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DCTRW! - new robot design

I'm going to be away for a few days (possibly up to a week, but I hope not) so I got some last minute tinkering in today. I was inspired to do a little blending of the SPYKE robot and the new VEXplorer robot (the one with the camera and grabber hand on front - see my earlier post today of the "Create Mayhem" advertisement from ROBOT magazine for a small picture of it... anyway, here's the description and some pictures...


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"DCTRW!"







"Don't Cut the Red Wire" is my new project. I can't take complete credit for this, though - I got the idea from a robot I saw called SPYKE (www.spykeworld.com) and mixed it a little with the new VEXplorer bot.
My goal here was to build a small bot that was fairly stable using treads. I like the pyramidal-shape of SPYKE's motor system so I duplicated for the NXT. I added my wireless camera and a small gripper on front and now I can remotely pilot this robot to pinch someone's leg. Both tread motors are independently powered, so this robot has the ability to turn. The clickety-click noise it makes on wooden floors is also nice.







With enough motors I could add arms and maybe make the camera rotate. The robot is very stable and not top heavy at all. At the highest motor power, it'll cruise fairly quickly across the room and is fun to play with.






Comments

222Doc said…
now all it needs is some of that stuff brian used on his treads to make it more a thumpity thump, liquid rubber? i first used them tracks on tritracks it was geared 1to1 at full speed it would just spin the treads on our wood floors go no where. them new cogs look nice. even if they are yellow :) i could use a dozen in red please/
May 18, 2007, 10:52:00 AM
Brian Davis said…
I used PlastiDip on the treads, and it's worked very nicely. I need to revamp the PackBot design to use these treads, and then make a whole lot more "modified" treads for traction. As to the hub color, I like yellow, but (having seen your ASC), I understand the desire for red. Let's just hope :-)

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Brian Davis

PS- Did you know LEGO usually tests new molds with red? So *somewhere* out there, there probably are red large hubs...
May 18, 2007, 12:22:00 PM
222Doc said…
man that would be sweet to find those in red. i asked my wife(works at our local lowes) to get me some plastidip it comes in colors too, maybe in red ;) i figure it will save weight as this S-2 5.10 is rather heavy really so im on the plastidip wagon too. great idea brian though i think it will be a lot of work to paint it on 112 treads. i wonder how it will work compared to s-2. ill let you know
May 18, 2007, 2:39:00 PM
Brian Davis said…
PlastiDip does come in red (also in yellow, perhaps others), and I have no doubt it will save significant weight over 5.10 rubber, although the friction will of course be less as well - if you're worried about the reduced friction, make a few and then test them by laying them on an inclined board. 25 tread links weigh in at just 1.2 oz, but 25 PlastiDip coated treads weigh just 1.3 oz, so it only increases the weight by less than 10% in the treads. As to time, it took me less than 2 minutes a tread when I was being really careful, using a wooden dowel to "paint" the PlastiDip on. Link a bunch of treads together, and then steady the chain with one hand and dip & "paint" with the other.

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Brian Davis
May 18, 2007, 9:53:00 PM
Anonymous said…
How did you make the camera "case"?
It looks good! (like a regular NXT sensor)
May 19, 2007, 3:01:00 AM
Brian Davis said…
Jim used the housing from an old sensor, and grafted an off-the-shelf wireless "spy cam" into it. See this post in the blog:

http://thenxtstep.blogspot.com/2006/10/wireless-cam-sensor-not-available.html

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Brian Davis
May 19, 2007, 8:33:00 AM
Anonymous said…
Wicked robot Jim, but I'm almost sure you would get better results with the camera if you plugged it into the 9v battery ;-)
May 19, 2007, 10:34:00 PM
Anonymous said…
I coach a lego robotics team. One of my showed me your blog. We would like to know where you got the treads used on this bot? They look a lot better than the lego rubber ones.

Mark
Jan 29, 2008, 4:01:00 AM
James Floyd Kelly (Jim) said…
I'm not sure if they're selling them separately yet, but they come with the bulldozer kit. I believe, though, that the treads are supposed to be sold as add-ons you can buy by themselves.

Jim
Jan 29, 2008, 4:12:00 AM
Anonymous said…
Nice Job! :)
Jun 4, 2008, 5:18:00 AM
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