Video!

I made a quick 20second video of my ball launcher in action. Don't be too critical as it's on;y a quick and dirty to test my progress but several friends requested it so here is is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r30vDsLaZn8

Oh, and here is a shot of the new wiring I did over the weekend:
Note the labels, the braided cables, and the empty spot on the right side for the mouting of the launcher.

Onward,
Jay

Monday, January 15, 2007 Update:

I got inspired to do some wiring on my project this weekend. I made 4 connectors for the encoders and motors. I also started working on the ball launcher. I took my 2” 90 degree PVC elbow and started hacking at it. I am using a DIY brushless motor I built for flying RC airplanes to drive the launch wheel www.gobrushless.com. The wheel is foam landing tire which I tapped for 3mm (to fir the motor shaft thread) and secured with a nyloc nut. I am using a homemade mount I turned from nylon previously to mount it to an “arm” of blue PVC. The arm will screw to a block of Delrin I have JB Welded to the modified elbow. This will allow me to adjust the motor/wheel assembly up and down, and the threaded motor shaft will allow me to adjust the wheel position with respect to the center of the tube.

The launch motor will be driven by a BL ESC (electronic speed control) that I have which is in turn controlled by the MAVRIC via a standard servo signal. The balls will be fed to the launcher via a turnstile gate controlled by another servo.

I’ll post pictures if my ISP is back up tonight. Hopefully I’ll get off my duff and actually write some code to make this thing move.

Onward,
Jay

Where have I been, what have I been up to?

Great questions. I have been researching and procuring a benchtop mill. It should make it easier and more fun to build parts of this robot, but it’ll become it’s own project as well. I plan to convert it to CNC (CNCZone). That said, I have not put much time into doing anything on this project except read some books on subsumption during this time.

I’m hoping I’ll get inspired to work on it this weekend, but right now, CNC and machining have piqued my full interest.


How the mill comes packed and crated. First order of business was to clean the protective packing grease off.


The mill installed in it's new home. Not sure I'll be needing the drill press or not. Need to find it a new home.

Onward,
Jay