Meet Slim

This is Slim, my robot head finally finished!

He is a plastic head that is mounted on a wooden base. He is controlled by an Arduino Mega 2560, which drives 10 servos that provide movement for the neck, eyes, eyelids, jaw and eyebrows. There are also 14 leds and a piezo buzzer to help him sorta talk.

I have currently written a 50 second routine that repeats over and over. I have also made a wired remote control which, when plugged in, commences as different program that gives the user full control of all servos and leds.

This video doesn't show the remote being used, but I will have a video posted soon with the remote in action.

New Robot Hand Video

I've made a new and improved video for the robot hand. It includes the modifications I made in my previous post.

Wooden Robot Hand Updated

Evening,
In between the led cube and the robot head projects, I spent an afternoon modifying my robot hand.
I decided to replace the Arduino Mega with an Arduino Nano. I did this because I wanted the Mega freed up for use with the robot head and also a Nano is pretty cheap (only AUD$15 on ebay).

Along with this Arduino swap over, I flipped the middle finger servo. Before I was facing in the opposite direction to the others. This made programming the hand a bit annoying because I always had to reverse the position when telling it where to go. So now it's a lot easier to program and make changes.

The last modification I made was adding an extra switch, which I called 'Auto/Manual'. I haven't got the programming prefect yet. What I want to happen is when you turn it to auto the hand will do random small movements and when it is set to manual, you can use it like normal with the buttons, etc. Right now all I have programmed is the hand opens and closes repeatedly a bit slower than usual.


Here's the circuit for the complete robot hand.

I also had to update the code a bit so here's a link for the file, if you are interested. The file format is ".ino" ,so you will need the latest version of the Arduino software to view or edit it:
http://www.mediafire.com/?vgulpbjx26d73eh

So, until I come up with a way to modify it further, this should be it for the hand related posts.

More on the head or led cube soon!

Starting a Robot Head

New project!
I am starting to make a robot head. I will be using hobby servos for movements and some IR sensors to pick up movement. Hobby servos are a common method for animatronic movement.
I have already made most of the head. It just has no eyes or mouth. It doesn't have any covering and I haven't decided whether it will yet or not.

Pictures and making-of coming soon!

Tree Lamp 2.0 Part 3

To complete the lamp, all you need to do now is apply a couple of layers of stain and varnish. The reason I said darker the better is purely to hide the putty.

Finally, all that remains is to connect up the last of the switch, the lamp and the plug. If you are using a touch switch, mount a piece of metal and connect the earth to it. I used a strip of aluminium.
Remember to get all connections checked and test away.

Here's a few pictures of the finished product.

The lamp - I added a nice big white lamp shade later on.


The touch switch - Aluminium strip with the sensor earth connected.










The final product:

Any questions? Feel free to ask!

Tree Lamp 2.0 Part 2

The next step is to make somewhere  for the cable to go.

The solution is simple, you drill a hole through the centre, top to bottom. Now if you have a long enough drill bit there would be no problem. I only have a standard set of drill bits and I didn't want to spend the extra cash.
So what I did was take a 12mm drill bit (or what ever will allow free movement of your cable) and drilled holes in a zig-zag pattern from top to bottom.
Here a picture of the lamp with all the holes in it.

Next you need to pick a spot and carve out a hole for the switch or touch sensor box to fit. Make sure the location of this hole lines up with the zig-zag holes to allow for the cable to enter and exit the switch area.

After you are happy the switch fits in the hole (cables included), you can now feed through the cable. I kept the outer sheath on the 3 core (active, neutral, earth) cable for extra protection. Make sure the lamp and switch fit. I kept the touch switch box connected as it's going to be kept hidden inside the branch.
**IMPORTANT: If you are using a touch switch, don't connect the earth from the switch box to the earth from the plug.**
Remember to get all connection checked by an electrician. Perhaps even test the lamp before going any further.
Here is a picture of the touch switch box mounted and connected.

Now apply putty to any and all holes in the branch. If you are using a touch switch box, make sure you have an earth poking out. This will attach to an external metal surface that will act as the touch switch.

Tree Lamp 2.0 Part 1

Ok, so here's how to make the lamp.
You will need the following:
- A tree branch about 1.5m long. I used a long dead eucalyptus branch from my local park.
- Bottle of kerosene.
- Some ply wood to act as a base.
- Some wooden right angle brackets (you can make your own or buy them from a hardware store).
- A few meters of electrical cable, I chose 1.5mm flex cable.
- Plug to go on the end of your cable.
- A lamp of your choice that can be easily mounted to your branch.
- A switch of your choice (I used a touch sensor from a touch lamp for one lamp and a normal house switch with a dimmer).
- Wood putty.
- Tin of stain and varnish. Darker the better.
- Wood screws.
- Power drill.
- File or sand paper.
- Wood chisel.

I also suggest having an electrician check your connections before you apply the putty.


First, you take the branch and clean it up. Remove any bark or any sharp protrusions. File the edges to make a nice finish. At the base, make sure it will allow the branch to balance upright. If it isn't a flat base, the branch may place too much stress on the mounting screws later.
If you have any holes made by mites, fill them with kerosene to kill anything that might be hiding. As an added precaution, I filled any unwanted holes with wood putty. Now I only found this method by doing a few online searches. Some sites suggest soaking it bleach, others sticking the branch in an oven. I've now made 2 of these lamps and I've had no bug problems. Your call.


Next, you cut your wooden plywood base to the desired size. Then cut and chisel some notches to allow the 90 degree brackets to make proper contact. Use how ever many brackets you think to keep it up straight, I used 3 on the first lamp and 2 on  the second. Once you have a good fit, you screw everything to the base. I pre drilled holes through the base and screwed everything in from underneath. I didn't take any photos during this part of the build but here's a photo of the finished base to give you an idea.