I am Back

3/25/2016

Finally I have returned. Last July I retired from Intel in Hillsboro, OR after 2 1/2 years. I moved back to my home in Firestone, CO.

I will be updating the blog more often now that I got organized (Organized. Really? – Linda).

MAVBots  projects:

As I am a volunteer Mentor for the Mead High School MAVBots robotics club I built a couple of bots for them:

• A Sparkfun RedBot. I upgraded the Line follower sensor and added better bumpers. I also added a pen and lift servo so it can function as a Turtle-bot.

 

• MavBot. This is a 310mm x 280mm differential drive robot. It is basically a Redbot on steroids.

1. it has stepper motors (NEMA 17 – Left over from my 3D printer Project  (see below). I used two  Sparkfun Easy Drivers for control. http://www.sparkfun.com/products/12779
2. Arduino Mega2560 for the brain. http://www.sparkfun.com/products/11061
3. SD card reader. https://www.adafruit.com/products/254
4. Line Follower Bar. https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13582
5. LCD Display.
6. XBee Radio. https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11373 and https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11215
7. Polulu Micro Maestro to control servos. https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9664
8. Pen Holder with Servo.

• A robot hand demo using http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:101523

 

 

My Projects:

• Smart timers that know when Sunset is and adjust the on time automatically. They use some SSRs instead of relays. Processor is a Arduino Pro Mini (http://www.sparkfun.com/products/11113)  with a DS1307 time chip (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12708) and a (16×2 LCD https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13293) . It uses the guts of a USB charger to provide 5V.

 

• Robot Arm using the Inmov Hand (http://inmov/fr).

Inmov Hand

 

Inmov Forearm

 

 

• Another Robot Arm based on the Parloma hand. This one is a lot harder to find all the files needed. There are no directions except for a slim manual which has lots missing. However it looks like a good design.  I am having to modify some things as some parts are weak.
  • Hand – http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:701446
  • Bicep – http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:70149

 

• A clone of the TAZ-5 3D printer
  • 300mm x 300mm x300mm print volume
  • DUET Controller and graphics display.
  • Chimera Dual extruder

More to come