ROBOTS DREAMS - Robot news and robot hacks from a true robot geek

Cali Builds a Robot Toddler (Video)

No, it's not quite what you might expect. In the video below Cali isn't really building a robot infant. Actually, she's putting together the popular Parallax Toddler robot based on concepts first developed by David Buckley's Big Foot robot (1998) in the UK.

Robot Servo Serial Mode Comparision

Many robot servo manufacturers sell servos that can be controlled serially, but unfortunately their implementations aren't typically well documented which makes it difficult to make design choices. However, the Aichi Institute of Technology Tetsujin Project website has a fairly detailed webpage comparing serial servo designs from Hitec, Kondo, Robotis, and Futaba. Here's the original webpage, and a Google translated version.

Micromouse Tutorial Series Debuts (Video)

As we were processing the photos and videos from last weekend's micromouse competition it occurred to us that many of our readers may not be familiar with the joys, and challenges, of designing a competitive micromouse robot. Luckily, with what turns out to be perfect timing, Martyn, a long time micromouse UK fanatic, has posted the first few episodes (see the Episode 1 video below) of what promises to be a very informative, educational, and hopefully inspirational series of micromouse tutorials.

New ROVIO Robot Webcam Tutorials (Video)

We're a big fan of the WowWee ROVIO robot mobile webcam and frequently discover new uses for this innovative product. We've even started to use it as handy portable web conferencing tool since it's light enough to pick up and carry around the office to give our remote co-workers close up views of new projects.

At the same time we understand that new ROVIO owners, especially those that aren't 'geeks', might need a little guidance in setting up and using the robot. So we were very glad to see that Evolution (developer of ROVIO's Northstar navigation system) and WowWee have put together some new, and very helpful, video tutorials (see videos below).

Dr. Robot Tutorial - Building a DIY RFID Beer Safe (Video)

Invariably when we ask US robot fans what they would do with a robot, their immediate answer is "Have it bring me a beer!". In the Revision3 Systm tutorial video below, Dr. Robot (aka Dave Calkins of RoboGames fame) addresses an even more critical problem - how to protect your favorite beverage with a DIY RFID beer safe!

"Jump if the cotton input equals the comparing resistor...?"

Among video game fanatics the phrase, "All of your base are belong to us" is a classic case of Japlish - Japanese mistranslated into English. It doesn't happen often, but when it does the results can either be extremely funny, or extremely frustrating.

We recently were alerted to a similar situation that was puzzling, and very likely frustrating one of our regular readers that owns a Kondo KHR-2HV. He was very successful at the initial kit assembly, testing, and motion creation, but hit a wall when he tried to understand some of the more advanced RCB3 capabilities like using the SET and CMP objects. That's when he wrote asking us if we knew the meaning of "Jump if the cotton input equals the comparing resistor".

Gulliver: Converting KHR-1/RCB-1 Robot Motions For The RCB-3 Controller

We're prepping Gulliver, our KHR-1 robot, for the RoboGames competition this June in San Francisco, and the first step was to give him a brain transplant - a brand new Kondo RCB-3 controller. Mechanically, and electrically, the change was surprisingly simple. Basically we carefully removed the old RCB-1 controller - labeling all the servo cables, installed the new RCB-3 controller, removed the jumper and plugged in the booster module, then reconnected all the servo cables.

Of course, the robot needed to be trimmed so that it would start from the correct Home Position, but that process was very straight forward. The next challenge was to create some motion sequences, and the shortest path was to just load and convert some of the old motion sequences so that they could be used with the new configuration.

Tutorial: Kondo RCB-3HV Upgrade - Interpolation Functionality

In our earlier RCB-3HV Upgrade announcement post, we mentioned the added ability to automatically create a number of new position objects (POS) between two existing objects. It turns out that this functionality is quite useful in creating new motions. For example, you might capture the start and end poses for a particular motion, then use the new function to create the necessary intermediate positions. Of course, they may not be exactly what you need, and may require some minor servo and speed adjustments, but it gets you 90% of the way very quickly.

We put together the quick tutorial below showing how the new H2H3 used with an upgraded RCB-3HV controller works.

MANOI AT01 Robot - New Home Position Procedure

In addition to the excellent documentation that Kyosho supplies with the MANOI AT01 humanoid robot kit, they have also been diligently updating and adding to the information on the Official AT01 website. In our experience, they are one of the few companies that actually listen to their customers and use the feedback to constantly improve their product and support.

The most recent example is a new MANOI AT01 robot home position setup procedure.  Getting the home position setup correctly is really the key to successful operation, execution of the sample motions, and being able to exchange motion files with other owners. The new procedure walks you through each step with numerous photographs to show clearly how each major part of the robot needs to be aligned.

Of course we all know that "real men never read the manual", at least not until they've failed miserably and don't have any other alternative. But, no matter when you decide to actually check the documentation, this new procedure, and others like it, will make it much easier to setup consistently accurate home positions.

Building One Of The ROBO-ONES: KHR-2HV Assembly Guide in English

The new Kondo KHR-2HV humanoid robot has been available for less than two months here in Japan, and according to all reports it's proven so popular that it's completely sold out. Some robot fans overseas, specifically in the US and Europe, managed to snag a few of the kits, and have been making great progress. In spite of the fact that English documentation and software for the robot isn't available from Kondo yet, these brave souls have managed to build their robots, and they seem dedicated to professionally documenting the process online (see links below) for others that will soon follow in their footsteps.