Category Archives: Uncategorized

Assembly line for robots

We hear all the time about robots on the assembly line. Well, here is an assembly line for robots. As my experience as a temp taught me, every assembly line begins with bins full of parts. In this case, the … Continue reading

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Amazon ships me a 99.6% empty box

Wow, Amazon sure shipped me a big box today! Funny, I don’t remember ordering anything that big. Let’s take a look inside . . . . Well, there appears to be a lot of filler material. So I’ll take that … Continue reading

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Using LEDs as Test Servos

I fully intended that I would complete all software testing before I removed the ATMega chip from the Arduino even once. However, as I test the software, I’ve had to swap out the ATMega chip from the robot back to … Continue reading

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Programming the servo calibration procedure

Sub program, sub routine, function, procedure — it seems like every programming language has a different name for ‘blocks of code.’ Well, now I need to write a block of code for the servo calibration procedure. So first I drafted … Continue reading

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Grisbot Bill of Materials

How much do the materials of the robot cost? Costs not included: laser cutting service, switch, labor for servo conversion and pre-soldering (if any), hardware (ie bolts and nuts).

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Mini gris servo calibration mode

The robot ‘brain’ (aka ATMega328) needs to know how long the servos must rotate in order to properly execute moves and turns. Hence there must be a servo timing calibration mode, and a way to initiate the mode. I’ve toyed … Continue reading

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Moon Mission 2

A company called Golden Spike is planning to offer manned missions to the Moon by the end of this decade. Here is their graphic: Source SPACE.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration Here is a video essay … Continue reading

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More surgery on a servo

No, it didn’t crash. I had to disassemble mini grisbot in order to perform surgery on the right servo, whose centering had drifted so much that the wheel could not turn forward. To keep the potentiometer shaft from twisting (thereby … Continue reading

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Mini Grisbot in action

Preliminary test of my robot.

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Mini grisbot test status

I have completed screen-to-photocell calibration and control code transfer. Mini grisbot passes both with flying (or at least hopping and skipping) colors. The remaining test phase is to calibrate the servo timings to execute the path as shown on the … Continue reading

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