Category Archives: robots

The Robo Cops are coming

Posted on January 5, 2016 by robertwilkie

Knightscope has a mall like security robot to be used to help ID threats and issues. Apparently you will only find them in Silicon Valley right now, and they rent out for $6.25 an hour….which is cheaper than someone in … Continue reading →

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Keep people away with an automated paint ball sentry

Posted on December 31, 2015 by robertwilkie

I have seen these builds in the past. This is nice one if you are into paintball (you could put it in a defensive spot). It uses an arduino for the motor control and a webcam to target/detect movement. There … Continue reading →

Posted in Arduino, robots, Security, weapons | Comments Off

Robot Controlled ball

Posted on December 30, 2015 by robertwilkie

The author takes the hamster ball, and puts RC controls in it and puts a b-ball shell around it. For a remote controlled basketball. Nice build. My 2 cents, maybe I could re-use an existing R/C car…. http://www.instructables.com/id/Remote-Controlled-Basket-Ball-Robot/?ALLSTEPS

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Build your own Sonar system

Posted on December 22, 2015 by robertwilkie

Neat build, brings up images of deep sea submarines for me. I wonder how responsive/accurate it is (my tinkering with these sensors is limited)? Or if it could be applied to a car to give you radar abilities in the … Continue reading →

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Nice tutorial on different motors and how to use them

Posted on December 15, 2015 by robertwilkie

I will have to remember this one for the future to help kids with motors. Good write-up and intro into different motors out there. http://www.instructables.com/id/Complete-Motor-Guide-for-Robotics/

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Nice intro to the TB66 for motor control

Posted on December 10, 2015 by robertwilkie

Nice write-up on using the TB66, and h-bridge chip/board, for controlling a DC-motor. I used to make my own h-bridges out of scrapes, but this looks like a good and easier alternative. They run about $5 on ebay. http://www.instructables.com/id/MOTORS-BASICS-Finally-HOW-TO-USE-AN-H-BRIDGE/

Posted in Cheap, Misc-Life, robots | Comments Off

Make an automated cat toy

Posted on December 4, 2015 by robertwilkie

Too funny, the author built a cat toy that moves the motor when motion is detected. He is using an arduino like device called WIZWiki (New one on me). It does with ethernet build in. My 2 cents, I think … Continue reading →

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Hum, good idea for simple robot hands

Posted on November 30, 2015 by robertwilkie

I like the idea for simple pincers using an old CDROM drive, down side…they won’t be very strong. http://www.instructables.com/id/pince-robotique/

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Convert a cheap 180 servo to continuous movement

Posted on November 24, 2015 by robertwilkie

Nice hack to convert the servo from 180 to continuous movement around. Why care? Well continous cost around $10, 180’s are aroudn $6 so its a 4 dollar savings. http://www.instructables.com/id/Converting-Micro-Servos-for-Continuous-Rotation/

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Print out your own simple robot arm

Posted on November 16, 2015 by robertwilkie

Add in a couple of servo’s and you have a cool looking robot arm to play with called the EEZYbotARM. http://www.3ders.org/articles/20151115-the-eezybotarm-cool-3d-printed-robotic-arm-to-learn-the-basics-of-robotics.html

Posted in CNC/3D-printing, Misc-Life, robots, Teaching and Learning | Comments Off