robots - Thoughts from the Foothills

How: To drive a wheelchair with your eyes (Generation 2)

In my previous post, I covered how Microsoft found the motivation to help create technology for people living with ALS and how we started our first project: creating a wheelchair you can drive with your eyes. Now let's look at how we do it and what's next. I'm describing a

robots

Much work on RocketBot and Reflecta

I've been busy updating the source code and design documentation for Rocket Bot. You can now find: Design files for the base plates, pneumatic system, and electronics on Github. Source code for the Arduino libraries that control the Drive Base and Rocket Platform. Source code for the communications protocol (Reflecta)

robots

RocketBot at Maker Faire 2012

RocketBot made appearances at Maker Faire San Mateo and Seattle. The audience was great fun, especially the occasional 10 year old whiz kid who seemed to just have learned robotics and electronics from some form of osmosis. Photos from the San Mateo booth It was a bit awkward trying to

robots

Adding the launcher electronics

Time to wire everything up. My first challenge was working out how to turn on the 12 volt 10 amp air compressor from an Arduino. I have some Power MOSFETs, STP55NF06L, sitting in my shop from some previous research I did looking for a power solution for a Quadcopter. These

robots

Putting the pneumatics together

While our project's genesis started from the Make Compressed Air Rocket design, I have a couple of design changes in mind. The launcher needs to be miniaturized -- both because I want to use it indoors at Maker Faires and other events and also because I want it to fit

robots

In the Beginning: Paper Air Rockets

Two years ago, we gave my son Joshua a compressed air rocket launcher kit from Make Magazine. You wouldn't think that a bicycle pump, some PVC pipe, and a water sprinkler valve would be the beginning of a multi-year project... After launching a few rockets in our back yard, I