Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #06018
To: "'beam@sgiblab.sgi.com'" beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: Wilf Rigter Wilf.Rigter@powertech.bc.ca
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 07:29:47 -0700
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: CD-ROM read-head feet
Hey Justin,
Just an idea:
Use 6 of these for the coolest hexapod design. Each leg would have 3dof and
speed?.....faaaasssst!
It would require a parallel spring on each leg for suspension, protection
and to reduce the power that would be required to "lift" the bot up.
regards
Wilf Rigter mailto:wilf.rigter@powertech.bc.ca
tel: (604)590-7493
fax: (604)590-3411
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Justin [SMTP:jaf60@student.canterbury.ac.nz]
> Sent: Monday, September 06, 1999 10:09 AM
> To: beam@corp.sgi.com
> Subject: CD-ROM read-head feet
>
> This one has _got_ to have come up before, but it's new to me:
> I needed some tiny screws, and found some in the reading head of an old
> CD-ROM I had pulled to bits. Upon getting my screws, the head fell to
> bits . I started fiddling with the bits, and hooked them up with
> power.
> As you probably know, in addition to the motors, the lense's position is
> fine-tuned with coils and magnets. Playing with these, I found the head
> had quite a lot of freedom of movement, and quite a lot of grunt (very
> strong magnets, very fine wire, many winds). It can move up, down, left
> and right. IOW, hook it up to a microcore and you have a one-footed
> walker that can AFAICS do anything a two motor walker can. Hook it up to
> something with more states and it can do more (such as turn left or
> right). Even running the coils off a tiny 470uF cap was enough for them
> to twitch their metal casing off the ground. Use a battery and they
> practically leap...
> I took apart another head, from a different brand, and this one moved
> up, down, pivot left, pivot right - even more useful.
>
> I suspect, however, the easiest application is for BEAMish art - take
> the butterfly (or whatever) on a stick, put the stick on the head
> arrangement, and connect a standard audio plug to the coils (left
> channel to one coil set, right channel the other), plug it into your amp
> and watch the butterfly conduct an orchestra in stereo :-)
> (I suspect the butterfly will spend most of its time conducting the
> drums and ignoring the strings, but that's butterflies for you... :)
>
> Stick an LED on the end of the stick instead, or a laser diode, and have
> an annoying "light show" on the roof.
>
> Which reminds me - as far as I know, the light from CD-ROM drive laser
> diodes is invisible, but this doesn't sit well with the explicit laser
> warnings on the case and instructions not to look at the beam. Can
> anyone enlighten me as to what the story is?
6019 Fri, 10 Sep 1999 16:43:37 -0700 [alt-beam] Re: CD-ROM read-head feet "'beam@sgiblab.sgi.com'" Wilf Rigter More ideas:
Another thing to remember is that in addition to the laser diode, the cd
sled (head) has a photodiode array which is used for "reading" and
"focusing" and therefore can be used as "eyes". So for the most lifelike
eyes, take two cd heads, mount them a few inches apart and they will
independently track 2 light sources (two x and y coordinates) (chameleon
mode) or together track one source (human mode) also providing distance
information from the difference between the angles (one x,y and z
coordinate). The eyes could be mounted on a mobile platform and because the
cd heads are mounted with spring return to center, the "error" signals used
to drive the eyes towards an offcenter light source could be used turn a
mobile bot towards the light source.
enjoy
Wilf Rigter mailto:wilf.rigter@powertech.bc.ca
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Wilf Rigter [SMTP:Wilf.Rigter@powertech.bc.ca]
> Sent: Friday, September 10, 1999 7:30 AM
> To: 'beam@sgiblab.sgi.com'
> Subject: RE: CD-ROM read-head feet
>
> Hey Justin,
>
> Just an idea:
>
> Use 6 of these for the coolest hexapod design. Each leg would have 3dof
> and
> speed?.....faaaasssst!
>
> It would require a parallel spring on each leg for suspension, protection
> and to reduce the power that would be required to "lift" the bot up.
>
> regards
>
> Wilf Rigter mailto:wilf.rigter@powertech.bc.ca
> tel: (604)590-7493
> fax: (604)590-3411
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Justin [SMTP:jaf60@student.canterbury.ac.nz]
> > Sent: Monday, September 06, 1999 10:09 AM
> > To: beam@corp.sgi.com
> > Subject: CD-ROM read-head feet
> >
> > This one has _got_ to have come up before, but it's new to me:
> > I needed some tiny screws, and found some in the reading head of an old
> > CD-ROM I had pulled to bits. Upon getting my screws, the head fell to
> > bits . I started fiddling with the bits, and hooked them up with
> > power.
> > As you probably know, in addition to the motors, the lense's position is
> > fine-tuned with coils and magnets. Playing with these, I found the head
> > had quite a lot of freedom of movement, and quite a lot of grunt (very
> > strong magnets, very fine wire, many winds). It can move up, down, left
> > and right. IOW, hook it up to a microcore and you have a one-footed
> > walker that can AFAICS do anything a two motor walker can. Hook it up to
> > something with more states and it can do more (such as turn left or
> > right). Even running the coils off a tiny 470uF cap was enough for them
> > to twitch their metal casing off the ground. Use a battery and they
> > practically leap...
> > I took apart another head, from a different brand, and this one moved
> > up, down, pivot left, pivot right - even more useful.
> >
> > I suspect, however, the easiest application is for BEAMish art - take
> > the butterfly (or whatever) on a stick, put the stick on the head
> > arrangement, and connect a standard audio plug to the coils (left
> > channel to one coil set, right channel the other), plug it into your amp
> > and watch the butterfly conduct an orchestra in stereo :-)
> > (I suspect the butterfly will spend most of its time conducting the
> > drums and ignoring the strings, but that's butterflies for you... :)
> >
> > Stick an LED on the end of the stick instead, or a laser diode, and have
> > an annoying "light show" on the roof.
> >
> > Which reminds me - as far as I know, the light from CD-ROM drive laser
> > diodes is invisible, but this doesn't sit well with the explicit laser
> > warnings on the case and instructions not to look at the beam. Can
> > anyone enlighten me as to what the story is?
6020 Sat, 11 Sep 1999 10:03:10 +1000 [alt-beam] 555 "Ben" Hi all
has anyone got a program that simulates a 555 timer IC??
thanks
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