Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #12888
To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: Meabadboy@aol.com
Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2000 00:12:33 EST
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Ideas................. was --- Biped
In a message dated 3/31/2000 10:37:44 PM Eastern Standard Time,
SkavenArmy@cs.com writes:
<< you experienced beamers are really into killing ideas , areant you????
j/k,but DAMN! lay off a little........
jayz >>
Don't let them get you down dude ~ who said you have to make a "BUG" anyway
to work with BEAM circuitry ??? ~ there are several animals that in real life
can at times walk on two legs ~ not to mention the creatures that lived 100
million years ago ~ I thought that the "B" in beam had something to do with
biological????? ~ bugs are only a portion of what creatures that exist on
earth and are Biological.
Not to mention what wild creations of the "Alien" nature one can dream of.
Not only that ~ I am into christmas a lot and have been playing (crude
scetches only at this time) with the idea of making a small elf scene
something like santa's workshop useing the simple RC timing circuits in leu
of microprocessors.
Ever sence I first looked at one of Wilf's drawings ~ several applications
have popped into my wandering mind ~ most have noting to do at all with
robotics or BEAM.
But your idea of a biped walker is one I am playing with currently and have
been for about a two months now ~ just having trouble getting it to stay
upright for more then 3 steps ~ I think it is in my timing (its hard to get 6
motors to work in the right sequence) using the simple RC networks I see in
BEAM circuitry ~ and maybe a little too much AL in my construction up top ~
may be a little too top heavy ??? ~ I have spent a lot of time and $$ now on
this project and I am bound in determined to make this silly thing go further
then 3 to 5 inches before it topples over.
or ill use it on the 4th of July for a cherry bomb holder ~ lol
There are several web sites on the net with great ideas for leg motion
(mostly large universities) and for making a walking robot with 2 legs ~ mine
is currently a combination of misc. parts and pieces from another bot I did
in school ~ and some pieces of AL from work ~ and a modification of several
BEAM circuits ~ plus a little bit of other digital discrete circuits (2 GAL
chips I had to program to make it all come togeather)
It's made of 6 motors ~ 2 (one for each knee - screw joint) ~ 2 (one for each
pelvic/hip joint ~ cam action) and 2 more to try to keep it up right by
changing the balance at the waste (forward and back ~ side to side) ~ I tried
to keep it proportional to the human body ~ it is approx. 12 inches tall and
approx. 3 inches wide ~ big mistake for my first attempt ~ I think I bit off
more then I can chew ~ lol
Thats why the recient redesign from 4 motors (leg moton) by adding the 2
motors at the waste useing 4 mercury switches canabilized from old
thermostats for balance switches ~ but i also think my mercury switches may
be the main problem to the balance problem I am having ~ they are too
"nosensitive" ~ I am thinking of a redesign on those with more then one
contact inside the glass tube ~ maybe 2 each made in a "U" shape to work sim.
to that of a artificial horizan on an aircraft ~ or an cup design with
several pads on the bottom of the cup that a ball of Mercury will ride on ~
but I am having a hard time getting the circuits worked out useing only BEAM
type circuits with that idea without a microprocessor ~ too many varibles (8
valuse on a truth table or more) ~ not to mention just walking on a flat
surface (which is my first step) ~ I would like this to be able to navagate
up a set of steps, ect. ~ but all BEAM circuits without a microprocessor ???
~ who knows ~ the plot thickens with each day ~ and each thing I'dd like this
critter of mine to do ~ LoL
I am also new to the BEAM idea/approach to robotics ~ but not to electronics
in general.
keep going at it though ~ there is no silly idea if you can make it work ~
its only silly if you spend all your time and $$ and it never works ~ I am
begining to think my walking bot may be silly ~ lol ~ but if I can help ya ~
write to me and I'll share the ideas I have cannibalized/stole from the net ~
LoL
sorry no pics yet to share ~ but will definatly if I can get him/her to walk
for more then 3 steps
Steve
12889 Sat, 01 Apr 2000 15:00:23 +1000 [alt-beam] Re: FRED tutorial beam@sgiblab.sgi.com "Ben Hitchcock" If he hasn't made a 1381 bot then I recommend making one, rather than
limiting yourself to one circuit.
After all, isnt experimentation the best part of this hobby?
I've been thinking about spring suspension as well - perhaps you could let
the group know how your robot performs?
Ben
----------
>From: David Simmons
>To: alt-beam@egroups.com, BEAM
>Subject: [alt-beam] Re: FRED tutorial
>Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2000 16:12
>
> Ben,
>
> Sounds like an interesting bot. Kyle has been thinking about making one
> with the motors mounted on swivels made out of two fuse clips plus some
> very lite springs to center the motors after they fire. But right now he
> is not sure what circuit to use, it's a toss between FRED, or a 1381
> popper. We have been toying with the motor movement a little more and
> allowing the motor to swing seems to give a good kick.
>
> I know how the project(s) due feeling goes. It seems that for every one
> that I get off my desk two more are added. Sometime in 2010 I might find
> out what color my desk top is.
>
> Regards,
> Dave
>
>
>
> Ben Hitchcock wrote:
>
>> > How's the vibration bot doing so far? Any chance of a schematic on that
>> > on?
>>
>> Well, it sits on my desk. When I turn my desk lamp on, it sits there for
>> about 5 minutes, charging up while I'm doing other stuff. Occasionally it
>> will turn on a motor for about half a second while it tries to fight its
>> way through the junk on the desk.
>>
>> But when I turn the light off to go to bed, you should hear it! It's
>> almost like the poor little thing is complaining that the light level is
>> too low! It sits there and spins its motors wildly, trying to get out of
>> the monstrous shadow that has just descended on it!
>>
>> Schematics... Well I could do that but I'd rather iron all the bugs out of
>> it first. When I released the first FRED schematic I used different
>> values of resistor to now (10 k as opposed to 33k) and there are still
>> copies of my old schematic floating around. I'd rather get it all working
>> before handing it over to the public domain. I think the pulse length is
>> too long - I might try 0.2 seconds next. The main problem at the moment
>> is time: I have 5 assignments due in next week and not much chance of
>> doing any BEAM stuff while they are imminent... Wait a couple of weeks?
12890 Fri, 31 Mar 2000 23:26:49 -0600 [alt-beam] Re: Phototrophic Walker beam@sgiblab.sgi.com SG At 04:19 PM 4/1/00 +1200, you wrote:
>I would suggest that the way to make a
>phototropic two-motor walker is to ignore the circuitry for now and
>concentrate on finding a physical fixed-leg gait that can be achieved
>with two motors and results in turning.
heh heh....
funny you should mention that....
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