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VOL. 16 NO. 02
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PAGE 40
PAGE 07
21
Component Selection
25
Weapon Systems
26
Custom Fabrication
29
Packing for an Event
What to Expect at an Event
65
Microcontrollers — RoboLinks • There’s Something Fishy about You
13 Events Calendar 66
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4 SERVO 02.2018
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31 The Making of
to buying, building, and accessorizing
your drone.
Andros
PAGE 58
by Mitch Anderson
Scribbler 3
Robots commonly performing obstacle detection rely on
by John Blankenship
Many people know that Parallax’s Scribbler 3 robot can Then & Now: Advances in robotics from the past up
draw pictures with precise movements because of its wheel through today.
encoders. However, the Scribbler’s IR and line sensors along by Tom Carroll
46 Beginner’s Guide to
students who give their impressions of the
Festival.
SERVO 02.2018 5
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ERVO
FOR THE
Mind / Iron
by Bryan Bergeron, Editor ª
ROBOT
INNOVATOR
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6 SERVO 02.2018
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It’s often difficult to decide what to buy nowadays. There are so many products for every
conceivable need that are just a second day air shipment away from being pressed into service.
In the multi-rotor space, it’s hard to know if we should buy a certain model of aircraft, build our
own from scratch, or if we should own a few different models for different purposes. After the
purchase or build, it’s hard to know what you’ll need to keep your drone happy and healthy.
This month, we’re going to give you the ultimate guide to buying, building, and accessorizing
your drone.
1) Photo/video
2) Beginner/toy
3) Experimental
4) Racing/acrobatic
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Build or Buy?
One of the next questions you’ll have to grapple with is
whether to build or buy your multi-rotor. The answer is a
complicated optimization of time, money, technical skills,
tooling, and desire.
First off, is there a commercially available product that
will do what you want? If there is, it’s doubtful that you’ll
be able to do it from scratch for a similar price and with as
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Figure 7: Smart chargers are a great way to keep your Figure 8: Battery safes are a must as they keep you and your
batteries healthy and happy, and are generally safer and property at a much lower risk should a battery fail
more reliable that the less expensive chargers. (Image catastrophically. (Image courtesy of amazon.com.)
courtesy of amazon.com.)
nice, but you are limited to the functionality implemented out the drone and going flying a lot more fun and
by the manufacturer. Homebuilt solutions often revolve rewarding.
around open source projects that you can modify to suit With enough batteries, you could probably keep
your needs. rotating them all afternoon, but I find that after a couple
The final common consideration is the camera. Do you hours of flying, my brain needs a recharge as well and it’s
want or need a camera? Are you just going to use the time for a cup of coffee. I also tend to buy pretty high
camera to fly the drone in a first-person way, or do you capacity batteries to maximize the flight time on each one
want to record 4K video to show off where you went on — especially since I like doing longer data collection type
that weekend hike? flights.
Commercial solutions with integrated cameras are very To go with your batteries, you’ll want a decent charger.
nice as the camera and flight controller can coordinate to Exactly which charger you’ll want depends on how many
give you incredibly stable video that is “vehicle aware” so batteries of what size you want to charge and how fast.
you aren’t showing your landing gear in 4K. These can be There are inexpensive chargers for around $20 (or included
harder or impossible to upgrade, though, as newer with your kit) that will charge a single battery slowly, often
technology becomes less expensive. taking four hours or more. They also are not that smart
Adding your own camera is a bit more work and may generally.
involve some more hardware/software for the control, but Getting a smart charger (Figure 7) that can help run
it can be exchanged for another bit of gear or upgraded maintenance cycles to keep your batteries healthy, report
much more easily. If you’re serious about aerial on bad cells, and more is worth the investment. It’ll reduce
photography, it’s likely that you’ll want to experiment with your frustration when finding a bad battery on the flight
different gear for different scenarios and to keep up with line, and keep you from running or charging batteries with
the latest and greatest. dangerous failures.
The final battery related item is a good battery safe
Accessories (Figure 8). These fire-resistant bags help reduce the risk of
a major catastrophe if your battery fails when being
Like many other major purchases, the budget should charged or stored. If your battery is not in use, it should be
include a non-trivial amount for accessories. While a basic stored in a fire bag. We’ve all seen the videos of lithium-ion
airframe and radio will get you in the air, you’ll be stranded batteries failing in great clouds of smoke and molten
after the first crash or waiting on batteries to charge after metals. It’s a quick way to lose a lot of property. These are
each flight. I’ll cover a few things that I’d consider inexpensive and will help you sleep at night as you envision
necessities when buying a new vehicle. shorted battery cells starting a bon fire in your basement.
Extra batteries are a must. For your 15 minutes of Getting a field bag to put your drone, transmitter,
flying fun, you’re likely to be faced with a multi-hour batteries, etc., in is also a nice accessory. I’ve hauled
recharging process for the batteries. Having a couple of multiple quads across the country without a protective bag
extra batteries is highly recommended as it’ll make pulling and it was not pleasant!
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Figure 10: For the serious traveler, Pelican cases are the ultimate in gear
protection. I’ve floated down a river on one of these before while the
equipment inside stayed safe and dry. (Image courtesy of pelican.com.)
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reasons we come up with. Building a crash kit doesn’t have nuts, extra screw, Loctite, etc. Generally, these items are
to be prohibitively expensive and can prevent your Saturday not that expensive, plus you will need them eventually
morning flying session from being cut tragically short due (remember how we started this section).
to a minor incident.
Extra propellers are a must. When taking off and
landing, it’s all too easy to accidently dig one side of the
Where to Buy
drone into the ground and bend or break the propellers. Now that you know what you want, what accessories
Replacements are generally not that expensive, and it can you’ll need, and have made sure you’re within your set
be fun to have a few different sizes and pitches in your bag budget, it’s time to place an order ... but from where?
for more stable or more acrobatic flights. Balance these at There are many online marketplaces as well as brick-and-
home before heading to the field. mortar stores that now carry multi-rotor products.
To do some basic maintenance on your drone in the The biggest consideration here is how much support
field, carry a simple tool kit. Pliers, combination wrenches, you want or need. I’ve often found that nothing beats
maybe some sockets, and a file should be a good start. going into your local hobby store with parts in hand and
Having the basics with you makes it easy to quickly recover asking for help. The workers generally can help you put the
from a broken part without a trip back to the shop. pieces together and suggest products as they themselves
Zip ties and string are the basics of all good field kits are hobbyists. If you get help there, it’s only right to buy
(and duct tape too). I use these to strap on instruments to there as well and support the store. (It’s also a great way to
the airframe, patch together a broken landing gear leg, or support local businesses!) Sometimes the prices are a bit
tie that pesky wire out of the way before it gets cut in half. higher than big-box stores or online, but try to get the sales
Pick up the big can of various sized zip ties next time you person at one of those to talk about which battery they like
go into the hardware store. best on their aircraft.
It’s also a good idea to have any easily replaceable Amazon is also an obvious contender here. With Prime
parts on hand. This could be a motor mount, extra prop members getting free second day air shipping and a huge
variety of products and parts to choose from, it’s certainly
an option. If you don’t need support or are looking for the
largest number of reviews, this is a good place to go.
Hobby King is the other big player in the model aircraft
space. Their prices on imported goods are often
outstanding, but sometimes the quality control can be
lacking. The shipping fees are also quite high, so planning
one large order is best here.
Closing Thoughts
So, in the end, it’s really a matter of tradeoffs. What’s
the value of your time to build and program a fully
customizable drone when all you want to do is take
beautiful aerial video? How much time will you spend
working with the constraints of a commercially available
drone to get it to do exactly what you want?
Hopefully, this guide has led you down some useful
paths and you feel confident in making your leap into the
world of multi-rotors.
I’d also like to thank you for reading this column since
it began in May 2016. Sadly, this will be the last
installment. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed learning about this
emerging area of technology and sharing it with you, but
the time has come to move on to other projects.
Keep innovating and experimenting, and as always, fly
safely. SV
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EVENTS
FEBRUARY
2-7 AAAI Mobile Robot Competition
New Orleans, LA
See website for this year’s event information.
www.aaai.org/Conferences/conferences.php
21-25 Apogee
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL
Events include I-Strike, Robots at War, Track-o-Mania, and
Student Design Competition.
www.bits-apogee.org
MARCH
1-4 Pragyan
National Institute of Technology, Trichy, India
See website for this year’s event information.
www.pragyan.org
IN BRIEF
THERE’S SOMETHING FISHY
ABOUT YOU
Robots may be getting more realistic, but most of
us can still discern a human from a humanoid. Fish, on
the other hand, seem easier to fool.
Researchers at École Polytechnique Fédérale de
Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland have developed an
aquatic robot that can infiltrate schools of zebrafish,
going so far as to influence their activities. By designing
robots to integrate with animal communities, the
roboticists hope to unravel these animals’ behavioral and social structures by learning more about how they communicate.
“We wanted to study how a robotic agent can be inserted in a fish shoal, and, when inserted, how this robotic agent
could learn how the fish interact, communicate, and take decisions,” Frank Bonnet, an EPFL postdoctoral researcher who
worked on the project, told Digital Trends.
“We created a kind of ‘secret agent’ that can infiltrate these
schools of small fish,” Bonnet stated with a smile. Bonnet is a
post-doc researcher at the LSRO (The Laboratoire de Systèmes
Robotiques) and one of the study’s authors. The robot is seven
centimeters long — longer than the fish it’s modeled after, but
with the same shape and proportions. It’s equipped with magnets
that link it to a tiny engine installed under the aquarium to propel
it through the water. The researchers chose zebrafish — or
Danio rerio — for their study because it’s a robust species
whose schools tend to switch direction and move about very
quickly.The robot has two parts: a magnetic fish; and a motor
which is positioned underneath the aquarium and helps propel
the robot through the water.
To infiltrate the school, the EPFL team identified
characteristics that real fish use to distinguish themselves and
designed the robot accordingly. These included physical traits
(such as shape, color, and markings) and behavioral traits
(including acceleration speeds, size of schools, and how the fish
move their tails in transit). Taking the project one step further, the
researchers designed the robot to learn and adapt from the
behavior of the real fish.
14 SERVO 02.2018
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IN BRIEF
CAN YOU SEE
ME NOW?
Most telepresence
robots are designed for
business use. They’re
expensive, but the
argument is that they
work significantly better
than a phone call, and they
pay for themselves since
you don’t have to spend so
much time and money
traveling instead.
OhmniLabs, a Silicon
Valley robotics startup
with CMU roots, wants to
make telepresence robots easy and affordable enough that people start using them to stay
connected with their families.
In order for that to work, their telepresence robot called Ohmni is designed to be as
independent as possible. You can send it to someone who isn’t comfortable at all with tech, and
they can take it out of the box, turn it on, and it’ll just work. It’s potentially ideal for family
members who you don’t live close to, or elderly family members who you like to talk to (and
check up on) regularly.
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M BattleBots™, been to
RoboGames or other local
events, seen video on the Internet, or
you’ll be competing. For those that
have been to an event, you probably
have an idea where to look.
events.com/
• http://robotbattles.com
read event reports right here in SERVO If you’ve never been to an event, In the UK, the best source for
Magazine. Whatever the source, however, you may not even know upcoming event information is
you’ve decided that you want to build where to start. In general, event www.fightingrobots.co.uk.
a bot. At this point, you may be information is readily available online In Australia, the best source for
asking yourself a very important through a range of sources. upcoming event information is
question: Where do I start? In the US, the following URLs are www.robowars.org/forum.
your best bet when looking for an Beyond being a source for event
Well, this guide will help you find event: information, the vast majority of the
your way inside the arena. robot combat community online can
• http://sparc.tools/ be found spread between the SPARC
Finding an Event • www.buildersdb.com Forum, the Facebook Robotics
• https://www.facebook.com/ Community, FightingRobots.co.uk
One of — if not the — first step groups/RobotCombat/ (The Fighting Robots Association), and
Robowars.org
(RoboWars
Featured Australia). These
groups will be a
16 SERVO 02.2018
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To post comments on this article and find any associated files and/or
downloads, go to www.servomagazine.com/index.php/magazine/issue/2018/02.
COMBAT ZONE
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together you’ll have a machine that For large kits, there aren’t as
you know will work. many options;
If you’re looking for a kit in www.gearseds.com offers kits
the 150g-3 lb range, there are a focused on the 15 lb educational
large number of options to choose class and www.battlekits.com
from. Kit vendors focused on this sells kits focused on the 60-220 lb
weight range include but are not classes.
limited to:
In the end, whatever method
www.fingertechrobotics.com gets you to an event and
www.kitbots.com competing is the best approach.
www.botbitz.com There’s no substitute for the
www.shockbots.co.uk experience you’ll gain by actually
https://www.botkits.com/ participating an event. SV
Klazo is a lightly modified 1 lb robot kit from
Kitbots.com.
Component Selection
lot goes into a bot. Starting Kill Switches proportional speed control, an
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COMBAT ZONE
powered weapon (and occasionally driven wheels will likely have all points Common Construction
drive) systems. of contact with the ground powered
Brushless motors tend to have a with the exception of hinged
Materials
higher power-to-weight ratio and components that are meant to stay in Metals
much higher RPM, but often suffer constant contact with the ground. While there are many different
from “cogging” when geared with types of commercially available metals
low reduction and heavy attachments. Chassis Construction on the market, there are only a few
Cogging means instead of smoothly that are well-suited to robot combat.
accelerating, the motor sputters and Chassis construction generally The four primary metal types used in
often stops. takes one of a few different routes. robot combat are steel, titanium,
The simplified version of why this The first is an internal frame with aluminum, and magnesium. For each
happens is the large mass relative to armor attached to it; the second uses type of metal, there is an alloy or set
the torque of the motor results in the the frame members as armor, often of alloys that find common usage
controller and motor getting out of with connected plates of material since the mechanical properties of the
sync preventing proper acceleration. In forming the structure; and the third is alloy are a better match for combat
weapons, this can result in slow or no unibody construction, where the use.
spin-up, and in drive systems it can majority of the frame and armor are • Steel: Steel comes in a huge
result in erratic low speed behavior. cut from a single piece of material. range of alloys and can have its
Brushless drive systems are less Building a chassis using an properties dramatically altered by heat
common as there are not many internal frame with armor panels treating and tempering. That being
controllers available that give quick mounted to it tends to be the heaviest said, steel will likely be the toughest
proportional forward and reverse of the three options, though often will armor option for a given shape.
control, and the high RPMs can make be the most durable and easiest to However, it will also be the heaviest
gearing systems more difficult than repair as the portions of the armor option.
with brushed motors. most likely to be damaged are easier Steel is frequently used for
However, some teams have found to remove from the rest of the robot. weapons since high grade steels can
success pairing brushless motors with These frames typically involve a be heat treated to achieve a nice
gearboxes designed for brushed welded frame with armor bolted to it. balance of stiffness and strength
motors. Frame as armor construction is while not being so brittle that they
generally in the middle when looking will readily shatter. Common steels in
Common Drive at strength vs. weight. By reducing
the frame and armor into a single
robot combat are 4130, 4140, 1095,
and S7. There are many other steel
Systems part, you can reduce the size of the options out there, and often you can
For a first build, wheels with tank machine and use relatively thick find a specific alloy that is well-suited
style steering are the simplest option. materials in areas likely to come into to your application.
Tracks and walking systems can be contact with weapons. Frames like this • Titanium: Titanium is a fantastic
built, but on your first build, getting are usually bolted together. material if you’ve got the budget and
something working reliably should be Unibody construction will typically the necessary tools. Grade 5 titanium
the focus. The two main wheeled be the strongest per pound. However, provides a great balance of light
options are two-wheel drive and it’s also the most complicated to weight and strength at the cost of
anything greater than that — usually in manufacture, as all features will need being difficult to work with and
multiples of two. to be added to a single piece of expensive.
Two-wheel drive robots will have material. • Aluminum: Aluminum is a fairly
two powered points of contact with This often involves repositioning light metal that’s easy to work with
the ground, and short of a balancing the workpiece many times during the and isn’t too expensive. There are
robot, this means at least one non- construction process. many grades of aluminum available,
powered point of contact will exist. Care must be taken to avoid but 6061, 2024, and 7075 are the
This can either be a piece of misalignment of holes as the most common in robot combat
chassis/armor dragging on the workpiece is moved. The good applications.
ground, a skid, or a caster. strength-to-weight ratio — the best of • Magnesium: Magnesium is the
The best option will depend on the three mentioned — is due to the lightest metal listed here. Magnesium
the exact design of the robot and reduced need for fasteners to hold the is fairly easy to machine, but heat
what arena it will compete in. chassis together, and the lack of areas control is a must as it burns
Robots with greater than two only held on by hardware. energetically if it’s allowed to get hot
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enough. AZ31B magnesium has a used as skids or as bushing material. LiPo batteries also tend to swell
higher tensile strength than • Acetal Delrin: Delrin — like nylon under heavy loading, so using padded
aluminum, which makes it a great — is a fairly high strength plastic. It elements in your battery mounts can
material for armor if you can afford holds its shape well and is fairly easy help minimize the risk of damage
the cost which rivals titanium. to work with. Delrin is also relatively when this swelling occurs.
heat resistant which means you’ll Lithium Ferrite
Plastics often see it used in applications where Lithium Ferrite (LiFe) batteries are
There is a wide range of plastic heat is expected. A few common uses another common battery type. This
materials available, and an entire for Delrin are wheel hubs and the chemistry does not provide the same
guide could be written on them. The bodies of power switches. energy density of LiPo batteries.
most common plastics in robot However, it’s still a substantial
combat are polycarbonate, nylon, Composites improvement over NiMh, NiCad, and
UHMW polyethylene, and Delrin. SLA batteries. LiFe batteries are also
• Polycarbonate: This plastic is Composite materials come in two less reactive to damage which means
also known as Lexan and is the forms: pre-made parts and raw fabric. (unlike LiPo batteries) there are no
material used for arena walls. It once The pre-made parts are often used as major events that restrict the use of
was a very common construction armor panels when weight is a serious LiFe batteries.
material due to its impact resistance, concern. When used properly, they
however, it’s prone to fracturing at can be as good as some metals. Their NiMh/NiCad
hole locations and has become less limitations must be kept in mind, Nickel Metal Hydride and Nickel
common in recent years. It’s still a however. Cadmium batteries have fallen out of
fantastic option for energy absorbing Different composites will have favor in recent years as LiPo and LiFe
panels, but you’ll need to minimize specific types of applications they are batteries have become available.
the number of holes and make sure good for. Some are better in tension These chemistries were the go-to
it’s shock mounted as the and some are better in compression. option for years in the smaller weight
polycarbonate needs room to flex to This is due to what the composite is classes. You may be able to get these
work properly. made of. The parts — commercial or batteries for less cost than LiFe and
• Nylon: Nylon is a relatively rigid DIY — are a mix of a fabric (Kevlar, LiPo packs, but the price difference is
plastic with a high tensile strength. It’s carbon fiber, fiberglass, etc.) and a shrinking quickly and the massive
most commonly used as an internal resin. The fabrics generally perform weight increase for the same power
structural member. Nylon is also one well in tension, regularly exceeding output makes them a less than ideal
of the more durable economical the tensile strength of popular metals; option for a new bot.
options for 3D printed components. the resin handles the compressive
While 3D printing of metals is loads. SLA
possible, it’s still prohibitively Sealed Lead Acid batteries are still
expensive for most uses. Printed nylon Batteries seen in the heavier weight classes.
parts are relatively cheap and easy to These batteries are heavy, but they’re
get. Look for variations on “strong Lithium Polymer generally quite stable and can handle
and flexible” when looking for printed Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries putting out large amounts of current
nylon. are becoming the go-to battery option without issue. SLA batteries are
• UHMW Polyethylene: UHMW for most weight classes. These mostly worth consideration for robots
has become one of the more popular batteries provide the highest energy weighing 60 lbs or more. SV
construction materials. While relatively density of all battery types that are
low strength, it has proven to be an commercially available. The downside
extremely durable construction to LiPo batteries is that they deal with Major Vendors
material and is frequently used both damage poorly.
www.botbitz.com
as armor and for main structural There have been several incidents
www.e0designs.com
elements on robots. The light weight where a LiPo battery taking damage
www.fingertechrobotics.com
allows a large amount of material to has resulted in a spectacular fire. If
www.kitbots.com
be used, so this results in a very tough you’re planning to use LiPo batteries,
www.robotmarketplace.com
frame member that is capable of be sure to consider how you’ll protect
www.robotpower.com
absorbing a good deal of damage. them from damage as a battery fire
www.servocity.com
UHMW also has a fairly low will likely ruin most of the parts near
www.ttrobotics.com
coefficient of friction, so is often seen the battery.
20 SERVO 02.2018
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COMBAT ZONE
Weapon Systems
he sport is called robot combat, chunks on the front
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COMBAT ZONE
with them when you look at damage large swing angle, but allows
potential and combat effectiveness. for a light weapon drive. This
Crushing arms are normally method has been used on
powered by hydraulic systems or high many top hammer robots.
torque linear actuators. They tend to The simplicity of this system
be slow, but extremely powerful. The makes it an easy design to
goal of a crusher is to penetrate the start with.
armor of its opponent and dig the Rack and pinion hammer
arm into some vital component. Even systems are somewhat
if after achieving penetration nothing heavier, but have a major
vital was hit, they still have a very firm advantage. These hammers
grasp on their opponent. They can can swing 180 degrees or
take them into any arena hazards or more. The only rotational
just drive them into a wall. limit is the rack and pinion
Hammer. Photo courtesy of Al Kindle.
An effective crushing robot needs setup itself and the stroke of
to have an agile drive system, a solid the piston pulling the
chassis, and a strong arm. Due to the rack. Adjustment of Vertical Spinner.
nature of the crushing robot, it needs the gears in the rack Photo courtesy
of Orion Beach.
to be able to get to the weak points allows for precise
on its opponents to be effective. The control of the arm’s
forces that are put into the chassis by swing.
the crushing arm are enough to warp Spring fired
a weak frame. A solid frame for the hammers use powerful
area that this force is transmitted into coiled springs to shoot
is vital. the hammer
downward onto the
Kinetic Energy opponent, then a
heavily geared-down
Weapons electric motor to
Hammer retract the hammer
Hammer robots have many and ready it for the next swing. The horizontal thwack bots are more
options when determining how to spring can generate a great amount common as they tend to be easier to
operate their weapon. Several of power, but this weapon system is make.
different power sources are capable of much slower than many of the other Overhead thwack designs have
powering an effective hammer. options for powering a hammer the entire main body of the robot
The most basic method of weapon. rotate with the hammer. This means
actuating a hammer is to directly Running the hammer directly off that the majority of the mass must be
attach the piston to the hammer arm. a motor is a simple method for contained within the diameter of the
This system makes it difficult to get a making a hammer robot. Many of wheels. The striking object tends to
these systems are chain driven be light because a heavy weapon
to achieve the proper speed would be much harder to flip over the
and reduce the stress on the top of the robot.
shaft of the motor driving it. Properly balancing the rotating
Motor driven hammers tend to body of the robot is essential to
be fast but not as powerful as getting a good swing. Swinging the
pneumatic hammers. weapon is achieved by quickly
reversing the direction of travel and
Thwack using that torque to rotate the body
There are two types of 180 degrees.
‘thwack’ bots. One is a The other type of thwack robot
horizontal thwack robot. The spins its entire body horizontally to
Thwack. other is an overhead thwack cause damage. The impact points on
Photo courtesy
of Ilya Polyakov.
version. Both types have been the robot can be connected directly to
effective in combat, but the body of the robot or a mass can
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COMBAT ZONE
Custom Fabrication
hen it comes to building parts, the Team Whyachi Bot Shop
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COMBAT ZONE
properly repaired with the tools and keys, look at the inch and metric Wiha the right tool, but are often good
materials you’ve got available. Having ErgoStar keys enough to get the job done when you
a selection of the following items can (www.wihatools.com/600seri/669C don’t have the right tool handy.
help make the best of a bad situation: hrom_mm.htm). They’re a bit pricy
• Hot Glue Gun as far as hex keys go, but they’re a Small Hammer
• Epoxy good quality steel and the case design
• Super Glue™ makes it much easier to remove just
• Zip Ties the key you want.
• Duct Tape
• Goop/Shoe Goo/E-6000 silicone Locking Pliers
adhesive A good set of locking pliers can
• Velcro™ be fairly versatile at an event. When
• Electrical Tape paired with a vise or immovable
slotted object, they can quickly aid in
Hex Keys the de-bending of damaged armor. If
you strip the head of a screw, a few
flats ground into it and you can use
these to break it loose. If you’re
hammering something flat, these
move your fingers farther from the A small hammer can do quite a
hammer. lot in a small package. If you can find
For such a basic tool, they’re quite one, the ideal hammer for this
versatile and won’t take up much purpose is fairly light, has
space in the toolbox. There are a ton interchangeable heads (often nylon,
of options on the market to choose brass, or steel), and will normally be
from. A traditional curved jaw plier less than 12” long. The softer faces
will probably serve you better than a on this hammer allow for quite a bit
needle-nose in most general of energy transfer while not doing
Most robots will have at least a applications. So, if you’re in a spot much (if any) damage to the surface
few fasteners in them that need a hex where you have to choose one over of the material you’re hitting. This is
key. Keep a nice set together so you the other, that is where to start. particularly useful when flattening
don’t spend half your repair time bent armor panels or pounding down
searching for the right sized key. MultiTool gouged areas.
In general, the T handle style hex If you’re searching for one of
keys are more comfortable to use. these online, a search that turns up
However, it’s highly likely that you’ll quite a few results is “interchangeable
run into situations where you’ll need head hammer.”
the shorter profile provided by L
shaped keys. In addition to this, many Wire Strippers
commercially available power switches It’s tough to predict when you’ll
use hex keys for operation. need them, but at some point, you’ll
For power switch activation, need a set of wire strippers in the pits
either a T handle or screwdriver style
hex key is a good option as they are
available in long lengths which keeps
your hands away from the robot Exactly what you get here
during power-up. depends on the model, but you’ll
If possible, add a layer of heat normally get at least a set of needle-
shrink tubing to the majority of the nose pliers, wire cutters, wire
key length to insulate it from the strippers, a knife, and a screwdriver. In
chassis and differentiate it from the most tasks, it’s not as good as the
rest of your keys. tool it’s replicating. However, it makes
If you’re looking for the luxury for a compact way of having a spare
option when it comes to L shaped hex of each of them. Multitools are rarely
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at an event. If you don’t already have abrasive discs allow for shafts to be at the last minute and won’t have
a pair, it won’t be expensive to get a quickly cut down, lightening slots to gotten around to checking the weight
decent small one for your toolbox. be cut, stripped screws to be slotted, until the day of the event. Whether
and wedges to be sharpened. it’s you or someone else in this
Wire Snips position, having a drill handy is a
Sliding Clamps decent method of dealing with the
problem.
Angle Grinder
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COMBAT ZONE
should be a tool of last resort, but machine together and you’re able to competing.
when it is needed to fix the problem, bring your welder, it’s worth the There will almost certainly be
there is no substitute. hassle. something that has been left off this
You’ll be quickly able to patch up list that will be useful to you. As a
Benchtop Shop Tools damaged sections or repair broken final step of the packing process, you
Occasionally at an event, a team welds, and it can often be the should take the time to walk around
will bring a drill press or other similar difference between doing the repair your work area and take a look at
shop tool. If you’ve got the capability correctly or using duct tape. each of your tools and think about if
to bring one and are willing to allow it could come in handy during the
other teams to use it as well, you’ll event.
rarely be alone at an event. Drill There are plenty of other tools If you think you’ll need something
presses, benchtop mills, and small that you can bring with you, but and you’ve got the space and weight
lathes all allow for a fairly extreme outside of necessary specialized tools, for it, bring it.
amount of damage to be repaired at these are the first ones you should Even if you don’t end up using it,
an event, often by frantically remaking look at bringing to an event. there’s a good chance someone else
the damaged part. While it’s difficult to plan for will need one and your help could be
every issue, these tools should have the difference between someone
Welder you prepared for the majority of making their next match or having to
If you’ve welded a portion of your situations you’ll run into when forfeit. SV
Early in events, there’s usually a were using for your last fight. event. If you’re able to, try to stick
lot of time between matches — Taking care of the between fight around for it to either receive your
especially if you’re running a single maintenance right away also means trophy/prizes or support your fellow
bot. That being said, the best habit to you’ll be far less likely to be called up builders.
get into is to immediately take care of for your next fight while you’re still
whatever repairs or maintenance you trying to put things back together. Packing Up
need to do following your match.
Doing this means you’ll have more Closing Ceremonies Packing up can start as early into
time to fix any issues you discover the event as you’d like. When
during maintenance, and you’ll have Many events have some sort of possible, if you’re pulling tools out to
more time to charge the batteries you awards presentation at the end of the work on your robots, put them back
in your tool box or keep them
organized between uses. While that
may add a bit of time to what you’re
doing at the moment, in the long run
it’ll save you time looking for a
specific tool you were using earlier
and/or when you’re trying to get
packed up at the end of the event.
Keeping only the essentials out
and readily available during the event
helps maintain a more open work
area and reduces the chances of tools
being obscured by other stuff on your
pit table.
Once your bot or bots are done
fighting for the event, then you can
pack away the rest of your pit area
and head out or watch the rest of the
event depending on how far into the
bracket you’ve made it.
I would recommend the latter.
SV
ACTUONIX . COM
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The Making of
Andros By Mitch Anderson
O
ne evening while browsing eBay, I stumbled across a
used “as-is” retired police robot. I thought it would
be a great way to ease myself in this field by
restoring a professional robot first and take those lessons
into the next design.
So, I made an offer of $10,000 on the Remotec Andros
Mark 4. Quite a price, but not so bad considering that a
new one is over $250k. The list price on eBay was $20k, Mitch and Emma Anderson, the father-daughter team
but they took my offer. Remotec is the name in this field, working on the robot arm. Here, they’re installing the
rifle module that can replace the grip unit.
and they don’t sell to the public.
The Process was nice. On the receiver side, I used the matching DEVO
RX1202. It’s stable and reliable, and much cheaper than the
A week later, the machine came: 900 pounds including fancy RC names.
all accessories (such as a tether cable unit, for example). For the signal processing, I decided to use the Teensy
Some rubber tracks were broken, there was no 3.5 development board since I heard they are incredibly fast
documentation, and it seemed like it had not been fired up (compared to my old time favorite, the Arduino Mega).
in a long time. I decided to use two processors: one for the traction
I called the company; unfortunately, they didn’t support wheels and the four “legs” (total of four motors); and one
this model anymore with parts or documentation. for the arm.
I decided to re-do all the electrical stuff and remote The “Traction Teensy” was the receiver of all 12 PWM
control from scratch. I was facing 10 brushed DC motors, channels using IRQ functions. The traditional PulseIn is very
but I felt pretty confident that I could handle that. slow for the processor. This Teensy would also communicate
eight of those values to the “arm” Teensy through an I2C
Parts and Architecture protocol. I don’t think that any Arduino model could deal
with all this stuff in a timely manner, but the two Teensy
For RC, I decided to go with a traditional 12-channel boards did. I was really impressed.
radio with a built-in video screen: the DEVO F12. I like Next, I realized that I didn’t have enough proportional
things that are compact, and having the screen right there controls on the TX radio to deal with the wheel and arm
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To post comments on this article and find any associated files and/or
downloads, go to www.servomagazine.com/index.php/magazine/issue/2018/02.
Mechanical Issues
With my daughter Emma’s help,
we took apart all the hubs, cleaned
them, and lubricated them. Andros
runs on brass bearings (not wheel
bearings), in order to deal with heavy
loads. From existing pictures, I
noticed the newer generations of this
model have optional rubber wheels,
so the unit (280 lbs) doesn’t wear
out the tracks. This robot didn’t
include that, but I wanted the option.
Enter Home Depot’s wheelbarrow
wheels at $25 a piece.
That was the easy part.
Attaching them to the hub was a
challenge.
As a spacer, we used a waterjet
cut 2” thick piece of acetal on each
wheel. We then made a connecting
plate (1/4” aluminum) from the
Andros’ hub to the wheel; each being
screwed in to the hub by 20 10-24”
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Powering and
Controlling the Arm
We discovered the arm was more
complex than the traction. Weighing 65
lbs on its own, we decided it would be
better to detach it from the robot and
install it on a separate table on wheels.
The first step was identifying the
wires coming out at the bottom; there
were about 45 of them. Emma and I sat
down patiently with the ohmmeter,
finding pairs of 2-3 ohms of resistance
between them (that is a motor). Next,
we applied 12V on each pair from a
battery and observed the motion. We
documented everything such as “base
rotation, right-left,” “shoulder rotation
extend-withdraw,” etc. Luckily, there was
no interruption in the wires, so
everything powered fine.
Next, I designed a circuit taking each
pair to an H-bridge controller (nothing
fancy; $16 on eBay), and I wrote the
software on the Teensy that would take
the RC signals and convert them to PWM
and motor direction commands. After all The first part of the project: The arm was detached, so we took care of the
was said and done, we connected all the traction and the four legs. We also built a ramp to drive the robot into the
above-mentioned pairs to the H-bridges. It family’s Volvo SUV. Since the robot weighs 280 lbs, we had to test the ramp
all worked after a few hiccups, of course before attaching it to the car. It bent, but it held okay. The ramp solution
worked out well.
(inverted wires, loose wires, minor stuff).
So, there we were, on our knees
with the remote picking up a 30 lb lead bar from the floor Cameras and Remote Video
with the arm fully extended. That is impressive! Most arms
are very limited in the weight they can hold.
Receiving
While playing with it, the shoulder motor quit working. Andros was designed with two cameras: one on the
It was turning, but the arm was not lifting. We took it apart “hand unit,” and a fancier one (zoom, high-res) on the
and discovered that the worm gear axle broke. We found “periscope” assembly in the back. They were both feeding
the Engel motors distributor and he told me it would take the signal in a switch that would take the video output and
eight weeks to get me one. There was no way we could send it as UHF to a receiver.
wait that long, so I went to a machine shop in my I didn’t like the idea of switching the video, so decided
neighborhood. to have two transmitters instead: one for each camcorder. I
We took the motor apart, and they welded an even used the Boscam 2W RF model — the maximum power they
thicker axle instead. We put the worm gear back in, and it make. I could then monitor both cameras (on two
now works like a charm; even stronger than before. The monitors) or switch between them by toggling the power
repair was $180, but well worth it. to each transmitter — front or back. The front was easy — a
Finally, we put the arm back on the base of the robot, simple super wide FOV 600x400 cam.
reconnected the wires, and it worked. For the back, I used an older Sony (HDR-SR10)
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Action TV shows often feature robots. In a zoo, a similar potential clients, but their products can’t be disclosed right
robot was used to shoot a tranquilizer in a depressed feline now.
that would not come out of the den. I’ve learned a lot from this restoration. The mechanical
In mines, similar robots dismantle non-exploded structure done by Remotec is very solid, and it would have
charges, inspect abandoned shafts for safety, and monitor taken me years to develop on my own. From what I know, I
toxic gas levels. In chemical plants, robots can turn off believe I’m the only private citizen to have a functional
valves in places where humans would not do well. Many of robot of this size and capability. SV
these businesses would not invest in the acquisition of such
a robot and for the personnel training. Enter Andros.
What will I do
next?
I would like to have a small fleet
of three robots, with Andros being
the biggest. Next, I’m working on the
smallest one: “Polverson 1.” I’m
building it from scratch and am
designing an object recognition-
retrieval capability, so it can roam a
lawn (for instance), and identify and
pickup a golf ball.
I’m also discussing custom
robotics projects with a couple of
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Avoiding Obstacles
while Following a
Line with the By John Blankenship
Many people know that Parallax’s Scribbler 3 robot can draw pictures
with precise movements because of its wheel encoders. However, the
Scribbler’s IR and line sensors along with access to a hacker port provide
capabilities that make it a contender for more mainstream robotic
projects. That algorithm will be explained in detail, so you can make
other robots perform these tasks even if you don’t own a Scribbler.
I
n the September 2017 issue of SERVO, Carol Lynn autonomous sensor-driven behaviors. In fact, it’s easy to
Hazlett demonstrated the Scribbler’s ability to make assume that a robot known for its ability to draw might
very precise movements. While such precision is not be worthy of conventional robotic projects.
impressive for drawing (letting the robot live up to As you will see, such predispositions are unfounded.
its namesake), it’s generally not necessary for The truth is that the Scribbler 3 (S3) is an inexpensive fully-
assembled robot with many capabilities that are worthy
of your consideration.
The purpose of this article is to spotlight those
capabilities and demonstrate how easily they can be
implemented using a version of the BlocklyProp language
developed specifically for the Scribbler.
Available Sensors
The Scribbler has many sensors, but those used in
this article are two infrared units to detect objects in
front of the robot and two reflective sensors for
following a line.
These alone are enough for some interesting
projects, but the S3 BlocklyProp language has built-in
support for servomotors and PING))) ultrasonic sensors
connected to the hacker port (which provides six digital
I/O lines and two A/D pins).
Figure 1. For this article, a small servomotor will act as a
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The Program
Figure 4 shows the main portion of the program used
to implement this project. It starts by setting up three speed
variables that will be used to control the robot’s movements
throughout the program. The servomotor is then positioned
directly forward.
You would expect this to be 90°, but my servo and
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Figure 5.
Figure 7.
1-800-373-9060
www.frontpanelexpress.com
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Eric Davis
S
ince 2008, Droid Builder has been fascinating Star
Wars fans everywhere with their clever Star Wars-like
robots. Their R2-D2 is amazing, and it brings this
character to life before your very eyes! This is a must see
for any Star Wars and/or robotics fan. I was lucky enough
to see Droid Builder’s R2-D2 at the STEAM Maker Festival in
San Diego.
I saw many great exhibits at the Festival that obviously
took a lot of time and were outstanding. Lots of people
and students were proud of what they had put together
and I was really intrigued by them all, but my attention was
especially drawn to the Droid Builder R2-D2 robotics project
that focused on building Star Wars Universe droids.
The Droid Builders biggest and most notable droid was
the blue and white unit. The Droid Builders first started
working on their droids in 2007 and the first finished R2-D2
was done in 2008. R2-D2 (or R2 for short) was a blue and
white astromech droid.
You might be asking yourself, “What is an astromech?”
Well, an astromech droid — also called an astro droid or a
mech — helped with power distribution on the ships and
with co-piloting. R2 was from the planet Naboo.
Creating the droids really seems like an involved and
elaborate process. The creativity of the R2-D2 specifically is
amazing and took a lot of pieces to construct. The droid taping off everything so it could be painted. Each part took
builders had to go section by section when creating and 4-6 coats of paint, which included primer and then layers of
putting it together. The sections included making the dome, the various colors. (I think they must have consulted the
body, legs, ankles, feet, and accessories. It’s worth actual Star Wars movie set team for the colors because they
mentioning each section in detail. were so exactly like the droids in the movie.)
First, let’s talk about the dome. Aluminum parts such The next step was assembling the droid. Some parts
as the dome ring, dome bumps, holo projectors with had to be glued together while others had to be cut and
lenses, and many other items were necessary just to make drilled, and then fastened together with nuts and bolts. The
the dome. electrical portion seemed more complicated, but basically
The next section was the body
which required many pieces as well;
for example, aluminum skin mounting
blocks, skin straps, and more. Then,
there were the shoulders which
included shoulder shims, shoulder
hubs, and much more. From there,
they had to make the legs, ankles,
feet, and accessories. The process
seemed very detailed (honestly, I
didn’t follow it completely when the
droid builder was explaining it to me).
I did get the sense that the builder
was very passionate and
knowledgeable, and it took a lot of
time and patience.
Another aspect of the building
process included prepping and
painting the parts. The builders had
to ready the aluminum and steel by
sanding and filing it, and finally
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STEAM
amazing to see something from
such a mega hit blockbuster come
to life. People loved it!
The noises the droids made
were exactly like what we heard in
the movie theaters, and the way the
lights flashed and lit up was equally
authentic. It was definitely one of
the busiest booths at the Festival.
Another great thing about the
presentation was that Droid Builders
had their own people walking
around answering questions and
talking about the droids. These
people could be easily identified
because they were dressed up like
other characters from the Star Wars
period. This was extremely cool and
added to the feeling of being on a
movie set. These “characters” were
very knowledgeable about all things
droid and Star Wars. Having Droid
Builders available to talk to people
included a seven-channel radio control system, a dual who visited their booth really added to the presentation
controller, forward and reverse speed control, switches, because people were able to learn more about the main
resettable fuses, wires, batteries, and volume control. characters themselves and all about the actual build of the
Building a droid seems like something not just anybody droids.
could do. The whole experience really made me appreciate the
The Droid Builders’ booth was extremely cool and drew art of presentation. If you aren’t able to present your
a lot of attention. They had one realistic sized R2 roaming project well and interact with an “audience,” it won’t be
around their booth, plus they also had 3-4 smaller droids noticed much, and certainly won’t be the center of
moving around the zone as well. Lots of kids and their attention.
parents were excited, walking around, having their photos
taken with the droids and just generally having fun. It was Lucie Kaskoun and Annika Huff
T
he 2017 STEAM Maker
Festival was super cool this
year. It included many
different exhibits that ranged from
student-run booths to booths run by
professional organizations. We were
able to interview a young man by
the name of Lorenzo van Munoz.
We’ll describe what van Munoz has
accomplished, what organization he
is from, some of the struggles he
has dealt with, and lastly what has
brought him to STEAM Maker
Festival 2017.
One of the exhibits was done
by the San Diego Youth Space
Program (or SDYSP). Their mission is
to provide high school students with
the ability to send actual
experiments into space. Their
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STEAM
Luke Rohen
A group of high schoolers engineered a robot/vehicle
T
he 2017 San Diego STEAM Maker Festival was that had to be able to shoot wiffle balls into a basket, and
great. All the booths were very interesting and whoever made the most won. I selected this booth as my
creative. The one exhibit that I liked the most was favorite because of all the effort the students put into it —
on remote control vehicles. from designing the robot platform, to building the controls
and electronic sections.
The size of the hole they had to
shoot the balls into was one foot
wide. The height of the basket was
about eight feet. One of the team
members said it took them about
three months in total to fully
complete their build.
The steps to making this robot
were not easy. First, you had to
assemble a team, then make a
proposal. After that, you would start
the build which required a ton of
materials which, in turn, required a
lot of money.
The team that I talked to said
they spent almost $1,000. They also
said that the hardest part was
figuring out the hardware. (I tried
building a simple robot before and it
was not easy.)
The final product this team
constructed turned out to be 3 x 3
feet. All of the robots had some way
to pick up the balls and shoot them
up at a 75 degree angle into the
hoop.
The team I interviewed made 10
out of 20, so they came in second
place and were very happy. There
were 10 teams in total.
The robot this one team
designed scooped up the balls, put
them into the bed of the robot, then
shot them out one by one by
pressing a button on the controller.
The design had padding around
the edges and had a compartment
for the balls. Also, the robot was
able to scoop up all 20 of the balls.
I believe this group exhibited all
the qualities of STEAM. Every part of
the build and competition included
science and technology. The robot
required lots of engineering and
math skills to make and complete.
Even art came into it when the
teams were decorating their robots
with different colors and designs.
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Sam Benedict
T
he STEAM Maker Festival
hosts many schools, makers,
and companies that exhibit
different things such as medieval
fighting, bridges, and telescopes.
The Festival also had booths from
Drama Kids International, General
Atomics, and Microsoft, among
other companies.
One of the many booths at the
Fair was the History Battle Zone
provided by the Adrian Empire. They
showed off full metal armor,
traditional medieval garb, and an
arsenal of medieval weapons. They
hosted a booth where they had kids
shoot arrows with a soft tip at
knights in full armor. It looked so
cool, that I had to try it too. They
also had two knights in full armor
fight with each other. It was
awesome to watch. It was bordered
by a booth from the Adrian Empire.
They also sold various medieval
looking items. These booths were
fun to check out and they added a
really cool vibe to the Festival.
St. Vincent de Paul school
showed off marble rollercoasters
built on paper tracks. They also
displayed cardboard helmets with
lights on the side. Each helmet had
a different design. Good Shepard
Catholic School showed off several
different things; one item in
particular was a Galileo telescope.
They explained in great detail how
the telescope worked. Since this
was their first year at the Festival,
they also shared the challenges they
experienced in preparing their
booth.
Other schools presented things like molecule props where kids could participate in play-like activities to
representations and even a garden. The STEAM Maker give an example of the classes they present to students.
Festival does an awesome job of getting students into Even Fantasy Donkeys was there. They dress up donkeys
science. and bring them to special events. It’s kind of like hiring a
The Microsoft booth showed off different things such party clown, but with donkeys.
as their new Xbox One S and their new computers with The Festival is a great platform for companies to share
drawing screens on them. They also set up some computers their field of science in a way that interests kids and adults
that people could test out. General Atomics made liquid alike. It gives an environment for fun learning that kids can
nitrogen ice cream. It was really tasty and a lot of fun to take home with them and be inspired by. This helps kids
watch. find what really interests them which helps them with their
Drama Kids International had set up a booth with future career choice. SV
SERVO 02.2018 45
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Beginner’s Guide to
CNC Routers By Roger D. Secura
46 SERVO 02.2018
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To post comments on this article and find any associated files and/or
downloads, go to www.servomagazine.com/index.php/magazine/issue/2018/02.
programmer designates a Program Zero origin, you can Users will incorrectly think they are going to Machine Zero
place the workpiece (wood, for example) anywhere on the when the button is really sending you to a Work Offset
CNC router table just by setting up a Work Offset in your location.]
CNC software. This will send your X, Y, and Z axes to the G54 Work
In Mach 3 and most CNC programs, the first six Work Offset coordinates (X = 4.00”, Y = 3.00”, Z = -0.75”). Now,
Offsets are G54-G59. That means you can set up six pieces select the next Work Offset (G55) and hit the Go to Zero
of wood anywhere on the table and Mach 3 will know button. This time, your router will move from the G54
where each one is located. coordinates to the G55 coordinates.
For example, let’s say you wanted to make six different You can return to the Home position (Machine Zero) at
sized wooden gears. First, you’d clamp down six different any time by returning to the MDI screen and entering the
sized pieces of wood at six random locations on the router G28 command into the text box and hitting the enter key.
table (see Figure 4). For Mach 3 to find each piece of Remember, the Work Offset coordinates shown in
wood on the table, you would set up six Work Offset Figure 4a are the X, Y, and Z locations of the lower left-
locations. hand corner of each piece of wood. Also, don’t forget that
First, starting from Machine Zero, you would manually Work Offsets are always referenced (measured) from
jog (keyboard) the X, Y, and Z axes to the lower left-hand Machine Zero (Home position).
corner of the first piece of wood. Next, you would clear So, when you move the Z axis (i.e., cutting tool)
(zero out) the X, Y, and Z DRO display Figure 4a. downward towards the top surface of the workpiece, it
by hitting the X, Y, and Z buttons. This should start its descent from the
sets up the first Work Offset G54. Machine Zero position (top of the Z
Finally, you would return all three axis: Z = 0). The DRO in Mach 3 should
axes to the Machine Zero point on the display negative numbers as you lower
table, click the next Work Offset the Z axis towards the lower left-hand
button (G55, on the Offsets screen in corner of the workpiece. The Z = -0.75”
Mach 3), and then repeat the above in Figure 4a is the distance the bottom
process for the other Work Offsets edge of the cutting tool would have to
(G56-G59). travel downwards to reach the top
After you’re done, the six Work surface (corner) of the workpiece.
Offset settings might look like the WARNING! Failure to allow for
following — depending on the size of workpiece thickness or the length of
your table. We’re assuming in this the cutting tool could damage your
example that the workpiece size varies router or worse: cause you physical
(length/width), but the thickness of injury.
each piece of wood is the same (also If you change the thickness of the
see Figure 4a): workpiece(s), and/or change the
cutting tool, you MUST redo the Work
G54: X = 4 Y = 3 Z = -0.75 Offset setup procedure for the Z axis.
G55: X = 4 Y = 6 Z = -0.75 That means you send the Z axis
G56: X = 4 Y = 10 Z = -0.75 back to its Machine Zero location at
G57: X = 10 Y = 3 Z = -0.75 the top of the Z axis. Slowly move (jog)
G58: X = 10 Y = 6 Z = -0.75 the bottom edge of the cutting tool
G59: X = 10 Y = 10 Z = -0.75 downward towards the top surface
(corner) of the new workpiece. Make a
To test that all six Work Offsets are note of the negative Z value displayed
functioning correctly, go to the main on the DRO.
screen in Mach 3. Now, assuming your Finally, you zero-out (i.e., clear: Z =
CNC machine is starting at Machine 0) the Z axis on the main screen in
Zero (X = 0, Y = 0, Z = 0), the router Mach 3. Now, if you go to the Work
table is clear of any workpiece or Offset screen, you’ll see the new
clamps, and you have selected the G54 negative Z value for Work Offset G54.
Work Offset button in the Offsets Just make sure to copy the new G54
screen, hit the ‘Go to Zero’ button. Work Offset number (Z = -0.75”, for
[Author’s note: The label on this example) to Work Offsets G55, G56,
button is misleading. It should be G57, G58, and G59 — assuming all
labeled Go to W.O. (Work Offset). boards are the same thickness.
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Limit Switches
One of main reasons you need
limit switches is to protect your
machine from physical damage.
Whether it’s you or a G-code
program moving the X, Y, and Z
axes across a CNC table, crashing
into the machine’s framework is
easily done unless you set up some
travel boundaries.
There are three types of
switches you can set up on a CNC
router: hardware limit switches;
software limit switches; and homing
switches.
Hardware Limit
Switches
As mentioned, the purpose of hardware limit switches Figure 5.
is to stop the X, Y, and Z axes from accidently crashing into
the router’s framework. Hardware limit switches used on what you think should be the safe limits of your router
CNC routers are just simple single-pole-double-throw (SPDT) table (typically within an inch or so from the edges of the
normally open (N.O.) / normally closed (N.C.) snap action table).
switches (see Figure 5). You can set up the Software Limits in Mach 3 by
The minimum number for a CNC router is six switches. entering the minimum and maximum travel limits for each
Normally, you would put all six switches in series and one of the X, Y, Z axes. Mach 3 will treat the ‘min’ and
configure each one as normally closed. Two switches go on ‘max’ Software Limits for each axis as just another set of
the Y axis, a short distanced from the opposite edges of SPDT N.O. hardware limit switches.
the table (refer back to Figure 2). Two more switches are It’s important to remember that Software Limits are
mounted at both ends of the X axis. The last two switches always referenced (i.e., measured) from Machine Zero
are attached to the top and bottom of the Z axis (Home position). That means the min and max numbers
framework. can have a positive or negative value depending on where
Once installed, the limit switches can stop the router the Software Limits are in relationship to the Machine Zero
from moving anytime any one of the X, Y, or Z axes travels position.
beyond a set boundary. In other words, the hardware limit
switches set those boundaries. Tip #3: Always verify that the Soft Limits button in
Mach 3 is turned on (lit green) before you start any
Software Limit Switches cutting operation. Put this on your “Pre-Flight”
As a second “wall-of-defense” to the hardware limit checklist. This will help protect you and your CNC
switches, we employ a different set of switches: software router.
limit switches. They do exactly what hardware limit switches
do, except they are set up inside a CNC program (Mach 3). Homing Switches
Notice back in Figure 2 that the Soft Limit line (dotted
line boundary) is positioned in front of all the SPDT Finally, we come to Homing Switches. These too are
hardware limit switches. If any one of the three axes SPDT mechanical switches. They are mounted onto the
crosses a Soft Limit boundary line, it will trip a “switch” in router’s frame not to set a boundary for any X, Y, and Z
Mach 3, forcing it to stop the router in its tracks. This setup axis movement, but to consistently and accurately find one
helps to protect your router from damage should you or a particular location on the table: Machine Zero (i.e., Home
G-code program accidently move any one of the three axes position).
too close to the hardware limit switches. Some CNC operators prefer a more consistent and
In other words, soft limit switches act like a buffer to accurate way of finding Machine Zero. They set up their
the hardware versions. The soft switches also “tell” Mach 3 homing switches on the CNC router by picking a spot
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Stop It!
All CNC machines (mills, routers, lathes,
etc.) come equipped with a big red emergency
Figure 6. Figure 7. stop button (E-Stop). So should yours! Remember, if this is
your first experience with CNC routers, ALWAYS keep a
somewhere on the router table and designating it Machine finger on the E-Stop button when your CNC router is in
Zero (Figure 2). Next, they jog all three of the router’s axes operation, just in case something unexpected happens.
to the chosen location. This is where they mount three
SPDT switches (X, Y, and Z) onto the router’s framework. Tip #4: SET STEPS PER UNIT! It’s extremely important
It should be noted here that homing switches are not a that you calibrate your router so that when Mach 3
mandatory requirement in order to operate a CNC router. “says” it moved the X axis one inch on the DRO
However, since all X, Y, and Z coordinates are referenced display, it has actually physically moved the X axis
from Machine Zero, it might be important to you to have a one inch on the router table.
more permanent Machine Zero location on your table.
All you need is a ruler (1/32”) to calibrate your
Danger, Will Robinson! machine. One axis at a time, you position (jog) the X, Y,
and Z axes to the edge of the ruler. If you go to the
I feel obligated to warn all the beginners out there who Settings tab in Mach 3, you’ll find the ‘Set Steps per Unit’
plan to build or purchase a CNC router. It is imperative that button. Just follow the prompts and Mach 3 will guide you
you DO NOT insert any cutting tool (bit) into your new CNC through the process.
router UNTIL you are completely satisfied you understand
how to set up and operate your machine. Your inexperience The Finish Line
with CNC routers can damage your machine and/or cause
you physical harm. I barely scratched the surface of what you need to
Here are three steps I suggest you follow for your own know about CNC routers. I hope you learned something in
safety: this article that you can use with your new CNC router.
Refresher
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Ultrasonic Radar
several GHz. Let’s break that down a little more.
Acoustic propagation refers to the transmission of
sound through changes in the pressure levels as the
energy travels through some type of medium such as
air or water (we’ll concentrate on air).
It travels through the air at the speed of sound,
which is on the order of 343 meters per second at
standard temperature and pressure (20°C at sea level).
To illustrate what is meant by frequency, we can
use the example of a piano. You know that the keys
at the extreme left of an acoustic piano are referred
to as the “low notes.” Their very deep bass tone is the
result of the metal strings that the associated
hammers strike, causing them to oscillate at “low
frequencies.”
This means the string vibrates from peak to peak
a very small number of times per second. The lowest
of a concert piano’s notes are vibrations that oscillate
only about 30 times per second; these are referred to
as 30 Hz.
At the extreme right side of the piano keyboard
Figure 1. Swinging requires the use of resonance. are the “high notes.” These notes have strings that —
when struck with the associated hammer inside the
piano — vibrate at frequencies as high as 4,000 times per
et’s discuss ultrasonic methods for object second (4,000 Hz).
Sensing Ultrasonic
Energy
Okay, so a piezoelectric transducer can convert
electrical energy into mechanical energy and
thereby allow us to create ultrasonic pulses. But
how can we sense ultrasonic energy?
It turns out that the same type of piezoelectric
transducer that was used for electrical-to- Figure 2. Transmit and receive signals.
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Clutter
Clutter is a potential problem in any radar application,
but particularly a problem with ultrasonic applications
because of the wide field of view (FOV) of the ultrasonic
devices.
Figure 3 shows a directivity graph that is similar to
the charts for most ultrasonic transmitters. The figure
shows that the transmitter still has about 1/10 its power
at ±30° from boresight.
Such a large FOV means that the device can “see” not
only pertinent objects in front of it but also irrelevant
objects far from the robot.
In fact, the ultrasonic response shown back in Figure
2 is an example of this. In that particular application, the
transmitter/receiver was mounted about four feet above
the floor.
Figure 3. Directivity graph for a typical It was pointed directly at a target about five feet away
ultrasonic transmitter. (the second of the two largest responses).
A fluorescent light fixture hanging from the ceiling a
time-of-flight ends? Perhaps we should use the start of the couple of feet above the transmitter/receiver was actually
reflected waveform. Or, the peak. causing the first large response. The transmitter/receiver
responded to this light fixture because it was within its
Issues with Ultrasonic field of view.
Such “false alarms” reduce the reliability of the
Detection ultrasonic sensor’s results and often lead to the conclusion
We’ve already mentioned the ambiguity in that ultrasonic sensors make poor ranging devices.
determining TOF, but this is a relatively minor issue, since
it generally results in an uncertainty of less than an inch Ringdown
which — for many hobbyist robot applications — is
tolerable. Another problem plaguing ultrasonic transmitters is
Other issues, however, are more serious. These include
the fact that they cannot immediately stop their
movement when the voltage stops changing.
This is related to their resonant nature. Just as
a child swinging cannot immediately stop but must
instead let the swing slowly lose energy, the piezo
transmitter must likewise slowly stop its movement.
Figure 4 shows an ultrasonic transducer
subjected to a 0 to 30V square wave and then —
mid-screen — switched to a high-impedance
connection. The transmitter continues to oscillate,
generating voltage as it slowly “winds down.”
The reason this is important is that ultrasonic
receivers often have a difficult time distinguishing
between the signal produced by ringdown and an
actual return from a very close object.
As a result, most ultrasonic receivers establish
a “dead time” during which the receiver does not
attempt to identify targets. Thus, most ultrasonic
sensor systems cannot identify objects that are very
Figure 4. Transmitter subjected to 16 periods of close.
square wave showing ringdown.
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Ultrasonic Radar
Significant Thus, if the return from the
Signal target at a two foot distance is
S, at twice that distance (four
Attenuation feet) the signal will be down to
with Distance S/16.
It’s easy to see that a return
A signal sent through the signal that is a relatively large
air will diminish as a function of amplitude one or two feet away
distance. So, just how fast will may require a huge gain
the ultrasonic signal diminish? increase or other non-trivial
We’ll ignore acoustic absorption Figure 5. Ultrasonic transmission and processing method to be reliably
signal return.
of air since this is a relatively recognized at, say, 10 feet.
minor effect at distances of a
few feet, and instead just concentrate on signal Final Thoughts
attenuation as the result of wavefront expansion.
Figure 5 depicts what is happening. We know that With all of these problems, it’s not surprising that
the wavefront expands in both dimensions normal to the hobbyists sometimes find using ultrasonic devices
transmission axis. So, the signal is proportional to (1/r2), frustrating. Fortunately, these issues can be solved with
where r is the distance from the transducer. some basic understanding about how they function,
Once the wavefront hits the target, it’s dispersed by making them a popular choice for obstacle detection and
the target and similarly expands, also resulting in a avoidance in robotic applications. SV
decrease in signal as a function of r2. So, the signal
experiences a 1/r4 overall reduction.
SERVO 02.2018 57
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Robots in Our
Lives
by Tom Carroll TWCarroll@aol.com
The Seattle Robotics Society had an interesting discussion recently at one of our meetings on
the roles of robots in our lives, led by Steve Kaehler. As he mentioned, they can be companions,
assistants, protectors, pets, and entertainers, as well as be used in numerous other
applications. Though I write about all varieties of robots, it is the personal robot that most of us
are most interested in — myself included.
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Mobile
Home
Robots
Looking at
mobile home robots
(ones that actually
move around the
floor), most of the
newer and existing
home robots can
Figure 10. Kuri home robot by Mayfield Robotics.
rove around and
look very cute like
the Kuri robot shown
Figure 9. Artist's Impression of robots complexities that go into a real robot. in Figure 10. Made by Mayfield
fighting for combat robot book cover. When Pete Miles and I wrote Robotics in Redwood City, CA (a
Build Your Own Combat Robot back Bosch company), this charming little
you’re thinking about something. Hold in 2002, I complained that the cover guy is quite capable technically, but
a thread and place it into the tiny eye picture with a whirling saw blade on still just a small robot with a nodding
of a needle. the end of a pencil-thick rod would be and turning head.
Now, add your two arms and impossible. My request was ignored Kuri doesn’t have any sort of
extend each of your very unique because it was the combat action of functional arms, and uses ‘hands’ or
hands in wide arcs of motion. Our the saw and giant pickaxe with the claws. He seems to be quite a bit like
body’s arms and hands are far sparks flying (as seen in Figure 9) that the Echo and Jibo in that their main
stronger and far more dexterous than was wanted — not realism. That way features are they verbally and audibly
the most amazing humanoid robot in of thinking still exists in so many ways communicate with humans.
existence. Yes, some one-ton industrial about how technical products are Nonetheless, it still is a great little
robots can handle several hundred- designed. robot for $700.
pound payloads, but not even a
humanoid the size of Baxter can Desired Capabilities More Features for
traverse a home with the strength and
dexterity of a human. of a Home Robot Today’s Home Robots
Back in Figure 5, you saw almost As I suggested earlier, robots will
Where is Complexity 200 different movie robots and none need more than cuteness and
were that close to another in advanced social and verbal
Needed in a Home appearance. Everyone’s idea of a communication skills to function as a
Robot? robot is certainly different from true home service and companion
Looking again at the simple anybody else’s preferred external robot; a robot may also need
cartoon of Rosie, we can see that she appearances and internal functional manipulative skills to assist a person.
has a single axis of motion at the design. That certainly holds true for Take a look at the Paro robot
shoulder and the same at the elbow, the home robots on the market today. baby harp seal shown in Figure 11. It
and a simple claw for a hand on each Consider Cynthia Breazeal’s Jibo that has been around for over a decade
of the two arms. Is that all we really is now on the market after three long and costs almost $6,000, but it’s
need for a home robot to manipulate years of waiting. specially designed to be a companion
objects around a house? Pronounced jee-bo, this robot is for patients with dementia. It has
I apologize for picking on old touted as an intelligent personal voice recognition and sensors to feel
Rosie, but I just wanted to make a assistant; Jibo has a movable body to petting and rubbing. With just a few
point. Her depiction is what a typical reflect motions as ‘he’ talks, though it flipper, head, and body movements,
non-technical person would imagine a does not actually move across a its main purpose is to soothe a
robot to be. People want to be surface. If you already have an person, not act as an active toy.
entertained and don’t care about the Amazon Echo digital assistant, for At $6K, you are not going to find
62 SERVO 02.2018
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Robo-Links.
)
64 SERVO 02.2018
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SERVO 02.2018 65
SV Webstore - Feb 18_SV Webstore May 16 working.qxd 1/3/2018 2:46 PM Page 66
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