This application explains how to make a light detector for ARobot. This can be used to tell when a light is on or off, whether the robot is inside or outside, or for light following. This is a simple expansion and does not require soldering if using a breadboard.
It does assume that you have attached a breadboard and an expansion cable to the ARobot . This circuit and the light sensor could be mounted and soldered to a perf board and located to a movable head. Multiple light detector sensors could be used to detect the direction of light.
This robot spider is controlled by a powerful Parallax microcontroller that fits the job perfectly. You can also use it under other projects , being a powerfull microcontroller it fits many jobs. The robot is fitted with the following sensors:
1x ultrasonic sensor (Deva-tech SRF04)
2x sensor with micro-switches Actuators:
3x Standard Model servos for the musculoskeletal
1x Micro servo to the pan of ultrasonic sensor “
Thats pretty impressive, and the robot looks really cool.
Robot Spider Powered by a Parallax Microcontroller:[Link] - [via]
We’ve seen all kinds of robots lately but some of them are more usefull than others. For example this wall climbing robot has incredible practical applications. The Waalbot as it is named can climb walls due to some special material applied to it’s legs. This material has this tiny “legs” on all of it’s surface which stick really well to the surface. Currently the technical dificulty is that the same robot cannot climb different kind of surfaces, so you got a smooth surface climbin Waalbot, another one for rough surfaces.
But the designers think that this problem can be solved by developing a new “sticking” material that will be applied on the robots legs. Just imagine the practical applications of something like this: the robot could go into tight spaces inspect pipes, structures, wires.
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This robot doesn’t look too good, but it servers its purpose, it proves that it can be done at home. The bot its based on Qwerk, a robot processor board very popular these days. The Qwerk is made to control myriad robots; it can control up to four motors and sixteen servos, while interfacing to sensors with eight analog ports, sixteen digital I/O, and an i2c bus. It also has two USB sockets so that robots may include a USB webcam and a wireless 802.11 network adapter.
The home linux robot its built mostly of what was around a computer webcam taken apart and modified to see infrared light, some wheels from a toy airplane, etc.
RF is truly the best way to remotely control a robot. But RF communications are not for beginners who often stumble on various problems. For example the way you design your boards has a great impact on your signal. Doing it wrong could mean signal deviance. That’s why it’s recommended to use RF boards that come in pair, already assembled. They’re not too expensive and you can avoid allot of trouble.
