Building &.

Program m in g
a Small Mobile Robot:

I::on§t:rur:t:ion &. I::ode:

t:ail§ for Winning at: SME

02 >

a 74470 93568 1
 The Cye robot offers ded-reckoning that works and a
powerful and extendible GUI. Cye comes with a 19200
baud radio link connecting him to your Pc. You can use the
Windows application "Map-N-Zap" to control Cye, or create
your own VB or VC++ software using the Cyesrv Windows
ActiveX which provides 71 methods, properties, and events .
eYE Product Specifications:
• Weight: 9 Ibs. (4 kg.) Cye can carryover 25 pounds in his wagon at up to 3'/sec.
• Dimensions : 16" x 11" x 5" Cye can vacuum with the Cye Vacuum Attachment, a cordles
(40 x 28 x 13 em.) vacuum with powered brush. An RJ45 port mounted on Cye
• Towing Force: 7 lbs. (3.2 kg.)
provides connectivity to peripherals. Cye sells complete witt
• Energy Capacity: 24 hours - no
charging station for $695 at www.cyerobot.com. The Cye-sr
motion ; 5 hours - motion, 1-2
hours - towing upright vacuum
model ($845) adds sound response. Cye-sr responds to clap
• Oed-reckoning accuracy: sequences and music.
less than 5 degrees of heading
error per 50 ' of travel
• Radio Range: 100' through walls,
300' line of site
• Inc ludes : Map-N -Zap software on
CD-ROM, manual, PC radio pod,
Cye Home Base
• PC Requirements: WINgS or
WINg8 with a spare DB-g COM port

_ .._ - -~---- - - - . , - - -- . _- '- --

7

23
 News Since Last Time
Proboties & Hoo ver teamed up to mak e a light-weight , reason -
ably affordable robot vacuum clean er. Probotics Cye robot, with
wagon and custo m vacuum att achment, roam ed our halls at RS&T
hD. Contributing Editor for s everal months , proving th at even ed ito rs can pro gram hom e
robots . Yep , it ac tually clean ed our carpe t autonomously, and
arie Wills, MD returned directly to its e lec t rica l feeding station wh en it need ed a cha rge . Int eresting
uting Editor toy-cl eanup feature: wh en ever Cye approached , our RC cars would suddenly drive off at
high sp eed.

It, Marketing Manager Advanc d Desi gn "Robix" was th e first-ever "ro bo ts only" compa ny to exhibit at Comdex in
Nov ember. RS&T's wandering publisher met Evan and Charlene Ros en , wh o se t up a mock
kid 's bedroom to demonstrate th e ease of learning to us e th eir ed uc atio na l a rm and its
programming int erfa ce. A cha llenge to th e rest of us : more robot co mpa nies need to get read y
IN THIS ISSUE now for Comde x, Nov 2000.
Auyeung
Burbeck Basic Stamp maker Parallax Inc had th e busiest booth in th eir s ecti on of th e co nve ntio n hall.
Gracey Engineer s Chuc k and Chip Gracey, Rus s Miller and othe rs s howed off se ve ra l co mpac t robot
n Iovine designs , Orbot , GrowBot , and th e mad e-for-t eacher s Boe-Bot. Parallax recentl y co mplete d a
ss Miller US tour, t eachin g teach ers how t o us e th ei r Basi c Sta m p. See s ta m psinclass .com a nd
Robillard par allaxinc.com.
k Schoeffler
Also s ighte d at Comdex: Mondo-tronies' Robot Store owne r/e nginee r Roger Gilbe rtson dem-
SIGN, Amy Ellis o ns tra te d how his Muscl e Wire proved so useful and lightw eight , th at it was incorpor at ed into
th e Sojourner rove r and se nt to Mars . You rem ember th e "success ful" Mar s mis s ion in July 98?
ER ASSISTANCE Muscle Wires are s ho wcased at ro bots tor e.co m.
16-632-1000
@RobotMag.com Some RS&T insid er s a re pr etty s ure th at th e Mars Polar Lander was s ho t down in retribution
nd ADVERTISERS for our destruct ion of th e Martian 's prob es during th eir visit to Earth in 1933. Referen ce: War
of til e Wo rlds. Some scientis ts th ink it s lid down a mountain . Moon wa lkers Neil and Buzz
, glossy prints -
wouldn't have flown like th at.
il large files to
obotMag .com BattleBots played Las Vegas, November 17. The re were so me a mazi ng ups et s a nd trouncing
vict ori es th at s ur prise d th e ro bo tic combat co mmunity. Kudos to Trey Roski, et ai, for picking
ANNOUNCEMENTS up th e combat bann er and waging two ma jor co mpetitio ns in a s ingle yea r. See th e acti on on
[email protected] m pay per view, Jan 29. See ba tt lebots .co m for th e lat est.
mbed graphics in text)
VICE, SUBSCRIBERS,
The Seattle Roboties Society (seattle ro botics.o rg) is do ing a magnificent jo b of ex pa nding
robo tics in th e Northwes t. Th eir Rob oth on at th e Sea ttle Scien ce Cente r, Oct 23, featured
S and LIBRARIES
firefighting hom e-builts , dan cin g Aibos, and c ho reog ra phe d Cognachrome Mach 5s from New-
8) 510-7728 ton Labs. Ame rica's West Coas t Sumo King Bill Harri s on 's auto no mo us s umo eve nt was a
RobotMag .com sm ash hit as always . (I learn ed not to d rop anything in his wo rksho p; yo u' ll never find it aga in,
S and PERMISSIONS amids t all th e tools , machines, design papers , and robot pa rts). Fifty robo ts s ho wed for eight
eene, (916) 660-0480 eve nts . Stev e Richard s of Acroname lectured on s ub s um ptio n arc hitec ture, an ingeniou s
approach to designin g ro bo ts for th e rea l world. Lot s of goo d tech info at acrona me .co m.
(916) 660-0730
THE INTERNET AT Contributing Editor Jo hn Picci rillo's Robotics Mini-FAQ was upd at ed and pos ted on RS&T's
botMag.com website (robotmag .co m) to give folks a q uic k-to-rea d introduction to hob by robotics . Thanks ,
eli Deppner John.
as er@RobotM ag.com
nels-on proje cts, bu t ca nnot guar -
them , and we are no t responsible
are. softw are . or materials used ,
1U ircuitry dep icte d may be pro-
larks.

effort to e-nsure the acc uracy of

in this magazine, but we are not
or claim s arising from errors or Robo t Science & Technology (ISSN 1096-4754) is publi shed bl-monthly at 3875 Taylor Road , Sud.
200, Loomis , CA95650; 916.660.0480; Fax:916.660.0730; info@Rob otMag.com. Subscri pt ion inq ulri
)ay be reproduced in electronic U.S. and Canad a 888.510.7728; all other co untries 916.660.0480. Issu e price; $5.95 (U.S.) $6,g
prior written permissi o n of the
and Permissions. abo ve. (Canada) . Subs cription rat es : 12 issues $39 U.S., $49 Canada (U.S. funds) . Other co untries see pa
49. Periodicals postage paid in Loomis , CAand additional mailing offices . POSTMASTER:Send cha n
of add ress to : Robot Science & Techn ology, 3875 Taylor Road #200, Loomis , CA95650.

- - - " ' -- - - - ---,---- .._ - - ~ ..~--_.--.,.--.,.---,,--------.,.---.,.---.,.--

r
I

FEEDFoRWARD: SELECTED REVIEWS

What's Out Th ere ?
Review by Mike Greene

Personal Robotics:
Re al Robots to Co ns tr uct, Program and Explore th e World
BY RICHARD RAUCCI A K Pet ers. Ltd., Natick, Massachusetts , 1999
This 200+ page co mpendium of first-hand research rob ots, perhaps because the oth e
hands-on experiences with walkers,roll ers and are too expensive for mass co nsumption,
arms from Learning Curve-Robo tix , Capsela, too speci ali zed or too co mplicated for his
Lego ( i nc lu d i ng MindSt o rm s), Sil verLit, tend ed aud ience. But Person al Rob otics gc
Johu co, OWl, Parallax, Sol arb oti cs ( BEAM) , a lon g way tow ard answering the qu estie
Robi x, Fisch erTechnik,A.K. Peters (Rug War- What s out there ?
rior) ,and JCM Electronics (CyBug) robo ts is a
valuable aid for teach ers, hobb yists and par- It's hard to keep up with techn ology tod
ents.He reports on the results of his field tests, how ever thi s inform ati on w as up-to-d e
the robo ts' features and funct ion alit y, and their th rou gh mid-1999. As mor e m anufacture
possibilities for expansion.He includ es sample enter the field , more mod el lin es will be
programming co de and screen sho ts to give fered than ever before. Readers sho uld n
the prospecti ve buyer a sneak peek at the in- therefore, co nclu de that this book is the I;
terface and skill level required to build and wo rd. Instead, the autho r and pub lisher ha
operate th ese ro bo ts. Finally, he spec i fies set forth a challe nge for the person al roboti
sources that have these machin es availab le for inf orm ation industry: Will anyo ne be able
pur chase. keep us up-to-date on every new major pre
uct lin e?
The sophisticated autono mo us Pion eer ro-
bots from Acti vMedi a earn their ow n chapter Raucci did a good deed by presentin g tl
in thi s book , perhaps because they are the broa d-stroke review o f some o f the most pot
"...best-price d rob ots in th eir cl ass" and "A lar rob ots available to our readership. I co

T
his ro bo t b ook distin gui shes itself mend publisher Klaus Peters for bringing tl
nobl e attempt to bring a full-fl edged prof es-
immediately as bein g one of the very book promptly to market. With out Persor.
sio nal robo t near to the educatio n/consumer
few surveys of several spec ific rob ots. Rob otics, we would all be less inf orm ed.
market." Raucci doesn't cover other high-end
With down-to-earth inf ormation abo ut each,
the reader can make an int elli gent cho ice of
wh ich robot to buy or build . Even the intro-
du ctory pages,whi ch present a histori cal per-
spec tive of soc iety's view of robo ts,androids,
Personal Robotics: Real Robots to Construct, Program,
and automatons in realit y and ficti on ,are in- and Explore the World
teresting and informative. Most of the book, by Richard Raucci, 1999
however,is dedi cated to fielding the question :
What s out there ?
ISBN 1-56881-089-X, 208pp, amply illustrated
A K Peters, 63 South Ave, Natick, Massachusetts 01760
Only a very few books exist that discuss a
handful o f specific robo ts, and rarely can a Tel: (508) 655-9933 Fax: 508-655-5847 www.akp et ers.com
read er fin d such unbiased inf ormati on on
kit-built designs. Unlike this easy-to-read sur-
vey, most "descriptive" books are difficult to
absorb. What's a beginning rob oti cist to do?
How do you choo se a robo t kit for a class
project , for your hobby,for a gift?
Auth or Rich ard Raucci spent month s play-
ing on his kn ees building, programming and
running a herd of robo ts selec ted by co m-
mon-sense criteria. Is it a real robot? Is it inter-
es ting? (He ignores rad io-co ntro lle d toys.)
Then,bravely, Raucci gives his real-world opin-
ion on the pros and co ns of each mod el. He
recom mends hobbyist robo ts (mostly kits) ,
and expe rimenter toys and kit s as low as $50.
At the high-end , he shows us a co mmercial
grade machin e aimed at the schoo l and re-
search markets for und er $3000.

eM R OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECHNOLOGY I

 One Piece at a Time
Review by Tak Auyeung

Applied Robotics
by Edwin Wise
Prompt Publicati on s, Ind ia na pol is, 1999
(MCU) .This is where some readers may have
trou bl e und erstand ing how the components
work .Non etheless,there are enough part lists,
instructions and circuit diag rams to help the
reader bui ld the projects .
Chap ters 9 and 10 cover the theory and
implem ent ation of fuzzy logic respec tively
Whil e Chapter 9 contains a general discussion
of neural net and fuzzy logic that all readers
...........
.-. can underst and , Chapter 10 includ es addi-
tional technical details about the MCU as well
...........
III . . . . as actual Fuzbol (a C-like fuzzy logic program -

......
...........
min g language) c od e. Read ers with som e
processor arch itecture know ledge and C pro-
gramm ing experience shou ld find chapter 10
interesting. Others may und erstand the gen-
eral id ea but find the details distracting.
here is a lot of materi al in this book

T tou chin g on many diverse areas of co n

cern to stud ents and hobbyi sts. Some
o f th e m aj or top i cs in clud e elec tro n ics ,
Chapters I I to 13 resume to discuss addi-
tional general top ics related to robotics,such
as distanc e/pos ition sensing /encoding, R/C
servo applica tions and pneumatic designs.
mech ani cal design,low-level software device
drivers,high-level fuzzy logic and pneum atics. In parti cu lar, Chapt er 13 is a mini -guid e to
How can anyone ever hope to solve the myri ad pn eumati cs, includi ng exp lanations of th e
desperate probl ems presented wh en bui lding physics,pneum atic devi ces and their symbo ls
a co mplete robo t? It's like trying to eat an and basic design issues.
elephant! How do you do that? From the educational perspecti ve,this book
Auth or Edwin Wise supplies his expertise in presents a co mplete overview of the diverse
a practi cal and hands-on proj ect-oriented for- techno logi es in a mod ern robot. However,be-
mat. Readers can foll ow the text and actually ginn er s m ay find th ems elves strugg ling
build the projects. in ch apter 7,8 and 10 du e to the amoun t o f
tech nical details. Whi le the author provides
The first five chapters cover topi cs co mmo n som e exp lanat ion for th e mi crocon tro ll er
to m ost sm all elec tr ica l m obil e rob ots : (MCU) and software concepts,beginners prob-
chassis,gearing,power supplies,drive circuits,
ably need more background materials befo re
speed control,simple sensing,e tc.The discus- they und erstand MCUsand software develop-
sion s include hand s-on inf orm ation as well as
ment enough to develop their own rob oti c
theoretical explanatio ns.The book uses exten- software app lications .
sive parts list, di agrams and ph otographs to
mak e the proj ects easy to foll ow. Wise also This book is hig hl y recomm end ed fo r
ex p lai ns how eac h design or co mpo nent rob ot enthusiasts with some background in
work s, as well as import ant selection criteria the elec tro nics and software o f computer-
for specif yin g parts. based co ntrolle rs. The included fuzzy logi c
applicatio n tool (Fuzbol) presents a practi cal
Chapter 6 is wh ere the fun really begins. It means to experiment wi th rul e-based rob oti c
adds behavior to the robot describ ed by the behavior.
previous five chapters.Any reader with som e
kn owl edge of electronics sho uld find it easy Answerin g the o riginal qu estion , how do
to read up to and including chapter six.Indeed, you eat an elephant? Edwin Wise's instru ct ive
rob ots th at exhib it basic be havio r can be style in App lied Roboti cs dem onstrates the
constructed based on the first six chapters. practical method :one piece at a tim e.

Chapters 7 and 8 cover the basic software

and hardw are operatio n of a micro controller

Applied Robotics
by Edwin Wise
234 pp plus sampl e program code listings , list of suppliers,
bibliography & CD-ROM.Well-indexed
ISBN: 0-7906-1184-8 Prompt Publications, Indianapolis
IR OBOT S CIENCE & T ECH N OLOGy . . . .

-._ -- _ ._ - - -- -- ----- - - - --- --- ~--

 Programming Foundations: One Brick at a Tim e
Review by M ike Greene

The Unofficial Guide to Ask

\
LEGO®MINDSTORMSTMRobots
by Jonathan B. Knudsen
O'Reilly, Se bastopol ,CA 1999
Someone
But that's natural for 21C information flow.
Hackers reverse-engin eered the RCX bra in im-
Who
\ medi ately after the kit was released.Where there
was an information vacuum created by popu lar
demand , dedi cated nerds supplied the needed
KnOWST
M
data via the int ern et.
Knudson 's purpose is to satisfy your explo r-
atory urge."On ce you've built a few robots and
written a few programs, you' ll prob ably be itch -
Robotics
ccas io na lly,we co me ac ross a unique ing for more: more co mplex rob ots, more pow -

O and satisfying book on a leading edge

topi c, and here is one o f the best.This
book is,to date,the most co mplete and int ell ec-
erful progr amming environments,more sensors,
and more fun .This book will take you there:'
Knuds en leads a sili con safari , showing us
several co mplete, well-docum ented and useful
tually beauti ful resour ce for veteran and fresh-
man prog ram mers wh o want to explo re th e programs. Som e chapters are ac tua lly qui ck-
myriad meth ods of cross-compil ing for the ro- starts for vario us environme nts, including Not
boti c embe dde d system th at is the brain for Quit e C,Programmable Brick FORTH,and legOS.
Leges Mind Storm s Rob oti c Inventi on System . Since this book is abo ut alternative meth ods,
Lon gtim e foll owers of Rob otM ag.com were it ventures outsid e of Wind ows, giving some di-
int rodu ced to the progenitor of Leges RCXbrain, recti on for MacOS and Linux users. Plus he in-
the Programm able Brick invented by MIT Me- trodu ces many URLs for parts,cod e,and id eas.
di a Lab's Fred Martin , back in 1996, whi ch was We benefit from programs using coo perative
already a developed research tool. Readers were multitaskin g, preemptive multit asking and
int rodu ced to Lege s RIS in RS&T Issue 5. Now, subsumption at a level und erstand able to in ex-
O'Reilly has published the first co mprehensive peri enced progr amm ers.The wh ol e book is ac-
book for programming MindStorm robo ts. cessible: hardw are secti on s are useful for first-
Veteran Java program mer, book author and tim e rob ot builders,and softw are sections do not Tak e your robots to the
onli ne co lumnist Jon athan Knud sen has bravely exclude any interested techn ologists. next level. This ho ok goes far
hunted in an eno rmous jun gle o f int erpreted Impor tantly,Knudsen detail s the foundation beyond wh at yo u' ll find
functions,teleoperated int eracti ve programs and of every Lego inventi on ,the bricks.There are over
autono mo us co mpiled multitaskin g threads to
in the o fficial d o cumentation.
100 detaile d b/w illu strations.It's easy to see why
bring hom e a trul y new and incred ib ly useful studen ts o f robo tics have used Lego produc ts
Learn to build and pr ogram
in trodu cti on to alternative program m ing for for over a decade: physical embo di ment o f in- wh ate ver yo u ca n imag ine .
Mind Stor ms. telli gent behavi ors are easily recast during tri al-
In fact ,anyone wh o thi nks that Mi nd Storms is and-error experimentatio n. 11/"{/i!{/!JI,. Oc/,,!),.r 11)1)1)
"just a toy" for II-year-old s will be co nverted And for those without fear of a little sold ering • IS13,\' 1- ) () ) 'J2 -{i<J2 -7
up on scanni ng this well-supp ort ed, excelle ntly and a Drem el tool , Knud sen explains how to $24.1)). $.!() 'J) C ·LV
w ritte n and supe rb ly ed ited book . Knud sen make your ow n sensors-on-a-brick. Exampl e: he
c lea rly shows th at th e MindSto rm s RIS is a multiplexesseveral touch sensors to a single RCX
robo tic ist'stool. I/O stud, using a bitmask to determine whi ch
It's remarkab le to see a "softwa re" book ex- bum per was hit.
plaining hardware co nstruction ,but that's a natu- In short, autho r Jon athan Knudsen and edi-
ral result of the in terdisciplinary nature of ro- tor Mike Louk ides successfully extende d Fred
boti cs. Marti n's inventi on beyond the labyrinth halls of
Even th e bi rth of this book is noteworth y: this MIT,past the toy store shelves, int o the hands o f
boo k abo ut alternative programmin g enviro n- serio us behavio r researchers,techn ol ogy teach-
ments appea red prior to any "o fficia l" boo k. ers,and self-taught robo tics experime nters.
i=\.S&.

The Unofficial Guide to LEGO® MINDSTORMS™Robots

by Jonathan B.Knudsen
248 pp with sample program code listings, lists of suppliers,
and index.
ISBN: 1-56592-692-7 O' Reilly & Assoc iates,Sebastopol ,CA.
eM R OBOT S CIENCE & T ECHNOLOGY I
1I
I
I
I

A Study in Arm Engineering

by Mark J. Robillard

Anyone who has read my articles over the years has probably noti ced that when it
comes to supplying a starting point for robotics, I tend to support the local toy
merchant. Toys, although intended for children, are designed by adults . More often
than not , the designer must surmount many engineering difficulties to accomplish
the necessary price/performance ratio that makes a product successful.

Over the years several products have been introduced in the

0-2"(O-SOmm)
area of educational robotics. Occasionally I find one that really
stands out. E
:+,,.,.,.,,.,.,.,,",,","ooh,5
lI:'

Seventeen years ago I introduced the robot experimenter to the

Tomy Armatron (later distributed by Radio Shack) robot arm. Never
before in the history of toys had a product with so much robotic
functionality been made available at such an affordable price.
Armatron included six degrees of freedom with parallel jaw E
E
o
grippers that could grasp and lift eight ounces, all for under $50.00.
~
ci
Armatron had one motor and an elaborate system of gears and N

cams to create six independent motions. Mechanical joysticks

moved levers and selected cams. The only way to externally con-
trol the toy was to emulate the operation of the joystick using
motors, solenoids and servos. Thus, this impressive mechanical
design proved a formidable task for computer interfacing .

Since that time , several vendors have offered arms but they never
had the 'WOW' factor of Armatron, until now.
Figure 1. OWl Arm Specifications
. Late last year OWl Corp. introduced a new robot arm trainer. The Thanks to OWl for art permissions.
new arm is called the OWI-007 Robotic Arm Trainer. The trainer
has capabilities usually found only in much more expensive ex-
perimental arms. Incorporating five separate gear motors, manual Using the arm is addictive after you insert the batteries. If you.
control is accomplished through a series of simple up-down cen- buy one for yourself, either get another for the kids
ter-off switches. Figure 1 illustrates the functional capabilities or don't let them see it.
of the product.
The purpose of this article is two-fold. For those of you who hav e
The arm rotates left or right. The elbow and shoulder raise and not investigated the OWl arm I present a t horough review of the
lower. The wrist rotates and the two-fingered parallel-jaw grip- mechanical design concepts that make it outstanding. You will
per opens and closes. Not bad for approximately $70! Converting learn some simple yet elegant mechan isms. If you have purchased
1982 dollars into 1999 currency indicates that OWl has actually one, I'll show you how to add position feedback to each of its
improved on the price/performance features of Armatron. joints and how to interface your embedded controller.

I R OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECH N OLOGY ' " ·1

- - - - - - - . .. - _ ....._ -- - - - - - - .- - - - -- - -
 Important Note:
To add feedback devices to the arm,
will have to be in a disassembled st at
Pinion -mounted tll!Itgear sect ion [36} Output Axle A
It will be far easier to add instrume
Pinion-mounted flat gear pinion sect ion (10]
tation before it is assembled. In SOI
cases, portions of the arm structure w
be slightly modified . This will sure
OulpulAxloB violate the manufacturer's warranty.

Pinion-mounted flat gear section l24] Pinion-mounted flat gear pinion section (11]
Worm Gear (single-start)

Figure 2. Gear Motor Internal Details

OWl Arm Basics

The OWl arm relies on five specially designed gear motors for
movement. Each motor provides ample torque for movement
while consuming minimal current. This minimal requirement is
due to the mechanical advantage gained using a multitude of
gears. Figure 2 depicts the internal arrangement of gears within Figure 4.
Finger Travel.
each motor unit. The motors run on as little as three volts.

The simple DC motor in each joint is controlled by providing a Gripper Mechani caLDesign
positive or negative three volts. This can be done through manual
switches (like the supplied controller), low current relays or The best place to start investigating the design of the OWl ar
standard H-Bridge drivers. OWl offers an optional PC-based elec- is at its finger tips (see Figure 3).
tronic control unit plus software.
The gripper mechanism consists of what is known as a parall
Providing electronic control of the motors is only half the story. jaw design. As the fingers open they remain in the same plar
When attempting to add computer-based intelligence to an arm, of reference, much like the jaws of a vise. As shown in t l
knowing where the joints are and when they reach their in - figure, the hand assembly consists of two fingers mechanic al
tended destination is the remaining half. linked to a base structure. Figure 4 illustrates the orientatic
of a finger as it travels. Notice that the links constrain tJ:
Unfortunately, the OWl arm includes no provision for direct finger's movement in a straight line.
position feedback. Even the OWl control interface and accom-
panying software do not rely on actual position. Without feed- Each of the fingers includes an int egral non-slip rubber pad 0
back one can only use time-based open-loop control. This is its inside surface. This is where the grasped object is capture
where you specify the amount of time in seconds that a motor and the addition of the rubber surface increases its abilities t
is activated. As easy as it seems, this method yields unpredict- helping to eliminate slippage. r--- ------·
able results. Motors don't always stop immediately when com- Movementis provided through the :----~---::-----~~r--~
~ r I

manded. Varying loads on the joints will tend to slow them coupling of opposing gears and a , I
, ~,
:

down thus throwing the rack-slide mechanism. There is an

attached gear segment at the base
~
,
,
·· I'

,
,
~

timing of an operation
off. of each finger (refer back to Fig-
,, ·. ,,
,, ,,,

As we move through the

ure 3). I describe this as a seg-
ment because it is not a complete
··
, ,,
, ,,
description of each of the circular gear. When the two finger
··
, ,
",,
joints, a mechanism for ",
gears are meshed together, they ",
providing feedback for open and close simultaneously. "'0
control purposes will be
introduced.
One of the fingers includes an in -
terface to a sliding rack gear. A
gear directly attached to the hand Fixed pivot points
\/
motor powers the rack. As that
Figure 3. Figure 5.
.Gripp er Design. Hand Mechanism in Detail

M:M R OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECHNOLOGY I

i
gear moves back and forth it pushes the fingers open and the beam is de-
We've got Java! -
closed through a levered and geared rotating action. Study flected. The light
Figure 5 to get a full understanding of this mechanism. no longer activates Does your robo t have sona r, infr ared, 8
the detector so it tactil e sensors, and voice synt hes is? Perh aps,
but ca n you program your robo t from your
shuts off, opening
Instrumenting the Gripper the circuit. At that
web browser ? With our new Java-b ased
robot co ntrol syste m, it's as easy as po int &
There are two places on the gripper where feedback mecha- moment you have click , copy & paste, The RB5X '" base unit
nisms would come in handy. The first is to add some ability to detection of the is also available as an inn er-comp onent kit.
sense when an object is between the fingers. That would give target object.
the controller a signal as to when to start closing the fingers
Depending on the
for capture. The second sense to add is a determination of the
thickness of the
position of th e fingers in relation to each other. In other words, 800.422.4265:,
finger and the
"How far open or closed are the fingers?"
placement of the
A third sense that would be helpful is to determine when an beam, you could be
object has been grasped. This can be accomplished directly by detecting only the
using sensit ive contact switches on the surface of the fingers very edge of the ob- Shown here:
or indirectly by noticing that the fingers have stopped closing ject. To close on the RB5X base unit,
on their own without being commanded to stop. I chose the edge might result RF transmitter
heat/light /sound kit ,
latter (indirect method) as this appeared to be a simple method in a poor capture.
video, and 5-axis arm;
to implement and it requires no modification to the arm itself. The optimum fully assembled,
method is to place
There are three accepted methods for determining the posi-
two beams , one on
tion of moving mechanical components:
ea ch edge of the
1. Contact switches finger. This would www . e d u r o b o t . c o m j':
2. Optical reflect ance or "break -beam" devices determine a better _'Java' is a registered tradema rk ot Sun Microsystem s
RB5X™ by the General Robotics Corporation™
3. Magnetic field detection grip point.

The obvious method of choice for determining when an object For this demonstration , I chose to add a single beam in t he
is located between the fingers is the optical break-beam de- center of the finger at the tip . With smaller devices, a numb er
vice. Figure 6 illustrates the concept. of beams may be implemented.

EMITTER DETECTOR CIRCUIT EQUIVALENT

rD •••
~ n Object Detection
Begin adding the infrared devices by measuring the diameter f
the emitter and detector components. These devices look like
standard LEDs or transistors. For best results find a pair that

rD~
are of the same size. You want the devices to point directly at
each other, so the hole where the device is mounted to the;

~ ~1
finger should be drilled simultaneously through both of them,

Tape the fingers together as if they are in the closed positio n

(see Figure 7). Drill a hole that matches the diameter of th e
Figu re 6. Infrared Break-Beam Optical Switch
components. Start from the outside of one finger and move
through the junction of the two and clear through the remain-
An infrared emitter LED is placed within the surface of one ing finger. Place the components into each hole from the out-
finger. Directly opposite, an infrared detector (photo diode or side of the finger so that the emitting or sensing end faces
phototransistor) is placed within the opposing finger. Aligned inward. Tape them into place until you have tested their opera -
properly, the light from the emitter falls on the detector, which tion. Later you can epoxy them to insure sturdiness.
completes a circuit. This circuit is the equivalent of a switch
that is normally closed. As the fingers open, they remain par- Two wires attach to each device. These must be threaded through
allel due to their mechanical linkage. This maintains the align- the finger joints and down into the base where everything is
ment of the light beam and therefore the circuit remains in - attached. Use thin flexible wiring. A simple schematic for oper -
tact. When a solid object is introduced between the fingers, ating the infrared beam is shown in Figure 8.

IR OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECHN OLOGY *.3

 Figure 9. Switch
Actuator Arm
Figure 7. Drill the hole clear through bothfingers. Engaging Gear Teel

The integral lever of the snap switch travels along the ge

+5V alternately making and breaking contact as the gear mOVE
+5V
An external controller would convert the switching into puls
that can be counted (Figure 10).
+5V
• See Text
330
4050 +5V 2.2K

O--rv'v---------.r,~
1
. _- - -"13 >-=2 _

To Microcontrol le

1 Figure 10. Interfacing a Snap Switch

The tricky part is the placement of the switch in relation

Figure 8. Simple IR Detector Schematic the gear and the shape of the lever. When you select a switr
for the application try to get one with a "simulated roller 1
In the circuit shown in Figure 8, the emitter on the left is ver", This is a metal lever that is bent to a rounded shap e
biased using a 330 Q resistor. This value may have to be modi- the end. Standard roller lever switches are too big for the ge
fied depending on the type of infrared LED you choose. The teeth. I found Omron D2F series switches to be ideal for th
resistor connected to the detector will have to be chosen ex- application. Straight lever versions of this switch are availab
perimentally. I found that a very large resistance (-20 MQ) through Digi-Key. You can bend the end of the lever into tl
worked well. proper shape using small needle nose pliers . Photo 1 shows tl
placement of the switch on the hand's motor.

Finger Position Detection

A gear motor mounted within the hand structure opens the
fingers. A small gear engages the rack, which moves finger gear
segments. Somewhere along the path, we want to add a feed -
back mechanism. Examining the mechanisms involved, it be-
comes obvious that the teeth of the gear that drives the rack
can provide feedback. Detecting their movement can act like a
counter ticking off position units.

Of the available technologies, I found that a mechanical con-

tact switch (also known as a micro switch or snap switch) acti-
vated by the main gear teeth of the gear that drives the rack
would be the ideal method for this application. Although not
as sophisticated as an optical circuit, it is simple and reliable
for the duty we would place on the arm and very inexpensive.
Figure 9 illustrates the concept. Photo 1. Contact Switch Engaging Final Drive Gear OfFinger Motor.

II.' R OB OT S CIEN CE & T ECH N OLOGY I

i1
J
I
I
This method provides a somewhat medium resolution feedback.
Due to the multitude of gears involved, removing power to the
I motor results in very little residual movement so the method is
fairly accurate. Therefore, you can now command the gripper to
open or close to a pre-determined position and stop.
I
Wrist Mechanical Design
I Ofall the joints in the arm, the wrist (see Figure 11) proved to be
the most troublesome. The mechanism where the wrist motor
I
attaches to the hand (clutch plate) is very flimsy. The added
j weight of the sensors and the additional bundle of wires from
the hand tend to make its operation somewhat unreliable. That
is the main reason I suggest you use very thin flexible wire on
the hand senso rs.
Photo 2. Contact Switch Engaging Lego Gear
The wrist mechanism consists of the gear motor directly engag- Added To Wrist Mechanism
ing the clutch plate, which moves the hand assembly.
Elbow Mechanical Design
The elbow joint requires more torque because it must lift the
hand and forearm assemblies. Mechanical advantage is added
through an external large 45 tooth clutch gear (see Figure
12) that is fixed to the forearm. The gear motor engages
a "Mediation Gear" that in-turn meshes with the large gear.
The mediation gear acts as a translation between the gear
motor and the structure. As the gear motor turns,
the mediation gear turns the large clutch gear. This large
gear is attached to the forearm and therefore moves the
arm accordingly.
Figu re 11 .
Wris t Mechanism Detail

Instrumenting the Wrist

Due to the 'small space between the motor and the plate there is
nowhere in that mechanism that a feedback sensor can be
mounted. Luckily there are two shafts on each gear motor. The
remaining shaft for this motor is a simple square plug that pro-
trudes from the side of the moto r with plenty of open space
around for mounting sensors.

I decided to use the mechanical method on this joint as well. All

that needs to be added is a small gear to the auxiliary motor
shaft and a switch engaged with the gear. Youcan purchase small
gears from a lot of sources. Lego manufactures several gear sizes.
If you have Lego gears lying around your workshop use the small Figure 12. Elbow Mechanism Detail
gear with 16 teeth.

Photo 2 illustrate s a small Lego gear being added to the shaft. Instrumenting the Elbow
Some of the plastic from the middle of the gear must be removed
to accommodate the shaft. After tr imming, the gear is cemented The mediation gear is almost fully enclosed in a plastic col-
in place. lar and is therefore inaccessible for feedback. The large gear
seems to be the place to detect movement, however, it s t eeth
Make sure you don't accidentally cement the shaft to the hous- are very close together and a stiff metal cover plate protec ts
ing. Locating and wiring the switch completes the job. its edges.

R OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECHN OLOGY . __ .I

- - - - _ .. _ -- - - --- . _- - -- ._~~~
,,-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - c:::
J
I
After much deliberation I decided to use a variation of the Instrumenting the Shoulder
wrist detection scheme. This variation adds a small gear to the
top of the large clutch gear and mounts a mechanical switch This time, the mediation gear is accessible for feedback. It
on the large spacer that holds the clutch gear in place. The mounted inside a plastic cover in the base structure. There
smaller gear moves when the large gear is engaged. The lever plenty of room around the gear for mounting a mechanic,
of the switch follows the teeth of the small gear and counts switch (see Photo 4). The lever of the switch follows the te et
pulses (see Photo 3). of the mediation gear and counts pulses.

Photo 3. ContactSwitch Engaging Small Gear Photo 4. ContactSwitch Engaging ShoulderMediation Gear
Connected To Large Gear

As this switch is mounted on the outside of the arm, it is Base Mechanical Design
necessary to feed the wires back into the arm so they can
travel to the base. This is accomplished by drilling a small hole The base motor of the arm moves the entire structure, whic
in the upper arm. pivots on an extrusion that rises through the center of t h
base structure. Because the structure is balanced on the pivot
the motor requires little torque to move the assembly. Th
Shoulder Mechanical Design mechanism chosen to act as base drive operates the opposit
of every other joint. In this case the motor actually trav el
The shoulder joint operates on the same principle as the elbow
around a stationary gear. Figure 14 illustrates the design . Th
with some variation. Mechanical advantage is added again
large gear incorporates 74 teeth. The base motor it attached t
through an external large clutch gear (see Figure 13) that is
the arm structure. Its powered gear meshes with the fixed qea
fixed to the arm. The gear motor engages another mediation
that is connected to the base structure. When power is ap
gear that in-turn meshes with the large gear. The large gear is
plied, the movable item (in this case the arm structure) rotates
attached to the arm and therefore moves it accordingly.

Figure 13. Figure 14.

Shoulder Base
Mechanism Mechanism
Detail Detail

...... R OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECH N OLOGY I

j
I

i
I
I
Instrumenting the Base

I
POSITIVE LOGIC ENGINEERING
The easiest access to a gear that can be used for position sens-
ing is the drive gear on the base motor. Unfortunately, when it
is brought into contact with the base gear there is very little
head clearance between the base and the pivoting structure.
The snap switche s we used for all other joints are approxi-
matel y 0.25 in. thick. The clearance here is less than half that!

After much investigation I was able to find a sub miniature

switch that does the job. It is also from Omron Corp. and is
available through Digi-Key. The D2MQ line of switches are ex-
tremely thin units with an integral molded actuator lever. THE ASCI6

The switch on t he inside of the rotating base assembly is acti-

A SERIAL RIC SERVO
vated by the teeth of the motor gear. When positioning this MOTION CONTROLLER
HERE IS J US T SOl1E OF I TS FEA TURES:
swit ch be extre mely careful. It is possible to have it turned
• CON TROLS /6 SERVOS SII1UL TANEOUSLY
so t hat it cat ches on the gear in one direction. If this hap - • 4000 COUNT POSITION RESOLUTION
• 8-BI T SPEED 8 ACCELERA TION SET TINGS
pens, it will sna p the lever right off the switch. • 8 A NALOG OR DIGITAL INPUTS
. 8 HIGH-CURRENr DIGITAL OUTPU TS
• S WITCHING POWER REGULA TOR ALLOWS EN TIRE
Computer ControL SYS TEI1 TO USE ONLY ONE BA TTER Y PACK
WITH 5V OUTPUT POWER FOR USER 'S CON TROLLER
• 34 SOF TWARE C0l111ANDS
When you have complet ed the instrumentation of the arm you • EVENT TRIGGERING ANO STA TUS REPORTING
• SE~UENCES I10TION AUTOl1A TlCALL Y
end up wit h a bundle of wires that need termination. There • C0 l111AND CACHE I1EI10RY
are five contact closures and an optical switch to interface. • N ON - VOL/ TILE S TORAGE OF SYSTEI1 PARA I1E TERS.
SERVO PARA I1ETERS AND BOARD ADDRESS
Figure 15 depicts the electrical equivalent of our feedback sen- P.O. Box 652 1
sors. The opti cal switch is not shown as this was covered ear- S anta Rosa. CA 9 5406-0521
info @medonis .com
lier. A t ota l of six input lines are needed to report the status of
the arm to 1 microcontroller.
WWW.MEDONIS.CO M

grounded, presenting a zero volt signal. When interfaced to a

BAS IC CIRCU IT micro controller or PC these signals are detected as a 1 (when
HAND WAI ST ELBOW SHOULDER BASE
the voltage is close to +5 V) and a 0 when the switch is closed"

j~ L L L J~ Sensing Position
-J,... You need to design a program that accepts a position and then
[
energizes the motor while monito ring the position sensor in-
. 5V I put . This program would count the number of Os until it matche d
I
I the position number. When the number is reached, the pro-
gram turns off the motor.
INPUT 1 INPUT 2 INPUT 3 INPUT 4 INPUTS

Figure 15. Arm Feedback Sensor Equivalent Circuit The simplest way to do this is to determine beforehand how
many Os are produced as the joint travels from one extreme t o
Another article in this issue details an impressive computer- the other. Do this by driving the joint to one extreme. Attach a.
based interface kit for the motors. Also, OWl offers a very nice count er circuit like that shown in Figure 16.
PC interface that connects betwe en t he arm trainer and your .5V

parallel port. Both provide complet e software cont rol of all

five motors. The supplied software allows you t o move the arm
using programmed ste ps. They do not, however, include any
provision for the feedback sens ors we just installed .

In order to use the position switches you'll have t o provide t he

computer with at least six inputs. A program needs t o be de-
signed that monitors each positi on sensor input . The circuit in
Figure 15 presents five inputs that are normally at close to a
+5 Vlevel. When a sensor detects a gear toot h, it s signal line is Figure 16. Simple Position Counter Circuit

IR OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECHNOLOGY IICI ]

 Drive the arm to its other extreme and note the pattern of Detecting an Extreme
LEDs. The circuit in the figure has the ability of counting to
256 positions (s-bits). Each time the position switch presents I did not include limit switch sensors for any of the joints. Yo
a zero, the counter advances one count. could certainly place more micro switches to detect the joint
I If a joint produces a count of 12, then moving it to its center
extreme positions. There is a way in software to detect the m 2
i well.
position (exactly half way between extremes) would produce
I 6. Note the number of positions for each joint. As your program is monitoring the inputs for zeros it coul
include a timer. At a constant speed, position pulses will com
In your program, set up a counter for each joint. Enter the at regular intervals. When there are no more pulses detectet
target position of the joint (the position you want the joint to you haven't commanded the motor to stop and your intern.
reach) into the counter. Turn on the motor and watch the counter is not at zero, you must be at a limit!
joint's position sense input. When it reads a zero (0), decre-
ment the counter. Test the counter to see if it is at zero. When
the counter decrements down to zero, the joint is in the de- Going Further
sired position.
I am continuing to experiment with the OWl Arm Trainer. 'Jr
keep abreast of its development and for more robot and centre
Direction information, visit my website at http:/ /www.xantz.com.

Up to this point I haven't mentioned the direction that the

motor is to turn. Obviously, if you stop the arm in the middle
of its range, the next time you move it could be in either
direction. This is where your program has to perform some
logic. There are several clever methods for determining which
direction to go from a given number. For this exercise, I'll just Mark has written several book
give you one idea. and dozens of articles 01
experimental robotics. His n :'!l
Make the position of the arm an absolute number. One book is being introduced at th
extreme will be zero and the other is the maximum count end of this year. He is cutrentl:
you measured . a technical documentotioi
You'll need three memory locations for each joint. Keep track
manager for a large buildin,
of the current joint position, the desired joint position and
automation company in the north
the last memory location will serve as a position counter. Design east. More technical robotics am
the program to do the following: control tidbits may be [ou nt
at his website at www.xantz.com. He welcomes comment.
1. At power-up, drive all joints to one extreme . at [email protected].
2. Clear all joint position memory locations.
3. When a position change is requested, subtract the
current position from the desired position. If the
result is a positive number, command the motor to
turn in one direction. If the result is a negative
number, command the motor to turn in the opposite
direction.
4. Before energizing the motors, set the joint counter
to the result. If the result is a negative number, just EXPERIENCED
ignore the sign. ROBOTICISTS
5. Energize the motor in the desired direction. WANTED:
6. Monitor the joint position sensor input for a count pulse.
Experts in all fields with
7. Decrement the joint counter for each detected pulse. hands-o n robotics experience
8. If the joint counter is zero, stop the motor. Otherwise, are co rdially invited to submit
go to step 6. story ideas or outlines to
Editor @RobotMag .com.
3875 Taylor Road #200,
Loom is, Ca lifornia 956 50.

-n R OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECH N OLOGY I

 •
enslng
Ieeemetlen
Using the New OWl-DO? with en
Win95/98 Interface
by John Iovin e

Here is a two module project using the OWl-DOl robotic arm training kit and a PC interface kit available from Images Company '~
(see resources at the end of this article.) Together these modules form a functional unit that permits you to experiment and
program automation and animatronics into a fully controlled "wired" robotic arm.

One also has the option to control the arm interactively, in real time, using either a manual controller or the WIN95/98 program.
The PC interface allows the use of a personal computer to program automation and animatronics into the robotic arm.

Once connected to the computer's printer port, the arm may be operated interactively, or it may be programmed from the
computer.

Operating the arm interactively is easy. Simply click on any function button to command the robotic arm to perform that
function. Click on the button a second time to end the function.

Programming automation is just as easy, just click on the "Program" button to enter the program mode. In this mode, the
interface and robotic arm operate as described above. In addition, the program records each function and the time elapsed into
a script file.

A script file can contain up to 99 separate functions, including pauses. An individual script file can be replayed up to 99 times
by typing a number into a repeat box. Writing different script files allows one to experiment with computer-controlled automa-
tion and animatronics. The WIN95/98 program operation is described in more detail later.

The Windows program is included in the Images Company robotic arm interface kit or may be downloaded at no cost from the
Internet at www.imagesco.com.

In addition to the Windows program, the arm can be operated from BASIC or QBASIC. A DOS-level program is included with the
kit.

The DOS program only allows interactive functioning using the computer keyboard (see Basic code Listing, below).

Script file creation is not available in the DOS-level program. However, if one knows how to program in Basic, the arm may be
programmed to perform a sequence of motions similar to a script file created in the Windows program. The motion sequence may
be repeated, as is the case in many animatronics applications.

Robotic Arm
The arm (Figure 1, page 7) moves in three axes . The The OWl-DOl Robotic Arm Trainer uses five small DC motors to
elbow joint can move vertically (up or down) through a t ot al arc produce motion. These moto rs are "wire" cont rolled, meani ng
of approximately 135 degrees . The shoulder joint moves the grip- that each DC motor, and hence each robotic functio n, is con-
per (forward and back) through a total arc of 120-degrees. The trolled by a wire (electrical power) . Each of the five DC motors
arm can turn clockwise or counter-clockwise about the axis of contro ls an arm fun ction. The wire control makes it possible to
t he base approximately 350 degrees. The gripper portion of t he build a controller unit for the arm t hat will respond to electrical
robotic arm can grasp and release small objects up to two inches signals. This simplifies the t ask of interfacing the robotic arm to
in diamet er and rotate approximately 340 degrees at the wrist . a PC computer printer port.

IR OB OT S CIEN CE & T ECHN OLOGY lli1l

---,---- ._~~- .. _ - -
The arm is made from lightweight plastic. Most of the stress bear - Figure 4 is a test circuit t hat you may build before building t
ing parts are also made of plastic. The DC motors used in the robotic arm interface. Notice if both t ransistors are turned c
robotic arm are small, high rpm, low torque motors. To increase the motor is off. Only one transist or (per motor) should be tur n
each motor's torque, it is connected to a gearbox. The motors and on at a time. If two transistors to the same motor were accide
gearbox assemblies are an integral part of the construction of tally turned on at the same tim e, it would be the equivalent
the robotic arm. creating a short circuit. On the robot arm, each motor is cc
trolled by two transistors on the interface in a similar marine

PC Interface Construction
The PC interface schematic is shown in Figure 5. The Print
Circuit Board (PCB) pattern for the circuit is illustrated in Pi
ures 6 and 7, and parts placement on the board is shown
Figure 8.
~-----~~~ -vee

... RU 0"
L ' ISlCn
''''n

The five DC motors come

with the gearboxes already
assembled and connected 2
to the motors, (see Figure 3). This
helps move the construction along.
In a few hours, you have an op-
erational robotic arm.
-vcc
TP
Basic Motor ControL •• '"
1001<n

To understand the basic function of wire control, let's see how

IN9I't
ua
digital signals can control a single DC motor. Controlling a DC 0'

~
.,.
- vee R
motor requires two complementary transistors. One transistor ".,
- vee
is a PNP type and the other a NPN type. Each transistor func-
''I).''
tions like a switch, controlling current to the motor. -vee

The direction of the current controlled by each transistor is

Figu re 5 1~511
the opposite of the other, and since the direction of th e current
controls the direction the motor spins, clockwise (CW) or To begin construction, first iden tify the component side of t!
counter-clockwise (CCW), the active transistor controls the motor's PCB. The component side has the white line drawings of the r,
direction . sistors, transistors, diodes, Ie's and DB-25 connector. All cornp
-vee
nents are mounted on the component side.
15K

IN
00 0 o o
o~{~q
00 0 0 o
00 0 0"
000 o
o
o ! ! b~ ! oo
on
0 0 0 800 OJ
~ IN o
o 00 0 o
o
o

600
o
o

000 o o o
o
Figure 4
Figure 6. Top Copper

" #1 R OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECHN OLOGY I

 0--0
0--0
0--0
0--0
0--0
0--0
Solar Engine Kit Speech Recognition Kit
Com plete Solar $22 95 Add speech recogni tion capab ilities to projects, ap-
Energy Power Plant - pliances , and robotics . Circuit ca n recogni ze 40 user
progra mmab le one second words. User program s
the 40 word voca bulary. Circuit may be interfaced to
other stand alone circuits or app liances or to a host
compute r sys tem. HM2007 IC uses latest LSI tech-
nology. Speech Recognition Kiu
unassembled ..•• $100Qll

___ ' l /T ____

o 00
=*41 •• I ••••••• I •• I I lj"~

Figu re 7. Bottom Copper (below) Camera CCO _ _~~_ _ No mi n a l Resit a nce

with audio ~ at 0 degrees 10K
Black and White
Side View \ F'lex 90 degrees 20K ohms
Sensitivity: .3 LUX ' Resolution: 430 TV lines >90 degrees 30-40K ohms
Voltage: 9-12 VDC ' Output NTSC (1 Vpp)
Options: Bend Sensors
In general, after soldering a component to the board, clip away CAM·04 3.6 lens $90"
May be used to create a VR glove or as senso r
CAM·OS pinhole $90"
any excess wire from the underside of the PCB. It's a good idea t o Color Version $22S oo lorrobotics. FL01 $10 0ll
follow the sequence for mounting the components. Begin by
mounting the 100 kQ resistors (color bands brown, black, yel- Lrnagcs C'orrrp arry
low, gold, or silver) labeled Rl through Rl0. (7 18) 698-8305
39 Seneca Loop > Staten Island , NY 10314 · www.imagesco.con
Next, mount the fives diodes Dl to D5, making sure the black
All orders add $ 7 ~ PPH • NYS resident s add sales tax
band on the diode faces toward the DB-25 connector, as shown
on the white line component drawing .
topside of the chip with the indentation on the white line dra w
ing . You may notice that there are place s for additional comp o
nents. This is for an additional AC Adapter.
00000000 a 0 0 Ol S
10000000000000

00
Figure 9 shows the to;
00
Figure 8. side of the finished interface
0 0
rlWJl(N
Parts Placement

Next , mount the 15 kQ resistors (color bands brown, green, or-

ange, gold or silver) Rll and R13. Mount the red LED in the R12
How the Interface Works
position. The positive lead of the LED is mounted in the + label The arm contains five DC motors. We need ten Input/Output (I/
R12 hole . Then mount the 14 and 20 pin sockets in the Ul and 0) lines to control each motor and direction. The parallel (printer:
U2 positions. Mount and solder the DB-25 right angle connector. port on the IBM PC and compatibles has only eight I/O lines. Tc
Do not force the DB-25 pins through the board, it is a precision increase I/O lines the robotic arm interface incorporates a Seria
fit. If necessary, gently rock the connector in , making sure not In Parallel Out (SIPO) integrated circuit, the 74LS164. By usi nr
to bend any pins . just two line s off the parallel port, lines DO and Dl, to send seria
information to the chip we can add eight I/O lines. Althouql
Mount the slide switch and the 7805 voltage regulator. Cut and
eight I/O lines are available off the SIPO, the interface require:
solder four wires above the switch, as shown in Figure 8. Take
using just five of those I/O lines.
care to keep the wire orientation as shown. Mount and solder the
TIP120 and TIP125 transistors. Finish the project by mounting When serial information is transmitted into the 74LS164 SIPC
the eight-position header and three-inch connection cable. The chip, the parallel output of the chip shifts in response. If the se
header is mounted so the longer leads face upward. Insert the outputs were directly connected to the t ransistors, the arm fu nc·
two integrated circuits, the 74LS373 and 74LS164, into their re- tions would switch on and off as the serial information clocker
spective IC sockets. Be sure to orient the indentation on the in. Obviously, that would not be a suit able situation. To preve rn

IR OB OT S CIEN CE & T ECH N OLOGY m7

 t his from happening, a second chip is added to the interface, the Installing the WIN 95 Program
74LS373 octal latch.
Insert the 3.5 in . diskette labele d "Disk 1" into the compute:
The 74LS373 octal latch has eight input lines and eight output floppy drive and run the set up program (set up.exe). The seti
lin es. Binary information placed on the input lines are transmit- program creates a directory named "Images" on the compu t e
t ed (made transparent) to the output lines when the chip is en-
hard drive and the needed files are copied into this directory. P:
abled. When the chip is not enabled, the information on the "Images" icon is created on the Start Menu. To run the prograr
output lines is latched. When latched, the binary information on
click on this icon.
the input lines has no effect on the status of the output lines.
', t ,

When all serial information has been transmitted into the octal
latch, it is enabled via parallel port pin 02. This allows the paral-
lel information from the SIPO to be transmitted to the output
lines of the latch. The output lines from the latch switches the
TIP120 transistors on and off, thereby controlling the robotic SCrIpt Control
arm functions. The process is repeated for each new command to P",,,,aml Inle,~live I Repeal
Load I Save I ~ [iJ
the arm. Clc",Ser" t! DiredOlyFiles

FileType
Parallel Port lines 03 through 0 7 control the TIP125 transistors l' sAp
directly.
I
I t::jProgram Fies ±I
Stec Fwction Time ~

- -
Connecting the Interface to Robotic Arm -
-
,-
,-
The arm uses a single 6-volt power supply consisting of four "0" I-

cell batteries in the base. The PC interface takes power from the 1- ..:J
arm's 6-volt power supply. The power supply is used like a bi-polar
+/- 3-volt power supply. Power is tapped from the 8-conductor
Molex connector to the arm base (see schematic at Figure 5). Using the WIN 95 Program
Connect the interface to the arm using the 3-inch long 8-conduc- Connect the computer's printer port to t he interface using the (
tor Molex cable. The Molex cable is inserted into the connector foot OB-25 cable. Connect the interface to the base of the robot)
on t he base of the robotic arm (see Figure 10). The Molex con- arm. The interface should be 'off' for the time being. If you tu rne
nector must be properly and firmly seated. To connect the inter-
the interface on at this point, t he existing information (status
face to the computer's printer port use the 6 foot OB-25 cable left on the printer port may cause the robotic arm to begin pel
supp lied with the kit. One end of the cable connects to the com- forming a function .
puters printer port. The other end connects to the OB-25 con-
nector on the interface board. Start the program by double clicking the Images icon in the star
menu . The program 's opening screen is shown in Figure 11.
In most cases, the printer port is also used for the printer. To
alleviate switching cables back and forth whenever you want to When the program is running , the red LED on the interface shoul
use the robotic arm, purchase an A/ B data switch (OB-25) box. be blinking. The int erface does not have to be turned on for th
LED to blink. How fast th e LED blin ks depends on the speed c
Connect the robotic arm interface prin ter to the A side and the
the processor in your computer. The blinking light from the LE:
print er to the B side. Now you can use the switch to connect the
may be very dim; you may need to block some room light to se
computer to either the interface or printer.
it by cupping your hands around the LED.

If the LED is not blinking, the program is probably set to t h

wrong printer port address (LPT Port). To set t he interface to ,
different printer port address, go to the Printer Port Options bo;
on the upper right hand corner of the screen. Click a differen
option. Whichever port setting option causes the LED to st ar
blinking is the correct printer port address.

With the LED blinking , click on the pause button and then tun
the interface on . Clicking on any function button causes tln
robotic arm to perform that function . Clicking on the button ;
second time stops that function. Using the function buttons t~
I control the arm in this manner is called the interactive mode,

I ....
L-._. ~.
Roem S" , "cr &
_
T,,"", wO'I
j

Creating Script Files Considering these factors goes a long way toward explaining wh~
the position of the arm repeatedly performing a script file wil'
To program motion and automation into the robotic arm we use drift over time.
script files. The script file contains a list of timed instructions
that control the robotic arm function. Creating script files is
simple. To create a script file, click on the program button. This Finding Home
puts you in the "programming" script writing mode. Clicking on
To enhance this project, positional feedback from the arm could
a function button will start the robotic arm function as before.
be implemented so the computer could determine absolute posi-
In addition, the function information is entered into the yellow tion of the arm. With basic positional feedback, the arm can hiE
script table on the lower left of the screen. The step number is located in precisely the same position every time at the begi n-
placed in the left column, beginning with Step 1 and increments ning of a script file (sequence) run.
with each new function. The function name is entered in the
One can take many approaches. A basic method uses limit switches
middle column. When the function button is clicked a second
to find a "HOME" or starting position. The limit switches deter-
time, the function stops and the elapsed time from start to stop
mine when the arm reaches one absolute or "HOME" position. To
is entered into the third column. The time elapse is incremented
accomplish this, a series of limit switches (momentary contact
in quarter seconds.
lever switches) will close when the arm reaches its limit of travel
Continuing in this manner, a user may program up to 99 func- in that particular direction.
tions, including timed pauses, into a script file. Script files may
be save to, and loaded from, the local directory. Script files may
be set to replay up to 99 times by typing a number in the repeat For instance, one limit switch would be mounted to the base.
box and hitting start. This switch would close only when the robotic arm was turned
completely in a CW direction to its stop. Other limit switches
To stop writing into a script file, click on the interactive button.
would be mounted on the shoulder and elbow. They would clOSE!
This puts the computer back into the interactive mode.
when the respective joint was fully extended. Another switc h,
mounted to the wrist, would close when the wrist was rotated to
Animatronics the furthest CW position. The last switch, mounted to the grip -
per, would close when the gripper is fully opened. To reset t he
Script files may be used for computer automation or for arm to its "HOME" position each function is activated in the
"animatronics.' In animatronics the underlying mechanical ro- direction of travel needed to close that limit switch un til it act u-
botic system is usually hidden from sight. The coverings vary ally closed. After all the functions, and thus the arm, are in the
from humans (whole or partial) to aliens, animals , plants, miner- "HOME" position, the computer would know the absolute posi-
als or anything else you may choose to animate. tion of the arm.

Knowing that the drift occurring during one run of the script is
Limitations probably minimal, once "HOME" we can start or replay a script
and the robotic arm will hit all of its marks. When the script is
If you were performing automation or animatronics on a profes- finished, and the arm has been reset to "HOME," the script can
sionallevel it would be required to position the robot exactly, to be replayed with reliable accuracy.
hit its mark, so to speak, 100 percent of the time .
Sometimes a home position does not give enough feedback to
You will notice that as a sequence (script file) is continually perform certain operations. Forinstances, picking up an egg with-
repeated the position of the arm will drift. There are a number of out crushing the shell. For these applications more sophisticated
reasons for this. As the battery-supplied power to the robotic
arm becomes depleted, the reduction in electric power delivered
to the DC motors reduces their torque and speed. So during a
timed function, the motors will not move as far or lift as much
with old batteries as they would with fresh batteries.

Even with a regulated power supply, how many times a DC motor

shaft spins in a given length of time is neither counted nor con-
trolled. So the number of turns the motor spins in each timed
sequence will vary by a small percentage. This also causes the
position of the arm to drift. If that isn't enough, the gears used
in all the motor gearboxes have a certain amount of slop (or
play) that isn't taken into account.

IR OBOT S CIEN CE & TE CHN OLOGY MPIJ

 I

methods of feedback need to be employed. Signals from trans- Troubleshooting

ducers are processed using Analog to Digital converters (A/D).
The processed signals are used to determine factors such as posi- The construction pamphlet that comes with the interfacing k
tion , pressure, speed, torque etc. has an extensive troubleshooting guide for dealing with COJ
struction errors and printer driver conflicts. i=\.SiIT
Asimple example willillustrate. Imagine mounting a small linear
potentiometer on the gripper section. The potentiometer is
mounted so that when the gripper opens or closes the potenti-
ometer slider is moved back and forth. Thus, as the gripper opens
and closes, the resistance of the potentiometer varies. Once cali- Robotic Arm Interface Kit Parts List
brated, the resistance could accurately tell how far the gripper
closed (or opened). Oty Item
Feedback systems add another layer of complexity and cost to 5 TIP120 NPN Transistors
the system. The manual control system can always be used to 5 TIP125 PNP Transistors
override and reposition the robotic arm as a script is running . 1 74164 Serial to Parallel IC
1 74LS373 Octal Latch
1 Red LED
Connecting Manual Control to Interface 5 lN914 Diodes
1 8 Position Molex Header
After the interface is running properly, connect the manual con-
1 8 Position 3 in.-long Molex Cable
trol to the interface using the 8-pin header. Orient the manual
1 PDT PC Mounted Switch
control Molex connector to the 8-pin interface header as shown
1 B25 RT Angled PC Mounted Connector
in Figure 12. Press the connector firmly onto the header to seat.
1 B25 M-M 6 foot cable
The robotic arm can be controlled manually at any time, even if
1 PCB Board
the interface is connected to the computer.
10 100 kQ 0.25 watt resistors
3 15 kQ 0.25 watt resistors
DOS Level Keyboard Program 1 7805 Voltage Regulator

The keyboard program is at the DOS level. This allows you to

control the arm in real time (interactively), using the keyboard.
The following keys perform the following functions:
Resources
OWl-DOl Robotic Arm Trainer
Key / Function Key / Function
OWl Incorporated
"U" = Up "D" = Down 1160 Mahalo Place
Compton, California 90220
"L" = Left "R" = Right (310) 638-4732
www.owirobot.com
"G" = Grip "W = Release

"S" = Stop "0" = Ouit Robotic Arm Interface Kit

Images Company
39 Seneca Loop
Staten Island NY 10314
(718) 698-8305
www.imagesco.com

L -----,-
e.' R OB OT S CIEN CE
-
& T ECH N OLOGY I
____,_----,- - - - _ ----,-- ----,-- - ----,-_----,- --
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-. _ - - --- ~
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.. ..._-~
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---~--------- ~---- ~---~. _---
T ECH NOLOGY
·1

I
:1
I Acronam e ......•.•....•.•....•.•......•.•.•....•.•..•.•....................•.•..•.•... P 22, 27
1 ActivMedia pp 55, 57, 59
A K Peters .... ..•.•.•.••.•.•.•....•.•........•......•.•..•.•....•......•.•..•.•... inside back
1
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1 General Robotics ...•..•.•.•.•....•.•......•.•...........•.•..•.•....•.•......•....•....•.•. P 9
HVW Technologies •.•....•.•.•.•.•....•.•........•....•.•....•....•......•.•....•......•. p 25
Images Company P 17
Innomedia P 44
Jameco inside back
Lemos International p 38
Lynxmotion •.•....•.•....•.•........•.•....•.•....•.•......•.•..•.•....•......•....•....•.. p 29
Mister Computer •.•.•....•.•.•....•.•....•.•....•.•....•.•......•....•....•......•....•.• p 51
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Mondo-tronics Robot Store pp 47, 58
O'Reilly & Associates .•.•......•.•......•....•.•....•.•..•.•.•..•.•.•....•....•.•..•.•.••. p 6
Parallax back cover
Personal Robot Technologies ••••••••••••••.••.•••.••.••••••.••••.••••.....•....•.•.. p 33
Pontech ..•.... •.•....•.•.•...... •....•....•.•......•.•. •....•.•.... •....•.•....•.•.•. pp 33, 41
Positive Logic Engi neeri ng ...•.•....•......•.•.•.•..•.•....•......•.•.••...•....•.•.. p 13
Probotics inside front
Prompt Publications p5
RobotBooks.com .•.... •....•.•.•.•....•.•..........•....•.•....•....•.•....•.•..•.••.•••••• p 4
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Thrifty Distributors p 51
Vantec p 37

Acroname Inc
We aim to make robotics easier for youbyproviding quality information and
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code, ideas, and the Acroname Robot Gallery showcasing people's cre-
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Some of our offerings --- see website for complete listing:
Handy Board 1.21 Kit bundled with with Inferactive C3.2 $219.00
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9 16-632-1000

rr-l R OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECHNOLOGY I

 by Chuck Schoeffler, PhD., Russ Miller, and Ken Gracey

~ilding and programming a simple robot is an ideal way to learn how

microcontrollers interface with machinery. It's an effective method for novices
of all ages to see andhear outputs in addition to being able to measure them with
a multimeter or oscilloscope. The light, sound, and movement of your robot
will capture your imagination. That is our intent - to fire up your interest and
imagination asyou proceed through these projects. ~

This series of articles is about several interesting and informa- About the BASIC Stamp II MicrocontroLLer
tive projects you can do with a simple mobile robot. To illustrate
the concepts we used the Board of Education Robot, the Bee-Bot . These experiments will use the BASIC Stamp II. The BASIC Stamp
a mobile robot built by mounting the Parallax Board of Education II (BS2-IC) is an inexpensive microcontroller (less than $50 US)
and BASIC Stamp II on a chassis equipped with drive train, wheels, with a built-in BASIC interpreter. If you haven't already seen the
and eventually sensors. You can assemble a Stamp-based servo BASIC Stamp II, you can download the manual, datasheets, and
driven platform following the schematics shown in these articles DOS/Windows editors from the Parallax web site. Here are some
and learn to build and program a small mobile robot of your own. of the essential features of the BASIC Stamp II:

Through these articles, we will build a simple robot to experi- • Small size, like a postage stamp.
ment with sensors, programming, and electronics. At a glance,
the series will cover the following projects: • BASIC interpreter firmware is built into the PIC16C57
microcontroller.
• Article#l: Building the Bee-Bot - Construction pro-
• BASIC program storage in non-volatile EEPROM. When
cess and drawings for building your small mobile ro-
power is applied, the program executes. BASIC St amps can
bot. Brief introduction to the BASIC Stamp II.
be programmed at any time by temporarily connecting
• Article #2: BASIC Programming - Program the robot to them to a PC running a simple host program. Type in a
follow a pre-entered path using subroutines and elec- new program , press a key and the program is downloaded.
trically erasable programmable read only memory
(EEPROM) storage. Use a piezo speaker for feedback . • Sixteen general-purpose input/output (I/O) pins that can
be interfaced to switches, digital circuits, and even drive
• Article #3: Sensors - Use a photoresistor and Analog/ small loads .
Digital (A/D) converter or resistor/capacitor circuit
to sense and follow light.
Project PLatform: Board of Education
• Article #4: Infrared (IR) Control - Add IR module and
The Board of Education will hold your BS2-IC and serve as your
decode signals from an infrared remote controller.
project area for circuits. The board has a DB9 connector for BS2-
• Article #5: Advanced Projects - Build an oscillator cir- IC programming and serial communication during run-time. The
integrated circuit's (IC's) 16 I/O pins, Vdd (+5 V) and Vss (Ground)
cuit using the same IR module for proximity sensing .
connections are ported to the perimeter of the 2 x 1 3/8 in.
It is not necessary to buy a Board of Education; you can easily rig breadboard where you will add sensors to your robot. The traces
up a breadboard for the job. Serial port programming connections on the top of the board show the connections between t he BS2-
to the BASIC Stamp are shown in the BASIC Stamp Manual Version IC and the breadboard. Figure 1 shows the Board of Education
1.9, available as a free download from www.parallaxinc.com. Mea- schematic. The Boe-Bot was designed after the Board of Educa-
surements are provided for the robot chassis so you can build your tion, and the single power supply will be used for both the BASIC
own from metal, plastic or even wood. St amp an d mot ors.

IR OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECHN OLOGY rAI !

 2.1 mm power Vin V~d
jack 6-30 VDC
•
9VDC t 47 uF
II V'In LM2940

I
Vout

1.0 uF
L
i ~~
I "
resistor LED

1 Vdd
• 2
If--:-----'•
DB9 Serial T
t 0.1 ufo
0.1 uF
3 Connector
4
Vdd

T
•
Vin Vdd Vss
'-----
Sout Vin I-- L Vin Vdd P15
~
Sin Vss ,-
P15 P14 P14
ATN Res r--~- ,-
P13 P12 P13
Vss Vdd ,- P10 P12
P11

1 ,- - ,- P9 AppMod P8 P11
PO BS2-IC P15
,-
1- P1 P14 - P7 Header P6 P10
1- P2 P13 - 1-
P5 P4 P9 B readboard
1- P3 P12 -
~

,- P3 P2 P8 prototype area
1-
1-
P4
P5
P11 -
P10 -
,- P1
Vss
PO
l P7
P6

[
P9 - Vss
1- P6 P5
1- P7 P8 - P4
Figure 1: P3
P2
Board of P1
Education PO
Schematic

Chassis for your Robot

n rr
The design concept of mounting a Board of Educat ion on a robot
chassis as an experimental tool comes from Chuck Schoeffler,
(J U ()
L
(

PhD., University of Idaho. Dr. Schoeffler's first and second ap- 69 .9J fo~BoEJ - ~J
0
proaches are shown in Figure 2. Although he uses t hese designs ;0.' [;'· '00", '1'~
in his classes at UI, a production version was required to accom-
modate the needs of educators at high schools and colleges across U
the country. Based on Dr. Schoeffler's idea Parallax developed
the aluminum chassis shown in Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6. Whatever
0 n "I
form your chassis takes, make sure that it accommodates two I u v ~I
servos for drivetrain, a battery pack for four AAs, and a prototyping t>

area for project development. If you would like to do the hands-

on chassis work yourself, fully dimensioned drawings are pro- U )
u
vided as a free download. These drawings are in Autocad * .dwg ...._ 1:.].2
and * .dxf and may be edited for your own customization (there's
also a PDF version in case you can't access ACAD formats). These
1 C -
Jt
) (~ ~
- - -=L
__J

drawings are available from http:/ /www.stampsinclass.com . Figure 3: Top Dimensions

Figure 2: Dr. Schoeffler's first two 127

robots had different forms but
both used a BASIC Stamp.

Figure 4: SideDimensions

....ti. R OB OT S CIEN CE & T ECH N OLOGY I

 82.6

Canadian Distributors of:

Parallax
Figure 5: Front Matrix Orbital
Dimensions IR Obsta
e'eAvold
microEngineering Labs
•
Dlstanee Measure"::.~~t& Square 1 Electronics
Lakeview Research
CCS Inc.
CYBUGs

Tiny Serial LCDs

r-,
<Xi
N

Figu re 6: Back
Dimensions
26 .9 [ 1- - - - - - - - - Weekly Specials Posted on Website

PARTS LIST
AssembLing your Small Mobile Robot
One BASIC Stamp II (BS2-IC)
One Board of Education This is an illustrative design ; substitute parts as you desire if you
One Boe-Bot chassis (either purchased or are building your own chassis . For the commercially available
built) approach you'll need the chassis parts (Boe-Bot Full Kit) shown
in Figure 7, which also includes a BASIC Stamp II, and a Board of
Two Futaba FP-S148 servos Education.
Two Plastic wheels
Bee-Bot construction requires a small Phillips screwdrive r, 1/ 4in .
Two O-ring tires box end wrench or pliers , and diagonal cutters. Constructing the
robot is divided into five steps:
One Polyethylene ball wheel
One Cotter pin to hold wheel on chassis St ep #1: Mechanical modification of the Futaba FP-S14 8
Eight Machine screws 4/403/8 in. servos to provide continuous rotation and testing
them for use as a robot chassis drivetrain,
Ten Nylon insert locking nuts 4/40
St ep #2: Mounting the servos on the robot ics platform an d
Four 1/2 in. standoffs
attaching the wheels,
Eight Flathead screws 4/40 3/8 in.
Step #3: Attaching the tail wheel and battery holder,
Two Grommet 3/8 in. inner diameter
One AA four battery pack holder
Step #4: Mounting the Board of Education and BASIC Stamp II
Two 10 kQ resistors on the completed platform and connecting the
One 10V or 16V 3300llf capacitor servos to the BASIC Stamp , and

Step #5: Programming your robot wit h some sample source

Figure 7: Boe-Bot chassis parts code to verify that it works.

IR OB OT S CIEN CE & T ECH N OLOGY r.#J I

- - - -- - -- ----~
 ~~C',,,,· • - •

~ ;~

Step #1: Servo Modification and Testing

Turn the final gear over and look at the bottom. You will see
Servo Modification
metal ring pressed into the plastic, and you need to pry that O'
The servo modification process was described in detail in the with a small screwdriver, your fingernail or a paper clip. Remo'
November 1998 RS&T article by Karl Lunt "Motorize your Small the potentiometer drive plate. Insert the metal ring back in
Bot by Modifying the Futaba Servomotor FP-S148." Therefore, the main gear. Figure 10 shows the bottom of the main gee
this is only an abbreviated refresher. When modified, the FP- Don't reassemble your servo once you've finished this task b
S148s become low cost geared motors that provide the locomo- cause we need to calibrate it using the BASIC Stamp.
tion to move your robot. These servos respond to a pulse width
modulation signal (PWM) that you send using the BASIC Stamp.

Modifying the Futaba FP-S148 servo takes only a few minutes (or
less, if you've done it before). The servo has a round control horn ( \
attached to the main output shaft and secured in place with a
Phillips screw. Turn the servo horn with your fingers clockwise and metal ring

counter-clockwise until the shaft stops to see how the servo oper-
bottom of
ates. We will modify it so that the horn will turn continuously. Figure 10: Removing the main gear
Potentiometer Drive Plate
The modification process starts by taking the screw out of the
horn and removing the horn. The gear shaft has splines, so you
will have to apply upward pressure and then wiggle it off. Look
at the bottom of the servo and you'll see four Phillips head screws.
Servo Testing and Calibration
Remove these screws and lay the top case off to the side. The
servo should now be in two pieces (see Figure 8). At this point, your servo is disassembled and the final gear
removed to expose a metal post that is part of the potentior
eter. We will be changing the position of the potentiometer '
2nd final gear
complete the modification for continuous rotation. This sts
gea r 3rd n-
gear II makes sense if you have a brief understanding of how the serve
~E5:~~~stoP tab internal electronics operate.
1st
gea r

A servo is a classic example of a closed-loop feedback system .

has an internal potentiometer (the small metal shaft underneat
the final gear) that is coupled to the output gear. Its resistant
is proportional to the position of the servo's output shaft (00 i
1800 before modification). This resistance is compared to tl
You won't need to do any soldering unless you break a wire. BASIC Stamp's command to generate an error signal when tl
commanded position isn't the same as the current position.
The final gear is the one you are going to modify. You'll need to
the head had been at 180 0 and the commanded position Wi
remove the third gear in order to access the final gear. Looking
9000, an error signal of opposite polarity would have been gene
at the top of the final gear you'll see a plastic stop tab that we
ated and the motor would have turned in the original directio
need to remove to allow the servo to turn completely around.
to bring the head 'back' to 90 0. The current position is 'fed-hac
Remove the stop tab with diagonal cutters, but don't cut into the
to the servo's control system in a loop to maintain a zero ern
gear teeth. The tab is shown in Figure 9.
signal. Therefore, the value of the error signal is determined t
the pulse width command sent by the BASIC Stamp and the phys
cal position of the potentiometer.
cut the stop tab off
~ a hobby knife The servo's internal potentiometer must be rotated to be eel
tered according to a signal it expects to receive from the BAS]
Stamp. This is done by connecting the servos to your BASIC St arn
I
Figure 9: Removing the Futaba and Board of Education as shown in Figure 11. This schemati
main gear
FP-S148 Stop Tab shows the servo case installed for convenience, though it shoul

I ti¥l R OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECHN OLOGY I

L ---~
still be removed at this point. Servos have three
wires leading from the base: power, ground and Acroname Inc
control. The control lead is used to send the po- We aim to make robotics easier lor you byprovidingquality inform ation and
parisfor yourrobotics projects. Visit ourwebsite for robot arlicles, example
sitioning signal - the one connecte d to the BA- code , ideas, and the Acroname Robot Gallery showcasing people 's cre-
SIC Stamp I/O pin. If you are using the Board of ations.We accept cred it card orders and ship internati onally. Sign upfor our
webs ite maili ng list for notification of newparis , arlicles, and changes .
Education's power supply to drive the servos, you
will need a 3300 IlF capacitor between power and wwwoacroname .com
ground. If you already have a Board of Education Some 01 our ollerings --- seewebsitefor complete listing:
Handy Board 1.21 Kit bundledwith with Interactive C3.2 $219.00
and it has a 7805 regulator, contact Parallax for RugWarrior Pro Complete Robot Kit $580.00
Sharp GP2D02 $21.00
a free LM2940 Regulator Upgrade Kit by asking Sharp GP2D12 $13.50
Sharp GP2D15 $13.50
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Polaroid Instrument Grade Ranging Package $46.00
tor allows the power supply to be shared between Polaroid Series 7000 Ranging Package $45.00
the servos and BASIC Stamp provided you install Peizoelectric Gyro $88.00
44 oz/in Standard Servo $10.90
the 3300 IlF capacitor. Standard Servo Modilied l or Continuous Rotation $19.90
12124V High Duailly Gearmotor $18.00
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P14 0

i
3300 uF

Figure 11: Schematic

Vss to Center a Servo and are 1 million IlS in each second. Servo manufacturers usually
operate your Boe-Bot specify pulse-widths in us. The servo's electronics work in 20 ms
L..- --' for Simple Movement
blocks (50 of them every second). For each 20 ms block, t he
servo needs to receive a positive-going pulse with period (width
in ms) that tells it where to position the head (output shaft).
To program the BASIC Stamp you can download the free Windows
95/98/NT 4.0 interface from http://www.parallaxinc.com. and
The period of the pulse you sent was 1.5 milliseconds. When you
connect the Board of Education to your computer using a serial
rotated the shaft back and forth, the servo's potentiometer was
cable. To tune the potentiometer download the following code
comparing the pulsout value of 750 to what it expected to re-
into your BASIC Stamp:
ceive for the potentiometer's center position after modification.
'Program for servo calibration with BS-2 This is actually 1.5 milliseconds because the pulsout command is
'C. Schoeffler, University of Idaho in units of 2 ms, thus 750 x 2 = 1500 us or 1.5 ms. You rotated
the shaft until the two values were equal and the servo gears
center: 'name for routine
stopped moving.
pulsout 15,750 '1.5 ms pulse to the servo on P15
pause 20 'delay between 20 ms and 50 ms Check the servo again before reassembling to insure the servo
stopped at the position you commanded with the test progra m.
goto center 'repeat until calibrated
The servo case parts should go back together smoothly and you
should just barely be able to see where the case parts join.
While the BASIC Stamp is executing this code and the servomo-
tor is running , turn the potentiometer shaft until it stops mov-
ing on its own. Change the pulsout 15,750 to read pulsout 14,750 .
Make the same potentiometer changes to the second servo. So
Step #2: Mounting Servos and Wheels on th e
what have you done ? Robot Platform

Servos are controlled using a system called Pulse Width Modula- Mount the servos in the chassis. The servo spline should be clos-
tion (PWM). In order to understand this, you need to understand est to the center of the Board of Education. This will allow a
the terms "milliseconds" (ms) an d "microseconds" (us) . A ms is tight turning radius. The wheels will fit exactly onto the servo
1/1000th of a second ; or put another way, there are 1000 ms in spline. Once this is finished you can slide the rubber tires over
every second . A us is l/l, OOO, OOOth of a secon d, therefore there t he wheels.

IR OBOT S CIEN CE & 4]

T ECHNOLOGY .......
Step #3: InstallTail Wheel and Battery Holder 'Test program for the Boe-Bot
x var word
Mount the tail wheel using a cotter pin. The battery holder is
attached using flathead screws and nut. test:
pause 2000
gosub forward
Step #4: Mounting the Board of Education and pause 500
Connecting the Servos to the Chassis gosub back
pause 500
Mount the Board of Education on the robot chassis base with gosub left
four 4/40 machine screws and standoffs. The breadboard should pause 500
be closest to the front of the chassis , centered directly in be- gosub forward
tween the two wheels. This will allow sensors to be mounted in a
pause 500
position where they can respond to the environment in front of
gosub right
the robot.
end
Once this is done, connect the servos as shown in Figure 11. You
forward:
may also put a 10 kQ resistor between the power and ground of
each servo. This resistor prevents short servo movements during for x=l to 100
"timeouts" when the robot is in a sitting stage and the servos are pulsout 14,650
being pulsed with 750. This will be more obvious when we start pulsout 15,850
programming. A finished Boe-Bot is shown in Figure 12. pause 20
next
return
back:
for x=l to 100
pulsout 14,850
pulsout 15,650
pause 20
next
return
left:
for x = 1 to 100
pulsout 14,650
pulsout 15,650
pause 20
Figure 12: Complete Boe-Bot. This model includes the infrared next
circuit we will use in a future experiment. return
right:

Step #5: Programming your Small Robot for a for x = 1 to 100

pulsout 14,850
Basic Movement Pattern
pulsout 15,850
If construction went okay, the robot is now ready to be pro- pause 20
grammed for a basic movement pattern. Connect the Board of next
Education to your computer's serial port and load the following return
code in your BASIC Stamp using the Win95/98/NT4.0 editor:

B:' R OB OT S CIEN CE & T ECH N OLOGY I

Once you've downloaded the program, the robot should have (a) Move in a square pattern with two-foot lengths by making
moved forward, back, left, forward, and right. It will finish in a three 90° left turns,
different location from where it started. If it quivere d and did n't
(b) Move in a triangle by making two right turns,
move, then youll need to verify that it's working from a full 6.0
volts and that the servos were properly modifie d. If there's no (c) Iden tify pulsout values that make the robot move forward
response then check the schematic to see that the BASICStamp very slowly, then backwards very slowly in a straight lin e.
I/O pins are connected to the right servos.

In looking over the program, un derstand that the pulsout 750

centers the servo so it will not move. Anyt hing larger than this
Conclusion
will cause the servo to rotate clockwise, and smaller values will We built a Boe-Bot , and yours might look a bit different. You
rotate counter-clockwise. Because one servo is reverse d when should have successfully loaded source code into your robot to
they are used as a drive train, one is pulse d the opposite direc- make it execute some turns, forward, and backward movemen t .
tion to make the robot move forward or backwards. The value of If you need some assistance with any aspect of your robot or the
the 'for.. next' loop is proportio nal to the dist an ce the robot Boe -Bo t , fee l free to contact Chuck Sch oe ff le r
t ravels in the specified direction . Modify the values in t he pro- (ch u cks @u id ah o. ed u ) or the Pa rall a x su pp ort tea m
gram as you wish. (st ampsinclass@ parallaxinc.com). Next , well proceed t o program
your robot in detail by usin g the EEPROM t o retrieve and sto re
Now program your robot to move in several different patterns. dat a, along wit h GOTOs and GOSUBs to structure your program,
Try the following:

Resources
Parallax, Inc. HVW Tech
Boe-Bots, free educational curriculum, Robotic sensors, platforms, and servo
BASIC Stamps, and software tutorials.
3805 Atherton Road, Suite 102 300-81 20 Beddington Blvd NW, #473
Rocklin, CA 95765 Calgary, AB T3K 2A8
(888) 512-1024 toll-free Canada
www.parallaxinc.com (403) 730-8603
www.stampsinclass.com www.hvwtech.com

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IR OB OT S CIEN CE & ..I#I I

T ECH N OLOGY . .
 Stude nts of all ages are preppin g their robo tic devices for the ultim ate manufacturin g experience - the RIjSM E
Stude nt Rob oti c Challenge 2000.
Spo nsored by Robo tics Internati on al of the Societ y of M anufacturin g Engineers (RIjSME), thi s event wi ll be
hosted by the Rob ert M orri s Co llege in M oon Township (Pittsburgh), Pa., M arch 19-20, 2000. " W ith its stro ng
traditio n of manufacturin g, Pittsbur gh is an exce llent site for next year's co mpetitio n," says SME President Ceci l
Schneider. " By particip atin g in this challenging event, students develop a more thorou gh und erstandin g of
design and manufactur ing and the rewardin g and exci ting careers available to them."
M idd le schoo l through uni versity level stude nts w ill dem on strate their und erstandi ng of manufacturing thr ou gh
a variety of manufacturin g rob o tic and auto matio n co ntests.
There w ill be hands-on robo tic di splays, cor po rate and schoo l exhibits for the pu bli c to enjoy.

The new Millennium brin gs w ith it an expanded co mpetitio n. In 200 0, stude nts nationwide w ill be ent husiasti-
cally preparin g for the newl y-expanded two -day Stude nt Rob oti c Challenge. Elimination rounds for select co n-
tests are scheduled Sunday, M arch 19, and finals take place Monday, M arch 20 . (In 1999, over 600 studen ts
and instructors from 11 states atte nde d.
Stude nts can choose fro m 14 co mpe titio ns. The specific catego ries and their goals are:
Automation Work Cell: design, buil d and operate an auto mation work cell that pe rfo rms o ne or more
manufac turing processes to pro duce a produ ct.
Block Scramble : de termine the sequence to transfer rando mly stac ked blocks fro m one spindle to
ano ther.

Flexible Manufacturing: re-program a cell to perform a change order given for a produ ct.
Journey Robot (Remo te-Controlled & Self-Contro lled} : design, manufacture and ope rate a robot that
w ill proceed over a series of o bstacle s.
King/Queen of the Hill : design, build and demon strate a remot e-cont roll ed devi ce that can retrieve
and dep osit an o bject in vario us location s.
Lunar Object Search (SAM M IE): design, buil d and operate a remot e-controll ed vehicle that will traverse
a simulated lunar enviro nment in search of a designated objec t.
Pick and Place Programming (Co mpute r-Assisted & Teach Pendant): program a table-top ro bot to pick
up designated objects and place them in a spec ific location and order.
Product Design/Manufacturing: design, build and demon strate a socce r ball kicker. Report the manu-
facturing system's design.
Robot Construction (O pen): design, build and demon strate a ro bot that perf orm s any t ype of task(s).
Robot Maze: design and build or assemb le a " mo use" that successfully navi gates a maze.
Robot Problem Solving (Rapid Applicatio n Developm ent ): design and buil d a solutio n to a problem
that occ urs in a manufacturin g plant.
Robot Simulation : program a rob ot in a virtual reality enviro nment to perform vario us work cell activities.
Sumo Robot (lightwe ight and heavyw eight ): bu ild a Sumo robo t that forces ano ther Sumo robo t out-
side of an eight-foo t ci rcle.

Up and Down the Staircase : design, build and dem on strate a dev ice that clim bs up and down thr ee-
stair risers.

For add itio nal in form ati on about the RI/ SM E Stude nt Ro boti c Challe nge 2000, co nta ct Kat ie Ferrell,
SME Educatio n Departm ent, O ne SME D rive, P.O. Box 930 , Dea rbo rn, MI 481 21. Phone: 3 13/27 1-1500,
ext. 1704; Fax: 313 /336-7065; e-mail: [email protected] g. Visit the SME Hom epage www.sme.org and check out
pho tos of the 1999 co mpe titio n. For mor e details abo ut manufacturin g enginee ring and SME, log on to
www.manufacturingiscoo l.co m.

_I., R OB OT S CIEN CE & T ECH N OLOGY I

' -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - ----,- - ----,- - - - - - - ,- -- - - - - - - - - - -
,
1
I With a Scratch-Built 10-inch
.1
I Automatic Guided Vehicle
i
I
by Gene Burbeck

1 Three years in a row, this Pioneer High School student (Ann Arbor, Michigan) won the
Journey Robot Contest conducted by Robotics International of the Society of Manufac-
turing Engineers (RIjSME). The obstacle course was curvy and bumpy, and defeated
almost every autonomous design. But Gene's inexpensive scratch-built rolling robot, es-
sentially a wooden board with a Parallax Basic Stamp on it, completed the course and
won.
Here Gene describes the evolution of his winning design and his last minute ingenuity
underpressure that earned him first place in 1998.
j
I
I I built two prototypes for my robot. The first one used a Rebound was constructed slightly differently from the drawing in the com-
I (RC car) for the chassis. It was controlled by a BASIC Stamp revision petition guidelines manual. The initiation of the incline for the hit
I D, a serial servo controller, and a pair of electronic speed control- was too abrupt, causing the nose of my robot to hit the ground anc
1
O
J
lers. For sensors it used two active infra-reds looking forward and get stuck as it started up the hill. My dad helped me make some
j revolution counters on the wheels. The downfall of this prototype quick adjustments to the chassis by cutting off part of the nOSE
i was that it was too fast and hard to control. If the course had had with a circular saw we borrowed from one of the contest setup
walls instead of black lines for following, I think this prototype crew. The tires also slipped when going up hill so I sprayed them
1 could have gotten through it in less than 30 seconds . The robot with adhesive. In the end, my robot was the only one to make i1
I would have used the walls for fast and accurate positioning to greatly over the hill .
i reduce dead reckoning errors (more reliable send-off positions for
At the bottom of the hill , the robot needed to make a sharp right
dead reckoning segments). The robot would have been able to drive
1
turn. I deliberately used very slender, hard rubber tires for qreatei
very quickly to its next reference point, push up against the wall to
accuracy in the dead reckoning legs of the course. The hill was sc
make itself perfectly perpendicular to the wall, and then execute
steep that the robot's slender drive/brake wheels lost traction and
the next dead reckoning leg with near perfect accuracy.
skidded as the robot went down the hill. Since the turn was very
i To cope with the problems of control, I used stepper motors on the close to the bottom of the hill , the robot did not have enou gh
second prototype. They were controlled by a BASIC Stamp II and a traction to slow down and turn before reaching the bottom.
I pair of stepper controllers I built right on the carrier board. The
I chassis was constructed of foam core. It used one active infrared
Through trial and error, I had optimized tire width and hardness to
j match stepper motor power. Each tire would lose traction just be-
sensor looking down. This robot could do everything except climb
fore the maximum torque threshold of its stepper motor was reached.
the hill. The standard Rebound chassis had a gear ratio that was
If I increased the traction of the tires, I ran the risk of passing t he
too high. The robot needed to drive slowly enough to consistently
torque threshold of a stepper motor, thereby causing the motor t o
sense lines and accurately execute dead reckoning legs. To obtain
skip steps rather than just slipping its tire slightly. Skipping ste ps
this low speed, the throttle setting needed to be very low. There-
on one of the stepper motors while climbing the hill would have
fore the vehicle's speed was easily affected by changes in resis-
caused such major changes in direction of the robot that it would
tance (hills, bumps, etc .) simply because there was so little power
have "lost the line" and not been able to find it again. This pre-
running the motors when the robot was moving at the speed neces-
vented me from increasing tire traction enough to keep the robot
sary for optimal accuracy. Increasing the power to the motors to
from slipping when it went down the other side of the hill. Perhaps
successfully climb the hill would have required adding another pro-
I could have used slightly wider tires and gained enough traction
cessor or similar device necessary to enable servo control of the
to negotiate both sides of the hill. But by the time I got to t he
motor speeds .
contest site and discovered how steep the hill was, it was too lat e
The final version used the same electronics as the second proto- for such a major adjustment. The ideal solution for the steeper hill
type, except for the sensor. The sensor is a passive infrared sensor. would have been more powerful stepper motors combined with
1 There are two of these looking at the ground, but only the left one higher traction tires.
I is used. I geared down the stepper motors with a belt in a figure
eight. This does not allow for backward travel, but provides more
I could see only one alternative in the time remaining, so I re-
j programmed my robot to go straight across that line and turn rig t
power for going up the hill. The chassis itself is made of two layers
I of Plexiglas with wood sandwiched in between. The batteries and
when it reached the circle. I explained the problem and my "on the
fly" solution to the judges as we watched my robot go through t he
front caster are inside this structure. The BASIC Stamp II is on top .
course. The rules being the rules, my score was reduced . However,
On the evening before the competition, when I tried the robot on only touching/crossing the lines once for my entire run did not
the real track, I found-as did the other contestants-that the hill have a major impact on my score.

IL ~ _
IR OBOT S CIEN CE & T EC H N OLOGY IIIIJ
 ; ,.-------------- - - - - - -- - - - ----:-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
.\•.

'********* * ** ** ** * S UBROUT I NE S ** * * * * ** * * * * *** *** *

SME 1998 Student Robotics FOLLOW: Follows black line until line en
Automation Contest r _tri es =O
I tries=O
or makes a sharp turn

Self-Guided Journey Robot Event loop:

Source Code for Basic Stamp II if r_tr i es =20 0 o r I t ri e s =25 then g oback
high 11
Microprocessor pause 1
rctime 11,1,result
if result <threshold then l eft curv e
This program controls a journey robot through a 30 ' x 12 '
course using subroutines for following black lines, turning and driving right_curve :
straight. The program drives the robot at different speeds throughout the steps=l:go sub right_ c
l _tries=O
course. The robot uses a combination of passive infrared sensing and r_tries=r_tries+1
deduced reckoning (dead reckoning). The program logic allows the robot goto loop
to know exactly where it is on the course throughout its journey, includ-
ing aligning itself on the straight lines in the course to accuratelyset up left_curve:
steps=l:gosub left c
the dead reckoning sections. r _tries=O
l _tries=l tries+1
'***********VARIABLES & INITIALIZATION*********** goto loop
di r s= %1 100000000000011 Set I/O pins on STAMP goback:
return
result var word Value returned from sensor
speed var nib Speed in ms/step Same as FOLLOW, but erect
t hresho ld var word Value between light and dark more power for gettingup the 11
I_tries var byte Consecutive attempts to turn left
r_trie s var byte Consecutive attempts to turn right r_tries=O
steps va r word # of steps to be driven/turned I tries=O
counter var word Multipurpose counter
loop2 :
speed =3 if r _tries=200 or I tries=50 then goback
thres hold=5000 high 11
\********************MAI N**********************
pause 1
rctime 11 ,1,result
The MAIN function was reprogrammed once I arrived at the competition. I had to if result <threshold then left_curve
do this because of idiosyncrasies in the course not identified in the competition
guide book. I did however get a fair amount of practice programming at home right_t :
with courses laid out on thebasement floor using black duct tape. MAIN is divided steps=l :gosub right_turn
intoLEGS so that therobot can bestarted partway through thecourse. This makes l _tr ies=O
testing faster andwastes fewer batteries. r _tries=r_tries+1
goto l o o p
MAIN:
pause 100 Wait 1/10 sec after 'on' switch left_t :
closed, allows time to remove steps =l :gosub left turn
handprior to robot moving r_tries=O
l_tr ies=l tries+1
goto l o o p
leg1 : From start of funnel to start of pit area
go sub follow Follow the left side of thefunnel SENSE : Drives 4 steps, then lookfor Iii
s t eps=3 0 0: g o s u b drive 4 linesdeadreckon to left sideof steps=4 :gosub drive
pit high 11
steps =160 :gosub l eft_turn pause 1
steps =200 :gosub dr ive rctime 1 1, 1, re sul t
s teps =150 :gosub righ t _tu rn if r esu lt <threshold th en s e n s e
gos ub sense Drive until left side of pit area is return
found '*****STEPPER MOTOR CONTROL* * * * *
These subroutines are called by MAIN or by otherSUBROUTINES.
leg2 : From start of pit area to end of hill
g o sub f oll ow_h LEFT TURN: Runs right motorfor counter steps
d ebug cls /cr ,cr ," <_ "
leg 3: From end of hill to circle, first dead reckon, for counter=l to steps
st e ps =4 0 0 : gos u b drive then look for circle pause speed
s teps =12 0 : gos u b right_turn out15=1
g o sub s e ns e pause speed
steps = 100 :gosu b right_ t u r n o u t 1 4 =1
pause spe ed
o u t 1 5 =0
leg4 : Follows circle to the opening, then pause spe e d
g o sub f ol l ow dead reckons across circle andon out14=0
to finish next
s peed =2 re turn
steps =3 0 0 : gos u b d ri v e
steps =160 : gos ub l e f t_t urn RI GHT TURN: Runsleft motor for counter steps
s teps =1900 :gosub dri v e debug cl s , c r ,c r , " - >"
s teps =1 9 0 :gosub right_turn for cou n t e r = l to st e p s
st e p s =7 40 : gosub dri ve paus e s peed
s tep s =17 0 : g o s u b r i g h t _ t urn o u t O=l
s t e p s =22 50 : gos u b drive pause speed
e nd outt-o

_g R OB OT S CIEN CE & T ECHN OLOGY I

J
I START BUILDING YOUR ROBOT NOWI THE PERSONAL ROBOT

j NAVIGATOR
.... .. . ,...... '" .
1
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Fax: (909) 920-5296 PERSONAL ROBOT TECHNOLOGIES, INC

pause speed out15=1 out1=O

outn-o outl=l out14=1
pause speed pause speed pause speed
out1=l out14= 1 outo- c
next out O=l ouns-o
return pause spee d pause speed
ouns-o out1=l
DRIVE: Alternates stepper out1= O pause speed
motors for ste ps steps pause spee d outO=l
debu g cis," "" ,cr," [".cr," I" out14=O out1 4=O
for counter-; to steps pause speed pause speed
pause speed out15= 1 out1=O
out O=l outO=O out1 5=1
out15=1 pause spee d pause spee d
pause speed out14 =1 outO=O
outl=O outl =l out14= 1
out14=1 pause speed pause speed
pause speed out1 5=O outl=l
outO=O out O=l pause speed
out15=O pause speed outO=l
pau se speed out 14=O out 15=O
outl=l pause speed pause speed
out14=O out1 5=1 out1=O
next out1= O out14=O-
return pause spee d pause speed
out14= 1 outO=O
Runs motors in 3:4 out n- o out15=1
(left:right) ratio to pause spee d pause speed
follow black line out15= O outl=l
for count er-a to steps out1= l pause speed
pau se speed pause spee d outO=l
out15=1 out14= O out14=1
outO=l next pau se speed
pause speed return out1=O
out14=1 out15=O
out l-O Runs motors in 4:3 pau se speed
pause speed (left:right) ratio outO=O
out15=O for counter- a to ste ps to follow black line out14=O
outO=O pause spee d paus e speed
pause speed out O=l out1=l
out14=O out1 5=1 next
pause spee d pause speed return

I & U J
L
1 R OBOT S CIEN CE T ECH N OLOGY
 Winni 9 i o
With a Modified GrowBot Kit
by Gene Burbeck

After winning the national RI/SME Journey Robot

Contest in 1997 and 1998 with his scratch-built
robots, Gene tackled the next year's competition
with a kit from Parallax, Inc.
Here Gene describes his construction and modification of
the GrowBot, with which he captured gold in 1999.

Description Building
The GrowBot is a great little robot, simple to assemble, and easy to It took me about two hours to build the GrowBot. The kit corm
program. It is ideal for a beginning robot enthusiast as his or her with excellent instructions: step-by-step, and very clear. The iJ
first robot. It would also be ideal for a middle school, high school, structions first call for soldering all the components onto the print s
or college beginning robotics class project. The GrowBot is designed circuit board (PCB) . I found it easy to put the PCB in a vise, top sir
for line following , obstacle avoiding , and general wandering behav- up, and solder most everything from the top. I also left all t l
iors. But as you'll see below, you'll want to make custom modifica- leads uncut until I was done with this step, and then turned tl
tions to improve the GrowBot's dead reckoning ability. PCB over to cut all the leads at that point.
The only abilities needed to build and use this kit are basic soldering , The instructions then call for mounting the servos, wheels, battei
simple BASIC programming. and a general knowledge of electronics. holder, and bumper.
The robot is not intimidating . It is 3-1/2 inches wide, 2-1/2 inches Tools used:
tall, and 5-1/2 inches long, with a thin wire bump-sensor mounted
on the front of the chassis. Soldering iron
Small diagonal cutters
The circuit board itself makes up the robot chassis. It has a stan-
dard DB-9 connector for programming the Basic Stamp 2-IC conve- Extra-small and small Philip's head screwdrivers
niently placed right on the edge where it is easily accessible . Small file for smoothing ends of leads sticking through tl
PCB - I did this in order to mount the AAbattery holder fla t t i
Two servos-motors, which you'll modify for continuous rotation,
against the PCB.
are attached underneath. Each wheel is 2-3/4 inches in diameter
and attached directly to the corresponding servo shaft. A one-inch
plastic caster serves as the rear wheel. Programming
Four AA batteries underneath the robot power the servos . A 9V The GrowBot comes with a diagnostic program already in the BS2
battery on top of the robot powers the electronics. Using two sepa- EEPROM to test all systems on the robot except the photoresistor
rate power sources for brawn and brain keeps the brain isolated Programming is done in the BASIC Stamp 2 version of Parallax lEA
from electrical spikes and dips generated by the motors . SIC, which I like a lot better than the version for the Basic Stamp
There are three sensors: because you can nest subroutines four deep. Programs are store d j
EEPROM, so memory is non-volatile (turning off the robot does ru
Thin wire bumper detects location of impact: left, cause the program to be lost). The kit comes with the Windows ~
middle, and right; version of the debugging / downloading program, which is much nio
Two phototransistors detect light; than the DOS one . Even though the Basic Stamp 2 runs (line- bi
A push-button that is already wired to an I/O pin on the line) interpreted code (instead of compiled code) , it is still quit
Basic Stamp. fast . It cannot multitask, but overall, it has plenty of cornpuf
power for the GrowBot. The GrowBot comes with several samp
There are three output devices. All are software controllable and programs to do simple things like wander and use the speaker.
are hooked to various I/O pins on the Basic Stamp 2:
A small, yet loud piezo buzzer - could be used for debugging
or perhaps for communicating with other robots;
Performance
Two LEDs - could be used as active illuminators for infrared The GrowBot is a great robot for wandering programs, with exce
sensing or for debugging or communicating with other robots; lent sensors and programmability for responding to sensory dat :
Two servos, each turning a wheel. The kit uses quality materials, comes complete with all necessai

L _
-01 R OB OT S CIEN CE & T ECHN OLOGY I
1 part s. and comes with excellent inst ructions. It is well constructed :
has adequate clearan ce underneath, and is very stable on rough
it back on track several times because of the dead reckoning prob-
lem, especially on the hill section. (The hill was quite steep anc
terrain. It has enough power to climb steep hills, though a little circuitous . It was nice that the GrowBot had plenty of power to gel
more speed might be nice. up the hill. It was very frustrating , though, because it was not
possible to program the dead reckoning secti ons precisely enough
I found only a couple of negatives to this robot : No spare parts are to navigate the ups and downs and twists and turns well. Even with
included in case you destroy a part during assembly (I luckily never a freshly charged battery, the battery charge was not totally con-
had this problem). Also the lack of repeatability in the servos makes sistent from one run to the next.)
the GrowBot not very good for dead reckoning (servo speed de-
pends upon the charge of the batteries which is not consistent
between full charges).
Journey Robot Schematic

1 The Journey area will be constructed of plywood with the exception of "'1I(::::::::~;::;::::::~
12'
1
_6'_
1 the hili and circle, which will be 'Sln tar' , a flexible plastic product. Black •
lines will be two Inches wide. Surface areas will be painted flat white.
i • • 8
"
1
It Wa t e r

i
j 12 ' l'
1-10'
.,.,1 8'
High Berrier
A
18 "
t
4' ~
,--
1 18'
12'HILL
WITH WATER 12'
I
Y UNDER HILL

I
1' l'
~ 12"
Starti ng Ar e a Wl!Ite r

I 12' High Undulatin g Hili

\ I."
~
I Customization
Finish Line

(eproxlm ete 6' length for hili) Uprightbarrier wlllbe ten Incheshighand
plalntedflat white with an Insideand
,I outside 2- blackline.

·1

II Mechanical:
I turned the robot around so that the back became the front . I did
Here are some possible modifications to solve the problem of the
inconsistency of the servos:
I this in order to get the maximum distance between the sensors and
Odometers:
the driving wheels. This is better for following lines and results in
less oscillation, and detects ends of lines faster and more reliably. Place an odometer on one or both wheels to count fractions of
1 revolutions. This could be an incremental encoder on a wheel. Or, if
1
I I also put t wo photo transistors on the new front of the robot. I there is space for it inside the servo, one could use a tachometer on
I used photo t ransistors because they are more directional and faster the motor itself or on one of the gears if the frequency is too high.
1 updating than the photoresistors included with the kit.
I Software:
Stepper motors:
Completely replace the servos with stepper motors. The stepper
-I
After experimenting with the programs included with the kit, I motors would need additional batteries to power them. One 9-volt
began writing my own program with a completely blank slate. The battery powering each stepper would be good. The disadvantage to
,I
I event in which I entered the GrowBot was mostly a line-following using steppers would be that they are electrically inefficient and
i course, with two interruptions of 12" or so between the end of one less powerful. (In the case of this competition. the power of th e
I
! line and the beginning of the next. The robot needed to navigate kit's servomotors was a definite advantaqe in negotiating the hill .)
!i from one end of the course to the other, including crossing through
I the center of the circle near the end . Regulated voltage: Run the power to the servos through a 5-volt
"
! I wrote a program (see next page) that was a combination of dead
regulator. Use batteries powering the voltage regulator that will
still have at least 5.5 or 6 volts in them by the end of the course.
J
reckoning and line sensing to get through the course. The most This means the servos will always be getting 5 volts, no matter
I essential dead reckoning section solved the problem of "never reach- what t he battery charge. Note: The regulators may need heat sinks
I ing the island by following the shoreline." (This dilemma is de-
scribed and solved in RS&T issues 2 & 3.) Other dead reckoning
to keep them cool. ~&O

Ii sections simply made the robot's path more efficient.

Gene Burbeck started building motorized Lego
I wrote separate subroutines for following a line, for detecting the creatures when he was six years old. Soon after,
I end of it, and for basic dead reckoning maneuvers. The subroutines he made radio-controlled Lego vehicles. Start-
were then combined to create the main function , which is course- ing in sixth grade with a basic electronics book
specific.I practiced creating this main function by laying out a course and a supportive mom anddad, Gene began con-
with black duct tape on my basement floor. Once I was able to do sistently winning at school robot events. After
that, I knew I could easily adapt that to create the main function for winning the national RI/SME 97 and 98 events,
the actual contest course once I arrived on the contest site. he learned C programming at the University of Michigan School of
Engineering summer camp, Camp CAEN. In 99, he returned to
The robot performed reasonably well at the competition - at least
it was good enough to win the gold award! I needed to gently push
RI/SME to win again . He'll graduate high school in 2001 .

IR OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECH N OLOGY -1#1 j

 GrowBot Journey Robot Contest Program

va r s : 'initialize variables pu l s out 12 , 550

st e p s var word p ulsout 13 , 5 50
cou n ter var word n e xt
l _ ligh t var word re t ur n
r _light var word
th r e sho l d var word ri ght_t : 'tum rightfor a given number of steps
l _ c oun t var byte for cou nter o to steps
r _count var byte p u lsout 1 2, 950
countdown var byte p ulso ut 13 , 950
next
calibra te: 'manually calibrate to light conditions re turn
gosub update
threshold 3566 l ef t _c : 'curve to the left for a given number of step.
for counter o to steps
main: 'course-specific main function p u lsout 13 , 550
p ulsout 12 , 550
l eg1 : 'along the funnel to edge of pit p u lsout 13 , 950
go sub follow pause 5
steps 70 : go s ub right_t next
steps 800 : go sub forward return
steps 65 : go sub le ft _t
right_c : 'curve to the right for a given number of ste
leg2 : 'along pit and over hill for counter o to steps
gosub follow pulsout 12 , 950
steps 20 : gosub r ight_t pu lsout 13 , 950
steps 1000 : gosub forward pulsout 12 , 550
steps 120 gosub l e f t _ c pause 5
steps 800 : go sub forward next
steps 130 : gos ub ri ght _ c return
steps 1000 : gosub forward
go s ub sense upd a t e: 'update variables holding light sensor value:
steps = 70 : gos ub r i gh t _t hi gh 0 pause 1 rctime 0 , 1 , l_light low
high 7 pause 1 : rctime 7 , 1 , r_light : low
leg3 : 'follow circle and go through it ret urn
gosub follow
steps 150 : gosub forward follow : Jollowa line on the left side
steps 123 : gosub left_t countdown 0
steps 2150 : gosub f orwa r d loop :
steps 90 : gosub r i ght_t l_count = 0
steps 20 : gosub r i ght _ c r_count = 0
gosub sense countdown countdown + 1
steps = 60 : gosub r ight_t
fo l low_l :
leg4 : 'follow line to edge of course go sub update
gosub follow if l _li ght > t hres hold then track_r
if l_light < t hres hold then track 1
end
track_l: 'correct to the left and check for end of line
sense : 'loop while driving forward until a line is found r_count 0
go sub update l_count = l_count + 1
steps = 2 : g o s u b forward steps = 1 : gosub le ft_c
if l_light <thresho ld t hen sense if countdown < 120 then loop
return if l_count < 30 then follow_l
return
forward : 'drive forward for a given number of steps
f o r counter o to steps track_r : 'correct to the right and check for end of line
pulsout 1 2 , 550 l_count 0
pulsout 13, 950 r_count = r count + 1
next steps = 1 : gosub r ight_c
return if countdown < 120 then loop
if r_light < threshold then follow_l
left_t : 'tum left for a given number of steps
for counter o to steps return

_'#I R OB OT S CIEN CE & T EC H N OL OGY I

~ . --_.~-----~ ------~-
 "At a point in our world where science fiction meets reality
there exists a battle known as Robothon 99. " - SRS
Autonomous robots compete for glory, and Provine, Pete Miles, Tom Dickens, Bill
the host is the Seattle Robotics Society Harrison and Gretchen Greene. And I'd like
(seattlerobotics.org). Here are some high- to extend my personal thanks to Roger
lights of what RS&T saw in October at the Johnson for helping RS&T set-up our pres-
Flag Pavilion at Seattle Center. ence at the show. - Mike
There are eight major events, well organized: Post Script: The NorthwestRobot Sumo Tou r-
Robot Sumo, Line Following, Fire Fighting, nament will be May 20 in the Edmunds Co m-
LegoWars, The Grand Maze, Robo Art, a Floor munity College gym near Seattle. See
Exercise and lectures by people who come www.SineRobotics.com.
from all around the country. Everything is
autonomous, all machines have brains-on- Ryan namedhis robodog Rodney, honoring the
board . RC not allowed. subjectof this issue's interview. (See page 45.)
I see a whole lot of people in the audience
who wouldn't qualify as nerds. And I he got a nice curve and 90 degree angle,
often hear some pretty excited roars and then turned off the heat.) The walker uses
cheers, further proof that a robot contest is three PIC 16F84s programmed in PBasic. The
an emotion-packed spectator sport like horse whole thing, brain and motors, is powered
racing or boxing. by six double-AAs.

The hall is loud, people are always in mo- Rodney has a decidedly mechanical gate
tion, moving from one event to the other. with more sophistication than elegance. The
Randy Sargent plays Tequilla on a loud boom- predictable order in which it moves and its
box for three of Newton Labs' Mach 5 robots jerky motions give it a supremely robotic
(mounted with Newton's Cognachrome Vi- feel. The head moves slowly from left and
sion System .) At the first note of the up- right. Rodney developed after five months
beat rhythm, Newton's middle robot makes of experimenting with designs, throwing
a brisk turn and all three bots zip into place, them completely away and salvaging that
spinning, jerking in sync with the music. which might be used in the next design. A
true labor of trial and error and persistence. Perform proportional speed, direction & 1
There's not enough room in this issue to steering with only two Radio/Control chan-
Ryan earned Grand Prize for being the
describe all the action at this first-rate nels for vehicles using two separate electric
event. So I found one robot that really cap- builder of the coolest robot, and capturing motorsmountedrightand leftwithourmixing
tured everyone's attention. the essence of what the SRS is trying to do: RDFR dual speedcontrol. Singlestickopera-
trying new things and advancing the hobby. tion: up gets straightahead, down is reverse.
A scratch-built dog-robot named Rodney, Pure right/left twirls vehicle as motors tum
built by Ryan Wistort, a sophomore com- Congratulations to the winners of their con-
tests: Gary Teachout, Daryl Sandburg , Mark oppositedirections. Inbetweenstickpositions
puter student at the high school in Gig Har- completely proportional. Plugsin likea servo
Castelluccio., Lance Keizer, TomJenner, and
bor. His machine is an four-legged walker but eliminates steering servos. Various
made of quarter-inch Plexiglas. He shaped Ani (3) and Bill Harrison.
volt/ampsizes. Also CDFR computer com-
the plastic using a propane torch to mold In short, I'm impressed by the group of vet- mandedversion. www.vantec.com
curves around common household objects eran roboticists from the long -standing Se- Call: (888)
to make very smooth edges. (He laid the attle Robotics Society who put on this show,
Plexiglas on a table and bent it down until
929-5055
especially Doug Kelley, Ted Greibling, Ron
! IR OB OT S CIEN CE & T ECH N OLOGY E I
I
L - -- -- - - --
 OUR MODULES••••YOUR ROBOTS
Th e RPC modu I E! is an intelli gent tran scei ve r which e na bles a radio netw ork lin k to be simply impl em ent ed betwee n a number of di gital
dev ices . Th e mod ule combines an RF circuit w ith processor-intensi ve low-le vel pack et form attin g and recove ry funct ion ali ty, requ irin g o nly a si m ple
ante nna a nd 5V supply to operate with a m icro controller or a Pc.

SAW controlled FM transmitter and superhet receiver

Reliable 30m in-building range, 120m open ground
Built-in self-testldiagnostics/status LEDs
Complies with ETS 300·220 regulations
40kbit/s half duplex
Free format packets of 1-27 bytes
Packet framing and error checking are user transparent
Collision avoidance (listen before transmit)
Direct interface to 5V CMOS logic
Single 5V supply @ < 20mA
Power save mode
Available in 418 and 433 Mhz

The BiM module integ rates a low pow er UHF FM tran smitter and mat ching superhe t recei ver with data reco ver y an d T X/RX c ha nge ove r
circuits to provide a low cos t so lution to implementing a bi-directional shor t ran ge rad io data link .

ETS 300-220 tested for European use

SAW-controlled FM transmission at -6dBm ERP
Double conversion superhet receiver
-107dBm receive sensitivity
Single 4.5 to 5.5V supply < 15mA (tx or rx)
Reliable 30m in-building range
Half duplex data at up to 40kbitls
Direct interface to 5V CMOS logic
Fast Ims power up enable for dut y cycle power saving
On-Board data slicer, supply switched and antenna change over
Available in 418 and 433 Mhz

NEW! T he TX2 and RX2 rad io tran smitter a nd recei ver pa ir e nable the simple impl em ent ati on of a dat a lin k at up to 40bit/s at d istan ces up to
75 m in-building and 300 m ope n gro und. Both modul es co mbi ne full sc ree ning with ex tens ive intern al filt er ing to ens ure EMC com plia nce by
min imi zin g spurious rad iati on s and susc eptibilities. The TX2 and RX 2 modul es will suit o ne- to-one and multi -nod e wi re less link s in a pplications
including ca r and building sec urity, EPOS and invent or y track ing. rem ote indu str ial process monit orin g and compu te r networking . Becau se of the ir
sma ll size and low po we r req uireme nts, both modules are ideal for portable batt er y-pow ered appl icati on s suc h as hand -held te rminal s.

Transmitter - TX2
EMC conformant to ETS 300-683
Type Approved to ETX 300-220
Two-stage , SAW controlled, FM modulated at up to 40kbit/s
Operation from 2.2 to 6V
IOmW on 433.92MHz, ImW on 418MHz
Improved frequency and deviation accuracy
Available in 418 and 433 Mhz
Receiver - RX2
Double conversion FM superhet
SAW front end filter, image rejection 50dB
Supply 3.0 to 6.0V @ 13mA
40kbitls, -F version, -100dBm sensitivity @ I ppm HER
14kbitls, -A version, -107dBm sensitivity @ I ppm BER
LO leakage < -60d Bm
Available in 418 and 433 Mhz

TYPICAL APPLICATIONS
robotics • environmental monitoring • remote process monitoring • wireless PC printer links • energy management
in-vehicle sensing high integrity security • ErOS & stock control • group response systems • data networks
data transfer through hazardous environments • commercial & domestic security • fire alarms • medical alert • mobile panic attack

For North Rmerican sales, contact:

Lemos International Co. Inc.
tel: (508) 798-5004 fax: (508) 798-4782
sales@lem osint.com • www.lemosint.com

' - - - -_._- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - ---- --~_ . __._ -- - -- - - - - - -- -- - -- - - - - ._--_._ - - - - -- - -
1 Pulse-Width ModulatiorL
iI
The o r y and C ircu it~~
I A hands-on e x p e r i m e n t to
I con t ro l p o w er ra t i o
by Tak Auyeung

\ INTRODUCTION
j
Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is a common technique to control the
I power level of devices. PWM can be used to control the brightness of a
I light-emitting diode (LED), speedof a motor, heat of a electrical heat-
ing coil and many other applications. Because PWM requires minimal
I analog electronic hardware and saves energy, it is applicable to many
~ devices used on robots, especially motors. In this article, we will first
discuss the reasons and theories of PWM, then proceed to build a

1-1
.I j
simple, yet flexible, PWM circuit for experimentation.

-I Reasons for Pulse-Width Modulation is 2.5 V. The current passing t hrou gh the variable resistor equal.
I
I The most intuitive method to control the brightness of an LED
t he current passing through the moto r, 0.25 A. Consequently
the variable resisto r and the motor must each dissip at e
-/
di is to cont rol the continuous current passing through it. A vari- 2.5 V x 0.25 A = 0.625 W. While 0.625 W is not a lot of power
able resisto r connect ed in series with the LED (see Figure 1) can most small printed circuit (PC) mount ed variable resistors an
j cont rol t his current. An LED has a const ant voltage drop when rat ed for less than 0.625 W.
I
forward biased, and the voltage drop is usually about 1. 7 V.

I
~i
Using Ohm's Law, the current passing through the LED is
1=(Vin-1. 7V)/R, where Vin is the applied voltage and R is the
resistance of the variable resistor. As R is increased, the current
is reduced, and the LED dims.
Many readers will immediately suggest the use of a power tran
sistor to amplify the variable resistor controlled current (see Fig
ure 2). This approach eliminates the power dissipation issue a-
the variable resistor. However, there is still a 2.5 V voltage droj
-j +5 across the collector and the emitter of the transistor, and thus
Since most LEDs have a maximum there is still 0.625 W to dissipate at the transistor.
I +5
I continuous curr ent rating of less
-I While the 0.625 W dissipated at the motor is
than 50 rnA, power dissipation at the
I variable resistor is not a problem. mostly in the form of heat, the motor is de-
However, for motors and other high- veloping torque (i.e. doing work) due to the
f cur rent device s, the variable resis - Rl current passing through the coil. However,
to r needs to dissipate much more en- the 0.625 W dissipated by the transistor or
J
variable resistor is lost entirely as heat with
I ergy. The power dissipation (P) of
1
an elec trical device is the product of no work performed. How can we stop this
i t he voltage drop across t he device wast e of 0.625 W of power?
(V) and the current passing through Before discussing the obvious answer, let's
the device (I ) . In short , Power consider the other drawback of using a vari-
(P) = Voltage (V) x Current (I), or able resistor (regardless of using a transistor
P = V x I. For a modest 5 Vdc motor in conjunction). While a human can t urn the
with a coil resistance of 10 Q, the knob and easily control a variable resistor, a
stall current is 5 V/10 Q = 0.5 A. At computer cannot control a variable resistor
half strength, the stall current of the as easily. There are electronic variable resis-
motor is 50% of 0.5 A or 0.25 A. The Figure 1: Va riable Resistor tors that a computer can control, but they
variable resistor must have a value Controlled LED Figure 2:
are extra comp onents and impose costs, both Transistor
of 10 Q as well. This means the volt- in dollars and complexity (reliability). controlled
age drop across the variable resistor 5V motor

!1 _
R OB OT S CIEN CE & T ECHN OLOGY ':11
1 Pulse-width Modulation not only addresses the wasted power issue,
but it also eliminates the need of a variable resistor. In other words,
A generates the beginning of pulses (controlling the fr
quency), while timer Mcontrols the on time.
PWM saves powerwhile enabling convenient computer control. Some
may argue that PWM is only convenient for computer-based control. Timer A, which determines frequency, is set up as shown
As we will demonstrate later, it is quite inexpensive and easy to Figure 3. Both the threshold and trigger are connected to t
build a PWM circuit for non-computer-based and hands-on experi- timing capacitor. Theoscillatoroperates in the following cycl
mentation.
+5

Pulse-Width Modulation Concepts 1 GND

+5 2/T RG
The most fundamental concept of PWM is "duty cycle." Consider a _ _----"!30UT
L - -_ _--"j
4 /RST
gas furnace without gas pressure control. If only 50% of the full
IC3
output is needed, the furnace can be switched on and off periodi-
cally. Fora large building, switching the furnace on and off every 15
minutes is hardly noticeable because of the large "momentum" (heat
capacity). The furnace outputs an average of 50% of its full output Figure 3: Timer A schematic
by operating at a 50% duty cycle. In our previous example, the on
1. Discharge is disabled and capacitor C2 is charged thro u;
time is 15 minutes, and the period is 30 minutes (sum of 15 minutes
of on time and 15 minutes of off time). Consequently, the duty cycle Rl, R2 (note that R2 is a variable resistor, we are only ints
is 15/30 = 50%. ested in the effective resistance in the circuit, not the mai
mum resistance of R2) and R3. The output is high.
This concept of "duty cycle" can be extended to control the bright-
ness of an LED and the strength of a motor. Foran LED with a maxi- 2. The capacitor is charged to 2/3 V (V is the supply volta,
mum continuous current of 20 mA, we can generate the same effects to the IC). Consequently, the output is low and discharge
as a 10 mA continuous current by pulsing the LED at a 50% duty enabled. Capacitor C2 is discharged through R3 to ground,
cycle with a 20 mA current. Obviously, if the LED is switched every 3. Capacitor C2 is discharged to 1/3 V (where Vis the supp
second, the effect is blinking, not dimming . However, if the circuit voltage to the IC). The output is high and discharge is eli
switches the LED 50 times per second, the human eye can no longer abled. Go back to step 1.
perceive the blinking. Instead, the human eye sees a dimly lit LED.
The same principle applies to motors. When pulsed every second, the The period of such a configuration is T=0.693(Rl+R2+2R3}C
motor is jerky. However, as the pulse frequency increases to about where Tis the period (time) measured in seconds, Rl, R2 ax
100 Hz (100 pulses per second), the motor behaves as if the continu- R3 are resistance measured in Ohms and C2 is capacitaru
ous current is reduced. measured in Farads. The amount of time per period when tl
output is low is R3xC2. For triggering another 555 timer, tl
Thus, the frequency and duty cycle characterize a PWM signal. The low-output period can be short. In other words, R3 can be
• frequency indicates the number of potential interruptions of con- small fraction of the sum of Rl and R2. The design can trar
tinuous power in a given time frame ('potential' in that a 100% duty larger resistors Rl, R2 and R3 for a smaller capacitor C2 I

cycle PWM waveform has no interruptions), and duty cycle indicates vice versa. For reduced power consumption, however, the ie!
the proportion of time that the signal is in an on state. tal of Rl and R2 should be more than 10 kQ. Because resi
tors are available in many values, it is easier to first sele
the value of the capacitor, then select resistors of appropr
Simple Circuit to Generate a PWM Signal ate value.
As mentioned earlier, some readers may argue that a variable resistor
is easier to experiment with than a circuit to generate PWM. In this A 0.1 ~F capacitor was used for timing and a 470 :
section, we will present a simple circuit that the reader can assemble resistor for R3. These values generate a low pulse of aboi
quicklyand inexpensively. Thesupplies requiredfor this project should (470 x 0.1 x 10·6)s = 47 us. which is long enough to trig g~
cost less than $10 US, and the circuit is useful in many applications. timer M. We want timer A to have a frequency (
100 Hz (period of 10 ms). Recall that the period
The core of the PWM circuit is two 555 integrated circuits (ICs). For T = 0.693 (Rl+R2+2R3) C2.
those who are not familiar with the 555 IC, it is an IC designed for With the known terms R3 = 470 Q, C2 = 0.1 ~F and
timing operations. For discussion purposes, we treat the timers as T = 10 ms, Rl+R2 = (T/(0.693C))-2R3 = 143 kQ.
separate entities. The 555 IC can be configured for monostable (one- For flexibility, Rl is a 100 kQ resistor in series with R2, a
shot) or astable (oscillator) applications. In this application, one 100 kQ variable resistor for a range of total resistance
555 IC (call it timer A) is configured for astable operation and the between 100 kQ and 200 kQ. With this variable resistor,
other (call it timer M) is configured for monostable operation . Timer you can tune the frequency of the PWM by adjusting R2.

til., R OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECHN OLOGY I

~ +5

I
'i
+5 OUTA
OUTM
$59
• Dri ves up to 8 RIC type servos via RS232
I
• 5 C Il, 8-b it AID port for poten tio me ter/
I joystick co ntro l

I I C4
• Servo ports can be reconfigured for digita l
o utput
• User definable board 10 and baud rate
Figure 4: Timer Mschematic • Simp le ASC II string commands
• Windo ws 95 inte rface so ftware and sam ple
Timer M, which determines the on time, is set up as shown in
\ Figure 4. As a monostable timer, the output of timer M is nor-
code included
I
p ti Ii elf
mally low, and the capacitor is normally discharged. However, E'" ~ ..

I when the trigg er receives a low pulse (from the output of timer • A ll fea tures of SV203 plus ..,
A), the output becomes high and the capacitor is no lon ger dis- • 8 K EE PRO M for running sta nda lone ro utines
I
~
charged. The capacitor is charged to 2/3 V (where Vis the supply • Inc ludes Basic compiler /down loader

.!
I
voltage to the IC) and then triggers the timer output to become
low and enable the discharge of the capacitor. The duration of
SV203C Ser vo Controller $85
I • A ll features of SV203B plus...
high timer output is T = 1.1 x R4 x C4. Again, we are only inter-
• IR fea ture. co ntro l via IR-re mote co ntro lle r
ested in the effective value of R4, not the maximum resistance. • Tx & Rx IR commands
For a 100 Hz PWM signal, the duration of high output can be up VISA/MC Accepted. Shipping & Handlin g + $5 (US)
to 10 ms. Since the author had a 100 kQ variable resistor avail-
i able at the time of writing this article, the design calls for a http://www.pontech.com
w
I 0.1 IlF capacitor. Optimally, based on the equation, the resis-
tance R for a 10 ms pulse is 10 ms/(O .lIlF x 1.1) = 90.9 kQ. The
(877) 985-9286
Fa x: (909) 920-5296

~I
100 kQ variable resistor covers the entire range and can there-
fore cont rol the duration of pulses from 0 to 10 ms.
The following components are needed for the circuit :
Two 555 IC ti mers (or one 556 dual timer IC)

II
Prototypi ng the Circuit
+5
Two 0.1 IlF capacit ors for IC decoupling
Two 0.1 IlF capacit ors for timing
One 1 IlF (exact value is not important)
yi n_ _-=,1 VIN for the overall regulated voltag e
_ VOUT 3

I ICl
GND
2 ~u
+
I'T 1
One 100 kQ resisto r for ti mer A
One 100 kQ variable resistor for timer A
One 100 kQ variable resistor for timer M
One 7805 linear regulator
(if you do not have a regulat ed 5 V supply)
One LED (opti onal to demonstra t e PWM visually)
.!~ Figure 5: 7805 Regulator set up. One 220 Q curren t limi ting resistor (optional, for the LED )

With the wide use of regulated 5 V supply for most complemen-

tary metal oxide semiconductor/transistor transistor logic (CMOS/
TTL) ICs, a regul ated 5 V supply will be used whenever possible .
For cost effectiveness and convenience, a 9 V battery and a 7805
linear regulator to regulate the voltage to 5 V is recommended
for use. A wall transformer that provides 9 Vdc to 12 Vdc, can be
used as well. For this project, the power consumption should be
less than 50 rnA at 5 V, which makes the 9 V battery and 7805
regulator solution very reasonable.

The 7805 linear regulator is easy to set up (see Figure 5). The
1 IlF decoupling capacitor is not required, but it is good practice
to use one to ensure stable regulated voltage.
Photo 1: Oscilloscope screen shot of Timer A (frequency output at
channel I) and Timer B (duty cycle output at channel 2)

IR OB OT S CIEN CE & Ell

._ - - ._-- -~~ . _-_ . _-~- --~-~-
T ECHN OLOGY i
 Experimenting with the Circuit with a 220 Q resistor between the output of timer M and gr u
(see Figure 6). Because an LED has a voltage drop of about 1. 7
'I There are many ways to construct a prototype circuit. If you are the resistor is responsible for about 3.3 V of voltage drop. j
interested in learning how to wire wrap a circuit prototype, please cording to Ohm's law, the current passing through the 220
I refer to the wire wrap article (Issue 6, page 36). You can also resistor should be about 3.3 V/ 220 Q = 15 rna. You can use
construct the prototype on a breadboard or a soldered prototype smaller current limiting resistor if the maximum continuous ct
-j board. rent of the LED is more than 15 mAo As the variable resistor
the timer M circuit is adjusted and the duty cycle changes, t
i After the prototype is constructed, you can start to experiment brightness of the LED changes accordingly.
with it. The first task is to measure the period of the output of
I timer A. Use either an oscilloscope or a multimeter to measure
frequency. Some multimeters that can measure frequency cost as
little as $60 US. Since we used a variable resistor in the timer A
circuit, you can adjust the variable resistor and watch the fre-
+5
quency change. See Photo 1 (channell) for a screen shot of the

rl
+ -1
output from timer A on an oscilloscope. Connect the output of VCCr=8 _
timer Mto an oscilloscope to observe the actual wave (see Photo +5 OUTA
DSCH 7
1 channel 2), or connect the output to a voltmeter to observe OUTM T HRS 6 ~~Ok
the average voltage. Adjust the variable resistor in the circuit of CTRL 5 --x +C5
S\ur T O. 1u
timer M to adjust the duty cycle. Photo 2 shows an oscilloscope IC4
--L-

screen shot of timer A and timer M set to a different duty cycle.

D14

R7
Figure 6: connecting the output of Timer M
220 to an LED.

You should not connect the output of timer M to a motor. J

though a CMOS timer output can drive up to 50 mA (suffi cie
for LEDs) , it is no match for the demands of a motor! Furt hs
more, the timer IC has no protection against the electromaqnei
feedback (EMF) of an inductive load (such as a direct cur re
motor) . Connecting the output of a timer to a motor probab
will permanently damage the timer.

The Next Project

Photo 2: Oscilloscope screen shot of a duty cycle different from that of
photo 1. This project seems to have very little to do with robots. Howevt
If you need to convince yourself that fast pulses are not visible knowledge of the operation of the 555 IC will be useful for mal
to the human eye, you can visualize the effects using an LED. Do robot projects. Even more importantly, the technique of Puls
not connect an LED directly between the output of timer M and width Modulation is very useful in controlling the strength of
ground! Doing this will damage possibly both the timer IC and motor. In the next article (see next page), we will look into tl
the LED. Most LEDs have a maximum continuous current of about techniques of controlling a direct current motor, and the PW
i _
20 rna. To limit the current, you should connect an LED in series circuit will be a component of that project. i'\.s@>'

EXPERIENCED
ROBOTI CISTS
WANTE D:
Experts in all fields wit h
hand s-on robotics ex perience
are cord ially invited to submit
story ideas or ou tlines (0

Editor @RobotMag.co m.
3875 Taylor Road #200.
Loomi s. Ca lifornia 956 50.

ey R OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECHN OLOGY I

1
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1

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\

Speed ControL Experiment Using a 555 timer The Switch-off Conditions

In the previous article , we discussed how to generate a pulse- Having discussed the switch-on conditions , what about the switch-
width-modulated (PWM) signal. However, the author explicitly off conditions? An inductive load (such as that of a motor) re-
cautioned not to connect the output of the 555 integrated cir- quires special consideration for the switching-off condition due
cuit (IC) timer to a motor. This is due to the current requirement to EMF. Electro-magnetic feedback can be explained by the defi-
and the electro-magnetic feedback (EMF) of a motor. In this ar- nition of inductance. When the current to an inductive load is
ticle , we will experiment with a circuit that enables speed con- switched off, there is a sudden change of current flowing through
I trol of a DC motor with 555 IC timers or any transistor transistor the inductor. This sudden (that is, LARGE) change of current
1 logic (TTL) device. flow develops a proportionally large amount of electrical poten-
tial across the terminals of the inductor. See Figure 2 for an illus-
tration. Such a high electrical potential causes the spark in au..

1 ;
J
The Switch-On Conditions
The stall current is the amount of current passing through the
motor coils at a known voltage when the motor is not moving.
to mobile engine spark plug terminals. The electrical potential is
developed when the cur-
rent flowing through the
i When the motor is not moving, the inductance and the resis- ignition coil is suddenly
tance of the coils determine the stall current. The inductance of
-v stopped . Although the
coil is energized by less

) a coil is denoted by L and measured in Henries (H). Inductance is

the amount of electrical potential developed relative to the change
of current. A high inductance inductor develops more electrical v
than 14 V, the electrical
potential of the EMF is
II potential across the terminals than a low inductance inductor for high enough to cause an
the same amount of change of current. V =I.R electrical arc across the
fuel-air mixture in the
Prior to a DC motor being switched cylinder!
Figure 2.
on, there is no current flowing Spa rking caused by suddenly switch-
through the coils. When switched ing off current through an inductor.
on, if the motor is not allowed to
turn, the increase of current flow-
For a motor control circuit, EMF can be extremely harmful. If a
ing through the coils is determined
v by both the inductance and resis-
relay is used to switch the current, the EMF causes arcing across
the relay contact points, it can even weld the contact points
tance of the coil. A high inductance
together. If a transistor (bi-polar or field-effect type) is used to
motor will take more time for the
I switch the current, the EMF damages the junctions in the tran-
current to increase. However, at
sistor. Choosing a switch with a higher current capacity does not

I some point, the current stops in-

creasing as the inductance has been
overcome and resistance becomes
solve this problem.

j Figure 1. The stallcondition

I oj a DC motor:
the only factor stopping the in-
crease of current. The stall current
is measured at this point. Refer to Figure 1 for an illustration of RI IVI=-IORI-1.4
I the stall condition.
v
I When you select a switch for the motor, it must be able to switch
the stall current. For instance, if the stall current is 0.5 A, the
switch component should be able to handle 0.5 A in the expected Figure 3.
I operation conditions. Using a fly-back diode to limit back-EMF.

IR OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECH NOLOGY ED

I'--- -- - --. - - ~------ --,---~----
 Our hands-on experiment involves a mot
rated at about 6 Vwith a stall current of abo'
0.5 A. You can find such a motor in most SE
vos. The author modified a servo here at ~s£
for this experiment. The modified Futal
servo's original circuit is completely disco
nected. Instead, wires are connected dire ct
to the terminals of the motor. The st oppii
tab at the final gear is also remove d t o allc
full rotation. Thus, the servo becomes a qean
tion) motor.
- Certified by FCC and Industry Canada
The transistor selected is a 2N3053 NPN bip
• Home Networking Kit
lar junction transistor (BJT). It amplifies tl
base current approximately 100 times, wit
• 900 MHz &2.4 6HzTransceivers stands up to 40Vacross the collector and em:
• 900 MHz Low-cost Transmitters ter, and is rated for continuous 700 rnA 0
• 900 MHz Low-cost Receivers eration. While it was not rated at twice t:
• OEM Development Tools stall current of the motor, it was the most su
able transistor available from the loc
www.innome dia.c om/wir eless RadioShack store. A base current of 5 rnA co
tro ls the collector current to about 500 m
The InnoMedia Wireless Group According to Ohm's law, the base current til
90 Rio Robles, Suite 100, San Jose, CA95134
iting resistor should be
Tel: (4081432-5400; Fax: (408) 432-5404
R = V/1 = 5 V/ 5 rnA = 100 Q.
© 1999 InnoMedia, Inc. All rights reserved. Inl oWave andthe InnoMedia logoaretrademarks 01
InnoMedia Incorporated. Alloth ertradema rks belong totheir respective own ers.
Flyback diodes are available in grea t '
The solution to EMF is a fly-back diode in handle the sum of the volt age across the riety. The author chose a lN914 diode
series with a resistor (figure 3). The fly- resistor and the motor supply voltage . The fast switching diode, such as the l N5£.l·
back diode and resist or provide an alter- voltage across the diode is about 0.7 V, could also be used. A 20 Q resis tor is
native route for the current flowing which is not a major contr ibutor t o t he lected as the power dissipation resist
through the coil afte r the switch is turned voltage applied to the switch. Assuming a maximum current of 0,5
off. The diode acts as a switch to enable Ohm's law indicates the voltage Sh01
be: V = IR = 0.5 A x 20 Q = 10 V
this alternative route, while the resistor A Hands-on Experiment
dissipates the energy. The instantaneous
Since the motor supply voltage is less tl
current in this circuit equals the current 9 V, and the power dissipation resisto r (
passing through the coil before the switch Motor Supply Voltage develop up to 10 V, a total of 19 V, 1
is turned off. Therefore , the voltage de- 40V transistor can handle the surge .
veloped across the resistor is (according
to Ohm's law) V = IR, where V is the volt- This circuit can be connected to t he IP'\
age, I is the current and R is the resis- circuit in the previous article. Connect 1
output (pin 3) of timer M of the PWIvi (
tance. The power dissipated is
DC Motor cuit to the base resistor (100 Q) so tl
P = VI = FR. the resistor is between the output of tir
M and the base of the transistor. As ~
Note that t he volt ages developed across adjust the variable resistor of time r
the resistor and the diode are added to the speed of the motor will cha nge,
the motor supply voltage at the switch.
. - - -j
NPN BJT you experiment with this circuit, the tn
Consequently, you should make sure the sistor may become warm to touch, bui
Figure 4. Schematic of a
switch (especially if it is a transistor) can basic motor drive circuit. should not get so hot that you cam
touch it continuously.

Editor/Engineer/Educator Tak Auyeung, PhD, was the software develop- The Next Project
ment group leader jar embedded controllers at Zworld before jumpingship So far, we have discussed PWMan d mel
to RS&T. He teaches the micromouse lab at UC, Davis, and is best known movement, but not direction. The 1M
to ourreaders jar his search algorithm series in RS&T issues 2 - 5. issue will present an electronic device
switching the motor on an d off and cc
trolling its direction. ~@
I

.1 ee. Rocm SC""" & T" ""oc,,,1

"I
I
1

I
A

1
I
! To many, he's a revolutionary thinker. He invented subsumption architecture
\ and the behavior-based method of building robots to explore the cognitive
1 sciences. His ideas were a radical change of approach to researching artificial
intelligence. He believes that an intelligent robot must teach itself to survive
1 and thrive in the real world; the dirty, dynamic world outside of theoretical
I
1 simulations.
,
"'
I

1
He is the Fujitsu Professor of Computer Science and Engineering;
Rodney A. Brooks directs the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Lab at
1 J
MIT. He is also Chairman and Chief Technology Officer at IS Ro-
botics, a leading-edge product development company specializ-
i ing in Artificial Intelligence, Man/Machine Interfaces, and Micro
{ Robotics.
i

His ability to speak plainly to the public and his robots ' ability
\ t o capture the public eye have earned him popularity with RS&T

1 r
reade rs, and generated some measure of disapproval from more
traditional researchers. In fact, while his papers are required

I
I
reading in many classrooms, some textbooks will barely mention
his methods. Cog is Brooks' experimental testbed. See RS&T Jan 99 centerfold for more deta il.
1 His new book "Cambrian Intelligence: The Early History of the
I
I
New AI" reports his research from 85-91. Before you read it, we Are you building robots to understand humans better, or are you
actually going for the Commander Data genre?
j t hought you'd like to read a little about the man himself. So our
nomadic publisher, Mike Greene, literally cornered Brooks in a With COG there is an element of both. The shorter term is to
convention hallway. Captured between a Pepsi cart and an out- understand humans better. The longer te rm is to build Commander
of-service escalator, the Bad Boy of Robotics consented to con- Data. So we have a mixture of those two goals. The differe nt
verse. people working on the project may have very different goals.

The pure Artificial Intelligence part is to build Commander Data.

At first glance, Rod Brooks could be mistaken for a jobless house-
That has sort of been the goal of AI, long te rm, although a lot of
guest; his plain white shirt slightly expands over a soft belly,
people won't admit to that. They will deny it, but that's what
drooping over his belt buckle. You notice his long hair and slightly
drives them underneath it all.
shy hairline, and he doesn't seem to care that his spectacles are
wildly askew. This, combined with his brisk style of speaking How much has science fiction inspired you?
gives the impression that he spends his time on just one all- Oh, quite a bit. When I was a teen-ager I read 2001: A Space
consuming passion. His manner is unassuming, whether lectur- Odyssey before I saw the movie. That was a great insp iration t o
ing or chatting. me.

But the plain guise is misleading; at a question, his answer is How about details? Do you get some implementation ideas from
swift, concise, correct, and obviously the refined product of more fiction ?
brain cells than most people will ever use. Read closely, he speaks No, the movies are normally too goofy. So, not details. I think
quickly, and in Australian. "that can't possibly work that way. How could you really make it

~-- " - --- - - - - - - - -- " -- -" ._ -- .--~._------------ ~

IR OBOT S CIEN CE &
----
T ECHN OLOGY B J
 work." The results are interesting but the way the movies ex- But I think they would all have to agree that you did change th
plain it is too goofy. But then you start thinking how could you waythings are done in AI. Do you consider yourselfworking in A
really do it and that is where good stuff comes from. or in robotics?
I have always viewed AI as a sub-set of robotics.
What would you consider is the most important thing your team
is doing at MIT? Not the other way around?
I think human-robot interaction, in Right. Which has really annoyed som
the sort of ways that we don't even AI people. So I like to think of m~
think of, the way we interact when self as a robotics person and an J.
we are talking to a person. There are person.
all sorts of cues going back and forth
which are cross-cultural, with eye What did it take to become a pew )
motion, or grunting, uh-huh, nod- like you?What kindof life-experience,
ding your head; all those sorts of inspiration and education?
things which are completely subcon- Well, I grew up in Australia, intellet
scious. But machines haven't done tually rather isolated. But I was a
that before. We are trying to get that ways interested in building thing:
into the machine. As early as I can remember I spe nt
large portion of my time buying e
The new COG heads will be slightly
ther junk or scrap or simple stuff an
better than the current KISMET head
trying to build the most complex ill.
because we are putting in a bunch of
chines that I could. From age eigl
stuff to do with neck geometry so
or nine, that is what I spent all IT
that it can make much more natural
Kismet's headdisplays emotions in response to yours, see time on. I was lucky in a way becaus
head motions. Right now when it
more detail in October's Discover I had to invent everything for myse
nods or shakes its head, it doesn't
and I didn't have access to lots 4
look natural because the kinematics
really high technology, so I had to figure out how to build t l
are completely different from a human. So we are making it
stuff out of almost nothing. I would get access to books from H
much more like a human. But then the new KISMET has a lot
U.S. and England which would talk about all these wonderf
more degrees of freedom that we are not putting on COG. And
inventions but there were things that I could never see or to uc
also some non-human things too that we are experimenting with.
or learn about directly. So I had to sort of re-invent it all rnyse
Better than human? and that has given me certain skills and determination.
Well, actually more like cartoons. You know cartoon characters Now why I was so interested in it I can't tell you. It was ju
do things that humans cannot do, but they are very expressive something that was in me.
and very natural. So we are experimenting with a neck thing
that will stretch at the right time. You know, it's very cartoonish Were you top of the class in grade school, a bright, grade
sort of stuff. But people really pick up on it and understand student?
what is going on. I don't like to call it super-human in the sense Yeah, pretty much.
of a superman, but it is super-human in the sense that it is stuff
that humans cannot do. Youcan get across the information with- Genius I.Q.?
out having to be quite as good as a human, with fewer degrees Oh, I don't know about that.
of freedom.
Modesty aside, really?
You're not confined to building a robot that mimics humans, but
I was recognized as being one with a special gift.
perhaps a robot that can work with humans even better than hu-
mans can work with humans? And at eight or nine would you have called yourself a hobbyist,
Yeah, although humans are so damn good that we can never tinkerer? Into robotics or electronics?
meet their standards, right? So if we can do these other things Yeah. It was electronics. I was always interested in comput e
maybe we can get around not being as good as humans on those and robots. To be honest, the building of mechanical robots t h:
aspects, by doing it a slightly different way. So we are experi- could actually do stuff was beyond my mechanical abilities,
menting with that. was able to build computers more, because they didn't have ar
high-precision moving parts. Mythings were always pretty roue
You're are widely recognized as making lots of greatcontributions
and ready. So I was always trying to build computers to pl.
that are really revolutionary. Wouldn't you agree?
games or do various things.
Some people say that, and other people are not so
complimentary. Is there an Einstein in robotics?

M'#I R OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECHN OLOGY I

"~ " -------"--------"-------------,,---------------,,------,,-~ ... ._._- ------- - ----- ------,,-- - -----,,------,,-- - - - - - --
f
i No.
1
! Do we need one? What are the consequences?
Well, two or three wouldn't hurt. I don't think you can point out one. From an
( intellectual point of view, Alan Turing is the person you have to go back to. He
has the inspiration. If you read his 1950's paper, "Computing Machinery,"
·1 where he talked about robots and talked about artificial intelligence-that
j was very visionary. So he is Einsteinian in that sense, but not in the sense of
I
there being one over-arching technical achievement like the theory of relativ-
ity was.
II
I There hasn't been such an achievement and maybe there never will be. So it is
harder to point to one person. You can point to various people who have done
1 big things - Joe Engelberger (see RS&T Oct 99) did the first industrial robots,
1 but I don't think you can compare him to Einstein; maybe you can compare
I
him to Henry Ford.
j
I wouldn't say there is one big, big idea, in the way that Einstein had that big,
big idea. The closest would be Turing.
j

I "Progress [in intelligent robotics] is happening

I
astoundingly quickly and will continue to happen over
j the next few years. We are going to see a transforma-
tion of society in the same way the automobile
I
transformed society at the tum of the last century. "
II
I

I Is there a group, or an inner circle - a Vienna Circle, if you will - of inner Robot Kits, Programmable Robots,
1
\ thinkers?
LEGO Robots, Living Robots,
I No. Different people are working in different ways and they come together in
I different groupings at different times. There is a lot of cross-fertilization. I Home and Office Robots, Muscle
)
I don't think it is as closed as that might suggest. In terms of maybe not a Wires®, Electronics and More! II
Vienna Circle but a Copenhagen Group. In terms of the quantum theorists, a
I
bunch of people who are in. Ii
ij But this field is much more open. I think a lot of people can make contribu-
REQUEST OUR FREE l
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I tions to robotics. Actually one of the interesting things about your magazine 48 PAGE CATALOG
, ~
that excited me was that this is a way to get more people involved who might
be able to make contributions.
WITHOVER 400 ITEMS! ,
I
•
1 I don't think it is quite the same as the very theoretical physical sciences. It
i
.I
was very hard for an amateur to make contributions to quantum mechanics.
I But I think people working in isolation might well be able to do some interest- www.RobotStore.com I
j ing things that have a profound effect in robotics. I would like to think that
I there are a few Wright Brothers out there. Look at flight as the analogy rather
than physics. The Wright Brothers were a couple of bicycle builders who had a
800-374-5764 :
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passion. A lot of the other early people in flying machines were like them,
they were spread out all over and they were able to make contributions.
Mondo-Ironics Inc.
1 PMI·N 4286 Redwood Hwy Dept. 168
I How does a young person get started in robotics? San Rafael, CA 94903
ph 415·491·4600 fx 415·491·4696
For the 10- and ll-year -olds, probably Lego MindStorms is a good starting
I point. And as they get older, I think that your magazine will be a great service
to them, and it is the sort of magazine that I would have loved to have had as
a kid.

IR OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECH NOLOGY Eill

~~- ._- - . ~~~~ ~ ~ ~~~
I read a magazine that was similar in the electronics domain, people will no longer be as special as they were. That is goin g
you know, with individual discreet transistors and vacuum tube be difficult for people to deal with.
circuits, when I was a kid. And that was what got me going. I see
that role for your magazine. Do you identify with a particular religion yourself?
I am a hard-core atheist.
What education do you suggest for a young person wanting to
make a contribution in robotics? What role can amateu
play? They're building a
That is tricky because ro-
tonomous fire fight er
botics can be so broad. "A lot of people can make contributions to robotics... soccer players, maze-]c
There is not just one edu-
cation, there are lots of one of the things about your magazine that excited me lowing micro-mice. A
these things useful?
different people in robot- was that this is a way to get more people involved who
ics from different educa- Yeah, they are useful,
tional arenas and there might be able to make contributions. " a micromouse going to 1
will always need to be . useful? Sometimes tl
Certainly you will need danger with the comp
some mathematics and some basic physics - some basic elec- tition is that you end up optimizing for the competition. So
tronics, some basic computers and some basic mechanical engi- micromouse-land you optimize for a certain set of characteri
neering - and then specialize from that. There will be different tics. But the firefighting is more interesting because it is n
specialists, of course, some that are more mechanical or more quite as controlled, and so there is a tradeoff in the way y'
software, or electronics or whatever. But I think it is important design for competition.
to have a basis in all areas so you can appreciate the constraints
You have to design the competition so that people are expo s:
coming from the other directions. Even if you are not the expert
to lots of technology and they get familiar with how to pu t
in it you should have an appreciation for it.
together. And if they can understand that, as they go to bigg
How does a curious amateur grow up to be a leader in intelligent and different problems they will have to adapt their technolo:
robotics? Is it an intellectual challenge only, or are there person- rather than just use exactly what they have learned in that 01
ality traits that are required? domain. And I think that is very useful.

I think you have to have a passion for it, if you want to be a Do you have some advice for the students that are wanting
leader. It has to consume you, as it consumed the Wright Broth- contribute? Or maybe just wanting to survive the schools?
ers. That is what they lived for.
You are making me try to act like a sage here. I don't feel like
It consumes you? sage. I don't want to grow up! I am just bullish on robotics.

This is where I spend all my time. Things are really happening right now. Especially the last two
three years. It is a great time to be doing this because progress
What do you do at home? Video games, TV?
happening astoundingly quickly and will continue to happi
I have never gotten involved in video games. I watch Star Trek. over the next few years. We are going to see a transformation
All versions of StarTrek. And that is about it. I play with my kids society in the same way the automobile transformed society
and work. the turn of the last century.

I try to look at all the journals. I wouldn't say there is anyone in How can we see the credibility in that kind of statement? Accor
particular. At various times I get very excited by various people. ing to predictions made decades ago in popular science mag
I can point to lots of interesting things I've read but.. .Well here zines, we're already supposed to be in a space-age 'Jetsons' er
is one that I read recently, the book is from 1927. It is "On Isn't it kind of dangerous to make a prediction that we are abo
Growth and Form" by D'Arcy Thompson. It is a fantastic book. to see a transformation of society?
Do you study ethical issues surrounding robotics? Do ethical is- Yes, it is kind of dangerous, but it didn't stop me from doin g: i
sues affect your design?
Look at the web. It didn't exist six years ago, and look at it no'
They don't affect the design. But I am certainly interested in At least in western society among technically literate people
them. We have a Lutheran minister here in the group, Anne is used every day and is really part of our lives. In every ad •
Foerst. She has been running a seminar series here called "God every magazine, there is a web address. That wasn't there s
and Computers. " We are trying to think about where the issues years ago. No one had heard of the web. So this is transformir
are coming up; not being defensive against them, but trying to the world around us as we speak.
be open to them.
Robotics is going to transform society at the turn of t h
I think as we build more intelligent robots it is actually going to century.
be a challenge to the foundation of organized religion because

*1:1 R OB OT S CIEN CE & T ECHN OLOGY I

I
.!

l DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA OR PRODUCT

FOR THE NEWLY EXPLODING
1I MARKET OF ROBOTICS?
I
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Or is your message getting lost in the classified section of big~money magazines?
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So adve rtis ing in RS&T is easy and economical for both small and large companies.

Design Flexibilitr.
Robot Science & Technology offers your team th e flexibility to present your prod ucts
to our rapidly expanding market in a number of ways. Use multipl e inserts for maximum effect.
Use a seco nd color for maximum impact tha t's eco no mical. Use a Reader Reply Card for
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So call 916.6 32.1000, get to kn ow us, and ask for a media kit.

I
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 o

"...firefighting is interesting. ..there is a tradeoff in the way yo u design... "

Rod Bro oks

RS&T Guards the Coasts Plastic is Fantastic

Mike , Octo be r's was a gre at issu e of Robot Scien ce & Tech- I got a call for pap er s from th e Invent ors Society of Southe
nology, th ou gh I must ad mit that I am biased toward th e Nevada for a 'how-to ' on plast ics for begi nners . I du g out yo:
FIRST story and th e two Lego MindSt orms stories . I am second issue and I believe "Injec ti ng Fantastic Plastic" by Ri,
already looking forward to your next issue, as I suspect Hahn and Tom Durkin would do nicely along wit h other stuf
th at I kn ow who your "inte rvie w with a rev olutionary will be writ ing; wh ich will include mat eri al selec tion and mal
thinker " is. You may also be inte reste d in cove ring Dean options for low volume to high vo lume manufacturing of plast
Kam en's lat est inve ntion, a "wheelcha ir" that is capable of co mpone nts . -Wayn e Lundber g
balancin g a s ingle set of wh eels , climbing stairs , and tr a-
Also see Rick and Tom s quick and easy guide to "Casting Yo
ve rs ing rough terrain.
Own Plastic Gears, " in our Nove mber 98 Issue. We 'll keep pub/is
My sabba tical with FIRST ende d in August, and I am now ing the popular fabrication series, working with metals, plastic
back to teaching full tim e at th e Coast Guard Acad emy. In solder and adhesives, etc. Then see "Vacuforming on a Shoe Strin.
th e fall, I run an expe rime ntation class/lab, so I keep my by Flint Mitchell in RS&T Jan 99.
han d s in int eresting areas . You'll be happy to know that I
bou ght five sets of th e Par allax Boards of Education thanks
to one o f th e ads in your ma gazine. We'll be using th e A Late & Lame Issue
board s/softwar e in a lab wh er e students build and program Pleas e!!! I'm having a bit of a p robl em with yo ur lat est issue. TI
A/D and D/A co nve rte rs . Keep up th e great work, and I first 3-4 issues wer e fantast ic. I loved th em an d read from coy,
look forward to seeing you again at one of th e FIRSTco m- to cove r. I think yo ur co nte nt is s lipping drast ically. How mal
petition s. - Vince Wilczyn ski articles do we need on th e Lego Mind Storms ? The last iss I
Commander Wilczynski teaches technical labs at the US Coast had on e , and this is su e h as two . Who ca res a bo u t Le ]
Guard Acade my, and has been a tireless, enthusiastic and MindSt orms? Th e second article was n't as bad. Th ere wer e son
invaluable organizer of FIRST high-school robotics compe ti- int eresting specs . Keep in mind th at thi s is a toy! Anyo ne requi
tions. (Se e. RS&T Oct 99.) ing th es e specs pr ob abl y has mo re advanced compo ne nts '
mess with instead of hackin g a $200 Lego kit. Show me origin
Lego comba t robot s . Sho w me some of th e software th at U
A Great Issue bri ck us ed in comba t.

Issue #6: Great Issu e! I es pecially like th e artic le on th e Take a look att he cov erage of th e FIRST co mpe t ition. Th e on
s ha rp GP2D02 and 05 sensors. Keep up th e good work! - mention of robots is a par agraph th at says th ey had "vigoroi
Bob Harbeck Note: Bob has given us se veral solid story int eraction." Th e rest was abo ut s po nsors, locati on and co lo
leads during the past ye ar. Thank s, Bob. ful ba ckdrop. Who cares? It didn't have to be technical; s how I
some robots and tell us wh y th ey did or didn't win. Wouldn't z
I have enjoyed eve ry issue of RS&T from th e first to th e 'H-bridge ' tutorial be more imp ortant th an 6 pages of FIRST cor
lat est. My son and I found man y of your articles help petition that only has I paragraph which b riefly menti ons H
mature our hobby. We look forward to reading ab out th e actual robots th emselves ?
gro wth of ro bo t ics via your ma gazin e.
Th ank yo u. -Rob ert Mize Your magazine seem s to be s h ifting to tar get yo unge r peop
(c h ild re n) and kit builders . Give us real co nte nt. What happ ene
Thank yo u, Robert, and your son. In my own family, and in to Mr. Lunt 's HCII series? What abo ut fabricati on ? I know mo
many othe rs, playing and working with robots are helping us amateur robotic engineers would like pointer s on vis ion sy
enjoy learnin g math , science, and language sk ills. Perhaps tems (what ca me ra do I us e? How do [ get an image from it? Ho
robots will becom e more commonplace than computers in do I process th e imag e once I get it?) . Sta rt a navigati on seri es
education. -Mike think th e maz e seri es is int eresting, and I'd like to see gene r.
navig ation and collisio n avoi da nce stuff. How about motor an
sens or applica tions and int erf acing. Th e wire wrapping was O~
Th e R/C Servo article was nice. I also like th e Combat Robr
seri es . Th e IRs ensor review was nice, but sh ow me real us age i
navigation and sample co de .

• •, R OB OT S CIEN CE & T ECH N OLOGY I

"-~-. ~~~~~- - - -- - - - - - - - - - - -
~

l
Imagination(and batteries)Not included
1
.\
j
I know yo u can't please eve ry one with eve ry paragraph, but
yo u ca n alienate most people with a lat e and lam e issue. Don't
worry abo ut pleasin g me. I just want yo u to please th e masses.
I d on't want to lose RS&T.I find it to be a valuable cost-effective
resource to my hobb y. - Bill Coro n
ANIMATRDNICS
KIT Make your creation come to life with an easy-to-us
Windows interface. No programming required !
I Control and record movements for up to
I Each of our first issues has been some how different from the oth-
ers, to help us discove r what read ers want. Letters like yours are
64 hobby servos.

welcome, eve n crucial to our success.

I Most of what we investigate here is more "grown up " than toys
or kits. We 're examining "use ful" robots, too. In fact, Probotics '
\
eYE just vacuume d our office floors. Articles about fabrication,
I microcontrollers, vision, navigation and H-Bridges are piled all
I over our offices, and they are the majority of our forthcomin g
stories. These tech se ries have proven most popula r, so all future
II NlrwR e-cor dlnl U

II S" lp,M,",,,, :1

l DI---
issues will have more content devoted to those kinds of things.
II p,,,,, 1
I
I
There are over a quarte r-m illion potential readers out there.
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roboticists like yo u exis t in great numbers. Thank s again, Bill,
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I RS&T Scares Readers [J

[J
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Hopefully, this new informa tio n will bring back s om e of th e
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IR OBOT S CIEN CE & .111

I h---- _ ---~----- -- - - - - - . _- .. _-----~---~
TECHNOLOGY
 INUISIBLE INURSION
Two-Cents is an anonymous forum for human issues related to r ob o t ics :

They are in our cars, our appliances, our homes, and our Answer: Your home (vacuuming), your lawn (mowing), and
factories - indeed, they are ubiquitous. We seldom see them your hospital (surgical assistance), to name just a few places
but they work hard and untiringly for us. When they do and activities of personal interest to you.
breakdown, which is seldom, we are vexed, perplexed and
usually unable to do anything about it except call for help. Service robots, those that perform a task that free up some

Now a recent report emanating from the United Nations of your time or perform a precision operation which takes
indicates that this invasion is accelerating. the shakes, out of a surgeon's hands, are already here and
more variants are coming soon. To give some scope to the
Despite this prediction, hu- magnitude of this explosion
mankind goes blithely about in robotics, the UN study
its daily activities, for the forecasts the installation of
most part oblivious to the Unfeeling, this force 24,000 major service robots
presence, now and increas- does not answer to human control; and the sale of as many as
ingly in the future, of robots. 500,000 vacuum cleaning
but it will driue our economy, robots alone in the period
Beginning with industrial ro-
our society, and then our humanity. 1999-2002. These are
bots in the late 1960's, more examples of where the
and more robots have unob- science and technology of
trusively intruded themselves into the workplace, and robotics is headed, and where the next flood of invasion
increasingly into our homes and environs. There cannot be will take place.
that many around , you may think.
The ranks of the invasion are not of flesh and blood but of
Ah, but there are! In 1998 Japan, the most highly occupied metal and silicon. Tireless and unforgiving, this new force
country on a per worker basis, there were approximately does not answer to human control, it will drive our economy,
412,000 robots at work. In its automobile industry, there and our society, and ultimately, our humanity.
was one robot for each six human production workers. Over-
all, in Japan's manufacturing industry, there were 280 ro- Is your company ready for it? Your government? Are YOU
bots per 10,000 workers. Meanwhile, in the United States, ready for it?
our ratio in the auto industry was approximately one robot
to 19 workers and overall some 44 robots per 10,000 work-
ers. Respond to:
[email protected]
With this superior investment in robotics, Japan has seen
Robot Science & Technology
its economy grow rapidly, to the point at which it is second
3875 Taylor Road, Suite 200
only to the US in the world. Of course, we all know about
Loomis, California 95650
robots in the industrial sector. They are already there,
albeit in numbers we might not have realized. "So where is
the invasion heading next?" you ask.

..-t.l R OB OT S CIEN CE & T ECH NOLOGY I

(
+~ ~~L~U~~ll~L~~

II The Next Step Microcontroller Kit r----~---

• Easy to assemble kit means you are up and
I
.\ running in only a few hours!
I • Uses the popular BASIC Stamp 2 or SX chip.
! • Button switches and LEOs make a simple user
interface to allow interaction in the program.
I • Up to 4 hobby servos plug directly into the
board, no need to breadboard.
i
• Control up to 4 servos and monitor up to 4
bumper switches on the first 4 I/O lines.
i
• Powering options for different situations.
• 16 I/O lines, plenty of room for expansion.
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• Many modular sensor add-ons ready to go.
• It has never been easier to control an advanced
I sophisticated small autonomous robot. NI~X'I' S'I'I~I) ~1J(~IlOC~ON'I'IlOI.I.I~1l
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Next Step Microcontroller Information Features
The Next Step Micro is a BA SIC Stamp 2 based microcontroller that has Th e Next Step has all of the features o ft he popular BA SIC Stamp 2 Ie.

I
been specifica lly design ed for autonomous robot con trol. The illustartion suc h as the ease of use, and the simple stra ight forward programming
below shows a typi cal setup for controll ing a sim ple 3 servo walkin g lan gua ge. However. the Nex t Step has adde d so me new features speci fic t
rob ot. The users ma nua l illustrates several diffe rent configurations. The the robot build ers need s.
microcont roller has many features that the robot build er will find useful.
\
• 16 I/O lines. up to 4 servos and 4 bumper sw itches sha re the first 4 l/C
line s by using a little known meth od of multip lexin g .
I • Powering options a llow the BA SIC Stamp to be powe red with the
servo pow er supply or separa te ly fro m it's own supply
\
• Two Buttons and two LEOs mak e a simple user inter face to allow
choosing which program. or subro utine to run. or to a llow cert ain
parameters to be altered whi le the program is runn ing.

I • DB9 plug allow s easy con nect ion to a PC's se rial port for a qui ck

o \!: ... ..!..!.J

1---= • •
program download .
Ili gh qu ality PC board with solde r mask mean s qui ck. easy and trou bl.
free solde ring.

Next Ste
o
o -
Serial LCD
0
r---
Ij)r
o
How does it work?
Programming the Nex t Ste p is extreme ly easy. Simply plug the cabl e
from the PC's serial port into the micro. Run the Wind ow s edito r and type
in. or load an exa mple BA S IC program . C lick on Run. and the prog ram is
o I1JIi down loaded to the micr o. and automatica lly begin s runn ing. You may
"1:::5 remo ve the program min g cable for complete autono mo us operation. Th e
...·x
w3
..... 0
cod e is stored in an EEPRO M. and therefore protected from power loss. 11
you want to ch ange the program you may downlo ad new eode at any time
o <+ Th e micro will stop, acc ept the new code, and then imme d iate ly begin
0 ...·
i ...· 0
1/1:::5
running the new co de. It's that easy.
(QJoB ".....w.~. . . Ordering Information
I tQJO
<:>0

1i:::5
First time users of the Nex t Step Micro will need a DB9 straight throu gh
ca ble and instructional lite rature. Th is do cum ent ation ca n be found at the
1
o©bO
00
<:>0
r Para llax web page. and is free to down load and prin t. T he BSP -OI BASIC
1
o o 0
L--
o Stamp Programming Pack inc ludes the print ed manu al and cable s. Th e
book , Prog. and C ust. the BASIC Stam p Co mputer is a grea t tutor.
I
Part No. Description Price
------------ ----------------------------------------- --------~
1 NS-01 Next Step Microcontroller $40.00
i BS2-01 BASIC Stamp 2 IC -or- $49.00
j BSSX-01 BASIC Stamp 2 SX IC $59.00
BSP-01 BASIC Stamp Programming Pack $99.0;1
,[ CK-01 Connector Kit (for making jumpers) $23.00
-I
j
- Works well with these components -
I SSC-01 Serial Servo Controller $44.00
iJ SLM-01 Serial LCD Display $49.00
IRPD-01 Infrared Proximity Detector Kit $30.00
1 TRA-01 Tracker Line Following Senso r Kit $20 .00
DHB-01 Dual H-Bridge Motor Driver Kit $30.00:
j
, - Other useful documentetlon -
BSB-01 Prog. & Cust. the BASIC Stamp Camp $35 .00
I Middl e Right Left
BSP-01 Mobile Robots Book Second Edition
Note: BASIC Stamp and PBASIC are trademarks of Parallax Inc.
$32 .00

\
i\.
I-
l -_
 CLOSEOCIRCUIT
Rea de r s Helping Readers
1

Marc's Macint osh Robotics Resources

1
I sawt he letter in the Sixth Issue of Robot Science & Technology where Paul Lenoue was looking for Macintosh-based
I applications for programming and interfacing with robots. I have been digging for the same thing for a while and
this is some of what I have found so far.
For Lego robotics there are two Macintosh-based applications t hat come from Lego. The original robotics program is
t he Lego Dacta Control Lab. It controls t he Lego motors and sensors wit h t he aid of a Serial Interface Box that
connects to the Mac's serial port. Logo is the language t hat is used for this software. The Control Lab Building Sets
can be ordered from Pitsco.
Software for programming the Lego MindStorms RCX is also available from Pitsco. This is the Robolab software, a
customized version of Labview. This is a much more powerful programming environment than the MindStorms
software. This software is very exciting because it allows for some very complicated algorithms to be developed.
Among other things, user defined variables are available and structures can be developed. This goes a long way to
addressing the inadequacies in t he MindStorms that Tak Auyeung noted in his review article(see RS&T Oct 99).
A free program is available that allows RoboLab to drive Lego motors and sensors through the original Serial
Interface Box. This is called Engineer and is available at http:/ /ldaps.iw.nasa.gov/LEGOEngineerj. It was developed
at Tufts University.
Another software package (that does not comefrom Lego) is available that can be used to drive t he Lego motors and
sensors. It is called Hyperbot. It connects to t he Mac serial port t hrough a custom interface. The software has a very
nice and easy-to-learn interface that is great for students 6 and older. See hyperbot.com.
Two other software packages are available for interfacing with robots using t he Hyperbot interface. They are at:
terrapinlogo.com/logo/logoplus.htm and truebasic.corn/editions.html.
For more hard-core Macintosh robotics enthusiasts t here are several resources for programmi ng Microchip's wildly
popular PIC family of single-chip microcontrollers. There are two different compilers. First there is MacPIC, a shareware
compiler that prog rams a large range of PIC chips. As a novice I can't offer t he most complete listing of what is
supported but more information can be found at MacRobotics.com/MacPIL ht ml. A lot of information can be found
at macrobotics.com that will aid in finding all t he components that are needed to get a development system running
on a Mac.
Another PICdevelopment syste m is available at execpc.ccrn/e-fdeck/mac/ . It provides a PIC compiler and plans to
build a progra mmer to connect a Mac serial port. This is a complete development system .
Acritical resource needed for talki ng to devices through a serial port is at mindsprinq. com/i-jcf / seriai/ .
The MacTron Mai ling List is another resource available for Maci ntosh robotics enthusiasts. This is a maili ng list for
people interested in doing robotics, embedded software and other related things wit h their Macs. The MacTron home
page is at WildRice.com/MacTronj.
I hope this helps a little bit.
- Marc Jensen
Thanks, Marc, for helping ourMacintosh brothers. It's our intent to make robotics accessible to computers of every color.
Now, where areyou l inux guys?

I
I
ClosedCircuit is our reader-to -reader forum. Ha ve a hard question? Have an easy answer?
Email [email protected] with "ClosedCircuit" in the subject line.

Letters may be edited for length or content. Helpful and knowledgeable criticism is always welcome,
but flames will burn in the delete folder. The views and facts expressed on this page are submitt ed
by readers, and are not necessarily endorsed by any sane person at Robot Science & Technology.

....,1 R OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECH NOLOGY I

I
LEARNING FROM MARS Announcing...

Bringing Martian Technology Down to Earth

I
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i
by Tak Auyeung
I
I
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1
I
Col1\bin®
\ After all the hype associated with the An earth- based robot could bo rr ow
I
latest Mars mission, many disappointed many of t he f e a t u res of th e SSI. Best
I
j
people are starting to forget about the Consider the design of a rescue robo t
of the
machines we shot at the Martians . deployed in a hostile environm ent (for
example, seismic, toxic, radioactive or
infectious sites) . After an earthquake
NeW
Be si de s, what does it have to do or explosion, it is unlikely that any with th®
with earthly robotic projects, anyway? exis tin g maps or floor pl ans will
After all, who wants to bui ld a robot to be use ful for navigati on. The rangin g
TrielD
dig up dirt and analyze for cli matic a bili t y of t he SSI co ul d map th e
pattern s over the pas t billi on years in
&
environ ment and report t he damag e,
your backyard! and also support automatic sear ch True~
navigation . Human operators can use
As it turns out, the Mars Polar Lander
the imaging feature to remotely view
is a robot with many ideas and tech-
the scene.
nologies applicable to earth-bound util-
ity robots and amateur robots running The wide -spectrum sensors and filters www.activmedia.com/robots
around the backyards and houses of would need to be extended to far 800-639-948 1
RS&T readers and our friends . To refresh infrared. The ability to detect and [email protected]
your memory about the Mars isolate far infrared allows the imager
Polar Lander, visit the extensive Jet to pinpoint body-temperature objects
Propulsion Laboratory website at that may be survivors.
http://marslanding .jpl.nasa.gov.
The Lander's robotic "scooping" arm,
The Lander uses many instruments to combined with the Thermal and Evolved
sense the surroundings. Ofparticular in- For toxic chemical applications,
Gas An al y ze r (TEGA) can b e very
terest is the Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) scientists would need to modify the TEGA
helpful as well. After a toxic, bio-toxic
on the Lander. According to JPL, the to analyze for specific toxins and harm-
or radioactive accident, it is important
SSI is similar to the imager on the pre - ful elements, but an on- board
to assess the extent and type of
vious (and successful) Mars Pathfinder. contamination. The robotic arm, with analyzer would save a lot of transport
its own on-scoop camera, would allow time and prevent contaminating human
This device serves three main purposes: emergency crews.
an operator to accurately scoop up
imaging, ranging and analyzing. The im-
samples.
aging task is handled by the imaging The power source of the Lander is also
sensor that records high-resolution still The samples are then analyzed by the very earthly (perhaps sunny is a better
images. Since the SSI has two "eyes" TEGA. The TEGA consists of single-use word) . Although Mars receives less
(optical lenses), the differences be- ovens and a tunable diode laser spec- sunlight than Earth, the design of the
tween the image captured from each of trometer. The ovens heat up the sample solar panels of the Lander still manages
the eyes can be analyzed to provide until it is partially vaporized. The laser to output 200 W of power. Back here on
range information . then shoots beams of light of known Earth, an outdoor robot should be able
frequencies through the vapor. to capture some solar energy, at least
as a secondary or backup source of
energy.

The benefits of solar panels apply to any

outdoor robot, on any planet: they are
light weight, cordless, an d inhe rently
rech argeable.

R OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECHNO LOGY

. _ -,-.-
 Okay, very few of us will ever build a Steve Richards' article on how to inter- plex programming. Consequen tl:
Mars explorer, and few will build a face to the sensors, in RS&T Number although the cost of components
rescue robot. So, what do the rest of us Six .) Unlike the SSI, however, the inexpensive, it requires much expert i:
(without the budget to acquire cool GP2D05 and GP2D02 can only range a to design and assemble an on-rob :
gadgets like the SSI and TEGA) gain "point" instead of an entire scene. Me- vision system .
from studying the Lander technology? chanical scanning is required to acquire
a depth-range "picture." For those who are not thwarted ye
Imaging and ranging are certainly two http://pages.zoom.co.ukjand y c
of the most important senses of a mo- On-robot image processing, on the other presents a relatively simple project i
bile robot. Fortunately, both can be hand, remains somewhat more challeng- get computer vision using very inexper
done with a budget that most taxpay- ing. Advances in digital cameras have sive components. And, of course, robr
ers can afford (with our after-ta x motivated the design and mass produc - vision is in RS&T's editorial plans
money). tion of charge-couple devices (CCDs)
with on-chip digital interfaces, such as Anyone who has built mob ile robo i
The options for imaging are endless
the Sony ICX098. You can even buy probably wishes the robots had arms t
these days. Very small cameras with
board-level products including the lens, actually do something.
NTSC output are common and some cost
CCD and digital interface, such as the
less than $100 US. Off-the-shelf NTSC
Sony MCB120. However, interfacing such Various manufacturers have introduce
video radio transmitters and receivers
CCDs and camera boards still requires affordable robot arm kits since th
can broadcast the robot's view.
significant knowledge of electronics cir- 1980s. Two design limitations kee
As for ranging, the Sharp GP2D05 and cuit design as well as low-level software these robot arms stationary and useft
GP2D02 sensors provide inexpensive op- device drivers. Once an image is cap- for very few practical applications oui
tions at about $20 US. (Please refer to tured, the analysis often involves com- side education . First of all, the ar m:

1#1#1 R OBOT S CIENCE & T ECH NOLOGY I

L. - - -- - -----------~ ._ .. __
._-- --
 Announcing ...

Read,7
to
MoV.~
Up')
We offeG'
Pion e e r "\\
TradfB'
Ins!

www.actlvmedta.com/robc t
800-639-94Sl
ro bots@ a ct iv rne d ia. cOlIT

as purchased, provide no feedback side to side. The movement of arm joints half-watt transmitter does not require
about their current positions. This can be encoded by encoder disks. FCC licensing.
makes it impossible to position an arm
(Quadrature encoding and decoding will As we patiently wait for our Martian
really accurately. Secondly, even if
be discussed in the next issue of RS&T.) friends to repair the Lander, we can de-
movements were accurately controlled,
Proximity sensors can be mounted sign and build robots inspired by the
there is no built-in way to know how
at the gripper for the final grip Lander and the Pathfinder missions.
far to reach for objects.
confisrmation.
Readers are invited to send details and
While the Lander design does not have
photos of Mars project robots.
grippers (there was no intention to ab- As an energy source, small solar panels
duct Martians), it does use an robotic are readily available. A 6" by 6" solar
arm to scoop dirt from the surface. The panel. capable of producing 0.5 Watt,
Lander uses a "scoop-cam" to help con- costs about $5 US at surplus stores.
trol the arm. An amateur robot can au- While most mobile robots require sev-
tonomously control an arm with less eral Watts to move, the solar panels can RobotMag.com
expensive components. First of all, ob- charge a battery when the robot is sta- is
ject detection can be accomplished by tionary, then discharge the battery e-normolls
a two-dimensional range scan using a when the robot moves. Of course, a 6"
range sensor, such as the Sharp GP2D02, by 6" 0.5 W solar panel is no match for
mounted on a tilt-and-swivel head. No the Lander's 200 W solar panel. On the
doubt, the acquisition is going to be plus side, we're not going to transmit
slow as the head needs to sweep from data between planets. Conveniently, a

IR OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECH N OLOGY "-WJ

 Robot Kits BASIC Stamp@ .
Spider Walking IR Avaider Rabat #3·299 $69.95 St~ One Stllfer Pack #3-444 $99.00
,....;,~-"""'...,.- Fut urist ic II< maneuverable 6-legged Acomplete starterset: Stamp Software,
walker witb IR for object avoidance. manual, cable,a Stamp 1 (seeright),
Dual motor drive, front mounted sen- and a BS-I Carrier Board with proto-
sor. 13 emLx 13 Wx 10 II. No sol- typing area II< connector for the pro-
dering required, needs 2 AA II< one gramming cable. Agreat value!
l-.....,.........."""'--l9Vcell.
Stamp Two Starter Pack #3·439 $148.00
eybug Rabat Kit #3·466 $49.95 Everyt hing needed to move with the Stamp 2: All of the
Cybug has touch II< light sensors to items in the Stamp One Starter but with a Stamp 2 and BS-2
exhibit active II< interesting behav- WAO GProgrammable Robot #3·477 $84.95 Carrier instead. Monstrous power'
iors. Printed circuit board & 2 DC - - - - . . , A nell'edition of a sophisti-
motors! 12em Lx 10Wx 4 H. ". cated. full function robot kit. Stamp Two SX Starter Pack #3·647 $159.00
Soldering and one 9V cell required. 2 motors, programmable New! Powered by Scenix microchip. Runs at 50Mllz (2.5
Machine or living organism' "fuzzy logic" brain, 26 button times faster than the standard Stamp 2), and has eight 2KB
keypad. sensor arms forcol- program spaces. A powerful brain for your next robot'
eybug Predatar/Prey Add'an #3·501 $32.95 lision or edge detection,
Build II< attacl]the predator & prey circuits to two of your L_-,--::"",=-:",:=~~ Moves in all directions, per- Mini sse2 & Servo Bonus Pack #3·436 $129.95
Cybugs II< tben let them roam wild' The Predator will sense forms if-then decisions based on sensor inputs Control up to Hservos via one
the 1.1(, signal from the Prey II< hunt it down' and "fuzzy" membership rules, even do-loops' Requires 3 serial line. Talk to it from any
AA & one 9V battery. Nosoldering required. Great intro to PC, l\ laC, Stamp, etc... Plus, daisy
eybug Hunger Instinct Add-an #3·503 $29.95 robot programming. chain up to 32 together to con-
The hunger circuit Ixnrd lets your Cybug senseits battery trol up to 255 servos. Includes
level and seek light when "hungry". Includes notes formak- Descartes Robot Kit #3·710 six llitec-300Bservos'
ing a recharging station (requires other parts) so your Cybug Descartes is based on a dual ~-~-~~-~

can recharge itself processor architecture. Features

four true S-bit analog to digital RobotLeg~RobotArms
SolarFly Robot Kit #3·529 $59.95 (AlIll converters, four CdS
. ~--_ Powered Ill' the Sun! The light sensors, LEDs, shaft 5Axis Robotic Arm Kit #3·366 $195.00
SolarFlycontinuallyseeks the encoders, thermistor, touch Fast, repeatable, and controlled _ _...
_.....,
brightest object it sees. Twin feel- switches and a speaker. from your computer serial port! tt!..
ers help navigate around obsta- Demonstrate nocturnal/diurnal Can liftover160 grams. Control ,,.- -
cles. It even has short-term mem- behavior, phototropism/photo- ......_ - - swivel, shoulder, elbow, wrist, and
oryabout objects it contacts' phobia, non-contact object detection, motion detection. gripper. Mini SSC 2 hoard II< DOS
The long vertical antennae can dead reckoning and more' Programmablefrom )'0111' Pc. software included'
draw energy from othersources
such as the Sunflower Power Plant or your feedi ng stations Rug Warrior Pro Deluxe Kit #3·406 $595.00 Hexapod Walker Kit #3-434 $150.00
described in the kit. Assembles with basic tools. requires Acomplete, serious research Three servos provide full directional
soldering. Add a swarm to your CYBUG farm' robot platform from ~ IIT. With walking. Program in Basic from
all hardware, Csoftware. your PC. All hardware, electronics,
LEGer MindStorms'M 6HHC II CPU, memof)', sen- software II< instructions included.
Over 20 emlong. Requires soldering.
sors, wheels, motors, chassis,
LEGO@Robotics Invention System VIS #3·699 $199.99 instruct ions II< more. IHemdia.
New rersion /.5 The ideal companion kit to the Quadrapod Walker Kit #3·670 $295.00
"M Explore your ere- Mobile Robots book (3-6l.1, Walksforward. backwards and turns
W ativiry with the RIS, below). .Ilac & PCcompatible' left or right. Includes precut hody and
NE featuring the revolu- legpanels, mechanical hardware, H
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er brain with 3 Mobile Robots 2nd Ed. #3·613 $39.95 Add vour olin servo controller (Mini
inputs and 3 out- From ,\ IIT, a complete guideto designing II< SSC, ASC- 16, ctc.), microcomputer and
puts. Includes 2 building robots: hardware. software, sen- sensors forfull autonomous operation.
motors. 2 touch sen- sors, motors. "subsumption" software. Jj6 Mega Hexapod Walker Kit #3·423 $375.00
sors, I light sensor, infrared transceiver, cables, software pages, illust. Amust forall roholicists. .. ~_-.., A healy dutywalking plattorm -
(Win 95/ 9H) anddetailed Englishinstructions for creating over33em(13in) long' 12 servos
you r own Lego robots' Over 700 pieces'
Practical Robotics #3·506 $39.95 give full control II< major strength.
r::--=---.-, If F lU ask"Where do I start?" Add vourownservo controller
MindStorms ReX "Brain" Brick #3·560 $119.99 ,f' . ' .. : th~ answer is "H ER~T Bill Davies shares (Mini SSC, ASC-16, etc.i). a micro-
MindStorms ReX IR Remote eontrol #3.546124.99 PlUlIl Cll IR <lbo.ll k~
years of robotics experience, covering all computer (Stamp2, BOTBcKlfd, etc.)
MindStorms Motor 3'pack #3·552 49.99 aspects: tools, techniques, components. sen- ...- - - - -- - & sensors foradvanced projects'
MindStorms Touch Sensor #3·347 17.99 sors, soldering, etc... 330 pages with a fine
MindStorms Light Sensor #3·329 29.99 /~ ....:: index. Muscle Wires@
MindStorms Rotahon Sensor #3·544 24.99
MindStorms Temperature Sensor #3·516 29.99
Build Your Own Underwater Robot #3·418 $29.95 Muscle Wires Book & Deluxe Kit #3·168 $59.95
Dive in to underwater robotics' The Create direct linear action with
LEGO Robotics Discovery System'
Bring your Lego creations to life' authors provide dozens of hands-on \'BUldyou,rr-n .\ Iuscle Wires. They contract up to
experiments using readilyavailable 5% when powered' Use them in
Scout computer is fully program- robots. models and anything need-
mable from the on-board LCD parts. 14Hpages. Great illustrations
and a lotof fun' .' ~ ing strong all-electric motioll. 12B
command center. Create differ- page hook, full plans for BORIS. a liiil".~
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touch sensors, manual and over 3HO LEGO pieces.
LEGO Droid Development Kit' #3·589 $99.99
800·374·5764 Muscle Wires Project Book only #3·133 $17.95
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, _ TheDroid Developer Kit is your Mondo-tronics Inc.
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plus over 650 Lego pieces. International Orders Welcomel See website for details.

- - - - - -- - - - - - -- - - ..
\
1
BattleBots Announcing...
I Jan 29 on Pay Pe r View
www.BattleBots.com
I] See the destruction wrough t in Las Vegas.

1
I
on-
Wireless Symposium board
I
.1
I
Portable by Design
Feb 22 - 25, San Jose Convention Cente r
PC10 4 +
II www.wire lessportab le.com option
! Visit Lemos International at Booth 1527

I Ether
I net
14th Annual Student Robotic Challenge moderns
Roboti cs International of the Society of Manufa cturing Engineers
March 19 - 20 at Robert Morris College in Pittsburgh LaSer
www.manufacturing iscool.com
14 events, including 150 pound sumo , simulation, maze and lunar search. &
See our Journey Robot stories beginning on Page 30 . More!
Fuji Soft ABC Robot Sumo Tournament www.activmedia .com/robots
March 28, Exploratorium, San Francisco 800·639·9481
March 30, UC Riverside, Los Angeles [email protected]
Hakkeyoi Nokotta !

FIRST Robotics Competition Northwest Robot

www. usfirst.org
An exciting national engineering contest for high school student Sumo Tournament
teams, showcased in RS&T April 99 and RS&T Oct 99 . May 20 www.SineRobotics.com
March 9 - 11, Eastern Mich igan University, Ypsilanti, MI Edmunds Community College, WA
March 9 - 11, Kennedy Space Center All sumo robot s invited, open to th e
March 16 - 18, Rutgers University pub lic. Hosted by Bill Harrison of Sine
March 16 - 18, Houston Astro Arena Comp lex Robot ics.
March 23 - 25, Northwestern University, Evanston , IL
March 23 - 25, Drexel University, Philadelphia
March
March
30 - April 1 NASA Ames, San Jose
30 - April 1 Meadows Music Theater, Hart ford, CT
BEAM/WCRG
April 6 - 8 National Championship, EPCOT, Orlando Millennium Games
June 9-11 www.robotgames.com
SAlT Campus, Calgary, Alberta
Seventh Annual Trinity College Solar, Auto nomo us, RC, Sumo, Walking, Fire-
fighting , micromouse and more . Speakers,
Fire-Fighting Home Robot Contest Mark Tilden, Bill Harrison, Craig Maynard,
April 16 Mark Hillier, Dave Hrynkiw, M ike M unro and
www.trincoll .edu/- robot Hilton Delivera. Plus an educator's course
Jake Mendelssohn's original. The nationa l topper to regionals hosted by Para llax.
in Seattle, Dallas, Philadelphia, Tel Aviv and Calgary.
See RS&T Premier Issue for tips . Email youreventsto Editor@RobotMa g.com

IR OB OT S CIEN CE & T ECHNOLOGY ' '-':'

r~--------------------

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IL
Introducing the Boe-Bot:
Mobilize Your BASIC Stamps and Board of Education
The Boe- Bot is a BASIC Stamp II and Board of Educat ion (BoE) mounted on a roll ing alumin um chas-
sis. The BoE's breadboard is used for your ro bot ic proj ect s. The kit r equires about one hour t o build
using a small scr ewdr iver , box-end wre nch and diagonal cutters. The Boe-Bot was creat ed for our
St amps in Class program (http ://www.stampsinclass.com). The 70-pag e Robotics t ext is loaded
wit h projects ranging from basic movement to object detection and light followi ng.

The Bee-Bot Full Kit includes the robot shown t o t he left (unassembl ed) with text and all the elec-
t ronic components needed for roa ming, object det ecti on I avoidance with infra red , and light follow -
ing. LEOs and piezospeaker provide light and sound feedback. With some advanced progra mming and
a few componen ts t he Boe-Bot could fo llow a li ne, solve a maze, or ext inguish a small fire. PBASIC is
an liD - or ient ed language with a comma nd set t hat makes it easy to interface t he BASIC Stamp to
ot her components.

BASIC Stamp Boe-Bot

Full Kit #28132 - $199
Boe-Bot, Boar d of Education,
BASIC Stamp II, BASIC Stamp
Manual Version 1.9, Robot ics Text
and component s