Sunday, May 17, 2009

Need Robot Parts

There are lot of online stores from where you can get the robot parts but i really like the www.robotshop.ca for this purpose, they support variouse payment methods including money order and wire transfer. you can also use paypal. Following are some caretories fromar robotshop.ca.

get some electronic items from Peats and Maplin, 
but they dont have a wide range of robotic items. so you many need to order online.


Thursday, May 14, 2009

Boe-Bot Robot with Bluetooth




There are 3 types of Boe-Bot avilable with USB, Serial and Blue tooth version. But blue tooth version is realy rocking one. This Boe-Bot robot is paired with the eb500 Bluetooth  Transceiver AppMod, a
 winning  hardware combination to use with your PC as a base station. When used in conjunction with other PC programming environments,  tremendous opportunities exist for large-vo
lume datalogging, remote operation, web monitoring, real-time data analysis, and more. The choice is yours!

Sensors to make your Robot more intelligent
Boe-Bot come with all necessary items you require to built a bot. Additionally you can get sensors to have more experimeno ts.

  1. Co Gas Sensor Module
  2. CH4 Gas Sensor Module
  3. Digital Thermometer
  4. Flexiforce Sensor Kit
  5. Tri-Axis Accelerometer
  6. Compass Module
  7. Relavtive Humidity Sensor
  8. Infrared Receiver
  9. IR Transmitter Kit
  10. Temperature Sensor Kit
  11. LPG Gas Sensor
  12. GPS Receiver
  13. Ultrasonic Sensor
  14. QTI Sensor
  15. Color Sensor
  16. Light to Frequency Converter

Crawler Kit

You can make your Boe-Bot Robot a Crawler by adding Boe-Bot Crawler kit, which can be additionaly purchased. The Crawler runs on standard Boe-Bot source code with only minor adjustments for ground speed. Sample PBASIC code is included in the documentation.





Gripper Kit
You can covert your Boe-Bot Robot in a lifter by Gripper Kit. Gripper Kit adds pick-up and carry capability to your Boe-Bot Robot. The Gripper features parallel plates that open, clamp onto and lift objects all with one cleverly utilized Parallax Standard Servo. Since the Gripper's servo plugs right into a servo port on the Board of Education, no additional battery pack is needed. The lightweight but sturdy aluminum, brass and plastic Gripper hardware weighs less than 7 ounces.


Sample Programme of Boe-Bot...

This program will prompt you for the number of pulses to send to the servos, and then the pulse width to transmit to each servo.  The program sends about 43 pulses per second, so 43 pulses would give you 1 second of run time, 86 would give you 2 seconds, and so on.  For speed control, 800 is about full speed counterclockwise, 700 is full speed clockwise, and 750 is stop.  If you want a wheel to go half speed counter clockwise, try about 775.  Half speed clockwise, would be about 725, and so on. 

 

' Sample.bs2

' {$STAMP BS2}

' {$PBASIC 2.5}

pulseCnt       VAR     Word

pulseLeft      VAR     Word

pulseRight     VAR     Word

counter        VAR     Word

'Wait FOr the eb500 radio To be ready.

PAUSE 1000

'Wait for the EB500 Bluetooth connection to be established.

DO UNTIL IN5 = 1: LOOP

SEROUT 1, 84, [CLS,

                   "Click the Debug Terminal's",

               CR, "transmit windowpane and..." ]

PAUSE 250

DO

   SEROUT 1, 84, [CR, CR, "Enter number of pulses: "]

    SERIN 0, 84, [DEC pulseCnt]

    SEROUT 1, 84, [DEC pulseCnt]

    SEROUT 1, 84, [CR, "Enter left servo",

                       "pulse width: "]


    SERIN 0, 84, [DEC pulseLeft]

    SEROUT 1, 84, [DEC pulseLeft]

    SEROUT 1, 84, [CR, "Enter right servo",

                       "pulse width: "]


    SERIN 0, 84, [DEC pulseRight]

    SEROUT 1, 84, [DEC pulseRight]

    SEROUT 1, 84, [CR, "Executing..."]

    FOR counter = 1 TO pulseCnt

      PULSOUT 13, pulseLeft

      PULSOUT 12, pulseRight

      PAUSE 20

    NEXT

LOOP







If you are a beginner and need to learn about Microcontrollers and Sensors, i will highly recommend this to you. You can learn more about it at...

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification)


RFID has become very popular now a days, it being used as auto data collection (ADC) technology in many fiel
ds for example Passports, Libraries, School, Universities, Hospitals, Stores and Museums.

RFID is way of tracking objects using the radio waves typically called an RFID tag. Some tags can be read from several meters away and beyond the line of sight of the reader.

There are two major parts, One is an integrated circuit for storing and processing information, modulating and demodulating aradio-frequency (RF) signal, and other specialized functions.The second is an antenna for receiving and transmitting the signal.















On the other hand some say that using this technology for identification is a security threat, for example countries that put RFID in passports include Norway, Japan, most EU countries including Ireland and UK, Australia and the United States, Serbia, Republic of Korea.

See this artical at InfoSecurity.Us!




For further details you can visit... 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID


Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Traxster .NET Micro Framework Kit













Wirte your own progrmms for Traxster robot using .NET Micro Framework Robotic Kit.

. Now you can learn the .Net Micro Framework, and use it develop cool autonomous applications using the Traxster Robot! This is the coolest .NET Micro Framework development kit available!
The Traxster MF Robot Kit uses one of our Serializer Robot Controllers for the low level sensory and motor control, and features the SJJMicro EDKPlus development kit that serves as the .NET MF brains. The EDKPlus kit is based on the 200 Mhz iPac-9302 ARM9 processor, which is where the Tiny CLR runs.
Developing managed C# applications for the Traxster MF is extremely easy, and deployment is a snap. Managed applications deployed to the EDKPlus board are non-volatile. Thus, the application starts right up once power is applied.
This kit comes packed with hardware and user documentation, including a Visual Studio 2005 Solution containing the source code for the SerializerLibMF library and useful examples.
Want to learn the .NET Micro Framework, and have tons of fun doing it? The Traxster MF Kit is your development solution!

For futher details see...

Microsoft Axum for .Net







Build Parallel Applications using Axum

Axum is a language that builds upon the architecture of the Web and principles of isolation, actors, and message-passing to increase application safety, responsiveness, scalability, and developer productivity.
Other advanced concepts we are exploring are data flow networks, asynchronous methods, and type annotations for taming side-effects.

Virtualization with Hyper-V

Well this is not a very new technology but i am realy loving it now, it can reduce the cost and management effectively. With Hyper-V, the next-generation hypervisor-based server virtualization technology. This enables you to make the best use of your server hardware investments by consolidating multiple server roles as separate virtual machines (VMs) running on a single physical machine and also efficiently run multiple different operating systems—Windows, Linux, and others—in parallel, on a single server, and fully leverage the power of x64 computing.




For further details see
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/hyperv-main.aspx

Blu-ray Disc Technology

Its has been more than year this technology is avilable. Most of the new Sony laptops has this technology. Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed by Sony to take the place of the standard DVD format. Its main purposes are high-definition video and data storage with 50GB per disc. The disc has the same physical dimensions as standard DVDs and CDs use to have.
The name Blu-ray Disc is derived from the blue laser used to read and write to this type of disc.


Pololu 3pi Robot

Just heard about 3pi robot on a magzine very good and cheap robot kit. 
That can be programmed in C language. I really
 like its speed. 
The Pololu 3pi robot is a complete, high-performance mobile platform featuring two micro metal gearmotors, five reflectance sensors, an 8×2 character LCD, a buzzer, and three user pushbuttons, all conn
ected to a C-programmable ATmega168 microcontroller. Capable of speeds exceeding 3 feet per second, 3pi is a
 great first robot for ambitious beginners
 and a perfect second robot for those looking to move up from non-programmable or slower beginner robots.




Windows 7 Release Candidate

Welcome to Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) testing. We're on our way to Windows 7, and if you like trying out pre-release software, now’s your chance. You get to see what's coming, and we get to see if our changes and fixes from the Beta testing are working correctly.

How do you test the software? You put it on your PC, and then do what you'd normally do. Your PC will automatically and anonymously send our engineers the information they need to verify the fixes and changes they made based on the Windows 7 Beta tests

http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/Windows-7/download.aspx

Friday, April 4, 2008

Moduler Robot

A robot developed by robotics at the University of Pennsylvania is made of modules that can recognize each other and reassemble when kicked apart. When physically damaged, the T-1000 is capable of reforming itself in seconds, closing up bullet holes and reattaching limbs.


Tuesday, September 18, 2007



With an ultimate range up to 1000 km, a maximum operating depth of 6000 m, and a
generous payload capacity of 0.5 m3, Autosub6000 will be one of the world’s most
capable deep diving science Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). It is scheduled
for deep water trials on the RRS Discovery in September 2007, after which it will be
available for science missions. We encourage proposals for the use of Autosub6000 from
2008 onwards. We envisage its use in a wide variety of missions, for example : overflow
and exchanges across sills, abyssal circulation + mixing, Southern Ocean mixing
processes, ocean ridge, marine census, canyons and sea-mounts, ocean margins benthic
communities, gas hydrate surveys.


Autosub6000 is the latest 6000 m rated version of the Autosub AUV series, which has
been used extensively for ocean science during the last 10 years, including work under
ice operations in the Arctic and Antarctic. The design of the nose and tail sections,
including the navigation and control systems, are substantially inherited from the tried
and tested Autosub3. The main difference is the depth rating (6000m rather than 1600m),
and the energy system (Lithium Polymer rechargeable batteries rather than primary
manganese alkaline cells).



Dimensions 5.5 m long, 0.9 m diameter
Mass 2000 kg (Dry), 2800 kg (Wet).
Range, endurance 1000 km at 1 m/s (8.6 days). 400 km at 1.6 m/s. (2.9 days).
The 2007 version will have 50% of this range.
Depth capability 6000 m maximum.
Navigation 0.1% of distance travelled since last GPS or USBL fix.
Telemetry and
Tracking
Linkquest TrackLink 10000 USBL and bidirectional telemetry system.
Control Modes Constant depth, constant altitude (5 to 200m), profiling.
Recharge time 5 hours from fully exhausted lithium polymer battery pack.
Standard Sensor
Suite
300 kHz RDI Workhorse ADCP. Fitting of Seabird 911 CTD be requested
from NMFD.
There are plans to fit a Mulitbeam system by August 2008.
Payload Capacity Similar to Autosub3. Large (0.5 m3) volumes free in the nose area for
payloads.
Power for sensors Up to 250 Watts at 48 volt.
Data Handling 100 M bit s-1 TP Ethernet .200 G byte data storage. IEEE 802.11g WiFi for
data download.
Shipping One standard 20 foot shipping containers. Launch and recovery gantry.


A titanium tube housing the Inertial
Navigation Unit (IXSEA-PHINS), a 300 kHz
RDI ADCP, and a high performance Thales
GPS receiver. We are developing navigation
algorithms, involving processing of imaging
or multibeam data, which, for area survey
missions in deep water, will maintain GPS
quality accuracy over periods of several days.

Monday, June 11, 2007

New Armed Robot Groomed for War



The company behind the only armed robots in Iraq is rolling out a new model of gun-toting machine, built from the start for combat. DANGER ROOM has exclusive pictures and footage.

During the early days of the Iraq war, the roboteers at Foster-Miller modified their bomb-disposal machines, to have them carry machine guns, grenade launchers, or rockets.

After years of safety testing and modifications, three of these deadly SWORDS ("special weapons observation remote reconnaissance direct action system") robots were recently sent to Iraq.

But even now, safety concerns (among other reasons) have kept those machines from firing a shot in combat. But Foster-Miller is already rolling a new model of armed robot — one that’s comes with additional extra, built-in precautions, and has been designed from the beginning to fight.

MAARS (Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System) features new software controls, which allow the robot’s driver to select fire and no-fire zones. The idea is keep the robots from accidentally shooting a flesh-and-blood American. A mechanical range fan also keeps MAARS’ gun pointed away from friendly positions.


The robot is also equipped with a GPS transmitter, so it can be seen on — and tap into — the American battlefield mapping programs, just like tanks and Humvees. These "Blue Force Trackers" have been credited with dramatically reducing friendly-fire incidents during the Iraq war. MAARS comes with an extra fail-safe, which won’t allow it to fire directly at its own control unit.

Nor does the robot always have to carry a gun. A mechanical arm can be swapped "in a couple of minutes" for the weapon, according to MARRS program manager Charles Dean, a retired Army Lt. Colonel. Which means the robot could be used for "inspecting IEDs, opening doors, even dragging casualties."

The tracks can also be removed, and changed out for wheels; better for urban operations, perhaps. Combined with a lower center of gravity, Dean believes the MAARS will be about 50% faster than its predecessors, which rumbled over streets at 5 miles per hour.


See more details at http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2007/10/tt-tt/...

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Programming i-Box III


iBox III Programmed to Never Fall From Table and Stay Away From Walls...

All you need is

2x IR Reflectors
1x Distance Sensor
2x DC Motors1x iBox III Microcontroller

This is very simple program following commands will do this all.


start
to alert
beep
end

to start
wait 100
ab, setpower 8

loop [ if (( sensor 0) > 300
and ((sensor 1) > 300 ))
[ ab, thisway ab, on ]

if ((sensor 2) > 300)
[alert
ab, thatway ab, onfor 150
a, thisway a, onfor 50
a, thatway
ab, on]


if ((sensor 0) <>
[alert
ab, thatway ab, onfor 150
a, thisway a, onfor 50
a, thatway
ab, on]

if ((sensor 1) <>
[alert
ab, thatway ab, onfor 150
b, thisway b, onfor 50
b, thatway
ab, on] ]


if ((sensor 3) > 850)
[alert
ab, thatway ab, onfor 150
a, thisway a, onfor 50
a, thatway
ab, on]
]

end
Please note this programme will handle both 1)Never fall from table 2) Never collide with Walls.
You can add further funcaitonlity in this program for example add a light sensor and then you can program to start moving is light is on and stop when light is off, things like this.


Thursday, May 12, 2005

i-Box III Programmable Microcontroller



i-BOX 3
Is very good Microcontroller for beginners. It allow you to write your own programs in logo language. You can attach different kind of sensors to it to make robots.


Features of i-BOX 3.0
  • 16KB memory
  • 4 DC motor output
  • 4 Digital inputs
  • 2 Digital outputs
  • 4 Analog input 10-bit ADC
  • Piezo speaker
  • Download program via Serial Port
  • Supply voltage : 4 of AA battery (Rechargeable battery 1700mAH or higher)

Thursday, June 10, 2004

Land Miner In Rugged Terrain



Four Johns Hopkins undergraduate engineering students have designed and built a remote-controlled robotic vehicle to find deadly land mines in rugged terrain and mark their location with a spray of paint. The prototype has been given to professional explosive detection researchers as a model for a low-cost robot that humanitarian groups and military troops could use to prevent mine-related deaths and injuries.

The project resulted from a challenge to the students by Carl V. Nelson, a principal staff physicist at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Nelson had developed new sensors to help detect land mines, but he needed a device to carry these sensors into areas of thick vegetation where explosives are often hidden.

He presented his requirements last fall to a team of students enrolled in the two-semester Engineering Design Project course offered by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins.

"I asked the students to develop a vehicle that could get off the road, off the clear paths and go into rougher terrain like bushes and high grass, where mine detection would be difficult to do by hand," Nelson said.

The need for such a device was clear. Nelson pointed to a United Nations estimate that more than 100 million land mines are deployed in 70 countries worldwide, planted during military conflicts dating back as far as World War II.

The cheap but highly dangerous devices can be set off by civilians as well as soldiers, and more than 2,000 people are killed or maimed by mine explosions each month, the United Nations estimates. Nelson is one of many researchers looking for safe, efficient and relatively inexpensive ways to locate the hazards.

To carry Nelson's sensors through rough terrain, the Johns Hopkins undergraduates designed a two-piece vehicle that rolls on tank-type treads. The front portion moves the robot, using two cordless power drill motors connected to a sealed lead-acid battery. Atop the drive segment is a color video camera, enabling a human operator to see what the robot encounters.

The drive segment is attached to a second unit that houses a simple metal detection coil obtained from an off- the-shelf treasure-hunting device.(This metal detector would be replaced by more sophisticated sensors if the model is utilized by funded researchers.)

The rear segment also is equipped with a small storage tank and a spray paint nozzle to mark the spot when a possible mine is located. The vehicle can spray about 40 times before the paint tank must be recharged.

To guide the robot from a safe distance, the students constructed a battery-powered controller with a joystick to steer the vehicle. The controller also features a small video screen displaying real-time images from the robot's camera. When metal is detected, a "beep" is heard over a speaker on the controller or through headphones worn by the operator.

A switch on the controller can then activate the paint sprayer to mark the spot. The robot's camera transmits video up to about 100 feet from the controller; the vehicle's movement can be controlled from a distance of about 500 feet.

The robotic vehicle was built largely with plastic and other non-metal parts to reduce costs and weight. In addition, using non-metal parts avoids triggering false positive readings from the mine detector. The two-segment design also spreads out the robot's weight, making the device less likely to set off a mine.

The four undergraduate inventors, all seniors, were Edoardo Biancheri, 22, of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil; Dan Hake, 21, from Wilton, Conn.; Dat Truong, 22, from Methuen, Mass.; and Landon Unninayar, 22, from Columbia, Md. Hake, Truong and Unnimayar were mechanical engineering majors who graduated from Johns Hopkins last month. Biancheri plans to complete his undergraduate studies in December with a double major in mechanical engineering and economics.

Working within a sponsored budget of $8,000, the students spent about $5,000 to design and build their prototype. They estimate the vehicle could be mass-produced for $1,000 or less, not including the cost of more sophisticated detection sensors.

Nelson plans to show the prototype to his U.S. Army funding sponsors as a example of the type of low-cost mine detection robot that could help prevent death and injury worldwide. "I think the students did an excellent job," Nelson said. "They met just about all the requirements that I set out for them."

The land mine detection robot was one of nine Johns Hopkins projects completed this year by undergraduates in the engineering design course. The class is taught by Andrew F. Conn, a Johns Hopkins graduate with more than 30 years of experience in public and private research and development.

Each team of three or four students, working within budgets of up to $10,000, had to design a device, purchase or fabricate the parts, and assemble the final product. Corporations, government agencies and nonprofit groups provided the assignments and funding. The course is traditionally a well-received, hands-on engineering experience for Johns Hopkins undergraduates.

More details at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/robot-04p.html