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Getting A Grip On The Robonova-1 Robot (Video)

Once you have built, adjusted, and debugged your bipedal robot, then what do you do with it? Matt Bauer wanted to see if he could have his Robonova-1 robot pick up a simple object, like a pencil, from the floor. That’s harder than it may initially seem because the standard, out-of-the-box Robonova-1 doesn’t have any hands. So, Matt came up with a really creative solution.

Matt was first profiled here on Robots Dreams in February (see links below), and has contributed very interesting material for several articles since then, including adding a video cam to the Robonova-1, and a video showing how a Robonova-1 could defeat a Robosapien.

He’s also gaining quite a bit of attention internationally for the creation of new and exciting robot moves and poses. We understand that Hitec has made a deal with Matt to make several of his original Robonova-1 karate style moves publically available via their European website.

As you can see from the photos and Matt’s video below, his gripper design is really straight forward and highly effective. Some other gripper/claw designs are so large and out of proportion that they tend to throw the robot off balance. To avoid that problem, and to end up with a robot gripper that not only functions well, but also looks like a natural part of the original robot, Matt went to great lengths to match the size, shape, look, and feel of the unmodified Robonova-1.

 The closed gripper is a close match
 for the unmodified Robonova-1 hand.

 Watch out for that claw! This
 could get nasty.

 Mission accomplished!

Matt mentioned that the robots batteries were a little low when he shot this particular video, so he used his hand to stablize it, as you can see in the scene where the robot leans over to pickup the pencil.

He’s in the process of having several of the grippers fabricated and anodized, and promised to provide more video of the Robonova-1 gripper operating as soon as he gets a chance.

Related links:

Bauer Independents Matt’s Website with lots of good Robonova-1 information 

Robot Builder Profile Detailed profile on Matt and his Robonova-1 robot

Robonova-1 Video Mod Matt’s Robonova-1 modification to add a video camera

Robosapien Smack-down Matt’s robot makes short work of a Robosapien

 

Posted by Lem on April 8, 2006 | Permalink | Email this post

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