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Comments by Brandon
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Brandon's mini sumo robot: Black Mamba
- 21 August 2017Hello, Costi.
You might find our "Force and Torque" blog helpful when selecting the right gearmotor for your robot. One key factor to consider is that the speed and pushing force of your robot will depend on the size of your wheels. For example, a larger diameter wheel will cause the robot to travel faster, but have less pushing force. The actual pushing force you get could also be limited by traction, so using too high of a gear ratio for the extra torque might not be as beneficial at some point since your wheels/treads will likely start slipping on the surface.
For reference, we typically recommend the 50:1, 75:1, or 100:1 HP micro metal gearmotors for use with our Zumo robots, which is often used in mini sumo competitions. For a slower Zumo that has the potential to deliver more torque, the 100:1 HP (or the 100:1 HPCB) micro metal gearmotor would be a good choice. I probably wouldn't recommend going too much higher than that since the reduced speed would likely be hard obstacle to overcome, and even in head-to-head battles, slipping could start limiting your pushing force, so you might not be able to effectively use the increased torque.
Brandon
Motion tracking skull Halloween prop
- 19 June 2017Hello, Veronika and Mascha.
I do not have any specific advice for using a camera and a Basic Stamp to do a project like this; I suspect it will be a much different experience than I had doing this project. If you run into problems or have more specific questions, you might try posting on our forum. However, since the Basic Stamp is made by Parallax you will probably get better results posting on theirs.
Brandon
New products: Scooter/Skate Wheels
- 25 May 2017We do not make those wheels ourselves, and unfortunately, we do not have models for them.
-Brandon
Brandon's line following robot: The Chariot
- 23 May 2016Hello, James.
I am glad you are interested in my design! I made my design files for the laser-cut pieces available via Thingiverse; you can use this link to access those files when they are available (this is my first time uploading and publishing a creation on Thingiverse, and they require a minimum wait time of 24 hours between account creation and publishing your first creation, so you might have to wait until around this time tomorrow).
For the mechanical components, you can find 3D models for the motor and motor bracket on their respective product pages. We do not currently have models available for the wheels or ball caster, although it is something we are looking into. For now, you can find dimension diagrams for them on their respective product pages. Please let me know if I left something out or you have any additional questions.
Brandon
Brandon's line following robot: The Chariot
- 25 March 2016Hello.
I do not currently have my code available; however, as I mentioned in my last comment, my code is based on our example line follower code for the Zumo Robot for Arduino, V1.2. Other than converting the motor commands into the corresponding TTL serial commands for the Qik 2s9v1 motor controller, the biggest change I made to that code was probably tuning the PID coefficients. Since this varies for every system, I suspect my code would not be any more helpful than that sample code.
I see you also posted a request for help on our forum. That seems like a more appropriate place to continue the discussion if you have more questions.
-Brandon
Motion tracking skull Halloween prop
- 22 March 2016Hello.
You are correct about setting the channels to input mode; any channel that has a sensor connected to it should be configured as an input, which can be done in the "Status" tab of the Maestro Control Center.
As far as modifying to code, if you want all of your servos to react to the same 2 sensors, you could just add "dup n servo" to the end of the updated code (before "repeat") for each additional servo, where n is the servo channel that the extra servos are connected to. Alternatively, you could leave the code unchanged and split the signal coming from channel 0 to each servo.
If you run into additional questions about doing this, or would like to share your project when it is finished, you might consider posting on our forum.
-Brandon
Brandon's line following robot: The Chariot
- 3 March 2016Hello, Pedro.
I am glad you like my line follower. It is not clear to me what part of the robot you are requesting more details about, but if you are mostly interested in the line following code, I would suggest looking at our example line follower code for the Zumo Robot for Arduino, v1.2 (which is what my code is based on).
I have never made an advanced line following robot quite like the one you described. I recommend getting the basic line following working before connecting additional sensors.
Please let me know if I misunderstood your request or if you have more specific questions about my robot.
By the way, if you have more general questions about building your line follower, you might try posting them on our forum to see if anyone there has suggestions.
-Brandon
New versions of our 500mA D24V5Fx step-down voltage regulators
- 7 January 2016Hello, Ross.
The board has a pull-up resistor between SHDN and VIN, so you can leave the SHDN pin disconnected if you want the board to be permanently enabled. Alternatively, the board can be driven low to put the board into a low-power state and turn off the output.
You can find more information about this in the "Using the regulator" section of the product page for each version of the D24V5Fx step-down voltage regulator. Links to these product pages can be found in the "Related products" at the end of the blog post.
-Brandon
Brandon's mini sumo robot: Black Mamba
- 28 December 2015Hello, Bob.
It is not entirely clear to me what you mean, but if you are asking if the robot can turn, the answer is yes. Black Mamba is a differential wheeled robot. In short, since it uses two separate motors (one on each side of the robot), running them at different speeds causes the robot to turn, so running one motor forwards and the other backwards at the same rate causes it to turn in place.
If this is not what you are asking, can you try rephrasing your question?
-Brandon
Video: Setting the Current Limit on Pololu Stepper Motor Driver Carriers
- 12 October 2015Hello, Ross.
I am glad you found the video helpful. When setting the current limit, you do not need have any code running or stepper motor connected. If you are referring to the part in the video where Claire uses the multimeter to measure the current draw of the stepper motor, stepping the motor during this process will make it difficult to measure, since the current through the coil will change as the motor is stepped.
-Brandon