Magri's Makin's

SolidWorks Chibi Robot Assembly

2010-11-29T23:34:00.000-08:00

This is a model of the shoulder joint on a walking robot I am designing.

This is the first assembly of this robot I have made in SolidWorks. Previously it was in Inventor.

LED's controlled by Gameboy

2009-12-16T23:34:00.001-08:00

16 December 2009

The hardware version of "Hello World". Finished final exams today so got some time to do some hacking...

The Gameboy advance controlling an LED via it's serial port, aka Link Cable. Thanks to
avelino herrera morales at http://gba.atlantes.org/index_en.html#hardware for code and schematic.

Gameboy Programming

2009-10-03T13:30:00.000-07:00

Sat 3 October 2009

I'm going to use a Gameboy, PSP, Nintendo DS, or somesuch device that includes a display screen, as a remote control for my robots. You'll press buttons on the device, and the software on the device will read the buttons and send commands out to a Zigbee/XBee wireless module. There will be a matching XBee receiver on the robot. My idea is to use this to control Robo-One type walking robots, because they have so many modes/motions/etc. The screen will be used to make a menu to make it easier to select different motions and suchlike.

So... I'm learning to program the Gameboy.

Here is a screenshot of my first program. It moves a crosshairs around on the screen via the Gameboy DPad (directional) buttons. Pretty fun stuff for a fine Saturday morning (if you are a geek, of course).

I'm using the HAM development environment and the VisualBoyAdvance (VBA) emulator running unders Windows XP. I'm learning from this excellent free book: Programming the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, by Jonathan Harbour, www.jharbour.com.

Borders & Templates in Autodesk Inventor

2009-06-19T00:15:00.001-07:00

18 June Thursday

Made border for use in Inventor drawings. So much harder than AutoCAD. Made it into a template you can select just like ANSI(mm).ipt or ANSI(inch).idw.

Walking Make-E

2009-06-07T16:44:00.000-07:00

Sunday 7 June 2009

Robot Lives!

2009-05-25T23:51:00.000-07:00

Midnight Monday 25 May Memorial Day

Makey Robot moves forward and backward after 10 straight hours of work today.

Jeronimo's Mad Science Robot

2009-05-10T11:13:00.001-07:00

Bristling with menance, the balloon-popper mechanism stands by for action.

A robot you would not want to meet in a dark alley.

Mechanisms include worm-drive gearbox and turntable gear.

I did not make this, but I wish I had. Jeronimo Hernandez Conde is the mad scientist.

Focus

2009-05-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

Joe Robot gets focused prior to his championship match.

Elephant is FINISHED

2009-05-06T22:06:00.001-07:00

Wed 6 May 2009

Heffalumps just rule...

Do's and Don'ts

Don't attempt to make things bigger than the vise. Multiple parts on multiple pieces of stock is a major pain.
Must leave more than one diameter clearance -- you need 2 diameters or 1.5 diameters
This means your raw stock is reduced in size by 2 * diameter of the endmill all the way around, in this case, you lose a quarter inch of the entire perimeter of the stock. (1/8" endmill)
You cannot contour pointy things
Do not draw radii that are smaller than the endmill
The radius on all transitions has to end up being greater or equal to the diameter of the endmill
Don't use a drawing program that exceeds the CAM program you have -- it doesn't understand polylines, splines, etc.
It's quicker to get another piece of stock and use the manual mill to prepare it to size than it is to spend hours looking at the screen trying to get all the pieces to fit. Rotation is really not quick in CAD.
It doesn't work well to draw it big and then scale it down, this is where I got into trouble with all the radius problems
KEY -- To check if the part will be able to be countoured in the CAM program -- here's whatcha do -- you offset it the diameter of the tool. Radii that are too small will fail to offset.
I think it would have been faster in the end to pick an endmill size, pick a stock size, and draw it freehand in the CAM program.

This elephant became an albatross around my neck. So glad it's finally done.

Just ain't feelin' this tab...

2009-05-04T16:00:00.000-07:00

Monday 4 May 2009 4:00PM

... so I ripped it off.

Damn, this thing is strong like a TANK.

Tab was in the way. Couldn't get the batteries or PCB by it. Test-installation of angle brackets.

Things your CAD program didn't tell you... Also totally SUCK is that the 2x2 batteries DON'T FIT because they hit the 4-40 nuts from the motor mount screws. That extra 0.2 inches was supposed to let those batteries fit. So now the motor to move the sensor doesn't fit either, because I lost 1/2" or so to the batteries.

44 hours of mad science in three days

2009-05-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday 3 May 2009
4:00AM

And here is the result.

Not bad.
Started Friday evening and finished late Sunday night/early Monday morning, including an all-nighter.

Bolted motors in and made wheels

2009-05-04T02:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 3 2009
10:00PM - 2:00 AM

I drilled/filed the mounting holes for the motors and got the motors bolted in.

I then used the LEGO rims and tires and drilled the hubs to mate with the LEGO. BUT, it didn't work, because the nut sticks out too far. Solution would be to tap threads into the hub. BUT, I already drilled the hole too big, plus, I don't have an 8-32 tap.

And, I'm on a mission to GET THE WHEELS ON at all costs, SO, I made different wheels.

I made wheels out of wood using a hole saw.

Calliope PCB Works the First Time

2009-05-03T20:00:00.001-07:00

HOT DAMN!!!

Sunday 3 May 9 PM
Applied power to PCB and away it went, playing a tune...

Built robot body

2009-05-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

3:00-7:00 PM
Sunday 3 May 2009

Made a really awesome box and cover for the robot body at Steamboat Ed's shop.

Final Virtual Model of Robot

2009-05-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

2:00
3 May 2009

Final configuration of robot. Spent hours trying to shave off 0.2 inches. Really would like robot to be 2.8 inches square (I mean, cube). Finally settled on 3.0 inches though I really hate to have to give up those 0.2 inches.

Virtual Assembly

2009-05-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

3 May 2009

It was a lot of work to model those parts, and at one point I wanted to throw my computer through the window, but now it seems worth it. The fun part is dropping all the parts onto the screen and moving them around.

Better Bodies

2009-05-03T10:47:00.001-07:00

3 May 2009
Sunday Mahnin
Drew up the robot body the way it will actually be made. Learned about corner flanges in Inventor. Wow, this is really cool.

Robot On...

2009-05-03T01:58:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 3 2009 2:00 AM

Model of PING))) Sensor

2009-05-02T23:43:00.003-07:00

Saturday 2 May 2009 11:43 PM

Model of PING))) Ultrasonic Distance Sensor

Model of Tire

2009-05-02T23:14:00.001-07:00

Saturday 2 May 2009 11:14 PM

Rough model of tire

Robot Design Day 2

2009-05-02T21:56:00.001-07:00

Saturday May 2 2009

AM - Finished designing, on paper, what the robot's exterior will look like

Afternoon - Rounded up some hardware and looked for parts for the skidder

Evening - Started creating 3-D solid models in Inventor

Here is the model I made of the motors I plan to use.

Learned to BEND METAL !!!!!!!!!

2009-05-01T18:06:00.000-07:00

Friday May 1 - Afternoon

I am so stoked!! Bruce from Dorkbots showed me how to use the finger brake to make a metal box! Evil cackle, rub hands with glee, I am now the master of the universe, bwahahaha! He's created a monster. This means that I can MAKE ROBOT BODIES really easily! Really nice ones. I am so stoked. I have been puzzling over the mysteries of sheet metal for many moons and along comes this really nice guy and not only shows me how to do it, but actually has the patience to actually stand around while I fumble through the entire process!! Wow! Thanks a zillion, Bruce, I owe 'ya. And thanks to Steamboat Ed and his freakin' fantabulous shop.

Here is the box I made.

Tools: Shear, notcher, Whitney punch, finger brake.

This is so awesome I am inclined to create a Instructable or something showing others how to achieve this miraculous result. Well, perhaps if I lie down for a while, the urge will pass.

Balloon Popping LEGO Robot

2009-05-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

Friday May 1 2009 - AM

Jeronimo and I started on our robot for the balloon-popping maze today. I made a destructo weapon to pop the balloons. It's 4 pins pushed through a LEGO tire and then geared a little bit fast. Too much fun!!

Programmed Hardware

2009-04-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

Thursday Night after work April 20 2009

Ha! Programmed all three circuits and they pretty much worked the first time. Can I wire, or what? Presented to Steamboat Ed at the Dorkbots meeting, and we decided to go with the thumbwheel, or DigiSwitch, whatever you call it. These things are my new favorite input device.

Wired prototype circuits

2009-04-28T23:04:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night 28 April 2009

Finished wiring up 3 test circuits for next version of Steamboat Ed's Calliope. Total time = 4 hours.

DIP Switches - Use DIP switches to select songs - practice your binary numbers. Steamboat's idea -- but let's give him some more options...

Thumbwheel - My Favorite - Just dial in the song number you want

Up Down Button with 7-Segment LED Display - Push up or down to increment/decrement song number. Song number will display on 7 segment LEDs. (2 digits)

Damn good fun.

Next step - programming.

lost parts OH SO FRUSTRATING

2009-04-25T00:25:00.000-07:00

Saturday 25 April 2009
I have lost the *@#! slide spring for my carburetor. Looked everywhere and even went back to work to see if I left it there. Can't figure out how a four inch spring could go missing.

Well, other than that SLIGHT detail, it's reassembled.

LEGO robotics - whittling down our time

2009-04-24T00:21:00.000-07:00

Friday 24 April 2009

Worked on LEGO robot for "Pit of Despair" contest. Or I should say, watched Jeronimo work on the robot. 'Cause he's the man. 10-4 or so. Knocked some hella time off, we got like ah twenty seconds faster through the Pit of Despair.

moto/metal/PCB

2009-04-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

Thursday 23 April 2009
AM - Took my carburetor apart, cleaned it, blew out all the jets.
Drained all the gas. It really stinks.
Day - Cut out gears at work.
Eve - Steamer has soldered most of the components into the PCB and it looks pretty cool.

Puzzle pieces at last

2009-04-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

Wednesday April 22, 2009

Beautiful. Chips flying.
Hot off the press -- I mean, the mill.

Here's one after being cleaned up.

Fail Puzzle

2009-04-20T10:30:00.000-07:00

Monday 20 April 2009

Finally got two puzzle pieces laid out, programmed, and cut -- alas, fail. Accidentally cut through the pieces with the toolpath and didn't notice it on the screen.

Haste makes waste...
(but I still go as fast as possible)

Makin' Bolts

2009-04-19T20:13:00.000-07:00

Sunday April 19, 2009

Worked on my motorcycle. Hasn't run in 2 years. Bought/charged/installed battery, then started working on the rear brake mounting.

Somehow these bolts went missing and I need them for my motorcycle. Was going to order the proper thing and then it occurred to me I could "make do" by chopping off and then drilling a hole in a similar bolt. Need two bolts with particular shoulder and hole drilled for a cotter pin.

Motorcycles are particular, boy oh boy, the shoulder on the bolt fits exactly width wise and length into the brake drum bracket. So, it's NOT a permanent fix, and boy my old boss Charlie Craig would NOT approve :)

Before - Proper bolt in foreground, donor bolt in background

After - Hacksawed and drilled and looks pretty close, though shoulder diameter is too small.

Installed on the bike (photo only shows one of them).

Jank Mechanic's Rolling Chair

2009-04-19T20:09:00.001-07:00

Sunday April 19, 2009

1 set casters, plus piece of wood, plus milk crate, plus cushion, plus shop rag = worst looking mechanic's seat ever. Beats just milk crate by itself, though.

Installing casters.

BinkyBot

2009-04-18T22:30:00.000-07:00

Saturday March 18 2009

Now that the great electronic reorg is complete, I can have some fun actually doing electronics. I did a rebuild on an old robot which I made back in 2001. The breadboard was torn up so I rewired and reprogrammed it. This is maybe the second robot I built from scratch. I have maybe one or two more robots like this that I would like to get running again.

Robot in disrepair.

Where old robot code lives.
This is my old computer, a Toshiba Libretto. Still works and was able to plug right in and program this robot.

BigTrak

2009-04-13T22:47:00.000-07:00

13 April 2009

Fixed up someone's BigTrak at work. This toy rocks, it's programmable. You use the keypad to enter distance and direction and it can execute 16 motions/actions in a row.

Cleaned battery connections with baking soda, glued axle back together (ok coworker did the glueing), battery connector for trailer broke so had to sort of solder weld it back together.

Plastic Toolholder

2009-04-02T22:30:00.000-07:00

Around 2 April 2009
Got a yen to do some plastic bending at work.

The Great Electronics Reorg of 2009

2009-03-30T22:30:00.000-07:00

March 30 - April 18, 2009

Decided all the electronics should live in the house, not in the garage.

First step -- Rearrange bedroom to accommodate giant cabinet of electronics.

First, took everything out of bedroom -- bed, desk, mattress, ...
I split the desk apart and changed from "L" shape to straight shape after moving bed and desk to at least four configurations in a frenzy of "physical engineering". My usual is careful measurements and graph paper, or once I even tried Sketchup.
Installed pegboard thingy.
Installed curtain rods and hung up curtains.
Installed a new phone jack. I broke the original by dropping a big piece of plywood on it.
Installed new DSL modem which I got some months ago.
Fixed my wireless connection, which hasn't functioned for oh so long.
Installed and wired all the routers and cables and junk into the desk and tidied it all up.
Moved two file cabinets into place.

One weekend day spent beefing up the cabinet because all the shelves were bowing in the middle. So out came the saw, drill, wood, etc and I made "cleats".

Cleat with crossbars installed in cabinet.

Moved cabinet from garage to apartment with the help of my neighbor. Then actually gathered all the electronics from everywhere and sorted them in the cabinet (somewhat). Also I cleaned the garage while I was at it and got rid of some stuff including a cart that was really in the way. It's great now, I can work in there again. Before, I couldn't get to the workbench. Plus, removing the cabinet means finally a place to put the bandsaw.

The cabinet all put back together.

Contents of cabinet

Miracle Machine

2009-03-28T22:30:00.000-07:00

The CNC mill that makes it all possible. Thanks, Steamer!!!

Robot Shoulder Bracket Rev 2.0 - Morning

2009-03-28T11:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday 28 March 2009

Drew up modified bracket with slots.

Robot On...

2009-03-27T23:38:00.000-07:00

Friday night was spent measuring brackets and servos to recalculate the diameter of the big holes so the servo horns will fit through the holes. Oh, the first bracket I made doesn't fit on the servos. Screw holes are way to small and the big holes are a tiny smidgen too small to clear. The servos and brackets shown are from my Kondo KHR-1.

Another problem, bracket really need slots instead of holes but QUITE reluctant to make the change because it will destroy that nice bracket :( Boo hoo hoo.

LEGO Mindstorms

2009-03-27T23:15:00.000-07:00

Friday March 27 2009 - Day

Worked on LEGO robot for Pit of Despair contest. Jeronimo made robot that crosses the Pit. Yay! Takes about 1 minute to get 2/3 of the way, maybe 2 minutes to cross? Then decided to add another motor, which I think will work, we didn't quite finish, so right now still about 50/50. It sometimes does a front flip going into the Pit and lands on its head.

Makin' Like Krazee at Work

2009-03-27T23:14:00.000-07:00

Monday March 23 - Thursday March 26
Crazy busy at work preparing many projects and robots for a show and a photo shoot

Monday
Vibrobots at work

Tuesday
Vibrobots
Wired motor board into VCR, heisted two switches on VCR to control the circuitry
Changed to 7.2V R/C car battery (bought it, charging)

Wednesday
Installed battery, jamming, mechanical bits for VCR, motor toast
Finally bought new motor kit, made it, it works
End of the deadline for show, krazee time! Fun tho.

Thursday
Soldered last four LEDs for Peggy
End of deadline for photo shoot, gathered all projects
Bent some wire with new bendy tool

Elephant Gets Simpler

2009-03-27T23:11:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 25 March 2009

Toolpaths are too tight for 1/8" bit to negotiate, changed to simpler design with only three parts.

Elephant Puzzle

2009-03-23T21:55:00.000-07:00

Monday 23 March 2009

Started drawing custom puzzle to cut out on CNC. It's a Heffalump!

Soldering 500 LEDs

2009-03-23T21:54:00.000-07:00

Saturday through Monday, 23 March 2009

Soldered up a "Peggy", which is sort of a programmable LED light bright, for work. It probably had between 400 and 500 LEDs on it.

Old School Relay Motor Driver

2009-03-22T09:13:00.001-07:00

Sun 21 March 2009

I dug out this schematic of the very first robot I ever made, which used relays to drive the motors. Think that is part of the reason I used the relay in the previous post -- so I could understand how the transistor turns them on and off. I have felt puzzled for years after building that gosh darn robot. Now I can see why -- the schematic is like spaghetti -- I can give my ' inner sixteen year old' electronics newbie a break. Apparently the -6/+6 gives directional control via the relay, pretty clever, eh?

That's all hand-drawn, serious geek points.

The Fabricated PCB

2009-03-22T08:07:00.000-07:00

Sat 21 March 2009

Check it out, the actual PCB is back from the fab house.

Motor Driver Circuit

2009-03-22T07:50:00.000-07:00

Friday-Saturday March 20-21 2009

Made a circuit to turn a motor on for a short time when a button is pressed. We had a bunch of 3904s lying around and no power transistors, but we had a bunch of these 5V relays, so I used a 3904 and a relay. The motor is going to be overvolted and overworked pretty hard I suspect. Fun stuff, actually had to do some calculations and look up values in data sheets to figure out the sizing of the resistors. Not that I knew how, much thanks to the internet and www.kpsec.freeuk.com.

HyperBot

2009-03-22T07:47:00.000-07:00

Thursday March 19 2009

Made a hyperactive vibrobot at work. Shortened the legs and increased the wobble with an eccentric weighted piece. Thanks to Lindsey for the doggie parts -- googly eyes, pointy ears, tail.

Completed Puzzle

2009-03-22T07:46:00.000-07:00

Wed March 18 2009

Cut the remaining three pieces of the puzzle. Fits like... well, like fine machinery.

Puzzle Pieces

2009-03-22T07:45:00.000-07:00

Monday March 16 2009

The first two pieces of the puzzle.

The Bottle Opener

2009-03-04T21:51:00.000-08:00

March 4 2006

This is my favorite of all the parts I've CNC'd for school. I call it The Happy Tool.

First Robot Part

2009-02-28T22:30:00.000-08:00

Sunday February 28.

Holy Keerist, my first robot part. I am so happy. Beautiful freakin' part.

CNC YEAH BABY

My First PCB Design

2009-02-25T23:05:00.000-08:00

25 February 2009

Pretty proud of this. My swap with Steamboat Ed leads me on a three week odyssey through the vagaries of PCB layout, a completly new skill for me. Results thusly. Is that not a gorgeous thing? It's colorful and yes, I hung it on the wall in my room.

Schematic and board designed with EagleSoft EagleCAD free PCB software. Knowledge by Instructables, couldn't have done it without the Instructables.

What is it, you ask? It's a driver circuit to control 12 valves from a BASIC Stamp microcontroller. It's the board for Steamboat Ed's calliope (like a pipe organ).

Here's a shot of a test-fit of some of the parts.

The Round Maze

2009-02-15T22:30:00.000-08:00

Our first creative part, we designed our own round mazes. This was REALLY hard to draw, egads.

The Square Maze

2009-02-10T22:30:00.000-08:00

This was hard, very challenging to draw. Amazing accuracy of this little machine. Something like 6 passes to cut out the grooves. First time with the engraver tool, which is a left handed center drill to a depth of 7 thousandths.

Hexagon

2009-02-05T22:30:00.000-08:00

Drawn, CAD, CAM, and G-code in Emco WinCAM. Cut on Emco PC Mill 50. Our second CNC mill assignment.

The Bishop

2009-01-26T22:30:00.000-08:00

26 January

OK in the meantime I'm trying to get caught up in last semester's tasks so I turn out a Bishop.

This entails really reading through the lathe manual and procedures and really dialing it so I know what in the hell I am doing instead of just following a document like a dumb chimpanzee at a keyboard.

Drawn on EMCO DOS.
Saved as DXF from the DOS program and imported into EMCO WinCAM.
CAM program created with EMCO WinCAM.
Cut on EMCO PCTurn 50 CNC lathe.

The Haas Gator

2009-01-24T22:23:00.000-08:00

January 24 2009

CHECK IT -- The first part I cut on Steamboat Ed's Haas Mini Mill. It took a whole lot of time but finally we got first chips. Here's a closeup of the part as cut on the Haas.

Drawn and programmed initially with Emco WinCAM, then hand-edited on Haas Mini Mill.

This is the culmination of perhaps three weeks of study of his mill.
We had to:

Install the vise
Tram the vise
Get the coolant system working
Fill it up and then get the grate/filter thing installed (he had to order it)
And me going through the big fat binder to figure out the control panel, etc.

We loaded a 3/8" endmill to cut this but did not put it into the automated tool changer turret.

What I learned: it's about impossible to hand-edit a program created by a CAM program. There are simply too many things to change in too many places. Better way would be to re-do the decisions using the CAM program and re-generate the G-code. At this point I am a bundle of frustration over not being able to made G-code at home.

I embark on a lot of study of CAM programs and reading forums etc.
End up downloading Predator CNC.
So the method is to use the G-code from WinCAM and then pop it into Predator and edit it there.
Predator is a royal pain in the ass and a hassle to set up.
It probably takes an hour just to set up Predator to be able to run a simulation of the cutting.

At this point I realize what a great program WinCAM really is. I had dismissed it as rinky-dink but I am wrong. It has everything in one package - CAD, CAM, what they call "post", and "verification", which means you can see in 2-D the toolpaths and you can see in 3-D the cut-out part. So, WinCAM freakin' rocks at this point. Only problem is that I can only use it at school and when I get to Steamer's and need to make a change it's quite difficult.

The Gator

2009-01-21T22:30:00.000-08:00

This is the very first thing I made on a CNC mill.

Drawn using Emco WinCAM.
CAM program by Emco WinCAM with arcs, countours, and pockets.
G-code created by Emco WinCAM.

The Beat Bearing

2009-01-09T22:30:00.000-08:00

9 January 2009

At work I am making this thing called The Beat Bearing. You can read all about it in Issue 17 of Make. Here's an eyes-shut photo of me with the finished Lexan piece. Milled on Bridgeport manual mill by Steamboat Ed.

I get Steamboat Ed to mill out the Lexan piece. The dimensions given are all in metric and the mill is in inches, so I draw it all out in AutoCAD in 3-D and then I create a 2-D diagram for him. So, I go over there, and it takes him about 5 hours. Very cool, very educational. He's got a gizmo that sort of CNC's the X-axis, which rocks, and also he has a quick change tool holder. WAY better than having to unscrew that drawbar thingy every time. I learned about wigglers too.

I end up bartering my skills to get it done. He wants a PCB made. That's another story.

CNC Lathe Chess Pieces

2008-11-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

Made this king and pawn on the DOS Emco program.

Sheet Metal Bracket

2008-07-19T22:30:00.000-07:00

July 19 2008

It looked easy enough in the sheet metal book.

OK, this came about as a result of me going to the library and checking out every sheet metal book available, and picking this part to make as a demonstration. This is a LOT harder than it looks, believe me. The angled bends were impossible to do on my Harbor Freight simplo-brake. Big holes in sheet metal are a bee-atchy. Used the Unibit and some serious clamping.