Disassembly and comparison of 2 different Robobuilder Heads
Disassembly and comparison of 2 different Robobuilder Heads
by PedroR
Thu Mar 26, 2009 3:03 am
Hi
In the process of transforming our Robobuilder 5710K from dog to humanoid again (it has already been a Humanoid, a Dinossaur, a Dog and now a Humanoid again...) I got curious about the inside of the head part.
As you know, the head part of Robobuilder 5710K Humanoid does not include the distance sensnor.
Here at Robosavvy we offer a 2nd head with the distance sensor included.
I decided I wanted to disassemble both heads and compare them.
Here are the pics:
.JPG)
On the left you find the head that comes in the standard 5710K Humanoid kit, without the distance sensor.
On the right, the extra head (which is the same model that comes standard in the 5710K-E02 Beginner Kit as well as the 5720K transparent).
On the top right of both heads you see the IR sensor for the Remote control.
.JPG)
This is the back side of the heads. Note the connector for the cable that goes into the RBC.
.JPG)
The top view.
From observing them I came to realize, the simpler head (the one without the distance sensor) is actually a great candidate for hacking and adding different A/D sensors.
- It has a lot of through holes in the lower part that resemble to one of those prototyping boards you can get.
- It also exposes the pins of the connector that go to the ATMEGA A/D port where the distance sensnor connects (when it's present). Note the raised pins on the first picture. Soldering something on them should be very easy.
Another cool thing is that theoretically you can add any A/D sensor and program the Robot to react to that sensor using ActionBuilder.
In practice ActionBuilder conditions for the Distance sensor are tests on the value of the ATMEGA A/D port. Theoretically whatever A/D you connect there should be sending a value that's understandable by the ATMEGA /RBC / ActionBuilder program.
If you are using a custom firmware then it's even better
The first candidates on my list to try out would probably be these http://robosavvy.com/store/product_info ... cts_id/369 or these http://robosavvy.com/store/product_info ... cts_id/368
I'm particularly fond of the light sensors for different experiments.
There is also a magnetic sensor but I don't thing it's useful for helping the robot walk straight. It would be nice if it could "sense" the earth north pole and use that to keep walking straight.
In the process of transforming our Robobuilder 5710K from dog to humanoid again (it has already been a Humanoid, a Dinossaur, a Dog and now a Humanoid again...) I got curious about the inside of the head part.
As you know, the head part of Robobuilder 5710K Humanoid does not include the distance sensnor.
Here at Robosavvy we offer a 2nd head with the distance sensor included.
I decided I wanted to disassemble both heads and compare them.
Here are the pics:
On the left you find the head that comes in the standard 5710K Humanoid kit, without the distance sensor.
On the right, the extra head (which is the same model that comes standard in the 5710K-E02 Beginner Kit as well as the 5720K transparent).
On the top right of both heads you see the IR sensor for the Remote control.
This is the back side of the heads. Note the connector for the cable that goes into the RBC.
The top view.
From observing them I came to realize, the simpler head (the one without the distance sensor) is actually a great candidate for hacking and adding different A/D sensors.
- It has a lot of through holes in the lower part that resemble to one of those prototyping boards you can get.
- It also exposes the pins of the connector that go to the ATMEGA A/D port where the distance sensnor connects (when it's present). Note the raised pins on the first picture. Soldering something on them should be very easy.
Another cool thing is that theoretically you can add any A/D sensor and program the Robot to react to that sensor using ActionBuilder.
In practice ActionBuilder conditions for the Distance sensor are tests on the value of the ATMEGA A/D port. Theoretically whatever A/D you connect there should be sending a value that's understandable by the ATMEGA /RBC / ActionBuilder program.
If you are using a custom firmware then it's even better
The first candidates on my list to try out would probably be these http://robosavvy.com/store/product_info ... cts_id/369 or these http://robosavvy.com/store/product_info ... cts_id/368
I'm particularly fond of the light sensors for different experiments.
There is also a magnetic sensor but I don't thing it's useful for helping the robot walk straight. It would be nice if it could "sense" the earth north pole and use that to keep walking straight.
by l3v3rz
Sat Mar 28, 2009 9:38 pm
here's a video of my homebrew head -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQqoZW8N6JQ
The sound is added on afterwards - until I can't work out how to generate it.
There are picture on Flikr as well. As you can see there's not much room to add you own circuits inside the head,
The circuit is based on a16F627 PIC chip and a 10 segment bar LED chip plus a few extra resistors. Very simple. I'm now working on providing control from the homebrew OS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQqoZW8N6JQ
The sound is added on afterwards - until I can't work out how to generate it.
There are picture on Flikr as well. As you can see there's not much room to add you own circuits inside the head,
The circuit is based on a16F627 PIC chip and a 10 segment bar LED chip plus a few extra resistors. Very simple. I'm now working on providing control from the homebrew OS.
Last edited by l3v3rz on Tue Mar 31, 2009 5:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
by PedroR
Sat Mar 28, 2009 10:48 pm
indeed the plastic case of the head does not have much space.
It's mostly due to the rounded shape that makes it hard to fit square parts in there.
I was also thinking that, for different A/D sensors you don't actually need to disassemble the head.
You can cut/reroute the wires of the head sensor cable that deal with the A/D sensor and place a sensor anywhere on the robot.
We do have spare head sensor cables at Robosavvy that are part of the replacement/warranty kit that we can supply.
We never actually had any complaint about the head cables so we have plenty around for those who wish to mod their robots
It's mostly due to the rounded shape that makes it hard to fit square parts in there.
I was also thinking that, for different A/D sensors you don't actually need to disassemble the head.
You can cut/reroute the wires of the head sensor cable that deal with the A/D sensor and place a sensor anywhere on the robot.
We do have spare head sensor cables at Robosavvy that are part of the replacement/warranty kit that we can supply.
We never actually had any complaint about the head cables so we have plenty around for those who wish to mod their robots