robots,
along with other variations of our
favorite machines.
None of these conferences have
the extensive hands-on exhibits that
we all enjoy but the papers and
information shared makes them
priceless to robot experimenters,
not to mention the one-on-one
interfacing with the best people in
these particular fields of robotics.
The Shows With the
Best Exhibits
This past September at the Los
Angeles Convention Center, Wired
Magazine held the well-attended
NextFest, the fourth in a series.
Over 37,000 attendees ogled at
160 exhibits featuring futuristic war
machines, solar powered this-n-thats,
jet packs and, of course, robots. One
of the more interesting robots on
exhibit at NextFest was Reem-A, a
humanoid robot that has been around
to a few exhibitions the past 22
months (Figure 2). There have been
numerous bipedal humanoids made
in Korea, Japan, the US, and other
countries, but this sophisticated robot
was designed by Abu Dhabi, a United
Arab Emirates company.
The Middle Eastern company,
Pal Technology, is better known in
engineering circles as a producer of
desalinization plants, used for
making water. Their robot technology
development team is based in
Barcelona, Spain and Pal Technology
states that the purpose of the
Reem-A humanoid project is to
develop a fully functional service
robot.
You-Tube has a clip of several face
recognition sessions by Reem-A recorded
at CES. The 57 tall robot is a pretty
good walker and weighs in at about
90 pounds. Its articulated arms can lift
almost five pounds, and voice and face
recognition capabilities make it a force
to contend with in the humanoid
robot race. A Reem-B is in the works
and will debut to the public soon.
Hubo, the robot that looks like
Albert Einstein in a space suit without
his space helmet (one variation),
always draws attention as do most
robots, and the NextFest demonstra-
tion was no exception. In my opinion,
this Korean designed and built robot
looks a lot better with his standard
robot head with a smoked glass
faceplate. Figure 3 taken at the
NextFest by 1up.com shows Hubo
being worked on by the Korea
Advanced Institute of Science and
Technology (KAIST) team before the
exhibition. It seems that, no matter
how much money you pump into a
robot project, they always have last
minute repairs.
The Robot Shows of
Robotics Trends
Dan Kara, President of Robotics
Trends, began this media firm that
addresses trends and news issues in
the sections of the robotics industry
that are separate from the industrial
sector. These days, that encompasses
most of the robotics manufacturers,
especially here in the US. Kara is the
driving force behind three of the
most popular robot exhibitions and
conferences of the service robot
industry. These are: the RoboBusiness
Conference and Exposition (www.
robobusiness.com), RoboDevelopment
Conference and Exposition (www.
robodevelopment.com), and the
RoboNexus Conference and Exposition
(www.robonexus.com).
The fifth annual RoboBusiness
Conference and Exposition this April
will have exhibits from over 75 robotics
companies. The RoboDevelopment
Conference and Exposition will be
held this fall in California and focuses
on non-industrial, commercially sold
personal, service and mobile robotic
products that are not used in a lab
environment. Last years conference
featured many top people in the
robotics field, including Tandy Trower,
Program Manager of Microsofts
Robotics Group speaking on the
emerging robotics industry. The
RoboNexus Conference and Exposition
held in 2005 in San Jose, the third of
Robotics Trends shows, was touted
as the Best New Show for 2005
by Expo Magazine and The Largest
Robotics Event in the Western
Hemisphere by the media. It was
successful and should return soon.
Shows and
Competitions Put On
by Robotics Societies
and Clubs
At some point, virtually all of
the robot clubs and societies around
the world want to show their stuff
to the local community with some
sort of robot festival, show, fair, or
competition. Lets face it, robots are
unique and draw everyones attention,
and the media coverage is a great
asset for the science of robotics and
generating interest.
Robotics Society of
Southern Californias
Robot Contests
Back in the 1980s, I was part of
the Robotics Society of Southern
California (www.rssc.org), which
SERVO 04.2008 95
FIGURE 3. Hubo at NextFest.
started to hold an annual Robotics
Fair, first at a community college and
later at Fullerton State University. It
managed to bring in a lot of locals
who were quite interested in what we
robot people were actually doing. One
of the crowds favorite contests was
the fire fighting competition (first
held in Connecticut) where robots
navigate through a maze to locate
and extinguish a candle. Occasionally,
a local TV station would send a crew
out to tape some of the maze and
other contests.
The RSSC continues to hold
contests each month. Figure 4 shows
a few of the contestants, robots,
and trophies won at a recent RSSC
competition.
Seattle Robotics
Robothon
Later, I moved up to Washington
and became involved with the Seattle
Robotics Society (www.seattlerobot
ics.org) who held an annual
Robothon each fall at Seattle Center
home of the Space Needle. Interested
people came from all over even
other countries to enter the various
contests and see the different robots
on display. Key suppliers and sponsors
such as Parallax, Lynxmotion,
Solarbotics, Microsoft, Pololu, and
others would have displays and offer
raffle prizes to help the SRS offset the
cost of the event.
The SRS set up the rules for the
first Robo-Magellan contests (which
SERVO Magazine was proud to
sponsor. -Ed.) These are robots that
use GPS navigation in conjunction
with other navigation means, such
as dead reckoning, to visually sight
orange cones and other obstacles to
traverse an outdoor course in the
shortest time. Figure 5 shows a
slightly confused Robo-Magellan
entrant trying to climb a lamp post.
The wire connected to the robot is not
a control system, only a kill switch.
This robot was actually one of the
winners. Other contests include many
classes of Sumo and combat robots,
and maze solving, to name a few.
Figure 6 shows the combat arena at
Robothon.
Portland Robotics
PDXBot
In the middle of last year, I moved
down to southern Washington, just
north of Portland, and have attended
a few of the Portland Robotics
Groups meetings. The Portland Area
Robotics Society (PARTS; www.port
landrobotics.org) holds an annual
PDXBot Robot Competition and
Exhibition. (PDX is the airport code
for the Portland International Airport,
thus the name.) Last
years event was held at
the Doubletree Hotel.
This years PDXBot is
May 17, 2008 at the
Doubletree Hotel near
Lloyd Center.
Figure 7 shows a
part of the crowd at
PDXBot. As with most
of the larger groups,
such as the Dallas and
Atlanta robot societies,
PARTS robot exhibi-
tions include virtually
96 SERVO 04.2008
FIGURE 4. RSSC robots and trophies. FIGURE 5. Robo-Magellan 1.
FIGURE 7. Crowd at PDXBot 04. FIGURE 6. Combat robot arena.
the same major sponsors and offer
posters, T-shirts, and mugs for sale,
and nice trophies and plaques
awarded for the winners of the
various competitions including their
own version of the Robo-Magellan
contest. There are many more robot
shows and exhibitions across the
country and world that offer robotics
enthusiasts and the general public a
glimpse of the latest and greatest in
this exciting field. I have only listed
three that I was personally involved
in. Most of the larger groups have
great shows and exhibitions, as well.
I suggest that you readers use your
favorite search engine and chase
down those near your home.
Your interest, support, and
attendance at these robot shows is
important to these organizations that
are sometimes struggling to spread
the word about this fairly new science.
I personally believe you will have the
time of your life by attending any of
the robot shows. Bring your friends
along ... they may just develop their
own interest in robotics. SV
Tom Carroll can be reached via email
at TWCarroll@aol.com
CONTACT THE AUTHOR
Active Innovations ...................................40
All Electronics Corp. .........................40, 73
AP Circuits/e-pcb.com ............................77
AUVSI ........................................................63
AWIT ..........................................................73
Boca Bearings ....................................73, 92
Budget Robotics ......................................62
CipherLinx Technologies .........................73
CrustCrawler .............................................13
Electronics123 ..........................................40
Futurlec .....................................................73
Hitec ......................................................3, 66
Jameco ......................................................12
Lorax Works ........................................40, 73
Lynxmotion, Inc. .......................................98
Maker Faire ................................................21
Maxbotix ...................................................73
Net Media .................................................99
Parallax, Inc. ...............................Back Cover
PCB Fab Express .......................................73
PCB Pool .............................................73, 86
Pololu Robotics & Electronics ..........73, 77
RoadNarrows Robotics .....................40, 73
ROBOBusiness .........................................49
RoboGames ..............................................35
Robotis Co. Ltd. .......................................92
RobotShop, Inc. .................................41, 73
Schmartboard...........................................40
Shooting Star Technology .................62, 73
Solarbotics/HVW .......................................7
Sparkfun Electronics ..................................2
Technological Arts ...................................73
Tormach ..............................................73, 86
Trossen Robotics ......................................55
Vantec .......................................................48
Advertiser Index
SERVO 04.2008 97
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