So who is building Robots with cnc gear???

[bones]

Hi Guys and Gals,
The reason I got into building cnc gear is so I can build a humanoid robot.
The pieces were taking me too long to machine by hand and would be near impossible to make without cnc.

www.androiddesign.net
I haven't updated the site in ages as I've been building cnc machines.
eg Lathe and Mini Mill.

So who is building a robot and what are you building????
Pictures and a website would be good.

We all might be able to help each other out or even start a group project.
That includes everybody.
If electronics isn't your strong point but mechanical is jump in.
Some one can do the electronics for you. There is lots of off the shelf stuff.

Lets make something cool.

Maybe a talking head next to your pc and controlled by it.


Cheers
Rodney

[thkoutsidthebox]

Cool idea. Don't think I'll be any use, but I'll watch with interest. Have you built any robots so far?

[bones]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. No I haven't made a complete robot as yet.
I have started building a few animatronic heads but mainly prototyping my main project.

I was talking about doing a scorpian crawler in another forum but didn't get much interest.
I'm mainly going to do the hand and arm to start off with and see how I go from there.
And a few side projects to get some dollars to make the machines pay for themselves.

Looks like there is a little bit of an interest in building something.
Speak up if you have any idea's.
Except Robo War stuff. They aren't robots, just an R/C car with a circular saw on it.

Cheers
Rodney

[thkoutsidthebox]

Originally Posted by bones Looks like there is a little bit of an interest in building something. Speak up if you have any idea's. Except Robo War stuff. They aren't robots, just an R/C car with a circular saw on it. Cheers Rodney

Now what would be really cool would be an android type robot like on your site, but with circular saws on it!!! Then we could have a REALLY REALLY fun robot wars. I see each of us having 10 robots on a football pitch, but they wont be playing football!

[epineh]

Well I for one would love to make a robot Saltwater Croc as realistic as the real thing and get it to walk up the main street of our town... should be good for a few laughs, though the engineering required is way out of my league both in knowledge and time, but it would be cool...

It sure would beat having a dog for security purposes.

Russell.

[bones]

I think something like the robot Amee out of the film Red Planet would be cool.
It was like a cat type robot but could walk upright.
But a bit in the future yet. It has circular saws in the hands and would be great for robot wars.
I recon a croc would be great. Straight through the middle of the shopping centre. Hmmm. Or a huge spider.

I'm still thinking of a scorpian robot too.

Rodney

[thkoutsidthebox]

I didn't know what 'Amee' was so I had to go look, heres a pic for anyone else who's curious. Now that would be a cool robot to build! And hey, if they built it for the movie, I'm sure people here could build it for world domination!!

[epineh]

Originally Posted by bones It has circular saws in the hands and would be great for robot wars.

Not to mention negotiating pay increases with employer

Russell.

[achiestdragon]

well seems i discovered a section for what i am doing

i built my cnc machine in order to make parts for the robot
although there is still a lot of hand made parts on it also

mainly needed the cnc for drilling the aluminium sections
so i could get the repeatable accuracy for them

anyway

my robot is finaly starting to take shape , its a hexipod design
(six legged insect style ) that i have called tinybug
although far from tiny

it is being made from 2" * 3" 1/8"thick aluminium angle

the body is 44" deep 24" wide and 12" high , each leg is 60" long
and it needs a 10 foot dia area to stand in
its will weigh approx 90 to 100kg when compleated and should be able to
reach a top speed of about 1 to 2 mph

i have also designed the electronics and controls from scratch
also covered on my site , the geep-b project that is currently under development
also a 15A h-bridge motor controller board and theres a few other interface cards to do as yet

its still a year or 3 from getting it fully operational

my site is http://www.achiestdragon.org
more details of that and some other associated projects are avalable on there
i should point out the bandwith for my site is not the fastest as its localy hosted on a machine here so shares my internet connection

the controller board has a seperate web site http://www.gnugeep.org

[bones]

Wow nice work. I love the spider idea. Nothing better to have running through a shopping center.
I like the ideas of the actuators for the drive. Nice and neat.

Looks like we are starting to get a few people on this thread.
SO are we interested in doing a project?

I put forward a scorpion something like the following

http://www.vitalef.com/HTMLfiles/scorpion.html
or
http://www.dangeruss.net/Scorpion.htm
or
http://www.turbosquid.com/FullPrevie....cfm/ID/353331

What does everybody think?
Or any other ideas. Post them here.

Cheers
Rodney

[Kyle]

Achiestdragon, how do you get away with CNC in the kitchen????

I do mostly lab automation with some (more and more) motion control for an engineering company and am working with a few friends on an autonomous robotic beer delivery system. I'll post more if it ever gets off the ground. I am also looking for/struggling with writing software for a point to point robotic system with a teach pendant.

Kyle

[achiestdragon]

Originally Posted by Kyle Achiestdragon, how do you get away with CNC in the kitchen???? I do mostly lab automation with some (more and more) motion control for an engineering company and am working with a few friends on an autonomous robotic beer delivery system. I'll post more if it ever gets off the ground. I am also looking for/struggling with writing software for a point to point robotic system with a teach pendant. Kyle

well it was stored there , and wheeled outside for use ,
i now have a workshop although only 6foot square , it provides a perminant home for the cnc and a bench with a vice on it

like the idea of a beer robot , my original goal was a coffee robot to make and bring hot coffee to where ever i am , but it seems to be too big for the original task atm

point to point navigation is a big problem inside buildings , but is easier for outdoor use , accuracy takes a bit of doing but its possible

if you have gps on the robot then that allone will not be accurate enough
as it can take 24hrs to get a fix down to 100mm or better
but if you have a fixed gps unit also at its "home point" and relay the real time fixed gps signal , compair it with the real time gps signal from the robot
then you are able to get a relative location with reference to the "home point" that is accurate to better than 100mm on each reading , if used with an electronic compass its possible to get the direction easy also

re bones

i am rather tied up doing my current design and its still a year or so from being compleated so not able to start a new one at present , i like the style of the scorpion's though , but those don't look like they would lend themselves to having suitable drive motors on the legs

i was able to use potentiometers on as pivot point bearings , although it took quite a bit of hunting to get them ,
there the old style ones that have steel shafts and a brass bush , and was able to get a bulk lot of them from mil surplus still new but old stock , the newer types have eather plastic or some alloy shafts , and they would snap under strain
otherwise each joint would of had to have bearings and a method to mount the potentiometers , there used as positional feedback to the electronics
doing it direct from the pivot point makes the calculations easier and the actual motor travel needed is less important

from the looks of the designs so far it looks like a metal (aluminium design)
what about using eather phneumatics or hydrolics , the machineing of the rams is not so hard , some seemless aluminium tube with 2 machined end plates ,and a piston / ram , with some o-rings where needed , and would allow the use of copper break pipe and brass fittings , that would give it a nice style and could look rather impressive if done right , and also give you the (mutch needed) speed , the weight of a suitable compressor / hydrolic pump beeing the problem , but above a certain size its about the same as what the batteries would weigh anyway , i did think of doing this method , but i don't have a lathe or milling machine capable of that sort of machining yet , it would of been the same size if i had of used hydrolics

size i would say is going to be the initial factor that should be discused , as small robots lack power and bigger robots can tend to be limited to outside use only , the function of it also , should it be just for looks or an actual application goal
atm the main function of tinybug is terain navigation theres a few places around here that have 1 in 0.75 slopes and steeper and i am hoping it will be able to negotiate them , it will also be able to step over a 4foot high wall or fence without having to stand on top of it.

David