Archive for March, 2008

$10 from uC Hobby

As I found featured on MAKE emails in my inbox, I also found something else. A $10 donation from David Fowler from uC Hobby! Believe it or not, I could not believe it was true! I even double checked that it was the real PayPal. ;D

This $10 will go an extremely long way! I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to buy just yet, but it will most likely be a used book from amazon :) That way, I can learn more about robotics!

I’m just completely astonished! The first real donation to my Robotic Fund. ^_^ I’m extremely flattered, honestly!

Thank you so much, David & uC Hobby!

Featured on MAKE!

Wow, what a brilliant surprise! After playing around with BubbleBoy, I go to check my email. I noticed that there were two new comments on my blog, which is rather peculiar! I checked it out, then shrieked out loud “I’M ON MAKEZINE!”. Wooooooooooo! I was sooooo (and still am) thrilled! A few seconds later, after playing the video to ensure it was my BristleBot, I sent a thank-you email right away to JBC, the person that made the article. :D

JBC has a blog, you can check it out here: coin-op. One of the really neat projects is one called PoliceState. Check it out! I like the look of the cars, really stylish. :D

I’m just so absolutely honoured, flattered, and blabber-ghasted! Thank you so much!! So, check it out on MAKE!

BristleBot on Front Page!

Oh yeah, one more thing - BristleBot says thanks too.

Friday Night MANOI - replaced by BUBBLE BOY!

That’s right! My usual Friday night MANOI was replaced by Friday night BUBBLE BOY! Pinky was renamed to Bubble Boy as, not only is it more bubblicious, but it also reminds us of Seinfeld. (Nope, the answer is MOOPS!) (<--- Seinfeld joke)

Trying to get it all to work out was pretty a pretty intense thought process. At least, it seemed that way relative to a Friday. Relative to a Monday morning, the thought process could be described as easy. The way Bubble Boy (lol) will rock back and forth, and from side to side is that there will be two servos embedded into the side of the bottom ball. On the servo horns will be string, which will be attached to a paperclip. From there, the paperclip plugs easily into the cross on the top ball.

The reason why I chose paperclips rather than anything else is because it allows more movement. For example, if the top ball moves to the left, the back and forth ones will not constrain this movement. Pretty neat, eh! :) I'll probably strengthen the cross tomorrow, after I replace the elastic string I used.

This brings me to another point. There isn't much string around, so the first thing I saw, I grabbed. Elasticy string. I thought it would probably work out, but it didn't. Tomorrow I'll replace it with bunchels of thread, or yarn - depending on what mood I am in. (Yarn is bigger - thread is smaller).

These photos show the progress of the process. :)

Overview of workstation 1 Elastic Knot 2nd Elastic Knot! (There are 2 more, but I didn’t Capture ‘Em) I have to attach the string to the horn … glue gun!! Then, the horn goes on the servo! ^_^ I put the servo in the bottom ball … Haiii servo!! Metal brackets help with Newton’s 3rd law Pumpkin carving does come in handy in robotics! :) (Cut out the bottom of the bottom ball) Metal brackets can now fit. Secret trapador! Gluing the servo down … goop! Nice soldering on the yellow one! The yellow one is just SO perfect @_@ Omg. 10/10 Soldering skills! (On the yellow one) It all connects back to Arduino :)

During the weekend, keep an eye out for:
- Blog post about Autism & Robots & Robbie
- Blog post (hopefully) about a working Bubble Boy
- YouTube video (hopefully) about Bubble Boy
- Blog post about a very fun Physics lab

Happy Friday night BUBBLE BOY!

Colouring Pinky

Today (March 22) I painted Pinky :)

Lucky for me - it was the EXACT colour I envisioned!

I also made the bottom part better, so it wouldn’t topple over that easy.

Enjoy the pics!

Let’s Start! Nice sky (in the background … ) lol! Top cut out Top ball cross Bottom ball crater Overview :) Sanded bottom ball for stability PINK PAINT! <3 Bubblicious Top ball hole is nice and pink! Lookin good, Pinky! A wonderful view for an excellent day!

Hooray!

The Commencement of Pinky

I bought some pink paint, and two styrofoam balls this afternoon. :) (I also bought two beanie babys, but that’s besides the point). So, it is the commencement of Pinky! Wahahahahaha…

Work “area” Bottom Snowball Top Snowball Lots of Styro-dust! Almost Interlocking! Need to Sand a Bit More Looks a Bit Better!It can Stand! Sand paper or SNOW paper? Haha Lots of Cleaning … Nooooooo!

Basically what I did today was familiarized myself with how to program the servos with the Arduino more, and I made the two styrofoam balls interlock. This was done buy cutting an ‘x’ into both. On the bottom one, the x was concave. On the top one, the x was convex. They have some ability to move side to side and front to back. Tomorrow that functionality will improve after I trim it up a bit. :)

Hooray for virtual logbooks! ^_^

Robbie the Robot - 100% Clean!

100% Clean!

Softpedia just awarded Robbie the Robot (version 022) a SOFTPEDIA “100% CLEAN” AWARD!

That’s pretty neat! I never knew they had those. Although, I have to admit, Robbie does have a virus … a virus to become potentially addictive! Ahah. :) But really, no viruses or spyware or adware. No memory leaks either! And it is 64 Bit. ;D

Well done Robbie!

Bristlebot

Yay! I made a Bristlebot today, and updated the smilies for this blog. :D Much cuter, no? ^_^

Picks up A LOT of Stuff! Kachow! The Many Places a BristleBot can Travel… Baaaaad Soldering

It was pretty fun. My soldering has gone waaaaaay downhill though. Hopefully I’ll get more practice in soon. Arduino and ArtBot contest entries are due in the end of April, so I better get moving. My plan is to make a new Robbie, incidentally called Pinky. I’ll somehow find a small microphone and speaker, and embed it in a physical pink snowman.

The coolest part about the ArtBot contest is that, if I am accepted, I’ll be able to go to Ireland on my birthday. I’m Irish, so that’s quite a huge ordeal! <:D

-> Oh, I received my comments today. And a crumpled certificate. Nice. Well, the comments were all positive, even the two in French.

I checked to see what the science fairs in Mass are like - they have a panel of professional judges. So I need not worry for the future! :)