Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #11950
To: beam@corp.sgi.com
From: Justin JAF60@student.canterbury.ac.nz
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 23:08:45 +1300
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Miniature video transmitter?
>plus the CCD camera is about the diameter of a "c"=20
>cell battery and about as long as a 4700 uF=20
>cap, small, but still too big for something with that little torque!
Just making a note: you can get them much smaller (like 15x15x15mm, or
10x20x20mm, etc., and they=92re getting cheaper.
At any rate, the relentless march of technology is on our side. There
will come the day when BEAM bots report their progress via live video
transmission=85
11951 Thu, 16 Mar 2000 23:12:02 +1300 [alt-beam] Re: mini motors beam@corp.sgi.com Justin >Thanx for the tip on the motors...sound about the size of the zoom lens
>focusing motors I've been hording...some variation in gear ratio from ca=
mera
>to camera, but I still find matching pairs. =20
This is something I=92ve wondered about - how do you go about getting old
camera lenses? Where do you go? Who do you ask? Are there camera repair
shops? (I=92m not exactly up on the photography scene :-)
Unforuntately for me, the biggest source of stuff (old computer
hardware) is a no-go - everyone who would have has already been
approached and entered into an agreement with some recycling group.
Someday I=92ll track them down and =85 er=85 ask nicely (Stuff that=92s u=
seless
to even them is still of value to us), but some lens motors wouldn=92t go
astray=85
ace
>I'm trying to create a beast that's tiny, but can handle slightly roughe=
r
>terrain. While the Lego parts sound good (and yeah, the "Ant" is pretty
>cool), I'm going a bit smaller...I've also considered using gears as whe=
els
>to gain mechanical advantage, grip on rough surfaces and higher ground
>clearance (4WD)...sound ambitious?
Yep. I have a few similar plans, including solar panels on both sides
and mercury switches so it can operate upside-down. I think you=92ll find
that a soft rubber will get more grip than gears. Soft rubber gears even
moreso :-) Gears have almost no friction on smooth surfaces, but rubber
works on anything.
Regarding the lego chain, if you=92re looking to go smaller, I=92m surpri=
sed
you=92re looking at Tamiya 4x4 parts, as they seem much larger. Using the
smallest lego gearwheels and track, you could make a caterpillar track
(viewed side on) about 9mm total height, 20mm length, which is pretty
small. Admittedly, the tracks work better on the next gearsize up
(remembering my lego childhood :), but it=92s still smaller than the
footprint of most miniature solar panels. I=92m not advocating lego here,
I=92m elaborating as I suspect I=92ve misunderstood something. Not that i=
t
really matters=85 :-)
11952 Thu, 16 Mar 2000 21:52:40 +1100 [alt-beam] Re: FRED bread boarded...problems beam@sgiblab.sgi.com "Ben Hitchcock" Hi,
> Thanks for all the info...actually ... I'm using a 10k resistor where it
> says 33k resistor in the schematic..is this ok? As for the cap..i got a
> 4.7uf cap. Which side is which of the cap?
10 k will work fine. The longer lead of the cap is usually the positive.
Also with a tantalum cap the positive side has a + on it. electrolytic:
there should be a strip on the cap with arrows on it. This points to the
negative lead.
Check the orientation of your transistors - make sure that they're all in
the right way. Go over the circuit again to make sure that everything is in
the right way and that all connections are correct. I make an average of
one mistake per three components put together, so don't feel too bad if you
made a boo-boo.
If you don't have a motor connected then the FLED will flash - because the
juice isn't going anywhere!
If all else fails, rip the lot off the circuit board and start again from
scratch.
Ben
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