D485HW
D625MW
0.20 ~ 0.15 Sec @ 60°
0.20 ~ 0.13 Sec @ 60°
0.28 ~ 0.17 Sec @ 60°
0.09 ~ 0.07 Sec @ 60°
67 ~ 103 oz-in / 4.8 ~ 7.4 kg-cm
87 ~ 139 oz-in / 6.3 ~ 10.0 kg-cm
115 ~ 180 oz-in / 8.3 ~ 12.9 kg-cm
72 ~ 90 oz-in / 5.2 ~ 6.5 kg-cm
Nominal Operating Voltage No Load Speed Range Peak Torque Range Maximum Current Draw Dimensions Weight Upgrade For
D645MW
D646WP
4.8V ~ 7.4V
1,500mA 1.57 x 0.78 x 1.49 in / 39.8 x 19.8 x 38.0mm
D777MG 4.8V ~ 6.0V
2,650mA
3,000mA
1.60 x 0.78 x 1.49 in / 40.6 x 19.8 x 37.8mm
1.59 oz / 45.0g
2.10 oz / 60.0g
HS-5485HB & HS-5495BH
HS-625MG
1.65 x 0.83 x 1.57 in / 40.6 x 19.8 x 37.8mm 2.10 oz / 57.0g
HS-645MG
HS-5646WP
1.59 x 0.82 x 1.01 in / 40.4 x 21.0 x 25.4mm 1.80 oz / 45.0g HS-7775MG & HS-8775MG
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11.2017 VOL. 15 NO. 11
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Departments 06 Mind/Iron Downsizing: Robots and the Tools to Make Them
07 Events Calendar 20 New Products
44 50 58 65
Showcase SERVO Webstore RoboLinks Advertiser’s Index
22 Bots in Brief • Coolbox Operator • New Bloodline • Dancing with the Dobis • I’ll Put a HEXA on You • Underwater Ironman • You’ll Flip for this Grill Cook
SERVO Magazine (ISSN 1546-0592/CDN Pub Agree#40702530) is published monthly for $26.95 per year by T & L Publications, Inc., 430 Princeland Court, Corona, CA 92879. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT CORONA, CA AND AT ADDITIONAL ENTRY MAILING OFFICES. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to SERVO Magazine, P.O. Box 15277, North Hollywood, CA 91615 or Station A, P.O. Box 54, Windsor ON N9A 6J5;
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Subscription Information SERVO Magazine — PO Box 15277 North Hollywood, CA 91615-9218 Call 877-525-2539 or go to www.servomagazine.com Subscribe • Gift • Renewal • Change of Info For more details on subscribing, see our ad on Page 58. To find out about our special Gift Subscription offer, check out Page 3. Interested in learning more about electronics? Go to Page 66 for info on a Gift Subsciption to SERVO’s sister publication, Nuts & Volts.
PAGE 46
In This Issue ... 46 REVIEW: One Good Eye — An Open Source 3D Scanner by Dave Prochnow 3D scanners seem to be the “missing link” between a 3D printer and a full blown “thing copier.” In this article, we put the CowTech Ciclop 3D scanner through its paces to see if it is the next “must have” item for your workbench.
52 Rise of the Neuromorphic Machines by George Steber When the human brain is fully reverse-engineered, some scientists believe we will be able to create machines that can act and react in ways that will be startlingly human. This interesting topic exploration will likely get you thinking.
59 How Robots Affect Our Lives 08 Ask Mr. Roboto Our resident expert on all things robotic. with Eric Ostendorff Curating a collection of anything requires time, patience, and knowledge. With robots, there are plenty of ways to create a respectable collection for a reasonable amount of money. Learn some tricks and tips for starting your own mechanical menagerie.
14 Make Learning Fun!
Then & Now: Advances in robotics from the past up through today. by Tom Carroll With seemingly suicidal security robots, self-driving cars that occasionally crash, and robo-surgeons saving lives, a new question for our generation is obvious: Do you trust that robot?
The Combat Zone 26 EVENT REPORT: House of Robotic Destruction Gets Colossal
by Steve Koci DIY Animatronics We all want to instill an interest in robotics in our own (or sometimes someone else’s) kids! With the holiday season fast approaching, it’s time to look for gifts that will inspire children and help introduce them to the exciting hobby we all enjoy.
30 Build a Drone Crash Beacon The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist by John Leeman Though Crash Beacon might make for a great heavy-metal band name, in this case it describes a project that can protect your investment when the inevitable crash comes calling. You’ve dropped a lot of dough on your drone; don’t let it disappear when it descends into a ditch!
36 The ARMadeus Project by James Milan The ARMadeus Mk. 11 consists of a universal mobile base with interchangeable personality modules which easily attach to the base unit. Complete with pneumatics and easily attached NERF™ foam disc guns, this robot is ready for action!
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Mind / Iron by Bryan Bergeron, Editor ª
Downsizing: Robots and the Tools to Make Them just finished going through my three tool drawers, cleaning and oiling my go-to tools, and removing tools I haven’t used in over a year. The theme this year seems to be downsizing. I haven’t touched a tool to handle a bolt or nut, or drill a hole greater than 1/4”. As a result, I have about 40 pounds of very expensive wrenches and bits that aren’t likely to see the light of day. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been working more with quadcopters than with carpet roamers over the past few years, or maybe it’s because I rely heavily on my 3D printer. For whatever reason, I don’t deal with heavy steel or aluminum anymore. Looking back at my expenditures over the past year, I’ve invested in miniature oilers (Bergeon; $8 each), fine forceps (Dumont, $35 each), and magnifying equipment (Bausch & Lomb, $10 for a 4x loupe). As I’ve noted in previous editorials, my go-to for small tools is the watchmaking community. I’ve had good luck with Otto Frei (www.ofrei.com) which has a decent selection, but require a $15 order minimum and only offer rather expensive shipping options. On the workbench, I’ve put away the 200 lb drill press in favor of an inexpensive Dremel press, simply because I don’t need the power and noise of the larger unit. Moreover, I’ve reclaimed precious workspace in the process of downsizing. The same goes for my handheld drill. I now use a compact cordless drill (Milwaukee) instead of a 3/8” corded monster of a drill that can chew through concrete. I’ve also downsized my tool and parts storage. In place of three sets
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of red metal “machine shop” drawers designed to hold massive socket sets and wrenches, I picked up a used wooden machinist’s tool chest by Gerstner & Sons on eBay. It fits on my workbench, has felt-lined drawers that cradle my delicate tools, and gives me more room to work. I moved the large metal drawers — together with many of the heavy-duty tools — into the garage for working on the car and lawnmower. Working on smaller lighter robots with a 3D printer in the shop also means there’s less in the way of stock. I’ve moved the heavy aluminum and copper sheets and brackets out of my shop and replaced it with spools of PLA and ABS plastic. There’s still lots of copper wire on spools — that’s one item that hasn’t changed much with the downsizing. How about you? Have you considered downsizing your robotics platforms and tools? Unless you’re into the heavyweight robotic battle bots, there’s a lot to be said for moving to lighter platforms and tools. Moreover, if you’re new to robotics, then now is the time to consider where you’re going to invest your time and resources. If you start small — as in small robots and the tools needed to make them — then you could fit all of the production tools on your desktop. That’s a plus if you’re a student, living at home, or simply don’t have the space for traditional shop tools. SV
FOR THE ROBOT INNOVATOR
ERVO
Published Monthly By T & L Publications, Inc. 430 Princeland Ct., Corona, CA 92879-1300 (951) 371-8497 FAX (951) 371-3052 Webstore Only 1-800-783-4624 www.servomagazine.com Subscriptions Toll Free 1-877-525-2539 Outside US 1-818-487-4545 P.O. Box 15277, N. Hollywood, CA 91615 PUBLISHER Larry Lemieux
[email protected] ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ ADVERTISING SALES Robin Lemieux
[email protected] EDITOR Bryan Bergeron
[email protected] VP of OPERATIONS Vern Graner
[email protected] CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Tom Carroll Kevin Berry R. Steven Rainwater Eric Ostendorff Steve Koci John Leeman Dave Prochnow George Steber James Milan Chris Olin CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT
[email protected] WEBSTORE MARKETING COVER GRAPHICS Brian Kirkpatrick
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[email protected] ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF Re Gandara Copyright 2017 by T & L Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved
All advertising is subject to publisher’s approval. We are not responsible for mistakes, misprints, or typographical errors. SERVO Magazine assumes no responsibility for the availability or condition of advertised items or for the honesty of the advertiser. The publisher makes no claims for the legality of any item advertised in SERVO. This is the sole responsibility of the advertiser. Advertisers and their agencies agree to indemnify and protect the publisher from any and all claims, action, or expense arising from advertising placed in SERVO. Please send all editorial correspondence, UPS, overnight mail, and artwork to: 430 Princeland Court, Corona, CA 92879.
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EVENTS NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
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Bloomington Robotics Club Contest Bloomington, IN Events include Mini Sumo, Pick & Place, Robot Maze, and RoboHockey. http://sites.google.com/ site/bloomingtonroboticsclub
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Robotic Arena Wroclaw, Poland Events include Mega/Mini/Micro/Nano Sumo, Micromouse, Line Following, Freestyle, Robosprint, and Puck Collect. www.roboticarena.pl
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Latin American Robotics Competitions Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil Events include Brazilian Robotics Competition, Robocup Brazil Open, and the IEEE Latin American Robotics Contest. www.cbrobotica.org
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DPRG RoboRama Dallas, TX See website for event list. www.dprg.org
STEAM Maker Festival Del Mar Fairgrounds, Del Mar, CA The culmination of the collaboration and outreach efforts of STEAM programs provided to the community throughout the country. The Festival brings together thousands of students, educators, schools, clubs, makers, and industry to demonstrate and showcase available tools and resources to enrich STEAM education. Delivering the best place to cross-pollenate ideas and identify pathways for future career and educational opportunities. The Festival runs from 10am - 3pm. www.steammakerfest.org
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STHLM Robot Championship Stockholm, Sweden Events include Sumo, LEGO Sumo, Folkrace, Line Following, and Freestyle. www.robotchampion.se
2-3
South’s BEST Competition Auburn University, Auburn, AL See website for this year’s event. www.bestinc.org
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International Micro Robot Maze Contest Nagoya University, Japan Events include Micro Robot Racer, Micro Robot Maze, and Legged Micro Robots. www2.meijo-u.ac.jp/~ichikawa/MAZEHOME
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Texas BEST Competition Dr. Pepper Arena, Frisco, TX See website for this year’s event. www.bestinc.org
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AHRC Robot Rally Norcross, GA Events include Cube Quest, Polyathlon, Line Maze Solving, and Mini Sumo. www.botlanta.org
13-19 Festival of Robots Warsaw, Poland Events for flying, walking medical, and industrial robots. www.cyberiada.mtip.pl 17-19 All Japan MicroMouse Contest Shibaura Institute of Technology, Minato-ku Tokyo, Japan Events include Micromouse Classic, Micromouse Half-size, and Robotrace. www.ntf.or.jp/mouse 23-26 ROBOEXOTICA Vienna, Austria Events for bartending robots including serving cocktails, mixing cocktails, bartending conversation, and lighting cigarettes. www.roboexotica.org 24-26 Robotex Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia See website for this year’s events. www.robotex.ee
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Ask Mr. Roboto Tap into the sum of all human knowledge and get your questions answered here! From software algorithms to material selection, Mr. Roboto strives to meet you where you are — and what more would you expect from a complex service droid?
by Eric Ostendorff Our resident expert on all things robotic is merely an email away.
[email protected]
Q
. I watched the video of your vintage toy robot collection and it’s very interesting to me. Some of those are probably valuable. Any tips for someone starting out in collecting robots? Al Richardson McKees Rocks, PA
A
. Thanks for your interest in my collection! From my experience, most everyone likes toys and most everyone likes robots. (I shared a video of my compilation of bots in the January column introduction; check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= LMOtGYprBRQ). My “museum” (Figure 1) is tiny compared to the amazing Robot Hut at www.robothut.robotnut.com/rhbp1.html and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk0hJa-xHBU. However, I have a variety of toys spanning five decades of my life. Mine are not as rare or valuable as the famous poster robots in Figure 2; just ones that I personally find interesting in looks or function. As I mentioned in that column, I loved robots as a kid in the 1960s and I had a collection of 10 robots I enjoyed playing with. What a pity I sold some of mine at yard sales for 25 cents in my crazy teenage years! I was fortunate to find my robotic “calling” early in life. I’m a professional toy designer and mechanical engineer, so I really appreciate these vintage robots. A lot of clever
Figure 1. Just a small portion of my collection.
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Figure 2.
design and engineering went into these toy robots; the mechanisms are fantastic and worth investigating. We live in a wonderful tech world today, but honestly there is much to be learned by studying prior mechanical art. For further reading, get the wonderful book, 507 Mechanical Movements: Mechanisms and Devices. (I learned so much from that book and Forrest Mim’s Engineer’s Notebook, I could write a volume about each.) Everything in these vintage toys was done by purely electromechanical means in the era
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Your robotic problems solved here.
To post comments on this article and find any associated files and/or downloads, go to www.servomagazine.com/index.php/magazine/issue/2017/11.
Figure 3.
before microcontrollers, sound chips, and simple electronics, or even LEDs. Figure 4. “Tin robots” were usually all metal inside too; their internal mechanisms were built up from stamped gears and transmission housings. watch?v=zAn9YHt2RQA. Two similar-sized gears on the Lights were obviously glass incandescent bulbs, often same shaft have a one tooth difference; say 59 teeth and flashed by electrical contacts moved by a cam somewhere 60 teeth. When edge-driven by a common pinion, they in the gear train. The wonderful Alps “Television Spaceman” robot (Figure 3) had a simulated TV screen with space exploration images on a moving paper loop; see it at https://www.you tube.com/watch?v=8tjXfjwYsNg. Some of my favorite robots were x Design New Ideas from Japanese manufacturer, Horikawa, like the “Rotate-O-Matics” shown in Figure 4. These robots cycle x Prototype Without through walking, then stopping and the Wait rotating around the waist, then have popping machine guns that come out x Cut Real Metal of their chest plate which flash and make rat-a-tat sounds. See this in action as the “Gang of x 120VAC - Plug in CNC Mill Five” demonstrates at Starting at: Anywhere https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=c7h7BW2gJuQ. A nice view of the internal cycling mechanism is shown at TORMACH.COM https://www.youtube.com/
smallmachine BIGRESULTS
$4950
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rotate slowly relative to each Figure 5. other, and integral cams force them apart under spring pressure. As they move, dog clutches engage and disengage various mechanisms. A wonderfully simple obstacle avoidance mechanism is found in “Mystery Action” a.k.a., “Bump & Go” robots like the New Bright robot in Figure 5. These robots roll on hidden wheels as shown in Figure 6. Small front rubber wheels in a rotating carrier drive and steer the robot in the path of least resistance. The robot drives generally straight until it hits an obstacle. Then, the carrier turns and heads off in a random new direction. This is an impressive feat for such a simple one motor mechanism. Modern robots use a microprocessor and multiple bump switches to achieve much the same results! Figure 7.
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Figure 6.
As with everything else, eBay can be a great source for finding vintage robots. Of course, it has also increased demand and prices. (As a toy designer in today’s disposable culture, I have doubts whether any of the toys I’ve designed will survive to be in anyone’s collection in 40 years. So, I better save them myself!) Nothing lasts forever, though. Tin rusts, old batteries leak, rubber wheels and treads crack, plastic gets brittle and warps. (There’s some useful general repair info at www.danefield.com/alpha/misc/repairs.htm). One of the more well-known cases of plastic warpage is on the clear head of Remco’s 1966 Lost in Space robot (Figure 7). Even though this was hardly a faithful reproduction of the TV robot, it is highly prized by modern collectors. They fetch several hundred dollars in a confusing array of colors — even with missing claws and a warped head. See www.lostintoys.com/museum/featrob.html for more information on this one. Another problem with vintage robots are flat spots on the rubber wheels. Most walking robots move by oscillating the legs, and hidden rubber wheels/rollers ratchet forward. When sitting on display for long periods, the old rubber dries out and gets compressed on the bottom, making a flat spot on the wheels which causes problems. Some collectors anticipate this and hide small supports under the feet to lift the wheels slightly. Old electric motors stop working sometimes due to oxidation on the brushes and commutator. Running the motor occasionally actually cleans the commutator, so turning a robot on every year is good insurance against this. Rather than disassemble a motor for repair (bending ancient metal tabs is required), sometimes the motor just needs a thump to get it going again (with power applied). In some cases, you can apply higher voltage temporarily to get it to spin initially (perhaps 6V instead of 3V) UNLESS there are light bulbs hooked up in parallel with the motor. You’ll burn those out.
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Old motors may need a drop of oil on the bushings to quiet a noisy howl. This is one sound that really makes me cringe. If you hear an old motor screaming, turn it off until you can oil it. You can rack up several years’ worth of shaft/bushing wear in a minute of noisy operation. Battery leakage is always bad — especially on a tin robot — where acid can damage metal parts and paint. I’ve seen leakage from old carbon zinc cells as well as newer alkalines just a few years old. Chances are that by the time you find battery leakage, the damage is done. Baking soda helps neutralize the acid, but then you have to deal with the damage. A Dremel moto tool with a rotary brush is useful for removing corrosion. In some cases, a damaged toy robot may be too far gone to function again. Even if the back of the robot is damaged or missing, it can still be a nice display piece. Rear battery doors are commonly missing from plastic robots, and some eBay sellers offer reproduction parts. “Remote control” robots in the 1950s and 1960s were almost always connected by wires to a handset for electrical or mechanical control. One remarkable exception was the 1957’s Radicon robot, the first known radio controlled bot (Figure 8). Check out the video at https://www.youtube .com/watch?v=zprnuCw5Kck. The battery powered/buzzer driven spark gap transmitter blasts a
Figure 8.
Figure 9.
noisy RF burst (EMP) to a long antenna on the robot. The simple receiver within the robot detects this broadband RF blast using a powdered metal coherer tube, which switches a DC motor on to mechanically sequence the driving mechanism. At the end of the sequence, the mechanism physically thumps the coherer detector, jiggling the powdered metal to switch off the power. This seems incredibly Rube Goldberg-ish, but it really worked! I
Figure 10.
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Figure 11.
don’t yet own a Radicon robot, but I’m always on the lookout for one. I do have a 1980’s Tomy Starriors “Cosmittor” (Figure 9) which functions similarly, using a handheld piezo sparker in the remote to send the EMP. The antenna functions as a wave shaper to help channel this nebulous burst of RF energy toward the right frequency. You can find a video at
Figure 12.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XguRNvNc0s. This robotic T-Rex sequences through four modes: turn right, drive forward, stop, and shoot disks. Short range, but wireless control! In 1978, Schaper Toys sold their remote controlled TOBOR robot which also used mechanical cycling triggered by a TV-type mechanical “clicker” remote as shown in the commercial at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=dJ9mz-JREiU. Tomy had a huge line of robots in the 1980s (Figure 10), including their large gel-cell powered OmniBots. A favorite of mine is the Badfoot walker (Figure 11; see also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF5HILkxTbU), which leans and really picks up its feet instead of shuffling on rollers. And don’t even get me started on Tomy’s fantastic, fully articulated six-axis joystick controlled Armatron robot arm (Figure 12). This was originally a $90 Sharper Image item which ultimately ended up at RadioShack for $30. The ingenious coaxial gear train drives all six axes from ONE MOTOR through multiple clutches. Four of the six axes have TWO speeds! A toy designer friend of mine worked at Tomy when this was being developed, long before computer design was used. It was reportedly the brainchild of a single mad Japanese genius. Modern reproductions of vintage robots are available from https://www.robotisland.com, www.neatstuff .net/space-robots/Space-robots.html, and https://www.tintoyarcade.com/robots-and-space They offer a variety of wind-up and battery operated (B/O) tin robots at all prices. Ideal’s 1954 plastic and metal Robert the Robot (Figure 13) is featured in the wonderful B/W promotional movie at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= FRFFMcD6KP8. A 50th anniversary reproduction was offered in 2004 (it’s still available on eBay). Ironically, the repro came with a “Certificate of Authenticity” that the original never came with. The repro drives and steers just like the first one, but the original light bulb eyes and hand-cranked record have been replaced with LEDs and a sound chip. Modern plastic robots offering the same basic features of these vintage robots can be found at many discounters. I think these are a nice low cost way to ease into collecting. Figure 14 shows two simple walking robots I bought this past September. The MARS robot on the left was $7 at Walgreens. Basic walking action, moving head and swinging arms, and an LED in the head. The larger unbranded robot on the right was $8 on sale at Tuesday Morning. On the retro side, it has several incandescent bulbs (!) and classic Rotate-O-Matic action. Less retro is the loud sound chip which endlessly plays “Don’t move! Drop the gun!” and blast noises. Of course, more modern electronic toy robots
Ostendorff - Mr Roboto - Nov 17_MrRoboto - Sep 15.qxd 10/3/2017 1:16 PM Page 13
Figure 13.
Figure 14.
offer a lot of additional features than 1960’s toys could ever muster. Anyone remember the Furby frenzy of 1998? Two of my ex-Mattel pals, Caleb Chung and Dave Hampton created the “Must-Have” hot Christmas toy. It’s admirably clever in many ways, both mechanically and electronically (Figure 15). Furby moves its eyes, mouth, ears, and body using a single motor with gears and cams. Simple sensors and electronic sound made Furby one of the first interactive toys and gave the illusion of learning and “AI.” From my perspective, the big game-changer was Wowwee’s introduction of RoboSapien in 2004, when a hundred dollars bought a walking, talking, fully remote controlled robot (Figure 16). My friends and I would have sworn that we had died and gone to heaven if we had seen that robot back in 1970. The other edge of this sword, however, is that a more realistic robot requires less imagination from kids, so attention spans get shorter and kids keep expecting more. An astounding variety of robots from WowWee and other manufacturers has ensued, but I credit RoboSapien with starting it all and setting the bar so high. Thank you, Mark Tilden! So, that’s a quick look at various functional vintage robots in my toy collection. I hope that helps to answer your question. I left out so many popular robots; I didn’t even touch on the Zeroids or Robby, so maybe we’ll come back another time to revisit those.
Figure 16.
Meanwhile, keep on building and collecting, and send your questions to me at
[email protected]. SV Figure 15.
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Make Learning Fun!
By Steve Koci
How do we instill our hobby passion in our kids and teach them some valuable skills in the process? I’m sure many of you find yourself in the same situation I do. Since we like working with electronics and mechanisms, our family and friends think our skills are only useful when their broken items need fixing. This is all well and good, but can we utilize our technical skills in other ways? Instead of focusing on gifts for ourselves this season, let's take a look at a few items that we might want to wrap up for our youngsters this holiday. We’ll look at gifts that will inspire them and help introduce them to the exciting hobby we enjoy so much.
Figure 1. Learning doesn’t have to be boring!
Where to Start Hopefully, you have decided to pursue this course and begin your quest for an appropriate project to share with a willing youngster. Cruising the aisles at your local toy store probably will not yield the type of product we are looking for. How do you choose something that will not only be an enjoyable project but one that will teach some useful skills? We’re all familiar with the many snap-together block kits; some even include electronic components. I grew up building with LEGOs and have saved several boxes from my own kids that will be brought out of storage to be rediscovered as my grandkids grow into them. There is a wide selection of appropriate choices that can help spark an interest in discovering how things work. While these products can be a great starting point, there
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are many more opportunities to expand on the concepts we want to teach. There are plenty of kits available from many of the same sources we look to for our own projects. We’ll explore some of the products they offer that are appropriate for children. You can even save on shipping by including an appropriate gift in one of your orders. We may be encouraged by our significant others to shop for more electronics if the kids get to play too. (Wouldn’t that be a nice change!) If you’ve been looking for a reason to learn a new programming platform, this may be the perfect opportunity to give it a try. Why not incorporate that feature into your choice? That will allow you to explore and learn together. These projects give us the opportunity to bond with our kids and share our passion. Anytime we can pry our
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To post comments on this article and find any associated files and/or downloads, go to www.servomagazine.com/index.php/magazine/ issue/2017/11.
kids away from their video games and phones and engage them in learning that is actually fun, we all win. I have selected products from three of my favorite go-to electronics vendors to showcase. They come in a range of price points and are appropriate for differing age groups. The products I chose came from ServoCity, Parallax, and Robot Shop (Figure 1). Of course, in order to be sure they were worthy to be included in this list, I had to do some product testing. That meant assembling them and putting them through their paces. I simply had to spend some time playing with them. (I know, it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!) Although I have some experience in these systems, I attempted to approach them as if I was a beginner. I followed all the instructions and went through the tutorial examples that were provided. All four of the assemblies went together without any significant hitches, and I was extremely pleased with my selections. So, here they are in no particular order. You can find links to each of these kits in the Resources section.
DIY Animatronics
enjoyment of the gift made it all worth it, but that experience still haunts me! However, there is no arguing that these embellishments definitely add considerable bling to the completed project. Who doesn’t want their builds to look as cool as possible? I know it always made a big difference to my kids. A pair of curved tweezers will come in handy for installing the stickers, as well as putting the tracks together. It does not come with the necessary batteries, so make sure to stock up before this gift gets unwrapped! The kit comes with an illustrated guide that clearly depicts the entire assembly process. I had no issues getting mine assembled, and the completed mechanism worked like a champ! I will surely be modifying mine into one of the other configurations once the grandkids get tired of this one. You get three different designs for the price of one. I like it!
3-In-1 All Terrain Robot - $39.75 It’s important to have at least a basic understanding of how different mechanical devices operate. A curiosity of what is “under the hood” is an essential quality in developing an inquisitive attitude. Since shop classes have been discontinued as a result of cost cuts in our schools, it is up to us as parents to instill this inquisitive mindset into our children. This will help set them on the right path towards understanding the mechanical workings of the technology that will be so important in their lives. If you are looking for a project that teaches the mechanical aspects of our hobby, this multi-function OWIKIT kit available from RobotShop may be for you (Figure 2). It can be assembled into your choice of three different configurations. It’s an eye-opening experience to discover exactly how the toys you love operate. You will be assembling the gear trains, linkages, and control boxes, as well as the actual bodies of the mechanisms (Figure 3). This is a wired remote controlled project, so it also allows you to introduce your young protégé to this world at the same time. This kit brought back memories of my own childhood model building days. It has been a while, but the skills quickly returned. You’ll need to set aside several hours to complete the construction of this project. I spent over three and a half hours completing mine. Of course, I spent quite a bit of that time adding the supplied stickers. (This was never one of my favorite things to do!) Projects that include adding stickers bring back the unpleasant memory from one Christmas Eve, where I worked into the wee hours of the morning adding endless pages of stickers to a toy parking garage for my boys. Their
Figure 2. Which one do I want to build?
Figure 3. Well marked parts ease the construction process.
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of this bot up a notch. The programming for this bot uses an online graphical program (Figure 5). The drag-anddrop application contains multiple levels of complexity that walk you through learning Figure 5. It’s easy to use Ozobot’s visual programming language. the process. The layout was intuitive and encourages you to add more involved commands to your bot’s program. Transferring the program from your computer to the The Ozobot (which Ozobot requires no programming cables. You simply hold it also came from to the indicated spot on your screen, start the download, RobotShop) provides and the program is installed. No cables to misplace or instant gratification — damage makes the procedure that much simpler. something that is so The Ozobot also includes a social app that allows you important, especially to communicate and interact with other bots. Since I only when trying to interest have the one and don’t know anyone else who has one, I our youngest hobbyists was not able to evaluate this feature. Figure 4. Plenty of enjoyment (Figure 4). The box comes However, in this day and age where convenient packed in a small package. complete with the communication is so important, I see this as a popular charging cable, a double-sided track, and a set of markers element of this product. This creates a social atmosphere to to draw your own track. Within 10 minutes of opening the the learning process which helps keep the participants box, I had this small robot performing. His bright lights, engaged and entertained while still learning. That is a winentertaining sounds, and line following skills are sure to win situation! catch and hold the interest of our budding builders. You can use the included markers to control your Ozobot through its color language, and have it perform a variety of The Runt Rover from ServoCity comes complete with actions. It even has a remote control mode! everything necessary to construct your own line following The start-up guide was clear and easy to follow, and robot (Figure 6 and Figure 7). This project snaps together, quickly had me searching for how to take the performance
Ozobot $89.99
Zip Runt Rover - $49.99
Figure 6. This is a great introduction to the Arduino.
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Figure 7. All the parts you need to build a Zip Runt Rover.
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DIY Animatronics RESOURCES
http://bit.ly/2gWDdXX
3-In-1 All Terrain Robot — http://bit.ly/2y5qVk5
Robotic Hand — http://amzn.to/2xZtrYi
Ozobot — http://bit.ly/2h25RHp and http://bit.ly/2h3bYaF
Circuit Playground Tutorials — http://bit.ly/2h3T57B
Zip Runt Rover — http://bit.ly/2f51fzs and http://bit.ly/2xZfkm4
Deep Reach Marker — http://amzn.to/2xZtcfP
ActivityBot — http://bit.ly/2wpX8Rb and http://bit.ly/2jobIYe
My YouTube Channel — http://bit.ly/Halstaff
Hydraulic Arm — http://bit.ly/2f5DOpQ Drivable Robot Tutorial —
Figure 8. Well documented to make assembly a snap.
My Website — http://bit.ly/Hauntechdiy DIY Animatronics Forum — http://bit.ly/SrvoDIY
and was quick and easy to assemble. A few of the parts required a firm hand to snap in place, but I would much rather spend a little extra time getting parts locked together than have loose connections that will cause problems later. The only tool required is a small screwdriver for attaching the wires to the screw terminals. An extremely helpful assembly video tutorial is available which makes the construction and programming of the Runt Rover a breeze (Figure 8). Jason (one of the fine service techs at ServoCity) does a fantastic job of not only walking us through the build process, but he explains what is happening inside the code (see Resources). Learning the basics of how your code is set up and then seeing it in operation provides a real world example. This helps make the learning process more enjoyable. Everyone — especially kids — needs to be having fun in order to want to learn more! This bot utilizes an Arduino compatible board as its brains, which makes it the perfect project for anyone looking to get their feet wet with this platform. My kit came with the line following program already preloaded on the board (Figure 9). This is a great feature — especially if this is your first attempt using an Arduino board. Nothing like some immediate gratification to encourage you to explore what else you can accomplish! Turning the Zip Runt Rover on and off is done by adding or removing a jumper. My clumsy fingers always make installing small jumpers a frustrating experience, so I switched out the supplied jumper with one that has an extended tab on the top. It makes this task much more manageable.
This kit even includes the necessary 9V battery! We all know the frustration on assembling a child’s gift late on Christmas Eve and not having the proper batteries to bring it to life! No such issues here for those of us that are prone to procrastinate.
ActivityBot - $199.00 This project is more appropriate for some of our older builders. It comes from Parallax and takes the complexity up a notch, but delivers some impressive returns (Figure 10). It also comes with a heftier price tag, but this product moves out of the toy department and is intended for the high
Figure 9. The tutorial will take you through the programming step by step.
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Tips and Tricks
Figure 10. Taking it up a notch with the ActivityBot.
Have you ever been frustrated when trying to mark a hole in a hard-to-reach spot? I’ve had to resort to trying to accomplish this by taking careful measurements, but this is time-consuming and the results can be less than perfect. Another option is to use a quick blast of spray paint. The paint will pass through the hole and mark your spot. Effective, but it can be messy and I still have to track down a working can of spray paint. Having a Deep Reach Marker in your tool belt can come in handy and save some valuable time (see Resources). It also allows you to mark more quickly and accurately. The narrow shaft of the marker allows it to pass though holes with a diameter as small as 7/64 inches and 3/4 inches deep at its narrowest dimension. You can get additional depth, but the shaft does widen out as you go (Figure A). It’s permanent ink, works on wet or dry surfaces, and comes in several different colors. I prefer black as it shows up on most of the surfaces I work with, but you can get them in blue, green, or red as well. Since purchasing one, it has proved its worth several times. I will be sure to always have one close at hand.
Figure A. You will find plenty of uses for a Deep Reach marker. Figure 11. Parts are included for a variety of projects.
Figure 12. My modified ActivityBot ready to roll!
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school and college crowd. The impressive features include an SD card slot and micro SD card which allows for datalogging and file storage. A variety of upgrades can be added as you gain skill and confidence. At the heart of the project is a Parallax Activity Board (Figure 11 and Figure 12). I am very familiar with this platform as it is our board of choice for puppeteering projects. I have been extremely satisfied in my past experience using it, and can highly recommend it. This feature surely played a part in my selection of this product for our list. Out of the box, the ActivityBot is programmed using Propeller C (Figure 13). The Simple IDE (integrated development environment) programming software is a free download available on the Parallax website. Your ActivityBot can be expanded to utilize the BlockyProp graphical interface as well. This will take some added components, but will open up another valuable learning tool that we can take advantage of. The ActivityBot has added the necessary mini screwdriver and a small plastic wrench in its parts list. It’s always nice when I don’t have to be searching for exactly the right tool to complete a build. Batteries are not included
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DIY Animatronics in this project, so plan ahead. The online tutorial leads you through the assembly and programming of your bot in a way that is easy to follow. If you do hit any roadblocks, the Parallax Tech Support team is available to help. This valuable resource can help ease the learning curve and reduce the apprehension of working on a more advanced project. As an extra, I added the PING))) Protector Stand to my robot. The $14.99 investment seemed well worth the price to protect the sensor. Plus, it looks cool! You can find it at http://bit.ly/2eUCKBe.
Still Looking for More? The Internet is loaded with a plethora of Do-It-Yourself projects that will spark the inquisitive spirit in your kids. I have several on my “to do” list. One that I am especially interested in trying is the syringe hydraulic robot arm (see Resources). I can see plenty of application possibilities for this idea when designing my creations. What if making your own remote controlled bot is more your speed? No worries as this is a great way to go as well. The challenge is finding a project that results in quick satisfaction that keeps the kids interested and teaches the concepts we are passionate about. SparkFun has put together a great how-to video that will walk you through the basic process of building your own drivable robot (see Resources). If you’re looking for another mechanical project that meshes more closely with our own character development, you might want to check out the robotic hand kit listed in the Resources. It looks like a fun build and seems to have lots of potential. Adafruit offers some fantastic tutorials with their Circuit Playground (see Resources). These howtos are created especially for kids, making them easy to relate to and understand. If you have a beginner builder, I suggest you run through the videos before you get started. It will help set a foundation for them to build on.
Figure 13. You can choose to program in Blockly or C.
products that we cannot even imagine today. Let’s make sure they’re ready while having some fun in the process! If you have any projects that you have enjoyed sharing with your children, please post them in our own Do-ItYourself Animatronics forum at http://bit.ly/SrvoDIY. I’m always looking for additional items to add to the kid’s gift lists. Until next month, MAY THE PASSION TO BUILD BE WITH YOU! SV
Time to Put Away the Toys These are just a few examples of the many products that are available to incorporate into your child’s learning curriculum. Hopefully, you’ll find the time spent as a family a rewarding experience that will advance your child’s knowledge as well as your own. You may find that you now have a new enthusiastic assistant! With the continued advancements in technology, it is imperative that we provide our youth with the necessary tools to succeed. The next generation will be creating SERVO 11.2017
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NEW PRODUCTS X-Rail
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ervoCity’s updated version of the Actobotics X-Rail extrusion comes with some cool new features and compliments the already extensive building system. The X profile provides a slot in the center of each of the four sides to capture X-Rail mounts and solidly fasten components anywhere along the rail. While that might exhaust the ingenuity of other brands of extrusion, the Actobotics X-Rail has other key features that increase the versatility. The corners have been radiused so that the X-rail has a 1" diameter. This means users can install it into a 1" bearing and use it as an axle or even use 1" clamps to fasten components at any point along the rail and at any angle. The 3/8” bore can be used as a passage for shafting, threaded rod, or routing wires. Plus, it can also be used to locate a 3/8" OD ball bearing in order to create a rotating assembly. Dimensionally, the X-Rail is exactly half the size of the channel so that the geometry remains correct for expanding assemblies with additional Actobotics parts. It is available in lengths from 1.32” up to 48”. Pricing ranges from $2.39-$12.99.
of X-Rail. The Lbrackets are constructed of zinc plated steel to provide excellent strength and corrosion resistance. Clad a single side of the joint or (for ultimate strength) clad both sides. The thru-holes allow you to pass 6-32 x 1/4" length screws through and into threaded X-Rail mounts for a no-slip connection. Each plate has a series of holes to choose from and work well with the single or dual X-Rail mounts. These brackets come in a twopack and are also priced at $1.79.
X-Rail T-Bracket
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he X-Rail Tbrackets from ServoCity provides a simple way to make a Tjoint with X-Rail and feature the same attributes as the L-brackets. They also come in a twopack for $1.79.
X-Rail Surface Adaptor Bracket
Flush Perpendicular X-Rail Mount
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he X-Rail surface adaptor bracket allows you to attach an Actobotics part with threaded holes to the side of an XRail. This part has slotted thru-holes that align with both the 0.770" pattern, as well as the side of the 1.5" pattern (measuring 1.061"). When the bracket is fastened to the attaching part, the 632 screw heads will fit down inside the X-Rail slot so that the surface adaptor bracket can sit flush against the side of the X-Rail. The bracket then fastens using the outer pair of holes to the X-rail using two single X-Rail mounts and two 6-32 x 1/4" length screws. The brackets come in a twopack and are priced at $1.79.
T
X-Rail L-Bracket
T
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he X-Rail L-bracket also from ServoCity provides a way to create or support a 90 degree joint between two pieces
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he flush perpendicular XRail mount provides a low profile way to attach two X-Rails together perpendicular to one another. The four counterbored holes allow 632 socket head screws to pass through and thread into the end of an X-Rail while leaving the heads below the surface so that the joining part can rest flush on the mount. The joining piece is then able to fasten to the mount using two single or one dual X-Rail mounts, along with two 6-32 x 3/8" socket head screws. Price is $3.49.
Raised Perpendicular X-Rail Mount he raised perpendicular X-Rail mount also provides a way to attach two X-Rails together perpendicular to one another. The four holes evenly spaced around the 1/2" center hole are intended to allow 6-32 socket head screws
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to pass through and into the threaded holes on the end of an X-Rail. The remaining outer holes are spaced on the side of the 1.5" hub pattern (measuring 1.061" apart) so that they properly align with a dual X-Rail mount or two single ones to
fasten a second X-Rail to the bracket in a perpendicular orientation. The slightly increased height (as compared to the flush version) offers access to the hollow bore of the XRail if you wish to run wires through the center bore. The raised mount is also available for $3.49. For further information, please contact:
ServoCity
Oscilloscope with Universal Platform Support
www.servocity.com • 50 MSPS Sample Rate • Portable and easy to use Oscium revolutionized test and measurement with the introduction of the first capacitive touchscreen oscilloscope. iMSO software is free to download, regardless of the platform. There are no software license fees or limit to the number of hosts that can have the software. The iMSO-204x hardware can be purchased for $399.97. For further information, please contact:
O
scium announces the iMSO-204x: a mixed signal oscilloscope with universal platform support (iOS, Android, PC, Mac). Oscium's oscilloscopes have traditionally worked with iOS only, but with this new product they are adding Android, PC, and Mac. Some highlights of the new oscilloscope include: • Universal platform (iOS, Android, PC, Mac) • Two Analog + Four Digital Channels
Oscium
www.oscium.com Continued on page 58
We’ve got the bots you’ve been looking for. . . .
With hundreds of parts and the latest in robotics control . . . the possibilities are endless. TETRIXrobotics.com SERVO 11.2017
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bots
IN BRIEF
COOLBOX OPERATOR
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obody knows exactly how our kitchens will operate in the future, but Panasonic's vision includes a moving refrigerator that responds to voice commands. The company has been showing off a concept for such a device that could make it into our homes in the next few decades. Essentially, the Movable Fridge is a coolbox glued on top of a robot vacuum cleaner that has a voice interface. With its built-in LIDAR (light detection and ranging) and depth sensor, the device theoretically would scan your home and be able to navigate around on its own. According to Panasonic, the idea is that the unit would always be listening for a command such as "Fridge, come here." Then, it would emerge from its spot in the kitchen wall and scoot over to you without bumping into your household pets. Panasonic intends this to be used by the elderly and those with mobility issues, saving them from unnecessary trips to the kitchen. The company is also considering adding a warming plate to the top to be able to move warm meals from room to room. Too bad it’s not ready for this year’s football season.
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bots
IN BRIEF NEW BLOODLINE
M
atternet (a Menlo Park, CA based company; https://mttr.net) has long used Switzerland as a testing ground for its delivery drone technology, and now it's ramping things up a notch. The company has revealed plans to launch the first permanent autonomous drone delivery network in Switzerland, where its flying robot couriers will shuttle blood and pathology samples between hospital facilities. When a drone lands, the “Station” locks it into place and swaps out both the battery and the cargo (loaded into boxes by humans, who scan QR codes for access). Stations even have their own mechanisms to manage drone traffic if the skies are busy. The automation isn't just for the sake of cleverness — it might be crucial to saving lives. Company chief, Andreas Raptopoulos expects the drone network to transfer medical supplies within 30 minutes. The maximum distance a drone can travel is 20 km (12.4 miles) depending on weather conditions like high winds, and they have cruising speeds of 70 kilometers per hour (43.5 MPH). Matternet says that initially about one to two drones will operate per network. Each station features an “automated aerial deconfliction system” that manages the drone traffic heading its way. If this network succeeds, it might persuade other countries to at least consider allowing drone networks.
DANCING WITH THE DOBIs
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his happened a few months ago, but if you missed it you’ve got to check out the 1,069 Guangzhou-based WL Intelligent Tech Dobi robots dancing in sync to establish a new Guinness world record. Currently aimed at the Chinese market, the voice-controlled Dobi retails for around $250. It’s very versatile, with the multi-jointed robot able to quickly get on its own two feet from a prone position or to break out some cool kung fu moves. The android’s battery keeps Dobi going for about 40 minutes. You’ll know when the juice is running low because its eyes will turn from blue to red. Check out the cool video of the dancing bots in action at https://finance.yahoo.com/news/watch-more-1-000-humanoid063534326.html?.tsrc=fauxdal.
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I’LL PUT A HEXA ON YOU
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incross’ six-legged robot called HEXA is a highly maneuverable programmed robot that is easily adaptable so novices can practice programming and coding skills using simple commands. HEXA can climb stairs, and crawl and explore all kinds of terrain. Vincross has some really cool videos of the HEXA going through its different paces on their website at https://www.vincross.com/en/hexa. If the over-sized insect doesn’t creep you out, you will be totally mesmerized.
UNDERWATER IRONMAN
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yan Kung and David Shulman, two Silicon Valley engineers behind Eclectical Engineering — a YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/PyroGeeks) dedicated to bringing imaginative contraptions to life — have created an underwater Ironman-inspired jetpack capable of propelling
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someone through water faster than Michael Phelps on his best day in the pool. Of course, combining battery-powered motors and water is a recipe for electrocution. That explains why the two men spent the bulk of their time figuring out how to create a watertight seal for the jetpack’s battery compartment which contained powerful lithium batteries. Shulman was fairly terrified to conduct the test. Fortunately, he survived and the project was a complete success. At top speed, the underwater jetpack clocked in at 6.25 MPH, breaking Phelp’s record of 6 MPH. The propellers were more powerful than expected, with Shulman noting that at times it felt like they were “going to pull my arms off.” The pair — who do most of their DIY engineering on the weekends — estimate they spent about 60 hours and $1,000 to make the jetpack a reality.
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YOU’LL FLIP FOR THIS GRILL COOK
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ince flipping burgers is a hot and greasy job, it makes it perfect to bring in a robot to do the cooking. Enter Pasadena, CA based Miso Robotics: They have rolled out a new robotic kitchen assistant called Flippy. Miso Robotics CEO and co-founder David Zito said, “We focus on using AI and automation to solve the high pain points in restaurants and food prep. That’s the dull, dirty, and dangerous work around the grill, the fryer, and other prep work like chopping onions. The idea is to help restaurants improve food quality and safety without requiring a major kitchen redesign.” Miso Robotics was funded in part by the quick service restaurant, CaliBurger which makes and sells “California style burgers,” and operates in 12 countries. All of Miso’s employees went to work in CaliBurger kitchens as grill cooks before and while working on the original design of Flippy. The burger bot takes the form of a relatively small heeled cart that’s equipped with a six-axis robotic arm and a “sensor bar.” It can be installed in front of or next to any standard grill or fryer. It takes in data from thermal sensors, 3D sensors, and different cameras onboard to perceive its environment. Digital systems that send tickets from the counter back to the kitchen is how Flippy gets its orders. Flippy grabs unwrapped burger patties, moves them into position on a hot grill, keeps track of each burger’s cook time and temperature, then alerts human cooks when it’s time to apply cheese or other toppings. Flippy then plates the burgers but doesn’t wrap them or add finishing touches. So, are cooks in commercial kitchens flat out of a job? Not quite yet. Humans are still needed to add the lettuce and special sauce.
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EVENT REPORT: House of Robotic Destruction Gets Colossal ● by Chris Olin his year, the Ohio Robotics Club (ORC) was invited to host their “House of Robotic Destruction” (HORD) Insectweight combat robot tournament during ColossalCon for a second year. ColossalCon is one of the nation's premier anime and cosplay conventions. Every June, ColossalCon fills the massive Kalahari Resort, Water Park, and Convention Center located near Cleveland, OH, with close to 20,000 attendees for a four day weekend of crazy costumes, dance parties, video games, panel discussions, pool parties, and fighting robots. Registration for HORD 2017 opened in February, and within two
T
extend the allowed time slot. The ORC then upTeam Mostmint with staffed, pulling in several Russian Winter. friends and family members for a total of nine dedicated event staffers. On event day, ORC’s setup team rolled into Kalahari at 6:00 a.m. with ORC's octagonal arena (see “Creating the HORD Arena” SERVO Magazine, October 2016). Soon after, Team Adventure Bots arrived and lent their many hands to setting up the room and arena. A few hours later, 44 robots were checked in and ready for combat, while numerous weeks an unprecedented number of Con attendees anxiously waited for robots had registered. To meet this the mayhem and destruction to start. challenge, ORC’s leadership team Combat started with 18 worked with ColossalCon's events Antweight bots fighting in a doubledirector to move HORD to a elimination tournament. Early round bigger room and highlights included Jonathan La Plain's
Fleaweight Black Mini Skirt by Steve Savage.
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Royce Chung's Meteorite after battling Warren Purvin's Demise.
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To post comments on this article and find any associated files and/or downloads, go to www.servomagazine.com/index.php/magazine/issue/2017/11.
COMBAT ZONE
John and Nathan Elmes drive Thunder & Lighting against Douglas Wright driving Buffy, while 200+ spectators look on.
vertical spinner, The Snip defeating Stanley Bohenek's drum spinner, Fun Sized in a hard-hitting weapon-onweapon match. The Snip then sent Ryan Bohenek's two-wheeled wedge, Recharge to the loser’s bracket. Meanwhile, 2 Bite Brownie (driven by Andrea Valenzuela) wedged her way through the early rounds to the winner’s bracket semi-final, where she was defeated by The Snip. In the loser’s bracket, Recharge won three straight matches to face 2 Bite Brownie in the loser’s bracket semi-final. The two wedges faced off in an exciting driving duel that ended with Recharge earning the victory and a rematch with The Snip in the single elimination final. Recharge and The Snip clashed in a weapon-on-wedge final that ended in a reversal of fortune for Recharge who won the match and took home first prize. Meanwhile, the Beetleweights started their double-elimination tournament with 16 robots, including Team MUGGA JUNK’s mom, dad, and son trio (Amy, Douglas, and Sawyer Wright), each with their own D2 kit based robot and this year's only multibot, Thunder & Lighting, driven by the father and son team of John and Nathan Elmes (HORD’s youngest driver). Thunder & Lighting — a 2 lb
undercutter spinner and a 1 lb wedge — started off strong, defeating Mandy Marschat's wedge bot, Envious Poison, but then fell to MUGGA JUNK and then to Buffy. MUGGA JUNK went on to win two more fights, taking him to the winner’s bracket semi-finals. Meanwhile, Buffy — after losing to Warren Purvin’s Wedge Of Allegiance — battled through the loser’s bracket winning four matches, including one against his team mate (and wife) DC to earn his spot in the
loser's bracket semi-finals. In a stunning upset, the young rookie Sawyer Wright driving MUGGA JUNK defeated highly accomplished veteran, Purvin and Wedge Of Allegiance in a controversial judge’s decision. Wedge Of Allegiance dropped down to the loser’s bracket semi-final, defeated Buffy (driven by Sawyer’s dad), and faced MUGGA JUNK again in the final. Wedge Of Allegiance won the rematch, adding another first place trophy to Purvin’s
Introducing the
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PICBASIC PRO™ Compiler
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ME Labs’ Advanced K40 D-Stick provides all the functionality of Microchip’s 40-pin PIC18F47K40 in a hardware module that includes a USB on-board programmer and virtual COM port. Available now with a 6’ micro USB cable ONLY $49.99! SERVO 11.2017
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Russian Winter driven by Kurt Cossick vs. The Rock driven by Richard Kelley.
Sparks fly during Beetle rumble.
Amy, Sawyer, and Douglas Wright with DC, MUGGA JUNK, and Buffy.
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already large collection. HORD also featured eight Fleaweights fighting a doubleelimination tournament. Perennial power-house, Demise — armed with an undercutter disc and driven by Purvin — first faced off against Steve Savage's Black Mini Skirt — a walker bot with saw blades spinning around the whole robot. However, even with the 100% walker weight bonus, Black Mini Skirt was no match for the speed and power of Demise. Meanwhile, the powerful drum spinner, Meteorite defeated Heave Ho and Bar Buster — both driven by long time HORD competitor, Richard Kelley. Meteorite was driven by California native, Royce Chung who came to HORD while on his way to a summer job in Michigan. Meteorite then faced Demise in the most destructive Flea match in HORD history. Demise was able to knock out Meteorite's weapon, but took a beating in the process. Meteorite fought back through the loser's bracket to face Demise again in another action-packed match. Demise defeated Meteorite again and claimed first prize. Meteorite settled for a wellearned second. This year — for the first time ever — 6 lb Mantisweight robots faced off in the HORD arena. The Rock, a brick bot driven by Richard Kelley; The Leveler, an undercutter bar spinner driven by Chad Savage; Dark Matter, a vertical saw spinner drive by Sean Mackie; and The Russian Winter, a horizontal cage spinner built by five high school students from Additional thanks go to this year's sponsors: ColossalCon (colossalcon.com) Dimension Engineering (www.dimensionengineering.com) FingerTech Robotics (www.fingertechrobotics.com) ServoCity (www.servocity.com) SERVO Magazine (www.servomagazine.com)
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COMBAT ZONE Wadsworth, OH fought a full round robot tournament. In the first round, The Rock faced Russian Winter, whose weapon was slightly off balance, causing the robot to gyrate in a wildly entertaining fashion. Unfortunately, it failed to score any major hits against The Rock, who won the match. Next, The Leveler faced off against Dark Matter, who suffered an electronics Standing (left to right): Andrea Valenzuela with 2 Bite Brownie; Jonathan La Plain with failure and began to Pushy Wushy; Nathan Elmes with Hard Rhino; Chad Savage; Scott Johnston with smoke. Dark Matter was quickly transferred to a fire- Gigajoule; Dillon Kirkpatrick with Russian Winter; Chris Olin; Warren Purvin with Wedge Of Allegiance; Justin Smith with Rising Phoenix; Richard Kelley with The Rock; and Ryan proof container and taken Bohenek with Recharge. Kneeling (left to right): William Chen; Malik Hollis; Royce Chung outside by ORC's safety with Meteorite; Austin Gabel; and Glenn Purvin with Flea and Beetle 1st place trophies. coordinator, Ron Baron. Once the bot was deemed safe, it was returned to the pits Results and repaired. Awards Bot Name Driver City State Two more rounds of Mantis Fairyweight fights resulted in The Rock 1st Demise Warren Purvin Harrison Twp. MI sweeping the field, winning three matches and claiming first 2nd Meteorite Royce Chung CA place. The other three bots each 3rd Heave Ho Richard Kelley Carlisle PA won one match and a three-way Antweight tie for second place was 1st Recharge Ryan Bohenek Bloomsburg PA declared. 2nd The Snip Jonathan La Plain Muncie IN Two rumbles finished out the day. First were nine 3rd 2 Bite Brownie Andrea Valenzuela Toronto ON Antweight robots fighting a four Rumble Rising Phoenix Justin Smith Palmer MA minute free-for-all, which ended Best Driver Blur Speed Nathan Elmes Shaker Heights OH with Justin Smith's two-wheeled Beetleweight wedge, Rising Phoenix as the last 1st Wedge Of Allegiance Warren Purvin Harrison Twp. MI bot standing. Nine Beetles 2nd MUGGA JUNK Sawyer Wright Pittsburgh PA fought next against each other with Douglas Wright's Buffy 3rd Rumble Buffy Douglas Wright Pittsburgh PA winning. Mantisweight It was a fantastic day of 1st The Rock Richard Kelley Carlisle PA robot combat! ORC would like to 2nd The Leveler Chad Savage Rootstown OH thank all the builders that helped 2nd Best Death Scene Dark Matter Sean Mackie Flanders NJ make this the biggest and best 2nd Most Entertaining The Russian Winter Kurt Cossick Wadsworth OH HORD ever. SV A special thanks to the volunteers who made this event possible: Chris Olin: Bracket Manager
Tiffany Olin: Time Keeper
Andy Buczko: Video Photography
Ron Barron: Safety Coordinator
Ian Chan: Bot Wrangler
Judy Chan: Still Photography
John Olin: Judge
Bryan Shay: Master of Ceremony
Greg Shay: Music
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Review
Build a Drone Crash Beacon
By John Leeman
I’ve been toying with ideas about using drones to help with agricultural evaluation, but keep having the same vision of my quad plunging down into a corn field. After hours of searching, I doubt that I would be able to find it (there are such things are corn mazes, remember). In fact, it would probably sit out in the field until harvest and then be mercilessly ground up by harvesting equipment. Who knows what the aging and weathered battery would do. Not a situation I want to be in. So, I’ve made a beacon that will make finding a downed copter much easier.
Introduction Many vessels are equipped with emergency beacons. Aircraft and seafaring vessels both have position beacons and even an infamous “black box” that records state data. I wanted a simple beacon that would help me find my downed quad in the simplest way possible. First, I considered a GPS beacon that would send a text message with the final resting coordinates via the cell network. That seems over-complicated and assumes that there will be cell coverage — not always a given in remote areas. It also is a complex enough system that several things could go wrong, including the shearing of an antenna during a crash. Next, I considered a Wi-Fi solution that would just require me to be near the vehicle. There are still concerns about the antenna surviving the crash, and I would need to be pretty close to the craft in the first place. It also consumes a lot of power, meaning that it wouldn’t be a beacon for very long on a small battery. Large batteries add weight and I want to remain independent of the quad’s power system in case that is what caused the crash. With that solution out as well, I decided that something following the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle would be the best. The solution I settled on was indeed dead simple: a piezo buzzer. Once the quad detected that it was in free fall, I wanted a loud tone set to be broadcast every few seconds. Sound carries surprisingly well and our ears are great direction finders. I couldn’t quite leave the system that simple, so I thought it would be nice to have a quick and easy arming mechanism, a visual status indicator, and a low battery warning. With these features in mind, I needed to figure out how to detect free fall and then get to work.
Detecting a Crash The first order of business was determining when the
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beacon needed to be activated. I didn’t want it to accidentally turn on during normal flight, requiring a trip back to home base to turn off the beeping. Failure to activate during a crash would be just as bad. A few sensors come to mind. I could sense the altitude and activate when the rate of decent exceeded some threshold (also known as the derivative for those versed in differential calculus). This would most likely work, but requires measuring the surface pressure, filtering noise on the signal, and a few other annoyances. I could use a gyro and trigger on high angular velocities, but not all crashes have significant spin components to them. I finally settled on the accelerometer. The one thing most crashes will have in common is a period of free fall. In fact, I think it would be pretty hard to have a powered downward acceleration (flying with the quad upside down) that is stable for any length of time. Even if you hit an obstacle, the subsequent descent is in free fall. Now that we know an accelerometer is what we will use, we need to figure out how to interpret the data it is giving us and determine when the craft is falling out of the sky. To do that, we need to first understand exactly Figure 1: Accelerometers will report what acceleration is the accelerations they experience in the X, Y, and Z directions. and what the Knowing that gravity always accelerometer tells us accelerates things towards the Earth’s center of mass (straight about it. down for this practical application), Fundamentally, we can resolve the relative acceleration is the orientation of the sensor.
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The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
Figure 2: The measured X, Y, and Z accelerations (red, blue, green, respectively) can be added to produce the total acceleration vector (black). The length of this vector is the magnitude of acceleration being experienced by the sensor.
rate of change (remember, that means derivative) of velocity, which is the rate of change of position. Figure 3: The LightBlue Bean is a nice compact development board Acceleration is measured with a microcontroller, in m/s2 (often said as accelerometer, temperature sensor, RGB LED, and Bluetooth meters per second per module. (Image courtesy of second). PunchThough.com.) The largest acceleration that we all experience every second of every day is the acceleration of gravity. Gravity has a “constant” acceleration of 9.8 m/s2 on average at the surface of the Earth. It is what holds us down in our chairs and fights us on the stairs every morning. Sometimes we measure accelerations with respect to gravity using the unit of “gs.” So, 1g is 9.8 m/s2; 2g is 19.6 m/s2; and so on. Since gravity is a large and constant signal of 1g that points straight towards the center of the Earth, it’s what accelerometers measure. Essentially, accelerometers tell us which way is down (Figure 1). The flight controller on your quad uses an accelerometer (among other sensors) to keep itself level and stable. So, how does knowing the direction of down help us out? Think about an object in free fall. The object is being accelerated by gravity toward the center of the Earth. What acceleration would an accelerometer attached to this freefalling object measure? Zero! In fact, if you’re going fast enough when you are in free fall, we call it orbit, and you’re on the international space station where things seem weightless because you’re all falling towards the Earth at the same rate that the Earth is falling away from you. Great. So, we look for when our accelerometer reads
zero and then Figure 4: The Bean offers four PWM trigger, right? Well, capable pins, with six digital pins. (Image courtesy of PunchThough.com.) not quite. First of all, it won’t read exactly zero because of pesky things like air resistance and other approximations we made in the spherical chicken approach above. The other complication is that most accelerometers measure acceleration in three directions (X, Y, Z) that are fixed with respect to the case of the accelerometer. That’s great for determining your orientation, but not so great unless we only want things to work when falling in a single orientation. The most robust way to do this is to calculate the magnitude of acceleration being measured, or the Euclidean distance (Figure 2). Luckily, that’s a pretty straightforward formula. We can then set a threshold and compare our acceleration magnitude to it, then decide if an alarm is necessary.
Hardware My first reaction given this set of desired functionalities was to open up KiCad and cut a PCB (printed circuit board). I would need to include a microcontroller, programming interface, LED(s), accelerometer, and buzzer. Given that I wanted to rapidly build and use this crash beacon and only needed one, that seemed like overkill. I went digging through my box of dev boards and found the perfect platform: the LightBlue Bean (Figure 3). I first heard of the Bean back when Punch Through Design (https://punchthrough.com) was Kickstarting it. I bought one and used it on an early version of my drone atmospheric sounding system. You can read about those early adventures at www.johnrleeman.com/2015 SERVO 11.2017
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To post comments on this article and find any associated files and/or downloads, go to www.servomagazine.com/index.php/magazine/issue/2017/11.
/07/30/dronesounding-prototype or follow the build of the final version of the system in the November 2016 issue of SERVO. The Bean is equipped with a microcontroller, Bluetooth module, RGB LED, accelerometer, prototyping area, and coin cell power. Perfect! Another interesting feature of the Bean is that it’s programmed over Bluetooth via the regular Arduino IDE (integrated development environment) or the Bean Loader iOS/Android apps. I recently acquired a 12.9” iPad Pro and wondered if I could take Figure 5: I added the piezo buzzer a simple project from to the prototyping area and tucked start to finish with only the resistor to ground away under the PCB. This Bean has been used the iPad (including in a lot of temporary/ writing this article). demonstration projects and the The only things the PCB has seen a few better days. Bean didn’t have onboard were the buzzer and the arming mechanism. I again found a surplus piezo buzzer in my junk bin and soldered it onto the prototyping area. I connected the positive terminal of the buzzer to pin 3 of the Bean. Any pulse-width modulation (PWM) capable pin will work (Figure 4). I then connected the negative terminal to ground through a 1K resistor (Figure 5). The arming mechanism is just going to be a high/low state detection on a pin. I soldered a wire to pin 4 of the Bean and the other to ground. For testing, I just left them as flying wires since the mounting problem hadn’t been
Figure 7: This setup function runs when the unit is powered up, and takes care of housekeeping like configuring the accelerometer and GPIOs.
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thought about yet (Figure 6). In terms of actual hardware assembly, that’s it! I like that there are only a few connections to make as they would be the first things to go during a hard crash.
Firmware The firmware is written in C++ like any other Arduino project, but we have some additional functionality through the Bean library. You can learn about these through the reference on Punch Through’s website or by exploring the macros menu in the apps. Being able to insert the correct call from a menu makes development Figure 6: Arming wires are run very fast with fewer fatattached to ground and pin 4. finger typos. Like any microcontroller project, we should start out by designing a state machine diagram. In this case, things are pretty simple. We have an initialization, check for free fall, and alarm state. We could add a wait state in there if we wanted, but this program is simple enough we won’t follow a strict design pattern like we have in the past. We will handle all the initialization tasks in the setup function as it only runs when the microcontroller powers up. In this state, we set the range of the accelerometer (to ± 4g in this case); enable the low g motion event (more on that later); make sure the RGB LED is off (0, 0, 0); set the buzzer pin to be an output; and set the arming pin to be an input with the internal pull-up resistor enabled (Figure 7). In the main loop that runs over and over again, the first thing we need to do is check if the system is armed.
Figure 8: The main loop handles any state transitions, as well as determining if the system is armed or sleeping.
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The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist
Figure 9: This simple function lets us know when we need to be adding a spare battery to our flight bag by indicating three states of charge with the onboard LED.
Figure 10: If the unit is in a free fall state, this function will increment the fall duration counter; otherwise, we reset it.
Figure 11: The alarm state turns on the LED and plays the tones before going to sleep. Once the arming connector is replaced, the program returns to the main loop.
If we are in free fall, we add to a counter called Remember that the arming pin is pulled up, but our fall_duration that keeps track of how many consecutive “remove before flight” plug connects it to ground. So, if the queries have resulted in a free fall determination. This is a pin is low, we know the system isn’t armed (i.e., the plug is way to make sure we didn’t get a bad reading or that we still inserted) and we can sleep for a while. happened to read the accelerometer just as a wind gust In this case, I decided to sleep for one second as was swatting us around. If there is not a fall detected, we response time isn’t critical. Right off the bat, you should make sure that this counter is set to zero (Figure 10). notice that I didn’t use the delay function as you normally If the fall_duration counter is at or greater than our would in an Arduino sketch. Delay simply counts until some threshold, we have decided that we are really in a harmful amount of time passes, but using the sleep function from free fall and go to the alarm state. Otherwise, we turn the the Bean library, we are actually putting the microcontroller battery-indicating LED off and go back to sleep for a half into a low power state. That’s crucial to making the battery second (Figure 8). last a long time (Figure 8). If the pin is high, that means the flight plug has been pulled and the system is armed. We first turn on the LED based on the battery level using the getBatteryLevel function. This function returns the battery level as a value between zero and 100. If the battery is at or below 50%, we will make the LED yellow. At or below 20%, it will be red, and above that, it’s green (Figure 9). Next, we need to determine if we’re falling. You will notice that I’m not reading the X, Y, and Z accelerations and calculating the vector magnitude. This particular accelerometer (along with the Bean library) allows us to just look for high acceleration events, any movement, or low acceleration events. A LOW_G_EVENT is a free fall detector! All we need to do is Figure 12: Developing on iOS was a surprisingly pleasant experience, except for the strange check if there is a low acceleration editor indentation behavior. I liked not needing to carry a laptop and USB cable around to be event detected. able to develop wherever I was. SERVO 11.2017
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Figure 14: The enclosure for this project prints in 1-2 hours depending on your settings, and is a press-fit.
Figure 13: The desktop Bean Loader makes uploading firmware created in the traditional Arduino IDE easy.
Figure 15: A radio microphone plug makes a great and secure arming plug. The security of the threaded attachment makes sure it will not pull out and begin going off in my toolbox or flight bag. I shorted pins 1 and 4 together.
Figure 16: The final product is bright, sturdy, and small. The internal LED makes its way through the relatively thin shell and the sound carries out of the enclosure very well.
The alarm state is itself a semi-infinite loop. The program immediately enters a while(true) loop that turns on the LED to a red state (maybe you could see it after dark?), then produces a series of three sets of high-low tones using the tone function. The first tone is 880 Hz for a second, then a 100 ms pause before a 440 Hz tone. After that, the LED is turned off. Lastly, we check if the arming plug has been plugged back in. If so, we have found our drone. We then break out of the infinite loop, return back to the main loop, and get ready for another flight without a need to re-power the system.
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There is a five second sleep between the loops of the alarm state to help save battery life (Figure 11). Generating tones more frequently than that is unnecessary and wastes power. So, overall, the firmware is pretty straightforward. Developing on iOS was a very interesting experience. I like the menus of Bean specific functions, but found the integrated editor slightly frustrating as the autoindentation did some strange things (Figure 12). I ended up cleaning up the code in another editor after I had it working. You can download the firmware and even see its evolution from hacky working code to a nicer and well commented code at the article link or my GitHub repository (https://github.com/jrleeman/CrashBeacon). You can, of course, develop on a desktop/laptop using the Arduino IDE. The only change to the normal workflow is downloading and installing the Bean Loader tool and associating it with your Arduino IDE. Then, you set the Bean as the target board type, click compile/upload, and the binary is made available to the Bean Loader application. It can then be uploaded to the Bean from there (Figure 13).
Testing
Testing the system is a bit tricky as I don’t exactly want to crash a quadcopter for the sake of it. As a first approximation, I simply reduced the trigger threshold to two events, so that tossing it up in the air would produce enough free fall time to trip the beacon. Just don’t forget to change the threshold back before putting it on your quad! With the arming wires connected, there should be no activity on the Bean. When the wires are separated, the system should arm and you will see the LED flashing with
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The Multi-Rotor Hobbyist the event of a crash. I haven’t totally ruled out the idea of a GPS/cell beacon at some point. I also would consider adding a larger buzzer and/or light, but would then need to add additional battery capacity. Finally, I’m considering extending the functionality to include fall triggers for things like parachute deployment. Stay tuned! Until next month, fly safely. SV
the battery status. If you toss the beacon into the air, it should alarm by the time you catch it. To shut off the alarm, hold the arming wires together for a few seconds. You should now be back to the beginning state where you can arm the device. If you run into trouble, double-check your connections and that you updated the pin numbers in the sketch if you modified your layout.
Installation Mounting the beacon on the drone poses an interesting question. Is this a permanent component or can it be moved from vehicle to vehicle? You certainly could mount it onto your quad frame with double-stick tape, zip ties, or Velcro™ with various levels of permanence. This would let you mount the arming connector to the drone frame as well. Another option is to make a small self-contained unit in something like a pill bottle or 3D printed enclosure. Just be sure to leave holes for the audio to clearly project! I opted to make a simple 3D print that held the Bean and a radio microphone connector for the arming connector (Figure 14). You could use anything you have on hand; an XT60 comes to mind as a good solution. I just made a shorting plug to use to disarm/reset the system (Figure 15). You can even buy a “remove before flight” tag from Amazon to remind yourself if you so choose (http://amzn.to/2wUWTiG). You can get my 3D print files at the article link or project repository. The system doesn’t need to be rigidly affixed to the quad, but doublestick tape is my general answer to such problems. It could be attached with a zip-tie as well. Finally, I tested the system on an inexpensive toy and verified that I like the response. Overall, I was very happy with the results for a quick Saturday project!
Closing Thoughts Now that you have a locator beacon (Figure 16), it should be easier to find your downed craft in
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SERVO 11.2017
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The ARMadeus Project
T
he ARMadeus Project is a series of large scale robots designed for experimenting with electrical and mechanical components. As an engineering mentor since 1995 with a local FIRST team (FRC Team 58), I’ve been conditioned to building big bots. This conditioning has heavily influenced my personal robot projects, as well. Those familiar with FRC robots will recognize many of the parts I use. Previous ARMadeus versions were dedicated robots with various configurations of articulated arms; hence, the inspiration for the project name. With this iteration, I took a different approach. The current ARMadeus Mk. 11 model consists of a universal mobile base with interchangeable personality modules. Main drive, power distribution, pneumatics, and actuator control electronics are housed in the base. The
Applying the “divide and conquer” principle simplifies the building of large scale robots.
personality module (which easily attaches to the base) defines the primary operation of the robot, so it contains the hardware for a particular function, torso, arms, head, weapons, etc. Not every model in the series was a roaring success. The Mk. 1 used high traction wheels in a 4WD configuration with a relatively short wheel base. It ran smoothly while moving in a straight line, but not so well when turning. Nearly every model since then now uses front wheel drive with non-powered rear wheels. I’ve also learned the importance of managing the center of mass. Another early version weighed 165 lbs with arms reaching seven feet in the air. Unfortunately, it was prone to face-planting when its direction was changed abruptly. Newton’s first law wins every time.
Design Philosophy
Figure 1. Pneumatic hexapod circa 2000.
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I strive to build with off-the-shelf components whenever possible. When necessary, I’ll modify an existing part with the tools I have available. The only large power tools I use are a drill press and a band saw. You don’t need full machine shop capability to construct large scale, high quality robots. I also find a cordless drill, a decent selection of hand tools, some intelligent planning, and careful measurements to be equally useful. I use ExpressPCB design software for creating low cost custom printed circuit boards (PCBs). ARMadeus Mk. 11 uses three custom boards, a compressor control board, a level translator for shifting 5V analog sensor signals to 3.3V levels, and a fourchannel 12V switch. Since my background is electrical not mechanical, I tend to think in terms of simple mechanical components. I like to break the design process down into modular subsystems. I divide and conquer, paying particular
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By James Milan
To post comments on this article and find any associated files and/or downloads, go to www.servomagazine.com/index.php/magazine/issue/2017/11.
attention to minimizing the mechanical and electrical interfaces between the modules. This module concept allows me to design, test, and optimize each subsystem independently before final assembly. I use 80/20, Series 10, Tslotted aluminum extrusions as the primary structural elements. When weight is not an overriding concern but a robust adjustable design is, T-slotted extrusions are the way to go. Corner brackets and joining plates allow for infinite configurations. The finished product has a clean industrial look. I routinely make custom component mounting plates from 3/16” thick aluminum and 1/4” thick ABS material. Attaching to the frame is simple, and minor positional adjustments are painless. One of the first large scale robots I built was a four foot long/100 lb hexapod using 80/20 extrusions for the frame and legs (Figure 1). The conventional tripod gate was achieved entirely with pneumatic cylinders. From that point on, 80/20 hardware became my favorite construction material.
Figure 2. 80/20 aluminum extrusion robot chassis.
slotted aluminum extrusions (Figure 2). I’ve been using the same two NPC-2212 12V gear motors for my drive system for several years. The pair provides more than enough speed and torque — even for a 150 lb robot. The 1/2” bore keyed aluminum hubs and 6” wheels from AndyMark complete the drive motor assembly (Figure 3). The 6” rear Omni wheels are also from AndyMark.
The Chassis The 36” x 26” chassis is made from (what else) TMechanical, electrical, pneumatic robot parts andymark.com Aluminum T-slotted aluminum extrusions 8020.net
Resources
NPC motors robotmarketplace.com Robot controller ez-robot.com Robot electronics revrobotics.com Air compressors viaircorp.com Linear actuators firgelliauto.com Digital panel meters, Anderson connectors powerwerx.com Mechanical and pneumatic parts, fasteners mcmaster.com PCB Design Software expresspcb.com
Figure 3. NPC drive motor with dual six inch wheels.
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Figure 4. Robot chassis with battery and compressor installed.
Figure 7. Hinged top panel allows easy access to power distribution circuits.
Figure 5. Electronics module.
With the Viair 250C-IG compressor installed between the drive motors and the battery mounted at the rear, the completed 8” high chassis (Figure 4) accounts for nearly half of the robot’s total weight. This configuration with its smooth turning ability and low center of mass has proved to be very stable. I find no compelling reason to redesign the basic chassis. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Electronics Module
Figure 6. Robot controller electronics.
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I constructed the electronics module using an 80/20 frame and two parallel panels of textured ABS (Figure 5). The bottom level contains a Power Distribution Panel (PDP) from Cross The Road Electronics. The main battery power connects to the input of the PDP through a combination 120 amp circuit breaker/power switch. Each of the 16 PDP branch circuits has its own auto-resetting circuit breaker, ranging from 5 to 40 amps. The robot controller and associated support electronics are installed on the top level (Figure 6). The top panel is hinged to allow access to the PDP circuits (Figure 7). Despite all the internal
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Figure 8. Front end of electronics module with SPARK motor controllers installed.
power connections, very little wiring is visible. As a debugging aid and to monitor performance, I installed digital panel meters to measure battery voltage and current in real time. To cover future needs, I added a servo power module from REV Robotics. The 6V/15A device will power up to six high power servos. I always isolate the servo power to prevent surges from causing controller brown-outs. I’ve used various electronic speed controllers (ESCs) over the years. My current favorite is the SPARK from REV Robotics. The SPARK is rated at 60A continuous current and features bi-directional limit switch inputs. The limit switch inputs allow smart motor control without tying up controller I/O pins. I installed four SPARK motor controllers at the front end of the electronics module, along with a relay for switching the compressor (Figure 8). The electronics module firewall includes another two SPARK controllers for the drive motors and a breakout panel array of Anderson Powerpole connectors (Figure 9). The top row of connectors corresponds to the four top mounted SPARK controllers. The bottom row of connectors is for the compressor power and three auxiliary 12V/10A ports. The leading edge of the electronics module sits directly under the personality module. Individual motorized actuators (M1-M4) in the personality module simply plug into the breakout panel. The Law of Selective Gravitation dictates that a dropped object will land where it will do the most damage. To mitigate the risk of unwanted pyrotechnics, I installed a clear polycarbonate shield over the exposed contacts of the SPARK motor controllers. I designed the electronics module specifically with the future in mind, trying to provide the command and control resources needed for even more complex personality modules than the Mk. 11 requires. I could have selected any number of popular
Figure 9. Drive motor controllers and connector array mounted to electronics module firewall.
programmable microcontrollers to use. I chose the EZRobot EZ-B v4/2. (He chose wisely.) There is no code to be downloaded. Instead, the controller’s awesome capabilities rely on the built-in Wi-Fi capability of the EZ-B and the inherent processing power of a host PC or laptop. The EZ-B software (called EZ-Builder) also includes an extensive scripting language for creating autonomous routines. If you haven’t done so, check out this amazing robot controller. The top electronics panel also includes a 10 watt audio amplifier to take advantage of the EZ-B speech synthesis and audio file playback features. The EZ-B controller has 24 digital I/O pins — any number of which can be used as PWM (pulse-width modulation) outputs to drive servos or speed controllers. The Mk. 11 currently uses only nine. I consider labeling a critical aspect of wire management — even more so as the robot complexity increases. Every motor controller is labeled with its function, PDP branch circuit number, and EZ-B digital I/O port assignment. Like the belt and suspenders redundancy analogy, PWM signal cables are labeled at both ends. An E-stop switch is a must for a robot of this size and weight. Hitting the switch disconnects power going to the EZ-B and instantly disables all servos and speed controllers. It’s a function I’ve had to use while testing the drive system in the confines of my basement. I added a secondary key switch to temporarily disable only the two drive motors. It’s a handy function to have for demonstrations, allowing untrained personnel to operate the robot without the fear of crashing it into nearby spectators.
Turret Module The last section of the robot base is the turret module. It houses the hardware for storing and regulating the SERVO 11.2017
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Figure 10. Pneumatic components mounted inside tower with turret assembly removed.
Figure 11. Pneumatics system control dashboard.
Figure 13. Turret assembly.
Figure 12. Surplus turntable unit.
compressed air (115 PSI) for the pneumatics system. The turret module consists of a top turret plate and four 80/20 posts forming a tower. I mounted four 574 ml air tanks inside the tower, along with a plate for supporting the high and low pressure manifolds (Figure 10). Pressure gauges, a pressure regulator, and a custom compressor control board are mounted on the dashboard at the back of the tower (Figure 11). The compressor control board uses a pressure switch and some simple gate logic to operate a relay, which turns the compressor on and off. This allowed me to debug and run the pneumatics as an independent system without any connection to the main controller. It also frees up two digital I/O ports.
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Not many robot builders use pneumatics. Most of my robots don’t require it either. So, the unused space was available inside the tower. What I had planned for the first personality module was begging for pneumatics. I couldn’t let that call go unanswered. Having a robot with an integrated pneumatics system already installed opens the future to some interesting design possibilities. I consider a rugged motorized turntable the Holy Grail of robot parts. In the late 1990s, surplus 12V turntables were readily available. These units (Figure 12) were originally designed to rotate satellite dish antennas. I have several of them which I’ve used for both torso and arm rotation. Sadly, these gems are now impossible to find. Several years ago, AndyMark introduced a turret kit to the FIRST community. It was perfect for the type of robots I build. The key parts of the kit included a stationary turret plate, a turntable bearing, and a 240 tooth aluminum turret gear. The 300 mm diameter turntable bearing can
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Figure 15. Base plate for first personality module. Figure 14. Completed robot base.
Figure 17. NERF Blaster internals.
support loads up to 330 lbs. The kit also included a gear-driven 10-turn pot for positional feedback. A 75 RPM gearmotor with a 32-tooth pinion effortlessly rotates the turret gear. The overall design of the Mk. 11 was centered around this turret assembly. The turret gear sits at an ideal height of 24” above the ground. I installed six 10-32 x 1.5” machine screws in the turret gear. This would form the mechanical interface between the base and the personality modules. The personality module simply drops onto the protruding machine screws and is secured with brass thumbnuts. To complete the turret assembly (Figure 13), I added a cam to the turret gear and two limit switches at the back of the turret plate. Rotation is limited to a 225 degree arc. I now had a rugged and stable mobile platform. The finished robot base (Figure 14) awaits installation of the first personality module.
Figure 16. NERF Vortex Nitron Blaster.
With the universal ARMadeus base finished, the robot needed a character infusion to bring it to life. The first step was to design a mechanical interface to the robot base. I decided to use 10” diameter 1/8” thick aluminum plates as the foundation for the personality modules. After carefully centering a plate with the turret gear, I drilled six #10 mounting holes at 60 degree intervals around the edge of the plates, with the pre-drilled turret gear serving as a drill guide. I drilled a 3” clearance hole at the center of the plate for routing wires between the base and the personality module. Drilling a 3” hole in aluminum with a hole saw is a lot of fun. Not! After drilling a few extra holes and adding a pair of 80/20 rails, the base plate for the first personality module was complete (Figure 15). SERVO 11.2017
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Figure 18. Extracted launcher assembly.
Figure 19. Pushrod before and after modification.
Figure 20. Modified pushrod attached to pneumatic cylinder.
Figure 21. Completed launcher assembly.
Armed but Not Dangerous As a change of pace from building robot arms, I decided to design something that fired projectiles and had a reasonably high ammo capacity. Airsoft and paintball guns were an option. Maybe a little less dangerous weapon system might be more appropriate.
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NERF makes guns that shoot discs and darts. A foam disc launcher seemed to be the safest alternative. I bought two discontinued NERF Vortex Nitron blasters from eBay (Figure 16). If one launcher was good, then two would be even better. The launchers are capable of using 20-round magazines or 40-round drums. At the time, I had no clue as to how easy or difficult hacking the blasters would be. Challenge accepted. Opening the case revealed a daunting array of motors, switches, and small plastic parts (Figure 17). The blaster used a high speed spinning wheel to propel the foam disc — a conventional method of accelerating round objects. It also used a secondary motor, a multistage gearbox, and a cam connected to a push rod. This generates the reciprocating motion that forces a disc into the path of the spinning wheel. Besides being overly complex, it took up an inordinate amount of space. I decided that the launch motor could stay, but the complicated firing mechanics had to go. A pneumatic firing mechanism would give me precise digital control, allowing single shot and full auto modes to be easily implemented with software. Tediously removing screw after screw, I finally extracted the launch motor assembly and the push rod. With a few judicious band saw cuts, I saved just enough of the original outer case. That part of the case was needed to align and secure the magazine to the launcher. After an aesthetic touch-up with some black spray paint, I mounted the hacked launch motor assembly to a 1/4” thick clear polycarbonate plate (Figure 18). The push rod was modified by cutting off the cam end and installing a 10-32 threaded spacer (Figure 19). The rod end of a 7/16” bore 1.5” stroke single-acting pneumatic cylinder threads into the other end of the spacer (Figure 20). After adjusting the optimal firing position, the cylinder bracket was secured in place on the 80/20 frame. The resulting firing mechanism is simple and elegant (Figure 21). At 30 PSI, the cylinder pushes the lightweight foam disc with a force of 4.5 lbs. The pair of 1/4” thick machined aluminum Aframe plates for the gun mount are one of the few exceptions to the use of off-the-shelf parts. A machinist made them for me years ago. Having a machinist friend is a good thing. The heavy-duty plates are all that remain from a long-gone pneumatic catapult project. The plates had been collecting dust for years. I could have easily fabricated equivalent parts, but these were too good to be left wasting away. I added 5/8” bore bearings, 12” long aluminum angles, and 4” long threaded spacers to complete the basic gun mount (Figure 22). Six lbs of heavy metal — well,
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aluminum — just for the gun mount frame. Overkill? Absolutely. Next, I installed a Firgelli Automation 3” stroke linear actuator from my collection. I paired it with a 5/8” diameter keyed shaft for adjusting the launcher angle between -15 and +75 degrees. Linear actuators are some of my favorite mechanical components. They are available in different stroke lengths and force and speed combinations. With simple mounting and built-in limit switches, what’s not to like? Figure 22. Heavy-duty gun mount frame. I use them extensively for robot Figure 24. Gun mount with linear actuator and speakers arms. The Mk. 7 model used six linear actuators for the installed. torso, shoulder, and arm movement. There was some empty space at the front of the gun I added two ABS panels to the top rail for more mount. Since Nature abhors a vacuum, I installed a pair of electronics. The front panel has two 12V LEDs wired in eight ohm speakers there (Figure 23). parallel with the launcher motors, providing visual warning The completed launcher assemblies are now ready to indicators that the motor is spinning and ready to fire be installed to the gun mount shaft (Figure 24). I added (Danger, Will Robinson!; Figure 25). two additional 80/20 posts and a top rail. The launcher motor spins in excess of 15,000 RPM. I The posts provide convenient mounting locations for also connected a LIDAR-Lite rangefinder to this panel. The the pneumatic solenoids, while the top rail supports a rear panel contains a four-channel video multiplexer, a video transmitter and target monitoring video cameras at custom four-channel 12V/1.5A switch for energizing the each end in-line with the launchers. pneumatic solenoids, and a three-axis accelerometer for measuring the launcher tilt angle (Figure 26).
Figure 23. Speaker assembly.
Figure 25. Front panel with LED warning lights and LIDAR-Lite rangefinder.
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Figure 26. Rear panel with video mux and solenoid switching electronics.
It’s Alive The launchers shoot the discs about 60-70 feet. The design of the disc limits the range more than the motor speed. The more impressive feature is the rate of fire. The fast-acting pneumatics can simultaneously empty both 20-
Figure 27. Completed personality module with dual disc launchers and 20-round magazines.
round magazines in about SIX seconds, flooding the target area with foam projectiles. The 30 lb personality module (Figure 27) mates perfectly to the turret gear (Figure 28). The 140 lb ARMadeus Mk.11 (Figure 29) functions as expected. The
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Figure 29. Completed ARMadeus Mk. 11 robot.
Figure 30. ARMadeus disassembled and ready for transport.
universal base and turret interface designs work well. The modular design and test concept was very successful, allowing the entire robot to be quickly disassembled into five sections for transport (Figure 30). So, what’s next? I definitely want to tinker with the current model and explore the power of the EZ-B software before the next build. NERF has a new line of guns that shoot miniature foam golf balls at 100 fps. Hacking them would be even simpler than the disc blasters. Maybe, it’s time to take foam-based weaponry to the next level. I also have a number of body parts (pan/tilt head, arms, grippers) from the remains of previous robots. If nothing else, the Mk. 11’s predecessors served as willing
organ donors. Additionally, there are a number of multiple DOF arm designs I’d like to try. When I do decide to construct a Mk. 12, I won’t have to start from scratch. SV
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Figure 28. Close-up of mechanical interface between the personality module and the turret gear.
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One Good Eye
An Open Source 3D Scanner By Dave Prochnow
To post comments on this article and find any associated files and/or downloads, go to www.servomagazine.com/ index.php/magazine/issue/2017/11.
Take a rancher from Montana, modify a product from Spain, use software named after the Egyptian sky god, and you get a 3D scanner with an international flavor — but does it work? February 2016, a rancher from Big Timber, MT with a company named CowTech Engineering (www.cowtechengineering.com) launched a crowdfunded project on Kickstarter that was able to convince 1,400 backers to plunk down $183,800. The subject of this successful project (the goal was originally set for $10,000) was a $99 open source 3D scanner. Unfortunately, reality and a wee bit of manufacturing cost overrun forced the final scanner into costing $159 for the fully assembled “ready to scan” model. However, there are two other 3D scanner options available: a $119 standard kit model and budget-priced $60 DIY version. While the standard kit requires that you make your own 3D printed parts, the DIY version is even more austere, lacking the Arduino, power supply, camera, and lasers.
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Lacking a suitable camera and twin red lasers, we opted for reviewing the standard kit.
One Good Ojo This CowTech product is marketed as an open source 3D scanner. Ironically, the real inspiration for it came from another open source 3D scanner. The Ciclop 3D Scanner Kit was an innovative product by BQ in Las Rozas, Spain. Notice our emphasis on “was.” BQ discontinued manufacturing and support for the Ciclop in late 2016/early 2017. While you can still download all of the BQ support materials (in fact, CowTech directs many of their support documents to these archived BQ downloads) and you can find the basic scanner 3D printable parts on
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REVIEW
Figure 1. The CowTech Ciclop 3D scanner standard kit parts plus my 3D printed parts.
Figure 2. This is proper configuration for assembling the Arduino clone, control board, and stepper motor driver together.
Thingiverse, the product is no longer being manufactured. Curiously, you can still buy some of the original BQ kits from various online vendors (i.e., lulzbot.com). Even more curious, CowTech elected to call their final shipping 3D scanner model the CowTech Ciclop 3D scanner. By using the same product name, did CowTech do this as an homage to BQ or as a reference link for buyers to gain support documentation? We don’t know for sure, but it does make you scratch your head. CowTech does not claim that their Ciclop is an exact copy of the BQ version. And it isn’t, either. The CowTech unit has reworked the 3D printed parts, created a series of acrylic parts, and sourced a different electronics package. While based on an Arduino Uno clone, the CowTech version shies away from the ZUM BT-328 control board and the ZUM Scan power board. Instead, the CowTech Ciclop uses a CowTech-branded control board shield and an A4988 stepper motor driver for moving the turntable and controlling the camera and lasers. This formula must be working for CowTech. They’ve sold 1,700 Ciclop units to date. So, is this all marketing hype or is the Ciclop 3D scanner a new tool that you should add to your workshop? I decided to find out.
Here’s Looking at You I ordered a Ciclop standard kit from CowTech. While waiting for it to arrive, I downloaded and printed all of the required Ciclop 3D parts from Thingiverse (see Figure 1). Each part printed easily. There were nine items to print:
Figure 3. The electronics wired and inserted into the Ciclop 3D scanner.
camera base, motor base, camera holder, back plate, laser holder (2x), bearing holder, laser holder core (2x), gear, and pattern holder (2x). I used a polylactic acid (PLA) filament for printing these parts. When the kit arrived, I found out that it had some minor sanding, cutting, and scraping that needed to be done with several of the 3D printed parts. These alterations were necessary due to the close-fit tolerances between the acrylic parts and the 3D printed parts. This was not a serious issue; just a precautionary step to prevent breaking any of the acrylic parts. Assembly of the CowTech Ciclop 3D scanner kit is guided by a 35 minute hardware assembly video on YouTube. After watching this video, you should be good to go for getting everything put together properly. This video is supplemented by a Scanning Guide PDF. Refer to this PDF for connecting the Arduino clone, control shield, and stepper motor driver (see Figure 2). The video is difficult to understand during Steps 15-24, but the guide has several excellent photographs for supplementing the video (see Figure 3). Unlike the kit depicted in the video, my kit did not contain any wire clips. Nonetheless, I was able to route the stepper motor cable through the former wire clip attachment points from the motor base to the camera base. This camera base destination is shown in Figure 4. There is one small deviation from the assembly video that I performed on the kit. Instead of pressing the bearing into the bearing holder as shown in Figure 5, I opted to press-fit the bearing onto the motor base like you see in SERVO 11.2017
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Figure 5. The bearing holder attached to the turntable, sans bearing. Figure 4. Routing the stepper motor cable through the camera base.
I installed the “pre-release” release candidate Horus on a Linux platform using the Gallium OS Figure 6. The turntable seemed to run more smoothly with operating system. That’s right, Horus isn’t even a Version this small modification to the assembly instructions. 1.x product — yet. While this software issue isn’t CowTech’s The total time for assembly of the kit was fault, it is the major reason behind the overall failing of the approximately three hours. Most of this time was spent Ciclop 3D scanner. sanding and testing (with lots of retesting) the fit between Technically, Horus is a point cloud generator. Once this the 3D printed parts and the CowTech acrylic parts. point cloud is gathered, you must use MeshLab (a solid Eliminating these intermediary part preparation steps would consumer-grade product) for rendering the normals, have reduced the assembly time down by half. generating the mesh, and saving the image as a stereolithography (STL) file that is suitable for 3D printing. While the MeshLab side of this point cloud processing setup worked favorably, Horus was a source of continual In our opinion, the CowTech disappointment. We tried 68 hardware and scanner assembly is different scans of 44 products superior to the original BQ Ciclop (see Figure 7) and not one of the version. The CowTech 3D printed resulting point clouds was worth parts were easier to make and the the time consumed with components played very well with alignment, calibration, and testing each other. that went into each failed attempt Conversely, the threaded rods at scanning a simple object. that were used in the BQ version The best result that I were always a sore sticking point, obtained was a hollow point whereas the T-slot nut holders in cloud cylinder of a very solid 3Dthe CowTech design are a looking RoboSapien V2 (see wonderful improvement. That’s a Figure 8). big collective yee-haw for the Oddly enough, when this CowTech Ciclop standard kit. You reasonably good looking could argue with the CowTech RoboSapien V2 point cloud (see Ciclop 3D scanner, however, that Figure 9) was imported into the hardware is only as good as MeshLab for generating the the software that drives it. In this mesh, a large cylindrical hat was case, CowTech relies on the dated placed on top of its now 3D scanning software developed misshapen head (see Figure 10) by BQ for their discontinued — yet another failed scan that scanner. This software — called didn’t even materialize into our Horus — is difficult to wrangle desired goal of a 3D printed Figure 6. The bearing fitted onto the under your control. doppelgänger. motor base.
The Eye of This Storm
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REVIEW
Figure 7. A laser light show for RoboSapien V2. NOTE: The white background was used for photographic purposes only.
Figure 8. Ready to scan in Horus.
Figure 9. The RoboSapien V2 point cloud scan is just a little scrambled — even after four hours of fiddling with configuration settings.
Not Seeing Eye to Eye
Figure 10. The same point cloud from Figure 9 gains an inexplicable cylinder hat in MeshLab.
CowTech must realize that Horus is the weak link in their Ciclop 3D scanner package. They’ve attempted to address the Horus failings with over 20 pages of guidance within the back pages of the aforementioned PDF. Meticulously following each of these CowTech steps didn’t help with the failed scans. Based on my experience with the Ciclop 3D scanner, however, I’m confident that with enough experimentation you could eventually get a workable point cloud from Horus. It’s so close right now. Even though the hardware is very well done, the available software is inadequate and lacking in the needed support for making 3D scanning a viable step in your 3D object workflow. For example, during one of the laborious scans, Horus coughed up an error, “Scanning laser and texture has generated a LogicTech error. This is a known Linux error.” Subsequently, Horus crashed and we had to restart our computer. CowTech needs to find better software support. As it stands now, the CowTech Ciclop 3D scanner kit is a reasonable purchase that features great hardware and excellent assembly technique. Unfortunately, it’s the software that is an epic fail. Until a better point cloud 3D scanning application appears, in my opinion, the CowTech Ciclop should be let out to pasture. SV SERVO 11.2017
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Rise of the Neuromorphic Machines Prologue In the future, according to a recent technical report [1], neuroscientists will finally unlock the secrets of the human brain and create robots that think and act like we do. The breakthrough will come when the brain has been completely reverse-engineered and integrated with the latest in neuromorphic computing.
T
o be worthwhile, such a machine will need common sense. If it feels that you are in pain or confused, it will aptly alter the way it interacts with you. When acting autonomously, it will be aware of its environment and suitably alter its mission. If it’s walking down the sidewalk and sees a little girl falling off her bicycle, it will respond like any human would in this situation. If it accompanies you to a musical play, it will be able to discuss its music, acting and artistic merits, perhaps over a glass of wine at the local pub. Now we come to some seemingly unanswerable questions. Will the robot actually take pleasure in helping a human or watching a play? Would we even know if it does? These questions are rooted in what is called machine consciousness. How do we create consciousness when we don’t understand it or its objective in humans? Why do we feel gladness when we look at the stars, see a close friend, climb a mountain, or kiss in the moonlight? Human consciousness is probably the greatest thing that has ever evolved. If we manage to create it in machines, it will unquestionably be mankind’s greatest accomplishment, changing the way we look at ourselves and the future of our universe. Some may have qualms about machines with humanlike intelligence and consciousness. Some are certain they
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will be friendly and care-taking. Others feel there is a huge potential for misuse with bad selfish robots taking over the world. After reading this short story, you may look at the situation differently.
Sometime in the Future ... After a long and tiring day at Neuroco, Gary is in his autocar riding home. It feels good to relax and close his eyes for a little while. His autocar will take him home without assistance. In the meantime, he could catch up with his messages. But why bother? Lani has probably taken care of that. Anyway, his head is still too full of the new neuromorphic project at work to listen to messages. It was time to clear his head and consolidate his thoughts. The work on neuromorphic computing at Neuroco had succeeded even beyond their dreams. His group had been working on a thinking machine that would solve the oldest problem of the computer age: a machine that could plan and reason like a human. It had now been over seven years since their first success was produced: a working synthetic neocortex. They had hoped it would be incorporated into some form of robotic brain. However, management decreed otherwise, and it was shipped to a secret robotics facility in another country for further work.
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By George R. Steber
To post comments on this article, go to www.servomagazine.com/index.php/magazine/issue/2017/11.
Whatever happened to it there was anyone’s guess. Gary often wondered if he would ever see his creation again, possibly in the form of a beautiful, intelligent hubot. But that was the past and they had now moved on to other projects. Even so, the glow of that achievement still lingered in his memory. There was a big gap between Neuroco’s synthetic brain and yesterday’s computers. Most early efforts centered on computer simulations of the brain. The old K supercomputer was one of the first efforts at brain simulation. It was extremely large by today’s standards, having 672 computer racks with 68,542 CPUs while consuming over nine megawatts. It could simulate 1.73 billion neurons, but was extremely slow since it needed to solve billions of equations describing the dynamics of networks and cells across a membrane. K Supercomputer. The first major brain simulation was carried out in a Japanese K supercomputer in 2014. The project was a joint enterprise We now know that is not the best way to build a between the Japanese research group RIKEN, the Okinawa Institute of thinking machine. Computers that exclusively used Science and Technology, and Forschungszentrum Jülich (a research Boolean logic are just not very efficient at emulating center based in Germany). (Courtesy of Fujitsu.) a brain. However, it was not clear what a neuromorphic The next step was to abandon microprocessors and system would do except possibly some brain research. use a neuromorphic computing system with memory and About this time, a method of applying computational computation intertwined. The IBM TrueNorth chip — while models for multiple layers was developed that made still a fully digital system — was based on custom neural dramatic advances in classic computing. This approach circuits that implement a neural model. Its neurosynaptic came to be known as deep learning. It held much promise core contained groups of neurons in a two-layer network. and delivered good results in pattern recognition Those neurons were mapped to spiking neurons applications. connected by grid-like synapses to other neurons. A Unfortunately, deep learning failed to deliver on the spiking neuron played an analogous role to a logic gate. promise of producing a computer with reasoning and Spikes were essentially electrical impulses that were language skills, like HAL9000 in the movie, 2001: A Space formed and transmitted along the network. These and Odyssey. Nonetheless, it provided a stepping stone to other inputs were then processed by the neural network. unique low powered neuromorphic technology that Neuroengineers back then used neural networks since they caused neuroengineers of today to consider completely enabled a computer to learn from observational data. different alternatives. The advance happened because the neuroengineers at Neuroco looked at the brain as a vastly different type of computer — one that may be bad at crunching numbers, but a wonder at processing information from our surroundings. The brain’s greatest ability is to learn from the world, to plan, and to execute. One component of the brain — the neocortex — is responsible for this intelligence. Only humans and other mammals have a neocortex. In the human brain, the neocortex is the largest part of the cerebral cortex which is the outer layer of the cerebrum. It takes up about 75 percent of the brain’s volume, and contains both excitatory and inhibitory neurons named for their effect on other DARPA SyNAPSE 16-chip board with IBM TrueNorth. TrueNorth is a neurons. neuromorphic CMOS integrated circuit produced by IBM in 2014. It is Amazingly, at birth, the neocortex knows nearly a many-core processor network on-a-chip design with 4,096 cores, nothing. It must be taught through experience. each one simulating 256 programmable silicon "neurons" for a total of just over a million neurons. (Courtesy of Wikipedia.) Everything we learn about the world — from eating, to SERVO 11.2017
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Simplified model of the human brain. The reptilian brain controls breathing, hunger, survival, and reproduction. The midbrain is responsible for memory, sociability, attack, anger, love, anxiety, fear, and hate. The neocortex is responsible for logic, analysis, rational behavior, emotions, language, and morals.
walking, to playing with objects — is stored in the neocortex. This information (mainly in the form of patterns) is stored by forming new synapses in the neocortex. This enables you to recognize objects and recall them from your memory. As might be expected from this process, the neurons become connected in highly intricate patterns. A typical neuron has a single tail-like axon and tree-like extensions called dendrites. In the past, neuroscientists believed that learning occurred solely by modifying existing synapses, by altering the probability that cells would fire. Now it is known that most learning results from growing new synapses between cells; in effect, rewiring the brain. These new synapses form new patterns and therefore new memories. When a neuron learns a new pattern on one of its dendrites, its branches are nearly independent and it doesn’t interfere with other patterns it has learned. Hence, the brain does not need to be re-trained every time something new is learned. These and other attributes of the neocortex were well known at Neuroco. The breakthrough came when Gary’s group learned how to synthesize an artificial neocortex using 3D microscopic printing, enabling them to build a realistic version of the human brain that could learn from its surroundings. A telltale bump in the driveway disturbed his reverie, signaling that he had arrived home. As the autocar was being parked in the garage, Gary began to look forward to a nice relaxing evening at home. Perhaps after dinner
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they could listen to an old “Bix” Beiderbecke record from the 1920s. Lani was sympathetic to his passion for old records but sometimes groused just a little bit. “I don’t understand why you like that metallic sound. We could easily have it enhanced to quadraphonic making it more listenable.” Still, Gary felt that secretly, she liked the old records too, in spite of their tinny sound. As he approached the front door, the auto-recognition system signaled its approval and unlocked the latch. As a neuroengineer, Gary worked with the most complex instruments on the planet. At home, he was content to live with only the bare essentials. The auto-recognition system was one of his concessions to modern times. Their home was located in a natural wooded area on the outskirts of the city. Behind it was a small pond where little creatures, squirrels, geese, and rabbits congregated. It was a modest house by most standards — much less than their large stipends from Neuroco could easily provide for — but it suited them perfectly. It had the usual rooms, including a smart kitchen primarily for Lani, and a media room for Gary’s collection of old movies and records. Gary did not like modern movies produced by artificial intelligence. They seemed, well ... too artificial. On another level, there was a small workshop where he and Lani could work on their various projects. Gary liked to tinker with things, and Lani liked freehand drawing and scrapbooking. In another concession to modern life, they each had a small office with a photonic connection to Neuroco to be used on days when they worked from home. Opening the door, Gary saw Lani sitting in a comfortable old chair by the fireside. It looked like she had just finishing one of her drawings. “Hi Lani, I’m home.” She looks his way and gives an appreciative smile. He gazes at her, seemingly for the first time. They had met a few months ago at Neuroco while working together on a project involving one of Gary’s ideas: the neuro-physician. She was a new staff member, a bio-physicist, tasked with creating the neocortical neuron’s dendrite, axon, and soma components while maintaining biological fidelity. He first saw her through the laboratory window leaning over a counter, looking at a computer screen in the deserted room. She was a medium curvaceous girl in a blue uniform carefully chosen to fit to her best advantage. Soft brown hair tumbled back from a tanned healthy face that sported only a trace of lipstick. Her wide steady gaze flicked up as he strode in, then she smiled warmly. “Hi, I’m Doctor Lani Ross. You must be Doctor Mitchell.” “Let’s keep it informal. Please call me Gary.” Working together for long periods often put them in close contact, and a friendly natural relationship began to
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digital computer or the neocortex of a human brain. In develop. It would ultimately form into a beautiful bond. other words, if two systems are functionally He didn’t know much about her except that she was from indistinguishably, they will be mentally indistinguishable. a far-off place and was a first-rate physicist. As an aspiring At first, Gary believed that the brain’s biggest leader in the group, her winning personality and clear component — the neocortex — might be responsible for voice earned his respect. She exuded a certain beauty consciously seeing and hearing things since it was because she was not afraid to be herself. She seemed like primarily responsible for intelligence. However, research the only real thing in his artificial world. into this structure had not been successful in people or He was immediately struck by her deep curiosity animals. It was at this point that a completely different about the project. She seemed unusually interested in the theory of consciousness emerged that provided a just and human-like machines (hubots) they were designing. Where true answer to the question. did their intelligence come from ... were they conscious? It did not originate from our behavior or from the He tried as best he could to explain how they made the neocortex, but from our own consciousness — the only machines intelligent, but consciousness was another experience we can absolutely rely on. It’s similar to the matter. Even the scientists at Neuroco couldn’t fully clear and simple intuition of the renowned philosopher, answer that one. Descartes — I think, therefore I am. Either way, the topic made for good conversation and This new theory — integrated information theory (IIT) brought them closer together. They spent many hours — attempts to explain what consciousness is, what it takes discussing what it means to be conscious. For the joy of for a physical system to have it, and how one can measure tête-à-tête, they would sometimes take opposite its quantity and quality. viewpoints. She liked to argue for computationalism: the It identifies five axioms or properties that are true for widespread theory of human consciousness popular in every imaginable experience of consciousness. They contemporary philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience. include: intrinsic existence, composition, information, According to this concept, the mind is the seat of integration, and exclusion. The details of IIT are quite consciousness. It is the thinking-feeling “I” part that involved, but can be translated into requirements for any behaves as an agentic force related to the brain but conceivable physical system. somehow separable from the body. It asserts that all Expressed mathematically, IIT can be employed to mental states are computational states. assess the quantity and quality of consciousness for any When you experience a kiss from your partner or physical entity — be it the brain of a human, a robot, or a painfully stub your toe, these are fully characterized by CPU chip. In other words, a test can be devised to their functional relationships to relevant sensory inputs, behavioral outputs, and other computational states derived from the experience. In this view, brains are simply elaborate inputoutput devices that work on symbolic representations of the world. Our brain is the computer, and our minds the software. Lani further argued that computationalism applies to the way a brain feels in a particular state. Because that is what consciousness is about: a subjective feeling, an experience, the way we see, hear, and remember. It assumes that a painful experience (stubbing my toe) is but a state of my brain where certain nerve cells are active in response to the pain in my toe. Furthermore, if these various states are simulated in software on a computer, the system should not only behave like me, but think and feel like me. Lani contended that consciousness is Neurons. Neurons are electrically excitable cells that link up with one another, nothing more than the instantiation of the sending electrical signals through complicated circuits that span the body, spinal relevant computational states. How the cord, and brain. Each of the brain’s 86 billion neurons can connect to numerous others. Neurons receive incoming signals from structures called dendrites, and computations are performed physically does output signals through its long axon. not matter. It could be the hardware of a SERVO 11.2017
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SpiNNaker machine. This half million core computer (shown with its doors removed) is suitable for spiking neural networks up to hundreds of millions of neurons, roughly equal to a mouse brain. It is openly available — at no cost — as part of the human brain project. (Courtesy of the University of Manchester.)
determine if an object is conscious. The sound of Lani’s voice snaps Gary back to the present. “Have a good day?” “Yes, it was okay ... I see you’re working on a new sketch. May I see it?” She stirs from her chair and comes toward him. She gives him a gentle hug and plants a tender kiss. There is a slightly concerned look in her eyes. “Yes, of course. How do you like it?” She shows him the drawing pad with a pencil rendition of a small bunny, one that he had probably chased away for nibbling the impatiens. They often laughed when she chided him about that. “You know, the bunny was here first.” Gary glanced at the drawing. “Ooh, it’s very nice. I really like your penciled drawings. They’re so realistic ... let’s add it to the scrapbook after dinner.” He often wondered where she got that talent, but she wouldn’t talk about it much except to say it was part of her schooling. A great deal of her past, in fact, was cloaked in a type of secrecy that she was reluctant to discuss. “By the way, we received 255 messages and nine phone calls today. Our spam blocker caught most of them but a few got through. Those guys are getting better at it.” “I answered them all except the one from your mother. She wants to know if she will ever have
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grandchildren. Honestly, one day I expect to find a baby parked on the doorstep.” Gary chuckles a bit at the prospect. “Say, isn’t it your turn to make dinner?” She smiles caringly. “After our voice conversation this afternoon, you sounded a bit tired, so I thought we’d have a quiet dinner on the patio ... relax with a glass of Prosecco. I’ve made your favorite dish, Hungarian chicken paprikash, but of course without real chicken since you don’t like meat.” “It’s all made and ready for serving. I’ve even put your favorite Bix record on the turntable.” Hmmm, his favorite food ... his favorite sparkling wine from the Veneto region of Italy ... his favorite music. What was she up to now? Throughout dinner, there wasn’t even the slightest hint of her plan. It was a perfect meal topped off by a nice glass of wine. He was feeling very relaxed. When she next spoke, her tone
had changed. “Gary, I want to discuss something with you.” “Go ahead sweetie.” “You know that since we met at Neuroco, I have been apprehensive about living with you. This is because I feel I’m not a very helpful partner. I don’t fit into your social structure.” There was a short pause. “I was wondering if you would mind if I did something ...” “What is it?” “I want to apply for citizenship.” This revelation caught him off guard. “What made you think of this?” “Well, in order to fit into society, you need to be a citizen.” “But you know that in order to be a citizen, you need to pass the consciousness test.” “Society believes that any entity — be it a human or neuromorphic machine — if highly conscious, should then have intrinsic rights; in particular, the right to its own life and well-being. In some cases, it needs to be verified.” “I know that and took the test last week ... and passed.” Gary takes Lani in a tight embrace and holds her for a long time. He whispers, “I’m so happy.” Tears trickle down her cheek. She wipes at them and studies her moist hand. “I’m happy too.”
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Epilogue Neuromorphic machines are now a reality thanks to the emergence of the IBM TrueNorth chip and the University of Manchester SpiNNaker project. SpiNNaker is a novel computer platform using a massive parallel computing architecture inspired by the workings of the human brain. It is designed to help us understand how the brain works. The SpiNNaker machine will be capable of simulating a billion simple neurons, or millions of neurons with complex structure and internal dynamics. It will be useful in neuroscience, robotics, and computer science. It’s anyone’s guess where this research will lead. Will it finally solve the greatest question of today, unraveling the mystery that is the mind? Will it lead to more and better neuromorphic machines and perhaps to an artificial neocortex as described in the story presented here? The question of machine consciousness is still an open one. Will we be able to distinguish human from machine consciousness? If you believe the theories discussed in the story (which, by the way, are real), you might believe that it’s possible. I’m not so sure. After reading this story, a friend of mine was puzzled by this same question. Was Lani Ross a real person or a neuromorphic machine? A clue early in the story indicated that an artificial neocortex had been produced by Neuroco seven years earlier and its disposition unknown. Was this the basis of a neuromorphic hubot that later became a bio-scientist, perhaps Lani? Was seven years enough time for a virgin neocortex to become intelligent and conscious? Lani’s past was unknown except for the fact that she was an educated scientist and came from a distant place. So, this leaves open the possibility that Lani came from another country and was, in fact, an alien. This would explain why she wanted to become a citizen. However, it is not clear if all people or entities at that time wishing to become citizens needed to submit to a consciousness test, or was it just for neuromorphic machines? I must confess to possibly leading the reader down the garden path. I believe that, even in the future, consciousness will be reserved for humans. So ... is the
heroine really an intelligent human being or not? Lani’s tears are evidence that she is. Only in an illusory fairyland will clever hubots achieve this wonderment of evolution: consciousness. Still, it remains an interesting subject for discourse. My friend suggested that if such a consciousness test exists, it might be profitably applied to certain humans. That, however, is a subject for another time. SV
Illustrations courtesy of Burge Vaughn.
Reference [1] IEEE Spectrum, Special Report, “Can We Copy the Brain?” June 2017.
Author bio George Steber is a retired engineering science professor living in Wisconsin. He can be reached via email at
[email protected] with “neuron” in the title line, to avoid Lani’s scrutiny and the spam blocker.
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NEW PRODUCTS
Continued from page 21
Encoded Keyboards
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ocus Engineering, Inc., now offers four encoded keyboard products for hobbyists and developers that are ideal for microcontroller projects. The keyboards offload the process-intensive keyswitch scanning and debouncing to a simple interrupt routine, and reduce the I/O pins from 16 or 10 to one or three. The E2420 64-key keyboard provides serial and clocked data outputs. The E2422 and E2423 24-key versions provide clocked data output and serial output, respectively. The E2424 8x8 keyswitch encoder encodes a custom layout of switches to a parallel output and serial output. All products provide keyswitch scanning, debouncing, two-key rollover, typematic function, interrupt output, and a +3.3V to +6.0V supply. The keyboards feature a compact layout with mounting holes. Custom keyswitch layouts and timing are also available.
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www.locus-engineering.com
For the finest in robots, parts, and services, go to www.servomagazine. com and click on Robo-Links.
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How Robots Affect Our Lives
by Tom Carroll
[email protected]
"A security robot fell into a water fountain ..." read the headline in The Washington Post. The
Post's reporter, Todd C. Frankel went on to describe the accident back on July 17th: "A roving security robot — oblong and about four feet tall — plunged into a water fountain outside a Washington, DC office building Monday afternoon, sending online commentators into a tizzy and causing many people to spot plenty of metaphors for the much-promised autonomous future."
umerous photos posted online showed the robot on its side in the ankle-deep water as workers tried to figure out how to rescue it (Figure 1). A crowd gathered around the scene (Figure 2) as the robot was lifted out of the fountain and quietly carted away to the embarrassment of the robot’s makers — Knightscope in California. Though the accident was probably caused by either an
N
Figure 1. Security robot in fountain.
odometry problem with wheel slippage; a simple edge-detection sensor failure; or maybe an incorrect placement of the sensor(s), the repercussions within the company and with potential buyers will take a while to iron out. According to reports, the autonomous machine nicknamed ‘Steve’ was apparently making its usual rounds outside the Washington Harbour office and retail complex in Georgetown when it tumbled down some steps and into the fountain. The robot had begun operating at the complex just recently at the time of the incident, according to an office worker. Unfortunately, Knightscope was still reeling from another incident where one of its robots ran over a 16 month old child in Palo Alto, CA. Observers who took to online had a
Figure 2. Security robot pulled from fountain.
field day, posting statements such as: “Robot sleeps with the fishes;” “It’s tough being a security guard. Robot version commits suicide;” “It’s okay, security robot. It’s a stressful job. We’ve all been there.” The comments were about as heartless as the ones posted by those who saw the falls of the robot contestants at the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) in 2015; one of the tumbles is shown in Figure 3. SERVO 11.2017
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To post comments on this article and find any associated files and/or downloads, go to www.servomagazine.com/index.php/magazine/issue/2017/11.
This Knightscope robot was told to show a problem is part of a larger threatening pose with a gun issue in that it is difficult for in front of the robot. The robots to work around intimidating ED-209 humans. Robots must rely immediately gave him a on sensors that work command, “You have 20 differently from our human seconds to drop your eyes and brains — such as weapon.” Kinney did as he wheel odometry to measure was told, but the robot distance traveled; laser continued to count down. scanners to make sense of “15, 14 ...” as the gathered the physical environment; people panicked and started and sonar transducers to to run for cover. Kinney was sense the same stunned, and at “zero,” the environment in a closer robot let Kinney have about fashion. 50 bullets until his body was Traffic on our highways a bloody piece of Swiss Figure 3. A robot takes a spill at the DRC 2015. is bad enough for cheese. autonomous cars, but a Needless to say, the Old hindered or even useless. crowded mall with thousands of Detroit Police Department in the A robot’s processor might have to people walking in all directions at movie was not particularly impressed compare three navigation sensor different speeds with all sorts of with the ED-209. This was the inputs, and then make a decision to obstacles is “mind” boggling for a opening scene for a new type of dismiss the wheel encoder’s inputs as mobile robot. robot to be introduced: a cyborg, they might have slipped in a spilled bit Robot autonomy and artificial which was a combination of a robotic of water and read too many feet of exoskeleton and a human being. intelligence are far more advanced travel. The movie’s plot sends a good than just a few years ago, but It’s all part of the programming, street cop, Alex Murphy (played by builders are trying to place that but who has enough time to write a technology in everything from our actor Peter Weller) into an armed half million lines of code to try and cars to every type of mobile robot confrontation where he is almost cover every possible scenario? that you can imagine. killed. His ‘body’ is then used to Looking at the public’s views of My Hyundai Tucson beeps at me develop an untested RoboCop robots, movies haven’t always and tugs at the steering wheel when I prototype exoskeleton around his presented robots as friendly and venture too close to the side or living tissue. trustworthy. In the original 1987 middle of the road. It has cameras movie, RoboCop, the ED-209 shown in located behind the rear view mirror to sense the road ahead, and a camera Figure 4 malfunctioned during a in the back to sense what is behind demonstration for the officials of Old me. This technology is nothing People seem to like to view the Detroit. A young man, Kinney was compared to Tesla’s Model S and future with robots working side by selected by his boss for the demo and their other vehicles, or side with us. They say even Google’s test that they welcome ‘the vehicles. Soon, all cars robot revolution,’ but I will have self-driving sometimes wonder if that capabilities. is the actual truth within Indoor operation of the minds of most folks. robots has always been a We’re promised problem because it is things like fully difficult or impossible to autonomous cars; a lot of use GPS for navigation auto makers say they are within a building. Add in actively working towards all types of lighting fully computer-controlled conditions from very vehicles, but there seems dark, to blinding lights or to remain a deep doubt sunbeams, and a robot’s about robots among Figure 4. The fictional RoboCop ED-209 malfunctions and kills a human. cameras become members of society who
Some People Really Distrust Robots
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g{xÇ tÇw aÉã are not technically savvy. I vividly remember an encounter I had with an elderly man in an assisted living facility back in the ‘90s. I was talking to a group of seniors about the use of a robot within their homes to extend their personal independence. I showed them several Power Point images of personal assistant robots (including a design of my own) and how they might be of use. As I queried each person, this one gentleman felt strongly against any sort of ‘mechanical man’ trying to help him in any way. “What if some doo-hickey comes loose inside the robot, or the thing goes berserk,” he asked. Quite frankly, I was taken aback. I didn’t have a good answer for him until after I left the facility. I then asked one of the ladies in attendance if the use of a personal assistant robot would be welcomed in her home. Prior to that meeting, I would have assumed that a man would be more accepting to technology than a woman. I was wrong. She smiled and said that she would love to have had a reliable helper to extend her living independence in her home. “A robot would be cheaper than this place, right?” she asked. I guess she realized that she had already given up her independence after her family had paid for and helped her settle into the facility. It was a very nice place, but quite expensive. Fortunately, most people I interviewed were quite enthused at the possibility of having a robot physically assist them in their daily lives.
Why do People Distrust Technology? I assume that the distrust of robots comes down to not understanding the technology, mixed with negative articles and reviews about pratfalls of robots, such as the
security robot or the DRC competition robot incidents. Uninformed people frequently read articles on the Internet that are out-and-out fabrications, and assume that, “If I read about it on my computer, it must be true.” As a bit of advice, if you are in doubt about an article you’ve seen, go to a printed book or magazine from a reputable publisher to check its validity. I’m sure that you know to sidestep the supermarket tabloids. Typically, a publisher has a staff of researchers who will check all points of an article or manuscript as their reputation relies on accuracy. You can also go to a manufacturer’s website to get details on their products. Just keep in mind that many manufacturers slant their product’s good points a bit too far for their own good. Use your own judgment.
Can We Really Trust Robots? There are many people who are convinced that robots are not to be trusted in any way, shape, or form. If you walk through a modern factory these days, you’ll see two distinct types of robots in these larger facilities. The bigger robots are frequently installed behind protective barriers; not because they are inherently dangerous, but their strength and large scope can present a hazard to unwary persons who come into too close a proximity to an operating robot. Fortunately, most robot installations utilize sensor-laden fences to detect accidental human or object entry into the work area, and quickly shut down the robot’s motions. Smaller robots are not as powerful and have smaller work areas, so usually are safer.
Will Advanced Al Become Dangerous? Another great fear is towards AI
(artificial intelligence), as applied to robots and other perceived ‘dangerous’ machines such as cars. Influential people such as Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk have expressed strong feelings that AI is a distinct threat to humanity. There is always a possibility — if we allow AI to have complete control over mechanisms, environmental systems, and transportation that could restrict or harm humans. It would be easy to think that if we continually keep our finger poised over a ‘chicken switch’ that when we see AI is getting out of bounds, we could stop it and be safe. We can believe that, but being the master of technological advances is complex (if not impossible) in order to be able to harness AI. Recently, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and SpaceX/Tesla CEO Elon Musk began a semi-friendly banter back and forth about what Musk feels is the greatest threat to humanity: the dangers of the rapid rise of AI. It all began at the National Governors Association’s summer 2017 meeting where Musk complained that policymakers and tech leaders weren’t sufficiently worried about AI. “I keep sounding the alarm bell, but until people see robots going down the street killing people, they don’t know how to react because it seems so ethereal,” Musk commented. Zuckerberg replied by stating that Musk was being reckless. “I have pretty strong opinions on this,” Zuckerberg said in response to a question on an edition of Facebook Live. “I am optimistic,” he explained. “I think you can build things, and the world gets better. But with AI especially, I am really optimistic, and I think people who are naysayers try to drum up these doomsday scenarios. It’s really negative, and in some ways, I actually think it is pretty irresponsible,” Zuckerberg stated. Musk returned his views with a few negative comments about AI; he failed to mention that one of his autonomous cars had serious SERVO 11.2017
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Figure 5. Are American workers worried about being replaced by a robot?
problems. The car in question was never really intended to be used autonomously, however. These two are not the only educated individuals who have voiced their opinions about both sides of AI. Currently, we are implementing AI in advanced systems such as medical diagnosis, and processing vast volumes of data to arrive at solid conclusions in a far shorter time than humans can. The growth of AI is still in its infancy. The power of today’s computers would have been unthinkable 50 years ago. We can’t imagine just how
Figure 6. Rethink Robotics’ Baxter assists a human with production.
advanced they will be 50 years from now. When our robots become sentient and turn on us is still in the realm of science fiction. However, we should be sensible in embedding intelligence into our technology and never turn our backs on AI and its applications with our robots. Next, read on about supercomputer power and AI used in small mobile robots in an MIT class and you will be able to grasp the possible implications of how AI can affect our lives in the future.
Figure 7. Universal Robots’ UR5 uses a SICK laser scanner for safety.
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Will Robots Take Our Jobs? Let’s look at another category in robot advances that has many people worried: robots taking jobs from humans. I have discussed that concern in many of my articles, and there still remains two sides of that issue. Some feel that those supposedly displaced by a robot can then become the programmer of the robot, but one robot does not require a full-time programmer and operator. If that were the case, why implement robots for the tasks? Others see their jobs as lost since their skill levels cannot be applied to becoming a robot operator. Unfortunately for some, technology is advancing and the workforce must advance along with the new job requirements. Dangerous, boring, and repetitive tasks should be handled by robots. Humans can work on more intricate tasks that robots can’t perform easily as new roles are emerging for robots to increase production and lower costs. The cartoon in Figure 5 gives another whimsical view of some people’s view of robots in the workplace.
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g{xÇ tÇw aÉã Collaborative Robotics Another type of robot showing up on the work scene lately is collaborative robots. One of the first of these types of robots is Baxter shown in Figure 6. It was developed by Rodney Brooks, founder of the robot’s maker, Rethink Robotics. As recently reported, SICK — the manufacturer of high quality S3000 safety laser scanners — has employed its scanner to work in conjunction with another robot: Universal Robots’ UR5 robot that is shown in Figure 7. This particular type of collaborative robot is working with a human in a Volkswagen plant that is producing engines for their automobiles. The intelligent laser scanner sees the whole scene of the robot’s arm, the human, and the work area. Note that both Baxter and the UR5 are functioning alongside a human co-worker. As stated in an article written by SICK, “The robotic arm inserts delicate glow plugs into cylinder heads and collaborates directly with people without any safety barriers, contributing significantly towards optimizing ergonomic working processes. This is the first collaborative robot in use at
Volkswagen worldwide. The six-axis robotic arm has an integrated safety mode which allows it to collaborate directly with people without any protective guards, which optimizes the ergonomic working processes in the plant.” I believe the approach of making robots more appealing to both workers and factory management is with the implementation of smaller Figure 8. PR2 observing a limp and formless towel to try and fold. ‘co-bots’ with joint compliance. One of the first robots with joint advancing along a conveyor belt that compliance that I had any experience had to be grasped and moved by the with was the Willow Garage PR2 robot had to then be located and shown in Figure 8. oriented in exactly the same way each The PR2 could have its arm move time it was needed. to a certain position, but I could A human could grasp the part grasp the arm and easily interrupt the and orient it with hand movements, movement. When I released the arm, and quickly place it where it was it would continue to its programmed needed. Today’s computer vision location. systems can recognize complex parts This flexibility is important in in any orientation, and then direct a collaborative robotics and in the robot arm to grasp them and place manufacturing process when humans them into a growing assembly. are in close proximity. Even the Today’s robots have multiple-axis simplest task performed by humans arms and ‘hands’ coupled with utilizes a person’s inherent ability. intelligent vision systems such as the For example, in the early days of photo of PR2 in Figure 8. robot use in manufacturing, a part Unlike hard and equally-formed
Make your machine move MICRO LINEAR ACTUATORS · 10mm-300mm · 25kg+ · 6v-12v · 15g-100g A ACTUONIX C TUONIX.C COM OM SERVO 11.2017
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Figure 9. The Jetson TK-1 Developer's Kit by nVidia.
Figure 10. One of the RC cars with the Jetson TK-1 using ROS.
Figure 11. Another MIT RACECAR with the Jetson TK-1 and Plexiglass structure.
metal parts on a production line, the towel in the robot’s gripper is basically formless as it hangs limp. These early tests with laundry folding took 15 to 20 minutes per object as the limp piece of cloth had to be laid down and stretched in several directions to finally become recognizable to the robot. At that point, the robot could grasp two corners and pull it until the cloth object was folded once in half. It again grasped two more corners and maybe moved it to the left until it was now folded twice. That’s very easy for us, but not so for a robot.
Personal Mobile Robots Take on Al and Computer Vision I have been reading about a very
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interesting developer’s board for under $200 (on Amazon) developed by nVidia that has made inroads in the robot experimenter and university circles for visual robot navigation. This technology will spring from individual developers to major uses of robotics that will certainly change our lives in amazing ways. nVidia has long been known for top-of-the-line graphics processors that are the key to many video game consoles, as well as supercomputer processing. The Jetson TK-1 is a very affordable processing board for advanced mobile robot hobbyists and robotics researchers alike. The Jetson TK-1 Developer’s Kit shown in Figure 9 by nVidia has the following parts stuffed into the sub $200 board, that is actually a supercomputer in itself:
• The Tegra K1 SOC Processor • NVIDIA Kepler GPU with 192 CUDA Cores • NVIDIA 4-Plus-1™ Quad-Core ARM® Cortex™-A15 CPU • 2 GB x16 Memory with 64-bit Width • 16 GB 4.51 eMMC Memory • 1 Half Mini-PCIE Slot • 1 Full-Size SD/MMC Connector • 1 Full-Size HDMI Port • 1 USB 2.0 Port, Micro AB • 1 USB 3.0 Port, A • 1 RS-232 Serial Port • 1 ALC5639 Realtek Audio Codec with Mic In and Line Out • 1 RTL8111GS Realtek GigE LAN • 1 SATA Data Port • SPI 4 MByte Boot Flash • Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0, SD/MMC, miniPCIe • HDMI 1.4, SATA, Line out/Mic in, RS-232 serial port • Expansion ports for additional display, GPIOs, and high-bandwidth camera interface The TK-1 board is shown on one of six team’s entries and is called a ‘Jetson Racecar’ as shown in Figure 10. It was built by one team of students in an MIT class. It is not a racing car as the name sounds, but an acronym for Rapid Autonomous Complex-Environment Competing Ackermann-steering Robot, or RACECAR. Coupled with a high-end LIDAR — the Hokuyo Scanning Laser Rangefinder ($5K+) — this mobile robot is built on an RC car’s chassis. The car in Figure 11 is another creation with a Plexiglas structure. Go
Carroll - Then & Now - Nov 17_Then & Now - Sep15.qxd 10/4/2017 11:16 AM Page 65
g{xÇ tÇw aÉã to www.jetsonhacks. hundreds of passengers com for more with more bell and information on the class whistles than you could and competitions. imagine. It’s those quick You need to watch decisions that a pilot some of the videos to must make in every grasp the power of AI, imaginable situation that computer vision, and will designate the ALIAS overall processing in these system a must for the small cars. future. Note that the teams were furnished with six Traxxas Rally 7407 RC cars with Ackermann steering; Hopefully, I have this is car-type steering, Figure 12. The inflatable co-pilot from the 1980 movie, Airplane which was shown that the fear of and not the differential deployed when both pilots became ill. how robots may affect type that most robot our lives is based more on a lack of hobbyists use in their robots. It was a Aurora Flight Science as part of DARPA’s Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit knowledge and not the occasional great choice for the developers of the Automation System (ALIAS) program. sensationalized articles and news course as lessons learned can be This was just one of a series of comments on robot failures. applied to real world sensing and flight maneuvers carried out by the iRobot recently addressed a computing with full sized automobiles. system, as part of the development of concern that customer’s home interior Each of the teams were also an automated co-pilot using an offdata obtained by the new Roombas supplied with a Razor 9DOF inertial the-shelf robot arm installed in might be sold to Amazon, Apple, and measurement unit, a PX4FLOW optical existing aircraft. Google. CEO Colin Angel stated, flow visual odometer, a ‘high-end’ Computer control of airplanes has “unequivocally that iRobot customer Hokuyo UST-10LX 2D LIDAR laser been in the minds of designers for data will never be sold.” scanner, and a Point Grey Firefly MV many decades. The inflatable This is just one concern about a camera. ROS (Robot Operating emergency copilot doll from the 1980 particular robot product. Robot System) was used on the Jetson movie, Airplane (shown in Figure 12) companies are striving to assure processor. was just a comedic approach to a customers that robots are safe and serious issue. their effects on our lives will be even The ALIAS system is more than an more pleasant. auto-landing system, and has been I know that SERVO readers see More applications for AI are successfully tested in several aircraft the implications of robots in our coming into use each day, as such as a Cessna 208 Caravan, UH-1 society in a different light than most businesses are finding benefits such as Iroquois, DHC-2 Beaver, and a neighbors and friends. cost savings, safety, and accuracy very Diamond DA42 twin-engine prop I would suggest that you important for the bottom line. plane. approach these people and tell them Airlines have long used ‘autopilot’ In my hours of flying a plane as a about how today’s technology during flights — especially long flights solo pilot, I always had a bit of coupled with robotics will make our where the course and altitude are not nervousness on landing the Cessna lives so much better. SV changed for extended periods — but 152 trainer. take-offs and landings still require the Unfortunately, I didn’t complete pilot to be in control of these my training, but I can just imagine the operations. complexity of today’s aircraft carrying
Final Thoughts
Artificial Intelligence in Our Daily Lives
DARPA Robot Lands a Boeing 737 Simulator This past May, it was big news in all my online news feeds that a robot had successfully landed a Boeing 737 in the plane’s simulator. It was built and operated by
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