Built: 2006-11-01 00:00:00
Feynman6
I have decided to create Feynman6 and retire Feynman5. This robot will be taller, have more 80/20 and less wires via a new distribution board with onboard carrier for a BS2.

Specs

Chassis: 80/20 with pivots and exoskeleton for installing skin.
Power: (2) 33AH Batteries from Batteries Plus. All DC power regulated by on-board controller and distribution boards.
Movement: (2) NPC-41250 12-24V 7.5 RPM per Volt. Upgraded to 8\" wheels from 6\" on Feynman5. Differential drive.
(2) Victor 883 Speed Controllers. (IFI Robotics cost of $150/ea ($300 total).
(1) Scott Edwards Mini-SSC II
(1) Pan-Tilt System from ServoCity.Com
Sensors: (2) USB Logitech STX Web Camera
(2) SRF04 Devantech Sonar
(1) Microphone via WebCam
(1) CMPS03 Digital Compass
CPU/OS: BS2/PBasic, Toshiba Laptop, Windows XP Home Edition, Java.
Other Info: t.b.d.
Software Info:

Other Robot Info

I thought I was going to turn Feynman6 into a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) based robot, but given the issues with Linux I have had of late I have decided to shelve that idea for upgrading Feynman. Instead I will just have less wires and build a better distribution board. If you can see in Feynman5, I had lots of wires connecting my Basic Stamp, SSC, and even more connecting my PC, Serial Connections, Etc.

Some of the other problems included:

  • Too many wires - poor connections & vibration lead to downtime.
  • Too much power consumption - Electronics & PC on 1, and Motors on another battery lead to a shorter life.
  • No skin - showing the guts of the robot is fine, but I needed to skin the bot to make it more able to travel.
  • Low clearance - this lead to a lot of hard stops going over un-even terrain and it was also difficult to move up transportation ramps or on sidewalks.

Update: 4/20/2007

I have ran into limitations with Feynman6, mainly transportation related, he is too heavy about 250lbs. Also testing with battery only is time consuming so I have decided to create another robot, called Carnot, this robot will be stationary and will be plugged in and have a dedicated PC for serial control, speech and use a network webcam for vision.

Update: 4/26/2007

Just purchase a nice Pan-Tilt system from ServoCity.Com and because of some code I was able to create to convert the USB cameras to Network cameras, I should be able to bring back two eyes. I will also need to make it a little shorter because my supply of 80-20 is running low, but only by about a foot.

Media & Photos

Me walking/driving Feynman6 to the March Columbus Robotics Society meeting.