from: http://www.robotshop.com/gorobotics/robotics-projects( for videos visit this site)
Stay tuned for new projects to come. In the meantime, you can check out the RobotShop Learning Center for some cool Project Ideas.
Carlitos’ Projects: Speech-Controlled Arduino Robot
Posted on March 1st, 2011 in Microcontrollers, Projects, Robotics Projects, Robots We all dream of having appliances and machines that can obey our spoken commands. Well, let’s take the first step towards making this happen. In this second iteration of Carlitos’ Projects, we are going to build a speech-controlled Arduino-based robot.
You may be thinking that making such a robot must be a very complex task. After all, humans take many years before they can understand speech properly. Well, it is not as difficult as you may think and it is definitely lots of fun. The video below illustrates how to make your own speech-controlled Arduino rover.
After watching the video, read below the detailed list of parts and steps required to complete the project.
You can find more information about using the VRbot speech recognition module here:
In our case, we used two of these robots in order to create a ball-fetching challenge at the CRC 2011 with high-school and CEGEP students. As shown below, the students and general public loved the game.
You may be thinking that making such a robot must be a very complex task. After all, humans take many years before they can understand speech properly. Well, it is not as difficult as you may think and it is definitely lots of fun. The video below illustrates how to make your own speech-controlled Arduino rover.
Materials
- A DFRobotShop Rover kit. It constitutes the robot to be controlled.
- A VRbot speech recognition module. It processes the speech and identifies the commands.
- Two Xbee RF communication modules. They create a wireless link between the speech recognition engine and the robot.
- An Arduino Uno. Controls the speech recognition module.
- An IO expansion shield. Allows to connect the Xbee module to the DFRobotShop Rover
- An Xbee shield. Allows to connect an Xbee module to the Arduino Uno.
- Male headers. They are required by the Xbee shield.
- A barrel jack to 9V battery adaptor. Allows to power the Arduino Uno trough a 9V battery.
- An LED. It is not required since the IO expansion shield already has one but it can provide a more visible activity feedback.
- An audio jack. It will be used to connect the microphone. This is optional
- A headset or a microphone (a microphone is included with the speech recognition module).
Tools
- A Wire Cutter. It will be used to cut the leads off components.
- A Soldering Iron. In order to solder all the (many) connections, a soldering station might be preferable since it provides steady and reliable temperature control that allows for easier and safer soldering (you have less risk of burning the components if the temperature is set correctly).
- A Third Hand. This is not absolutely required, but it is always useful for holding components and parts when soldering.
- A Hot-glue gun in order to stick the components together.
- A computer . It programs the DFRobotShop Rover and the Arduino Uno using the Arduino IDE.
Putting it Together
- Assemble the DFRobotShop Rover and mount the IO expansion shield, an Xbee Module and the LED. Se the picture above or the video for further information.
- Solder the headers onto the Xbee shield. Also solder four headers on the prototyping area as shown below. Do not like soldering? Then keep reading since there is no-solder-required version of the project.
- Connect the four headers to the corresponding pins as shown below.
- As shown above, you can also mount the headphone jack and use the cable included with the microphone in order to connect it to the VRbot module microphone input.
- Put the shield onto the Arduino and connect the battery.
- Connect the VRbot speech recognition module wires and the microphone.
- Program the DFRobotShop Rover and the Arduino Uno with these programs respectively:
dfrobotshop_serial.zip and VRbot.zip - Start talking to your robot! Say “forward”, “backward”, “left”, or “right” in order to make the robot move in the desired direction. The word “move” shown in the video has been removed from the program in order to improve the performance.
Go Further
Now that you have the basic program you can create new commands in order to build upon this project. For instance, it would be nice to program a “dance” command that would make the rover execute a predefined choreography. It is also possible to use this knowledge to control other devices such as lamps, TV sets, and more.You can find more information about using the VRbot speech recognition module here:
In our case, we used two of these robots in order to create a ball-fetching challenge at the CRC 2011 with high-school and CEGEP students. As shown below, the students and general public loved the game.
Get your own
RobotShop put together a full kit that you can buy in order to get started with speech control. This kit is a bit different than the project shown and does not require any soldering and uses the microphone included with the VRbot module:
Carlitos’ Project: RGB LED Mood Cube
Posted on January 14th, 2011 in Microcontrollers, Miscellaneous, Projects, Robotics Projects This is the first in a series of electronic or robotic DIY projects. These projects are accompanied by instructional videos that will help you trough the many steps involved in completing the task at hand. For this first iteration, we are making an RGB LED Mood Cube.
Glowing colour-changing objects are always cool. So why not make your own? Mood lights have been around for some time and, while it is cool to have a colour changing light, it would be even cooler to have something more complex and geekier. An RGB LED Mood Cube seems to be the way to go.
In this project, we are going to build a 4x4x4 RGB LED cube that can be used to display cool colourful patterns. This project should be straight-forward and the most significant difficulty will be soldering all the connections for the cube structure and the 64 LEDs (since they are RGB, this means 256 joints for the LEDs alone!). In short, if you are looking to have a cool mood-light and get razor-sharp soldering skills, this is the right project for you.
Below you can see the video of the LED cube being put together and the final result.
If you need more information or you simply prefer written instruction, here you will find the full list of materials, tools, instructions and documents required for the build.
On the physical side, you can make a cover for your cube out of paper, plastic, fabric or whatever other materials you have on hand (make sure the material is translucent though)
Finally, at the end of the construction, you will have many RGB LEDs and a bunch of male and female headers left-over. Make sure you put them to good use in your next project.
For those of you wishing to make their own cube, you can use your own parts and buy the missing materials separately or you can get all the components in a convenient kit at RobotShop.
You are also invited to share your results and experience in the RobotShop Forum and by simply leaving a comment below.
Glowing colour-changing objects are always cool. So why not make your own? Mood lights have been around for some time and, while it is cool to have a colour changing light, it would be even cooler to have something more complex and geekier. An RGB LED Mood Cube seems to be the way to go.
In this project, we are going to build a 4x4x4 RGB LED cube that can be used to display cool colourful patterns. This project should be straight-forward and the most significant difficulty will be soldering all the connections for the cube structure and the 64 LEDs (since they are RGB, this means 256 joints for the LEDs alone!). In short, if you are looking to have a cool mood-light and get razor-sharp soldering skills, this is the right project for you.
Below you can see the video of the LED cube being put together and the final result.
If you need more information or you simply prefer written instruction, here you will find the full list of materials, tools, instructions and documents required for the build.
Materials
- An LED Cube Kit. Provides the LEDs and all the structure required to create an LED cube.
- A Rainbowduino. It is a special Arduino built to control up-to 192 LEDs.
- A UartSB (USB-to-serial adaptor). A USB to serial interface that is used to program the Rainbowduino (or for serial communication in general) trough a USB port.
- A USB Cable. A cable to hook-u the UartSB to the Computer
- A 9V Wall Adapter. A power supply that will power the cube once the assembly and programming are done.
Tools
- A Wire Cutter. It will be used to cut the leads off components.
- A Soldering Iron. In order to solder all the (many) connections, a soldering station might be preferable since it provides steady and reliable temperature control that allows for easier and safer soldering (you have less risk of burning the components if the temperature is set correctly).
- A Third Hand. This is not absolutely required, but it is always useful for holding components and parts when soldering.
- A Flat Head Screwdriver. This will be used for un/tightening terminal blocks
- A computer . It programs the Rainbowduino using the Arduino IDE.
Putting it Together
- The first step is to assemble the LED cube kit. This kit is much easier to put together than the more common way of constructing an LED cube using the LED leads as the supporting structure.
The kit includes all the parts required to hold the LED together and takes care of all the complex wiring. Full instruction on how to put the cube together are available in PDF format. - Once the cube is assembled, we need to drive it in order to display cool stuff in it. For this, we use the Rainbowduino, an Arduino clone created specifically for driving massive amounts of LEDs. The cube fits directly on top of the Rainbowduino, and can provide power to it by using the included JST cable. When connecting both modules together, it is important to make sure the “Green” male headers from the LED cube match the “Green” female headers on the Rainbowduino. Also, it is important to set the Rainbowduino switch to “JST”.
- Now that all electrical connections are done, we need to write some software in order to make it display cool stuff in our new cube. We took the liberty of modifying, cleaning and updating the plasma code readily available for the Rainbowduino. This new code should display a nice smooth wave as of colours that propagates softly though the cube. The code can be downloaded from here: Rainbowduino-RGB-LED-Matrix-Plasma.zip.
In order to upload this code to your Rainbowduino, you will need to use the Arduino software, so, if it is not already done, it has to be installed. Also you will need to install the USB-to-Serial adaptor drivers. - Once the code and the Arduino software are downloaded and installed, simply unzip the code and open the .pde sketch file found inside of the unzipped folder using the Arduino software. Then, upload the sketch to the Rainbowduino using the USB-to-serial interface.
- Now that the Rainbowduino is programmed, simply remove the USB interface, plug-in the power adapter and admire the light show!
Additional Programming and Hacking
Of course, colourful lights are pretty and everything, but for those of you who would like to program your own patterns and animations, there are functions in the provided code that allow you to set the LEDs individually. You could also add some sensors and make the cube interactive. There are even some Xbee headers that could be used to send information to the cube remotely from a nearby computer Using an Xbee module.
On the physical side, you can make a cover for your cube out of paper, plastic, fabric or whatever other materials you have on hand (make sure the material is translucent though)
Finally, at the end of the construction, you will have many RGB LEDs and a bunch of male and female headers left-over. Make sure you put them to good use in your next project.
Getting Your Own LED Cube
For those of you wishing to make their own cube, you can use your own parts and buy the missing materials separately or you can get all the components in a convenient kit at RobotShop.
You are also invited to share your results and experience in the RobotShop Forum and by simply leaving a comment below.
LEGO Robotic Projects
Posted on September 24th, 2010 in Robotics Projects If you want be able to design, build and program complex autonomous robots but have limited experience and don’t know where to start, LEGO Mindstorms is perfect for you!
In the video below you can see one of Menno Gorter’s LEGO Creations:
LEGO has developed one of the most intuitive, easy to use programming software on the market today. Gone are the nuances and painstaking time to debug and check your code, replaced with a visual interface, similar to a LEGO modular brick structure.
The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT software enables you to program your NXT robotic invention and upload your programs to the NXT via USB or Bluetooth connectivity. The intuitive Mac and PC compatible drag and drop software, powered by National Instruments LabVIEW, comes with building instructions and programming guides to easily begin constructing and programming with MINDSTORMS NXT.
Try the DEMO !
LEGO MINDSTORMS is a modular design system that allows you to creat almost any kind of robot.
LEGO provides detailed instructions as to how to build a variety of different robots. There are step by step graphical instructions to guide you through the building process.
Spike reacts like a real-life Scorpion. It craws on six legs, has a set of pincer arms (pedipalps), can see and hear with ultrasonic and sound sensors, and can quickly “paralyze” its prey with a touch-sensor enabled stinger!
This simple program allows the Scorpion to move forward to a target, play a sound when it hits the target with its stinger, retract the tail again and go back to its starting point.
RoboArm T-56 is a sophisticated robotic arm that can lift, pivot, and grab objects with its claws. It can detect colors with its Light Sensor and feel objects with its Touch Sensor . Three Motors power RoboArm T-56 – 1 motor powers the grabber claws and 2 motors enable the robotic arm to move up, down, and turn!
This simple program gives RoboArm T-56 the intelligence to distinguish between a red or blue ball with its light sensor. It grabs and moves the red ball, but rejects and releases the blue one when grabbed.
TriBot is a flexible and fast 3-wheeled driving robot! It takes advantage of all four sensors to do the job you program it to do. TriBot can grab a ball when you give it a sound command (through its Sound Sensor ), can be programmed to follow a line with its Light Sensor , can feel objects with its Touch Sensor , and can see with its Ultrasonic Sensor.
This simple program enables TriBot to power 1 motor when the light sensor detects dark, and a second motor when the light sensor detects light. Use this program to have TriBot follow a line, modify it, or create one of your own!
Alpha Rex performs tasks that only the most sophisticated robots can do… Walk on two legs like a real person! With built in rotation sensors on the two Servo Motors powering his legs, and an Ultrasonic Sensor enabling Alpha Rex to see, you can program Alpha Rex to go where you want with precision!
This simple program makes use of simultaneous tasks on two Sequence Beams. Alpha Rex’s heart beats on one task, while his legs are powered to move on the other.
Find even more project ideas on the official LEGO Activities website (School mindstorms), and see detailed instructions how to build a Classic Cuckoo Clock or Sound Bot .
In the video below you can see one of Menno Gorter’s LEGO Creations:
LEGO has developed one of the most intuitive, easy to use programming software on the market today. Gone are the nuances and painstaking time to debug and check your code, replaced with a visual interface, similar to a LEGO modular brick structure.
Versatile LEGO TECHNIC elements
LEGO has expanded its range of classic bricks to include gears and complex parts to let your imagination run wild. This can always be mixed with standard LEGO bricks.
State-of-the-art sensors and servo motors
Even the basic kit includes complex sensors which will allow your students to create complex autonomous robots.
Easy to use “drag and drop” programming software
Worried about complex programming? LEGO Mindstorms comes with an intuitive drag and drop user interface which allows your students to easily program the robot.
All of these connect to the NXT Intelligent brick
The NXT microcontroller is the brain of any MINDSTORMS® robot. It’s an intelligent, computer-controlled LEGO® brick that lets a MINDSTORMS robot come alive and perform different operations.
- The NXT is an intelligent, computer-controlled LEGO brick and is the heart of any LEGO MINDSTORMS autonomous robot
- The touch sensor enables the robot to feel and react to its environment
- The sound sensor enables the robot to hear and react to sound
- The light sensor allows the robot to detect light and colour
- The ultrasonic sensor gives your robot the ability to see, measure distance and react to movement
- The servo motors , which can be used for partial angle or continuous rotation, ensure your robot moves with precision.
The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT software enables you to program your NXT robotic invention and upload your programs to the NXT via USB or Bluetooth connectivity. The intuitive Mac and PC compatible drag and drop software, powered by National Instruments LabVIEW, comes with building instructions and programming guides to easily begin constructing and programming with MINDSTORMS NXT.Try the DEMO !
LEGO MINDSTORMS is a modular design system that allows you to creat almost any kind of robot.
LEGO provides detailed instructions as to how to build a variety of different robots. There are step by step graphical instructions to guide you through the building process.
What type of robots can you do?
Spike:
Spike reacts like a real-life Scorpion. It craws on six legs, has a set of pincer arms (pedipalps), can see and hear with ultrasonic and sound sensors, and can quickly “paralyze” its prey with a touch-sensor enabled stinger!This simple program allows the Scorpion to move forward to a target, play a sound when it hits the target with its stinger, retract the tail again and go back to its starting point.
RoboArm T-56:
RoboArm T-56 is a sophisticated robotic arm that can lift, pivot, and grab objects with its claws. It can detect colors with its Light Sensor and feel objects with its Touch Sensor . Three Motors power RoboArm T-56 – 1 motor powers the grabber claws and 2 motors enable the robotic arm to move up, down, and turn!This simple program gives RoboArm T-56 the intelligence to distinguish between a red or blue ball with its light sensor. It grabs and moves the red ball, but rejects and releases the blue one when grabbed.
TriBot:
TriBot is a flexible and fast 3-wheeled driving robot! It takes advantage of all four sensors to do the job you program it to do. TriBot can grab a ball when you give it a sound command (through its Sound Sensor ), can be programmed to follow a line with its Light Sensor , can feel objects with its Touch Sensor , and can see with its Ultrasonic Sensor.
This simple program enables TriBot to power 1 motor when the light sensor detects dark, and a second motor when the light sensor detects light. Use this program to have TriBot follow a line, modify it, or create one of your own!
Alpha Rex:
Alpha Rex performs tasks that only the most sophisticated robots can do… Walk on two legs like a real person! With built in rotation sensors on the two Servo Motors powering his legs, and an Ultrasonic Sensor enabling Alpha Rex to see, you can program Alpha Rex to go where you want with precision!This simple program makes use of simultaneous tasks on two Sequence Beams. Alpha Rex’s heart beats on one task, while his legs are powered to move on the other.
Find even more project ideas on the official LEGO Activities website (School mindstorms), and see detailed instructions how to build a Classic Cuckoo Clock or Sound Bot .
New Robotics Projects Section
Posted on September 7th, 2010 in Robotics Projects In an effort to make robotics accessible to everyone, we will be posting robotics project ideas and guides. This will provide you some inspiration to start using your newly acquired skills from the How to Make a Robot Tutorial Series.Stay tuned for new projects to come. In the meantime, you can check out the RobotShop Learning Center for some cool Project Ideas.
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