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Post by Dingo on Aug 29, 2004 23:23:58 GMT 10
This *huge* image shows what I would consider the minimum curcuit to use an 18x to drive an LCD and to have it programmable.
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Post by Dingo on Aug 13, 2004 13:46:42 GMT 10
I just had an email from Kaytech advising me of a special he is running: "just thought I'd let you know that for the next week I have backlit 16X2 Alphanumeric LCD modules at $15 each (RRP at $30) www.kaytech.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=24_84&products_id=431 " These look pretty good from the photo (as in they are standard size and shape) I assume form the pinout etc it use a standard HD driver.
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Post by Dingo on Aug 10, 2004 16:50:40 GMT 10
I noticed Oatley have two LCDs for sale very cheaply.
A 2x40 for $25
and a backlit 2x16 for $12
I know what my next order will include......
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Post by Dingo on Jan 4, 2005 8:38:00 GMT 10
I found an old laser printer and yep, it had a motherload of really cool gears in it. I also scored 2 stepper motors (one really big) and a nice 24V fan for my trouble. Now I'm addicted to scanning the local classifieds for giveaway printers.......... I'll post some shots of the gears some time
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Post by Dingo on Jan 3, 2005 12:40:59 GMT 10
hmm, your right!
And think of the fun getting the gears out, smash! smash! smash!
...........I'm off to the local repairers' dumpbin tomorrow then
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Post by Dingo on Jan 2, 2005 22:50:18 GMT 10
Does anyonw know of a good place to get small hobby sized gears from?
Dick Smith and similar want like 20 for 6 little gears that don't do much and look pretty weak.
Ebay and google haven't divulged a multitude.
So does anyone know of a shop here or elsewhere that sells small plastic of steel gears at a reasonable price?
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Post by Dingo on Jul 8, 2004 9:06:42 GMT 10
Has anyone had any experience of "muscle wires"? - Are they powerful enough to actually be useful? Can you combine heaps together or is that prohibited by cost / power requirments?
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Post by Dingo on Oct 6, 2004 20:57:02 GMT 10
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Post by Dingo on Aug 9, 2006 18:41:44 GMT 10
If you are going to use modified servos, I'd probably go for servos with strong gears than normal (those Hi-tec brass ones over the std nylon) as they aren't designed for continuous use. Some servos are only rated for tens of hours of operation but they should go longer than that.
A modified servo is not like a stepper motor. A stepper motor's internal magnet configuration means it can only move in discrete steps. A modified servo's internal motor is just a DC brushed motor and so is not limited to discrete steps - it is the feedback circuitry that makes a servo move to a specific point, not the internal configiuation of the motor.
An H bridge is to control normal DC motors, not stepper motors.
A "normal" DC motor is a good idea for a bot, the best idea is to use an encoder wheel of some kind (usually IR) to measure the actual revolutions it has turned to then know if the wheels are actually turning when power is applied..... and how far.
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Post by Dingo on Aug 3, 2004 22:54:26 GMT 10
Wow these are cool. I originally thought you had to buy air muscles becuase I saw a TV show years ago about a UK company producing them commercially - I didn't even contemplate using a bike tyre Creating air muscles just got put in the top 10 things I want to do with robots! (BTW I've added the links to the links page)
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Post by Dingo on Aug 18, 2004 11:14:52 GMT 10
I'm thinking I'll get to and create a project showing Parallel to Serial conversion with the 165 chips.
I'll use 8 microswitches and feed them into one pin on a microcontroller. So if you're interested in that it should be up soon
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Post by Dingo on Aug 28, 2004 22:29:01 GMT 10
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Post by Dingo on Aug 18, 2004 15:19:42 GMT 10
Sounds likea great idea. I don't have too much experience with lasers etc but I can certainly gather some info and post a project. Then anyone here who has info can add to it. This link shows a AM radio laser transmitter oatleyelectronics.com/pdf/k073.pdfhas both Tx and Rx shown. This is all about the US military MILES system www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/miles.htmThis is the FAQ over at Battlefield sports: www.battlefieldsports.com/FAQ.htmIt is IR based but does have some useful info, especially about Micro design considerations and indoor/outdoor issues with IRs (don't know if LASER would be as affected)
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Post by Dingo on Aug 27, 2006 22:07:45 GMT 10
Yep, no worries, I'll go through and cut out the uneeded stuff tomorrow. I agree there are too many areas at the moment. btw, I finally registered a real domain, www.robotics.org.au so that should help too
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Post by Dingo on Aug 23, 2006 21:54:10 GMT 10
I used to be just up the road Don at Wahroonga but now I'm in Brisbane.
There was a local Brisbane Group that is all but defunct now. I'm toying with the idea of ressurrecting it.
To do this I would base my efforts on the local Uni campuses. You'd only need a few core people to get "critical mass". I'm sure you could tempt many a Mechatronics/EE uni student to such a gathering. Especially if you did it on a Uni campus with the help of the local academics.
I'm planning on starting small, a couple of informal meetings, advertised on notice boards and "lecture bashing" (speaking to the lecture theatre before the lecture starts). Also get any local schools that might have an interest (I'm hoping to find out who is interested by finding out from supplies if any schools in my area are buying from them (ie Microzed might be a good source) and final phase would be to get some form of sponsership from supplies - not so much for the money but for the credibility.
Then once a couple of meetings with people have taken place, organise a competition on a uni campus somewhere.
As for names, I always like the officialdom of a 'SIG' (Special Interest Group)
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