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Post by donburch on Mar 18, 2007 13:42:23 GMT 10
Have any of you had experience with Brainstem, or other opinions on it ? "Acroname BrainStem General Purpose Module (GP 1.0) is supported on Windows, WinCE, MacOS X, PalmOS and Linux. The GP 1.0 Module pairs BrainStem software with hardware to provide you with an ideal, user-friendly microcontroller environment. With convenient power and ground connections for each I/O pin, ten analog and digital I/O lines, a Sharp GP2D02 driver, high-resolution servo outputs, and an IIC bus, the module offers "plug & play" ease for connecting most accessories. Modules can operate as a serial slave device, run concurrent TEA programs, and handle reflexive actions automatically. Best of all, these can all happen simultaneously. All BrainStem modules can be stacked with other BrainStem modules, as well as third-party peripherals, along a 1MBit industry standard IIC bus. "
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Post by donburch on Jan 29, 2007 19:42:21 GMT 10
I just came across details of a PIC group in Sydney. see hereIt appears that the group is running within the Programming SIG of the Sydney PC Users Group.
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Post by donburch on Jan 23, 2007 21:11:24 GMT 10
As usual botman, you make me feel like a lazy schoolboy ... by making it all seem so easy ;-) Now I've got no excuse for not interfacing this display.
As far as the serial comms goes ... coming from Application programming I feel familiar with using (note: not building) RS-232 - however the research I've done suggests that RS-232 is not what I want. Also I'm thinking that a master/multi-slave configuration requires that the Master is always active and in control.
So I'm thinking that a bus is more appropriate, where any device can send and receive messages independently.
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Post by donburch on Jan 11, 2007 20:42:34 GMT 10
I just bought a "16 character x 2 lines LCD module" from Dick Smith, thinking that a mobile robot will need more than a couple of LEDs to indicate its status - particularly while debugging.
At first look, the module may need 8 I/O pins from the controller in order to give 4-bit data bus ... I guess that's OK for a proof of concept; but in the long-term I wouldn't want to dedicate so many pins to a secondary accessory.
I'm sure some of you will say to whip up a trivial electronic circuit (beyond my electronics knowledge), and others will say to use a simple PIC or AVR processor.
On another tangent, I've decided that basing a robot on one fast CPU is not a good idea. Too easy for it to get bogged down processing (or for the OS to hang) and it simply fails to respond to the sensors or interrupts.
Instead, I'm thinking of a series of controllers for the low level functions (and I'm unsure whether the Propeller would even be particularly suitable) with a serial bus for communication, and a main CPU for the "intellectual" tasks like analyzing video images or determining best route.
So it seems sensible that I should interface the LCD module to the Basic Stamp/BoE via a serial bus. So that will be another project.
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Post by donburch on Jan 11, 2007 20:22:53 GMT 10
Nothing robot-related for me either ... in fact a very low profile low budget Christmas. But it's been soooo long since I did anything on my little robot that I'm starting to ask myself if I've given up on robotics And my answer is "no". I've even got back to the "Robotics with the BoE-bot" workbook to compare the different types of sensor. I know I don't want a bot that is oblivious of an object until its whiskers bump into it. The question is whether to do Infra-red, or go straight to sonar. Happy New Year to everyone !
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Post by donburch on May 12, 2007 22:30:15 GMT 10
I've nearly finished the main axis on the lathe. I've been a bit busy rebuilding my shed. OMG! How big is this lathe (or should it be L A T H E ) that you had to build the shed around it ? Seriously though, do enjoy your holiday and post some snapshots (on the forum, of course) ;D
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Post by donburch on Mar 26, 2007 8:46:30 GMT 10
As a matter of interest, was Tony or Stephen Myatt one of your contacts/members ? It appears that Tony runs QuantumTorque ; and Stephen was a member of the champion RoboCup Soccer team Dynamic Equilibrium in 2005 and 06. Check out DE's videos, and links to some of the other international RoboCup events !
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Post by donburch on Mar 25, 2007 8:27:33 GMT 10
Yipee! it's great to see a community getting back together again ... even if it is a bit too far for me to join in :-( Still this web technology can go a long way to reducing the tyrany of distance. Dingo, are they all members of your forum here ? I know you mentioned yahoo groups but it doesn't have to be exclusive The second photo looks like a couple of young members on the left-hand side ... Is the project designed as an introductory level ? Cheers !
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Post by donburch on Mar 12, 2007 8:38:12 GMT 10
I also tried to order one when I saw this thread ... but was put off by the postage charge. So it is still costing me something for an item I don't know if I'll even be able to use.
But the kicker was that they LIED about the security on their payment page. There was no https://, no lock symbol in the browser - despite their statement that it was secure !
I tried emailing them, but could only find a web form ... which went to someone in a different department. I replied but haven't heard anything back.
So guys, I suspect your Credit Card details went through the internet "in the clear", and could possibly have been logged. Please keep an eye on your Credit Card accounts for incorrect amounts and unauthorised transactions.
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Post by donburch on Oct 4, 2006 17:42:36 GMT 10
When Bones first mentioned it, I thought "my ghod, that's a huge project", but after a little discussion I realised that the body is a fairly standard six-legged walker, two grippers on the front should be fairly straightforward, leaving the tail...
Bones already has ideas for the tail, being multi-jointed (like a spine) but operated by a few servos in the base connected to wires which go up through the tail. I thought the tail would be a great vantage point for a camera, but Bones is keen to have a laser there to add a "sting".
Botman, I would suggest that the tail would be impressive even without whip fast operation, if that simplifies the project.
Long distance development will certainly be an issue to contend with. I would suggest that we build several of these, so that several people (or locations) can work on it simultaneously, and to avoid the possibility of one shipping accident destroying all that work. I would certainly be interested in building one here in Sydney, though we will need to do some planning and estimate cost before I can commit.
Thanks for the comments - even the devils advocate - and keep them coming.
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Post by donburch on Oct 1, 2006 11:13:21 GMT 10
Hi all,
On a couple of occasions Bones has suggested that we have a go at a group project ...
During Bones' stopover in Sydney I asked if he had any suggestion and he mentioned building a scorpion.
A Scorpion would be based on a six-legged walker, with the addition of two pincers (grippers) at the front, and a curved tail at the back. As such it could be built in stages, giving several milestones during the project.
Bones has obviously thought through construction of the tail, and while I got the general gist of it I'll leave it to him to explain properly; except to comment that the servos for up/down and sideways movement would be located in the body, and that he envisages the overall size being approx 600mm meter long by 300mm wide.
Personally I come from the software side, so it sounds pretty challenging for me - which is the best way for me to learn, so I'm definitely interested !
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Post by donburch on Sept 20, 2006 22:52:16 GMT 10
Two Rod's ... I see this will get confusing ;-)
Actually I once worked in a small firm with 2 Ron's, a John, a Don (that's me) and an Evan ! Most of the time I would ask phone callers for the surname of the person they wanted because all except Evan sound so similar over the phone.
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Post by donburch on Sept 16, 2006 14:35:47 GMT 10
Anyone interested in a get-together in Sydney ?
Say the morning of 30th September, when Bones will the stopping over for 6 hours ?
Any suggestion about anything (about robotics) that Bones should see while in Sydney ?
Cheers, Don Burch
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Post by donburch on Sept 3, 2006 8:49:18 GMT 10
Thanks Emzed, but I have a fair bit more learning to do before going down that route.
For the moment I think I will be better off trying to stick with standard modules for which there is plenty of support (and self-training course materials) and software.
Unfortunately most of the standard modules with training courses available seem to be at the very low end of the market (4MHz 8-bit procesors with 2KB RAM). Manufacturers of the high end products seem to assume that their customers are all experienced engineers who want the challenge of another custom development :-( I still haven't managed to work out PICAXE or AVR - I guess I'll have to take another look.
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Post by donburch on Aug 30, 2006 22:33:56 GMT 10
donburch, i reckon you might be able to benefit from one of these if your looking at video processing... Yes, it's a great idea, and kept my mind racing for hours when I should have been going to sleep ;D Links to TI's DaVinci are here or here. It certainly looks to be a great device! ARM9 is a powerful CPU, and having the DSP to do most of the video processing in the same chip has got to be much more efficient. But as you mentioned, most of the development tools seem pricey - which is very bad for a one-off hobby project. I am already thinking of using multiple processors (see discussion of Propellor chip in another thread), and maybe I'd be better off sticking to older less powerful DSP or FPGA for which program source code is freely available. Anyway, I reckon I've got a couple of intermediate projects to get under my belt first (for which I'll allow 6-12 months) Curiously, quite a while ago I came across an article at Seattle Robotics Society which uses a FPGA for "A Hardware Based Color Vision System for Embedded Robotics Applications". I still don't understand it, but I've got it bookmarked for later ;-)
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