Parts from Old Scanners

Posted by Erin, the RobotGrrl on Sunday, July 31st, 2011

Thanks to the electronics I picked out from the Eco-Quartier e-waste drop off, I had 5 huge old scanners to scavenge parts from!

Old scanners are a great place to find stepper motors (like the ones I used for Scrumbleflit)!

Plus, FREE GEARS!

The mirrors are also spiffy to use in laser projects:

And the cold cathodes are always cool

One of the things that I found funny was that you could almost see a progression of time from when the scanners were made. Two of them had the ULN2003 as a DIP format, whereas the other three were more new and used the SMD format. However, those three new ones were not constructed to use screws. It was molded plastic that clips together. This kind of makes me think, who on earth thought it was a great idea to not use screws anymore?

There was also a scanner that did not have a cold cathode like the others. Weird!

These are some components that I’m not entirely sure what they do, but they look really cool:

All in all, this was pretty fantastic to get 5 new steppers to use on a robot. I’m really excited to use the mirrors for some funky lighting effects too! It makes me extremely happy to use recycled steppers from old scanners. YAY FOR FREE PARTS! You can see more photos on flickr!

If you are thinking that you need more motors for your robot, just get out there to your local e-waste area and find some old scanners to take apart! Be creative and recycle

Posted in: Recycling.

Fading LEDs – Circuit & Arduino Way

Posted by Erin, the RobotGrrl on Monday, September 7th, 2009

Someone recently commented on one of the posts and asked:

Hey Erin, I was just checking around looking for help with a project Im doing. Im not an expert by any means ,I could really use the help and expertise of somone like you. I like your robot too.
Im building a Terniator endo Bust. Its Recast vinyl kit. My …dilemma is ,…The kit came with 2 Red LEDs for the eyes,a bouble A battery pack and a switch. I want to mod this guy so the lights come on slowly,and when switched off they dim out.(3-5 sec.)
The second effect I want is to install a pulsing or vibrating motor inside the scull that comes on momentarily with the lights?
I have other Ideas too. If I can interest you ,Id be will to pay for your help.
I hope this sounds interesting to you, Thanks ,Daniel Shaffer

Sounds like a great weekend project!

There are two ways to solve this problem: with a circuit, or with a microcontroller.

I can’t exactly help out with the mathematical part of the circuit, but in order to obtain the dimming effects, you would need to first charge a capacitor up when you switch it on, that would be connected to the LEDs. As more and more voltage fills up into the capacitor, the LEDs will make a fade-in effect! When you switch off, the capacitor will have to de-charge (perhaps into a different capacitor). When it is emptying, the voltage will be going lower and lower, making a fade-out effect.

The second part of your question, how to make a vibrating motor come on with the lights… you would have to use a 555 timer IC. These also use capacitors and resistors in order to create a timed circuit. They are a really interesting concept, and I would encourage you to check out these sites about them!

Now… if you wanted to use a more extendable option with a microcontroller, that is more easier! I made a post about how to fade many LEDs here, with an Arduino. You could have the LEDs fading in and out while having the motor turning on/off. AND, you could use sensors to create specific behaviours and triggers for the Terniator.

I hope this answers your question, and I hope you will keep us posted on the status of your project! Woohoo for blinking LEDs!

Posted in: Other, Programming, Projects.