Who's into microcontrollers or robotics?

[Sundoggy]

I'm just curious, how many people here are into microcontrollers and/or robotics?

I use the Atmel line of microcontrollers for my projects. The coolest thing I've made so far was a chip that you could whistle at and it would run a fast Fourier transform and output the note you whistled as a MIDI event. Cool but who needs a whistle MIDI interface!

I'm right now designing a robot that I hope I can make balance on two wheels, like nBot. I posted a picture of it the other day as the "Obamabot". It uses two 24 volt scooter motors to get around and is 40 pounds of solid aluminum! THAT'S a heavy-duty bot. I'm trying to develop a geotagging panoramic photo robot with it.

Anyone got any cool projects going on, or anyone's interest in the subject just get raised?

[BlooInBloo]

1. I'm not - I just do math. What kind of control system/algorithms will you use...

to perform the balancing act?

[Sundoggy]

2. You're going to love this!

The math turns out to be simply the equation for an inverted pendulum!

How cool is that?

[BlooInBloo]

4. Oh sheesh. I was think ANNs or something sexy ffs!

All that's going on in there is just a numerical ODE solver?

:rofl:

If it works, though, that's all that matters!

:toast:

[Sundoggy]

6. LOL, as Heinlein would say...

... the amazing thing about a dancing bear is not how well it dances, but that it dances at all!

[Sundoggy]

5. For control systems...

I simply use an accelerometer and a gyroscope to provide me with the four terms for the equation: tilt and its first derivative, and g and its first derivative. That's all the input the equation needs. The you simply move the wheels that amount to get them back under the center of gravity.

Check out nBot, where I got the idea from, tremendously cool to watch (videos down the page):

http://www.geology.smu.edu/~dpa-www/robo/nbot/

[BlooInBloo]

7. Cool! It's kinda funny actually - I never thought much about seeking the UNstable equilibrium!

:rofl:

[Sundoggy]

9. Really? It's the story of my life! ;)

[BlooInBloo]

10. Hah! To me, an unstable equlibrium is only epsilonishly more interesting than

the transient behavior of a system.

To each their own, though - nothing wrong with eyes on every part of the story!

Long live long-term steady-state stability!

:rofl:

[Sundoggy]

12. And here I bow out

of the math discussion! You're clearly way over my head. Calc 2 is about my limit... and my brain isn't as young as it used to be!

I think it's cool that such a simple equation can totally describe the math needed for a balancing robot (or human or anything else). Kind of like when pi or c turn up unexpectedly in places that at first glance seem to have nothing to do with them.

[BlooInBloo]

13. Awww...

At least take a look at ODEs! They're the whole REASON why calculus exists! They're the *payoff*. You wouldn't learn Spanish only to never speak or write it would you?

One of the better books I've encountered, chock-full of applications:
http://www.amazon.com/Differential-Equations-Their-Applications-Introduction/dp/0387978941/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211909742&sr=8-1

[tridim]

3. Lego robotics is as far as I've gone.

Programming the RCX in NQC.

Wish I had the time to go further.

[Dogmudgeon]

8. IIRC, Circuit Cellar ran a story on such a robot

Segway was in the news; it was designed mainly to demonstrate how the process worked.

--p!

[BlooInBloo]

11. Hah - I was gonna suggest that the OP put a Gob doll on it!

[Sundoggy]

14. Sigh... so I guess...

I have to design and build my horde of all-conquering Liberal-bots all by myself....