Home About Links YouTube: DangerMonkey - On site
Posted: Tue, Jun 1 2010 at 1:38 am by Emil Valkov
http://www.robidouille.com Danger Monkey is back. Last time I showed Danger Monkey it was moving on my test setup. You can see that video on my website or my youtube channel This time I went to test it on-site at the office. This wooden rail makes a circle around the office and is around 9 feet above the ground. Needless to say, falling off the rail is not a good idea.
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Time: 05:37 More in Science & Technology
YouTube: Danger Monkey
Posted: Sat, May 29 2010 at 2:30 am by Emil Valkov
http://www.robidouille.com This new robot is called Danger Monkey. Its goal is to be able move on a horizontal wooden 2 by 4 stud. To complicate things a little however there are obstacles as you can see, and they that need to be avoided. I've tried several designs, some with wheels, and others with arms. My 2 arm version is working best so far. I'm using an Arduino as microcontroller. The servos are cheap Hitec HS322-HD. Each arm has 2 lever-switches to detect pressure in front and below. This actually comes from a challenge at the office, where we have a much bigger version of this that goes around the ceiling of our building. Next step is to see if it works there.
Views: 100
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Time: 01:10 More in Science & Technology
Twitter: Jodi got a silver medal at robogames ! Hurray !
Posted: Tue, Apr 27 2010 at 1:06 am by Emil Valkov
Jodi got a silver medal at robogames ! Hurray !
YouTube: Jodi - Phase2
Posted: Sun, Apr 18 2010 at 11:01 pm by Emil Valkov
http://www.robidouille.com The goal of phase 2 is to have Jodi find the target and push it off the table without itself falling off.
Views: 23
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Time: 01:25 More in Science & Technology
Hawi - Phase 2
Posted: Mon, Mar 29 2010 at 9:41 pm by Emil Valkov
After being entirely remote controlled, Hawi makes its first steps (or rather wheel turns) on its own. I did lot of software upgrades to achieve this, some of which are not necessary right now, but will hopefully pay in the future.
YouTube: Hawi - Phase2
Posted: Sun, Mar 28 2010 at 8:02 pm by Emil Valkov
http://www.robidouille.com Hawi uses sterovision to move autonomously and track an RC car
Views: 31
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Time: 01:32 More in Science & Technology
Hawi Details
Posted: Sat, Nov 21 2009 at 1:19 pm by Emil Valkov
After making good progress on my robot arm, it became obvious that to be useful the arm could not remain confined to a table. Instead it had to be mobile. So the next logical step is to build a platform that would be able to move around and eventually have an arm (or maybe even [...]
YouTube: Jodi: HBRC Challenge Phase1
Posted: Sun, Oct 25 2009 at 9:50 pm by Emil Valkov
http://www.robidouille.com Jodi is my first attempt at the HBRC Challenge. For Phase1 it has to stay on the table. As you can notice it has more sensors than necessary for this. They are meant to be used for Phases 2 and 3.
Views: 335
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Time: 01:23 More in Science & Technology
YouTube: Hawi Debut
Posted: Sun, Oct 18 2009 at 2:39 pm by Emil Valkov
http://www.robidouille.com Hawi has 4 motorized wheels. Each wheel has it's own DC motor and a servo that controls it's orientation. So it can turn like a car. But also turn all it's wheels and move sideways. Planetary gearboxes on the motors allow for high torque and precise control, in spite of it's weight. And finally setting the wheels at 45 degrees allows Hawi to spin. Hawi is remote controlled for now, but the goal is to make it autonomous as soon as possible.
Views: 248
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Time: 00:57 More in Science & Technology
Back EMF
Posted: Sun, Sep 20 2009 at 1:28 pm by Emil Valkov
As promised, here are some more details on how I implemented back-emf to control the wheel’s rotational speed. First, what is back-emf exactly? When you apply voltage to a DC motor, it turns. But also when the DC motor is turning, voltage appears on its pins, like a dynamo. This voltage is the back-emf I’m [...]
Time to start something new
Posted: Sun, Sep 6 2009 at 12:35 pm by Emil Valkov
After working on my robot arm, it became obvious I needed to attach it to a mobile platform that would be able to move around and do things. So I decided to build my own platform. Why not take an existing platform? Well for one, it takes half the fun away! But also it allows [...]
YouTube: Look Ma, no encoders !
Posted: Sun, Aug 30 2009 at 9:21 pm by Emil Valkov
I'm using back emf to regulate a DC motor's speed. The project uses an arduino and an L298 H-bridge to control the motor. http://www.robidouille.com
Views: 230
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Time: 00:48 More in Science & Technology
Robot Arm : Phase 4 - It does stuff !
Posted: Sun, Aug 23 2009 at 7:27 pm by Emil Valkov
In this phase the Arm is no longer content to merely point at its target. It tracks it, picks it up, and sets it down close by. To achieve this, the software has been upgraded to support sequences of actions.
YouTube: Robot Arm Phase4: It does stuff !
Posted: Sun, Aug 16 2009 at 10:32 pm by Emil Valkov
In phase 4, the arm finds the object, and brings it back home using stereovision, and adapting to changing conditions in real time. http://www.robidouille.com
Views: 378
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Time: 01:58 More in Science & Technology
Twitter: Robo soup chefs wrangle ramen [Digg]
Posted: Sun, Aug 9 2009 at 5:51 pm by Emil Valkov
Two industrial robots are now employed as noodle chefs in Nagoya, Japan.
YouTube: Robot Arm Phase 3 : It's stable !
Posted: Sun, Jul 12 2009 at 3:09 pm by Emil Valkov
In phase 3 I added extra blue points, which allow for stable tracking as the initialization step I used before is no longer needed. http://www.robidouille.com
Views: 190
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Time: 01:18 More in Science & Technology
Robot Arm : Phase 3 - It's stable !
Posted: Sun, Jul 12 2009 at 3:06 pm by Emil Valkov
The main problem in the last version was keeping track of my blue points. The initialization code I had in phases 1 and 2 is no longer needed now. Instead I added 2 extra blue points. This gives me more information about the structure of the arm, and allows me to identify the points using only a single frame.
YouTube: Robot Arm Phase2: Let's kick it up a degree !
Posted: Wed, Dec 31 2008 at 7:52 pm by Emil Valkov
In phase 2, I added a 3rd degree of freedom, and use stereo vision with 2 cameras to compute coordinates. http://www.robidouille.com
Views: 272
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Time: 02:45 More in Science & Technology
Robot Arm : Phase 2 - Let's kick it up a degree !
Posted: Wed, Dec 31 2008 at 5:09 pm by Emil Valkov
This is an evolution of my initial robot arm. I added an extra servo at the base, thus bumping up the degrees of freedom to 3. This introduces a new challenge as the arm moves in 3D now. To obtain 3D coordinates, I use 2 cameras and triangulate the 2D coordinates into 3D coordinates.
Robot Arm : Phase 1 - In Depth
Posted: Mon, Dec 15 2008 at 5:41 pm by Emil Valkov
Here is a more detailed look at the algorithm used and math involved in creating my robot arm.
YouTube: Honda Asimo climbing stairs at Disneyland
Posted: Tue, Dec 9 2008 at 6:15 pm by Emil Valkov
http://www.robidouille.com
Views: 139
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Time: 00:07 More in Science & Technology
YouTube: Honda Asimo dancing at Disneyland
Posted: Tue, Dec 9 2008 at 6:12 pm by Emil Valkov
http://www.robidouille.com
Views: 78
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Time: 00:17 More in Science & Technology
YouTube: Robot Arm at San Jose Tech Museum
Posted: Tue, Dec 9 2008 at 6:04 pm by Emil Valkov
http://www.robidouille.com A Robot arm in the San Jose Tech Museum that can grab and put back letters, forming any word
Views: 490
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Time: 00:17 More in Science & Technology
Robot Arm : Phase 1
Posted: Sat, Dec 6 2008 at 7:41 pm by Emil Valkov
This robot arm is very simplistic, is uses only 2 servos, one for the “shoulder” and one for the “elbow”. Its main purpose is to experiment with ways to control it.
YouTube: Robot Arm Phase 1
Posted: Fri, Dec 5 2008 at 11:58 pm by Emil Valkov
Very simple arm with 2 degrees of freedom, that tracks a target using a camera, and adapting to changing conditions in real time. http://www.robidouille.com
Views: 428
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Time: 01:33 More in Science & Technology