Building Learning Pet

Posted by Erin, the RobotGrrl on Monday, September 26th, 2011

Here’s what you may not know about Learning Pet: It was created in 4.5 days.

When I heard about the Open Hardware Summit Scholarship contest, I couldn’t let this opportunity pass. The prize would do more than wonders to get this idea flying. For example: A 3D printer would be able to be bought and used to create parts for kits. Also, we would have been able to order some custom PCBs online with the winnings, too.

When I heard about the contest later on that evening was when I started (Sept 8). I created the structure and beak mechanism all in that one night

The first day (Sept 9), the mini RoboBrrd character was crafted, and all servos and LEDs tested and functional.

The second day (Sept 10), the modular electronics board was created. Featuring a slide-out drawer for the Google Android ADK This was also my birthday! Hooray!

Third day (Sept 11), all of the circuits and wiring was complete. Had some pitfalls during the day trying to use different connectors, but switched to the ones you see below in the photo. The plugs are great, really sturdy!

Here’s a timelapse of some parts of the build:

Forth day was for creating the software and documentation, and submitting to the contest rather early. My train was leaving the next day, so I had to get everything done ahead of time

We didn’t win the contest, or place in the top 3. Somehow. So this became yet another unobtained opportunity, but I can definitely say that Learning Pet was a competitive entry. The documentation webpage was a force not to be reckoned with compared to the other entries. Learning Pet has a purpose that would benefit society. Furthermore, I created a demo prototype for the video about my idea.

Maybe some people will think that it was crazy to pour in all this dedication to one robot. If it would have won, it wouldn’t have seemed crazy. Success is defined as getting up one more time than you’ve been knocked down. I’ll still be continuing with Learning Pet, the idea is exciting and education desperately needs an effective use of technology in the classroom, rather than more technology in the classroom.

Thanks again to everyone who left a comment on my Google+ during the build progress! And thanks to the FIRST team that I mentor, COSI, the gang from FMCG, and all my friends for voting!

Also: I used some parts (the large servo and two RGB LEDs, specifically) from the parts that Adafruit Industries sponsored for the original RoboBrrd, so thanks to them also

Posted in: Adafruit RoboBrrd, Projects, Robot.

RobotGrrl’s Robots at Maker Faire NYC 2011!

Posted by Erin, the RobotGrrl on Saturday, September 17th, 2011

RobotGrrl’s robots will be at Maker Faire NYC Saturday and Sunday!

Featuring my robots!
MANOI- the hockey playing robot
RoboBrrd- the virtual food eating robot
Dogcow- the robot that is driving around randomly
Mini RoboBrrd aka Learning Pet- learn how to sort numbers from lowest to highest *and* blast UFOs!

We will be located in Zone A, the Robot Square!

Also, check out Jonah and Katherine’s Scrapyard Challenge talk! It will be an excellent source of information about creating an event in numerous places in the world. Truly amazing and inspiring, and they may mention RIP Banff too!

We hope to see you there!

Posted in: Projects, Robot.

Learning Pet – Thanks for voting!

Posted by Erin, the RobotGrrl on Friday, September 16th, 2011

Thanks everyone who voted for Learning Pet in the Open Hardware Summit Scholarship! It was much appreciated! We didn’t place in the top 3.

Here was a fantastic interview by Ian Cole, thanks so much Ian!

The future of Learning Pet is that there will be time spent on apps4arduino to make some money in order to be able to purchase some laser cut parts, 3d parts, and boards.

Here are some stats of the contest that I collected from the webpage:

- 51.9% had a prototype
- 48.1% showed a demo in their video
- 51.9% had a website
- 3.7% released their hardware files under a license for the open hardware definition
- 22.2% had their hardware files available
- 14.8% had a bom
- 5.6% released their source code under an osi license
- 22.2% had their code available
- 40.7% had documentation
- 22.2% had additional videos
- 59.3% said what they would do with the prize if they won
- 18.5% demoed while at the ohs

You can check out all the documentation for Learning Pet here:
http://robotgrrl.com/learningpet

Thanks again!

Learning Pet will be at the Maker Faire this weekend, so be sure to say hi! (or whatever hi is in robobrrd language)

Posted in: Android ADK, Projects, Robot.

Learning Pet – VOTE! (Open Hardware Summit Scholarship)

Posted by Erin, the RobotGrrl on Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

VOTE FOR LEARNING PET IN THE OPEN HARDWARE SUMMIT SCHOLARSHIP!

Introducing Learning Pet, a mini RoboBrrd with a very large theme- education! Learning Pet enriches lessons by creating a physical interface to interact with the virtual world.

We demonstrate a number sorting game, where the student interacts with the robot to blast virtual UFO’s with the lowest value. Correct answers are celebrated with a wing flap, and each level-up with a dance. We use the Accessory Development Kit to interface with mobile devices while away from the computer.

On LearningPet’s webpage, it has all the detailed information about the hardware, software and design. There is also a handy checklist at the top, so that at a glance you can quickly see the important facts.

It would be awesome if you could vote for Learning Pet in the Open Hardware Summit Scholarship! VOTE here!

Here is a YouTube playlist of all the videos!

Posted in: Adafruit RoboBrrd, Android, Android ADK, Programming, Projects, Robot.

RoboBrrd Food – Using the Redpark Serial Cable

Posted by Erin, the RobotGrrl on Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Remember a while ago, when I was able to send data through the MFi SkyWire cable? It turns out, now there is a cable designed for hobbyists, with an SDK, by Redpark! They were very kind enough to send me a cable, so I figured that the first thing to try would be to feed RoboBrrd!

Here is a video where I explain everything in detail!

View video on YouTube

Here is a link to the code on Github!

What is next? For WWDC 2011 legacy sake, I will probably try to drive DOGCOW robot with the iPhone’s accelerometer. This time though, the cable would be attached to an XBee so that it will be wireless.

Posted in: Programming, Projects, Robot, iPhone.

Dogcow + iPad

Posted by Erin, the RobotGrrl on Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

Dogcow now works with the iPad without the use for a middleman in between! It goes straight from the App to the XBee for Dogcow to receive.

Here is a video explanation:

Or view the video on YouTube.

The process begins with an App using the ExternalAccessory framework:

Then goes through the SkyWire cable:

RS232 is converted to TTL:

Which is then sent through the XBee:

The XBee is powered by 3.3V, using an Arduino as a simple power supply haha:

And Dogcow receives with the XBee:

Making this whole process really cool!

Here are some resources that may be helpful:

• ExternalAccessory framework
• EADemo Code
• SkyWIre 30 pin to RS232 cable
• Sparkfun RS232 to TTL
• More photos on Flickr
• Also FYI, the baud rate is 9600 on the SkyWire cable

Also, as per Technote #31:

Dogcows, by their nature, are not all dog, nor are they all cow, but they are a special genetic hybrid. They are rarely seen in the wild. Since dogcows are two dimensional, they will stand facing a viewer “on edge” to avoid being seen.

Posted in: Projects, Robot.

Dogcow Robot Building!

Posted by Erin, the RobotGrrl on Sunday, May 29th, 2011

For WWDC I want to bring a robot that is small, light, and Apple-riffic, so I chose a Dogcow on my Rampage Robot base!

Most of the time Dogcow bot will be controlled by my iPad using TouchOSC. The way this will work is that the iPad will be connected to the WWDC wifi, the TouchOSC App will be talking to a Processing sketch running on my Macbook (also on wifi), the Processing sketch will be using Firmata to talk to the Arduino. Unfourtunately, this means that the robot will have to be connected via USB cable which probably won’t be much fun, unless I implement a quickie Xbee solution.

There will also be a mode where the Dogcow robot can be autonomous. It has a switch, a potentiometer, and an ultrasonic sensor on it. The switch will control what direction the wheels will be going (forwards or backwards), and the potentiometer will control the speed.

If the potentiometer is in the slowest position, and the switch is set to backwards, then there can be a routine going where the Dogcow robot is roaming around with its ultrasonic sensor and “latch on” to someone if they come within a certain distance. This would essentially use a PD loop, if I have enough time. If not, an if-statement will work.

The programming isn’t done yet, but I hope to finish it tomorrow. And hopefully the curse of the blog-filled promises will not strike! XD

Making a small, semi-stable robot platform is really tricky. I’m used to more loose and experimental robot platforms, I guess!

The potentiometer is huge. I would definitely not recommend huge potentiometers. Also, that switch was huge (I later switched it out for a smaller one).

Using the Ping ultrasonic sensor will be fun. Hopefully it will live up to the rave that everyone has been giving it!

On Saturday we searched EVERYWHERE for dual-lock. Dual lock is almost like velcro, except it is plastic and has no wiggle. Ended up getting dual-lock at Staples.

This robot is paper thin!

You can see some more photos of Dogcow Robot’s construction on flickr.

Here are some tips that I would recommend for people going to do something similar:
- Smaller potentiometers, wires, and switches
- Flip the image of the object horizontally when printing the other side
- Use headers or some modular way of connecting the wires so that if the solder or wire breaks, you have the last resort to be able to plug it in to the original connection
- Be able to take things apart
- Have the parts that can come apart be stable (dual-lock)
- Make the programs straight-forward, no fancy programming

More updates later! Woot woot!

Posted in: Projects, Robot.