RoboBuilder/Huno Report from a Newbie

[careyg]

Hi All,

As someone fairly new to robotics (have built one or two micromouse type things before, though generally let down by the accuracy of my soldering, etc) and completely new to humaniod 'bots, and having this week received my RoboBuilder kit, I thought i'd post my experiences, as it might help others in a similar position to me make purchasing decisions, etc.

OK, so, firstly, a summary: all went well, and wasn't too difficult, save for one snag which I'll talk about below.

Ordering/Delivery
I ordered my RoboBuilder kit on 1st July, but wasn't early enough to get in on the first batch delivered out to customers on 4th July, as such, my kit was dispatched on Monday of this week (14th July) and arrived on Wednesday (16th July). Well packaged, and seemingly completely untroubled by the rigors of travel through the mail.

Instructions
Immediately upon arrival, I ran through the instruction manual, and then the videos on CD. On my PC at least, there was no sound from the videos, but it didn't seem overly necessary. Either instruction manual, or video, alone, I suspect I'd have made a number of errs in my building, but coupled together, the pair really did make construction simple.

I'd advise anyone undertaking this for the first time, to read and watch everything through once before beginning (it helps to know where you're heading before you start out), and then building by following the instructions, and referring to the videos for tips as you go along.

Building
It pays to have good manual dexterity. The chap in the video seems to have magnets in his fingertips, and extra joints in his fingers. He makes getting the nuts on the bolts look so easy. My shakey, sausage fingers, made this a little more difficult for me, but certainly not hard.

I'd estimate that I took about 3 times longer to complete each stage than the chap on the video, my total build time was about 4 hours across 4 sessions (two evenings between work & arrival of the misses at home, plus two 30 min morning sessions before running for the train to work).

The plastic seems fairly strong, and the joints are quite clever. I'll let others more experienced than I compare with the competition, etc.

By running carefully through the instructions, and following the videos, I managed to get myself to a completed Huno 'bot without any false turns. All in all, for a newbie to humanoid robotics, I really can't fault the kit.

Oh, and I was very proud.

The Snag / Troubleshooting
Following my pride, I switched on, got a blue P1, then hit the red button to "zero" the bot. But, instead, I got a red flashing "error" light.

My pride was hurt.

The troubleshooting guide isn't overly detailed/useful in this instance, basically saying "make sure you've done it right". Another hour or so spent confirming this (bright side: extra practice unbolting / rebolting everything). Still the red flashing light.

So, now, with no further hint from the guide, it was on to my own diagnosis. A little pondering, and I turned to MotionBuilder, connecting Huno to PC, I proceeded to use motion builders controls to move each servo in turn and - A-ha! - I found the problem.

Servo 11 (top of the arm) appears dead - not a wiring issue, as servers down-stream from it work - investigation shows it neither responds to motion builders demands for it to move, nor does it report back changes in its location when in motion capture mode. Perhaps a fault with the electronics? I know little enough about servos to avoid drawing conclusions here.

My pride, once again, was restored,perhaps enhanced by my sucessful diagnosis.


I've now emailed the RoboSavvy store (awaiting response as I write this - though actually I should be doing some work), and hopefully they'll simply ship out a replacement Servo 11 ASAP which I can swap in (fortunately it's a nice easy one to swap out) after which I can begin the proper business of playing with the bot in its default form (remote control human), and then move onto building my own moves, and, ultimately, my goal of actual programming & extending of the bot.


Anyway, hope that's of help - and if people have advice about Servo 11 (i.e. things to try prior to replacement) then I'm all ears!

Cheers,

Gavin.

[Sonic]

I too had a sticky servo, turn the power off and manually move the servo through total range of movement turn the power back on See if this helps, and I would suggest that you should not force the servo if it is extremely tight as this may damage it and invalidate any sort of replacement.

[careyg]

Hmmm,

I think I've been through the entire range of motion in Capture mode, to no avail, but perhaps I'll disconnect it from the 'bot (it'll have to come off anyway...) and give it a little work-out to see if that helps.

[careyg]

Well, you sir, are a genius.

Got home, dismantled Hunos shoulder, played with the servo to try to unstick it - all really without any luck.

Then, acidentally, knocked Huno over on the table - poor lad - the jolt, however, seems to have unstuck the servo, which now seems to be working fine (although sounding a little different to some of the others - possibly an imagination thing, i'm not sure).

Since then, he's been remote controlled a bit, i've loaded up the example motions onto the remote, and also used motion builder to start making my own motions (so far, a slightly embaressing chicken dance, plus a press up...

I suspect i'll spend my free time over the next week or two (and, ofcourse, much pf this weekend - sorry misses!) getting to understand both the motion builder, and the robot (Balance, etc) before I start looking into how to code for it in C (though, again, any hints on that score greatfully received!).

Regards,

Gavin

[Sonic]

Well, you sir, are a genius

Thank you

seems to be working fine (although sounding a little different to some of the others

I too have a servo sounding a little different to some of the others

getting to understand both the motion builder, and the robot (Balance, etc)

Good luck im working on Stair Climb