Tag Archives: robotics

Eye, Robot (Part One)

Posted on March 26, 2015 by engineerzero

I’m toying with the idea of a robot that can interact with its environment by pattern recognition. I thought the way to do this was with a raspberry pi computer. So I bought the computer and the pi camera from … Continue reading →

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The CRISP Revolution

Posted on December 5, 2013 by engineerzero

Today I was thinking, “What are the fundamental technologies of the economy of the future?” And I came up with the following acronym: C – Computers. R – Robots. I – Internet. S – Solar (Power). P – (3D) Printers. … Continue reading →

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Converting a micro servo to continuous rotation

Posted on August 20, 2013 by engineerzero

Say you want to build a small robot, but you soon discover that DC motors move too fast and geared DC motors are too expensive. Then you hear about servos. Servos are basically geared DC motors, and microservos seem just … Continue reading →

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From Scratch to Arduino Test Bed

Posted on August 1, 2013 by engineerzero

In my last blog entry, I created a new graphical interface in Scratch for transmitting data to the microcontroller on the robot. Tonight I verified that the Scratch program is able to communicate via screen flashes with the Arduino test … Continue reading →

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Grisbot screen interface for light track

Posted on July 31, 2013 by engineerzero

You know, time just flies when I’m doing graphic design. I sure wish I was good at it. Anyhow, the above screen shows the graphical interface (in Scratch) for programming the robot in ‘light track’ mode. 0a: Specifies the distance … Continue reading →

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Grisbot (S3) follows the light

Posted on July 29, 2013 by engineerzero

Poor Little Grisbot S3, I misprogrammed it this morning and instead of going forward it went backward — and off the table onto the floor. Despite landing upside down, it worked all right once I unbent the photocell leads. Anyhow, … Continue reading →

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Introducing Foambot

Posted on July 15, 2013 by engineerzero

In my continuing quest to drive down the cost of grisbot, I’ve had to reconsider using acrylic. The material costs $3, and then on a good day the local hackerspace charges $18 to cut it. And then depending on the … Continue reading →

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Grisbot Scratch Interface for Free-Form Mode

Posted on July 10, 2013 by engineerzero

The idea behind free-form mode is that a user can design her own path, say on a sheet of paper, and then program the robot accordingly. Consequently, the programming page simply shows the waypoint icons lined up in rows and … Continue reading →

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Grisbot Scratch Interface for Udrive

Posted on July 9, 2013 by engineerzero

Here is the graphical user interface for U-drive (not U-turn as I said yesterday). To put the robot in U-drive mode, click on the U icon, and then go directly to the communications page. Do not bother with the scales … Continue reading →

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Grisbot: U-Turn Mode

Posted on July 8, 2013 by engineerzero

The idea is to once again program the robot by holding it up to the computer screen — but this time by analog rather than digital communications. (I call this U-Turn Mode because of the U on the screen, but … Continue reading →

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