Anybody else gonna do the Robot Magazine hack?

[pepperm]

I know what you mean and I do sympathise with Milford, who I too have used for years and, as you say are great people. I'm still not happy with the price though. A little extra is fine but double is pushing it. The Quadravox products are not made in the US so I assume the US distributor imports them too and has to pay all the usual charges and make a similar amount of profit before they then sell them on. So the difference in price is hard for me to swallow.

Anyway, I guess this discussion is not for this forum so lets end it here....I'll end up buying one from Milford

I think it is a great eye (or ear) catcher to add this product to a robot.

Mark

[beermat]

Thanks ForbinOne for this mod! I'm having a lot of fun with it, can really add some personality to my RN-1, such as the Homer Simpson 'Doh!' when the accelerometer detects a tumble....

I'm always having trouble finding any space on the RN for mods. For this mod, though, I found some nice, small, flat speakers at Mouser that fit in perfectly snug and tight on top of the shoulder servos. Loosen the top plate slightly, slide them in, tighten up the top plate and you're done! Sound great too, even with the front and back plastic covers on - no need to drill holes in the covers. $2.99 each, 8 Ohm, 1.1W. I have both of them wired to the monaural QV306, but it means I'm ready for the stereo QV606!

Speakers @ Mouser

However, with a servo in the chest cavity for the head movements, I'm lacking anywhere to mount the sound chip and associated circuitry. Any tips?

[Humanoido]

Very nice idea for speaker mounting. Well done! I'd try expanding the covers outwards a little using some spacers. I'm experimenting with some plastic girls neclace beads which act as spacers. They have a tiny hole through the center. I've been able to find different sizes, and just bought some last night at the dollar store. How much thickness gain do you need?
Humanoido

[beermat]

Quite a bit....the author used the chest cavity, but mines occupied. Take a look at the article and scroll down, the last photo shows the Quadravox chip hanging from a RN, with connectors, and some stripboard containing additional circuitry. I have some flexibility with the extra circuitry and do not need such a 'large' daughter board, but the sound chip and connector really doesn't fit anywhere nicely.

Did the others who did this use the chest cavity? The chip will fit nicely in the battery space.....maybe it is time for lipos in the feet?

[pepperm]

I see that Quardavox now have a new version of the audio module, the QV606 which can store up to 14minutes of 20Kbps stereo MP3 files and
35mins of intelligable mono voice grade audio.

Has anyone used one of these new modules yet? I'm holding off getting a QV306 because the QV606 seems much more capable for the same money.

Mark

[Humanoido]

Beermat, may I suggest moving the head servo to the top and then there will be space for the Quadravox boards. You can invert the servo, connecting the horn to the frame, so the entire moving servo becomes a head. You can see what this looks like at VJ DeLeon's web site:
http://www.theoddrobot.com/
Look down to "Friday, April 28, 2006
project: hi-tec robonova-1 kit
replacing the head
Hope this gives you some useful ideas.
Humanoido

[beermat]

Thanks for the suggestion....but my head (or ratherm, my RNs head!) contains the accelerometer, twin multicolor LEDs and the remote receiver. Because it is all about personality, and the eyes / moving head add so much to that and I want to add to it with audio, would hate to take away. I wonder, though, if I could make a case to contain current head equipment and the servo without it looking oversized and interfering with cartwheels, etc. That'd work. Will ponder.

The stuff does fit nicely in the battery cavity, though, with room to spare for other circuitry I've been struggling to locate (such as a speed controller for the arm saw mod I've yet to finish)....

[Humanoido]

I've been looking at that too, a kind of case that can be attached and wouldn't interfere with Robonova stock functions. I've been working on something like that, and have several very small off-the-shelf enclosures that look like they might work. I got these from the electronic parts store and they're little equipment cabinets that are rectangular in shape. These easily attach with double side tape for temp experimenting. I'm currently in the testing phase, to see the available degree of space surrounging the RN body, as it goes through motion routines. Considering that you have so many wonderful things inside the stock head, and don't want to change it, an option like a tiny cabinet may be workable. Let me know what you think.
Humanoido

[beermat]

Sure! I think myself and many others would be interested to hear your findings on here, even if they end up fruitless - someone elses bad lesson learned is the best one to learn yourself

[Humanoido]

What I learned from the first experiment is that an expansion housing depends upon three main factors: 1) Weight 2) Placement 3) Size. It also can be determined by Robonova function. For example, if one is willing to give up some acrobatics, then adding expansion, weight, new enclosures, is more easy.

I made the smallest of modifications and RN started falling over, and couldn't do the acrobatics. Since then, I've backed off a bit, and contemplated each add-on, and the effects. Here's a collage of the backpack.



Right now, I want my stock RN doing stock things. But in the future, I plan to heavily modify it for purposes other than demo, Kung Fu, exercise, and acrobatics. Though, if you think about it those functions are very impressive!

Humanoido

[Humanoido]

RN BACKPACK EXPERIMENT #1
Ok, reporting on the findings of the first experiment. A heavy plastic backpack was attached to RN. In the final position, the top edge of the pack was mounted flush with the top of RNs back. This worked the best, even though other placements were tried. The added dimensions are optimized at 3.5"W x 2"H X 1"D. In this configuration, it's easy to access the on/off switch.

All stock RN functions were successful using the IR remote remocon. It was noted that some performances were better with the backpack, such as turning and walking. A few other motion routines involving backwards balance could use a little tweak on the zero position to make the move masterful. This was due to some added weight on the back, and was easily compensated.

The feet contacted the backpack momentarily during the headstand, but no ill effects were noted. The backpack took some heavy pounding during acrobatics when RNs back slammed on the floor. At one time, during tumbling, the backpack flew off when it was wacked on the hard ceramic tile floor and had to be reattached - firmly attaching the pack in four places is recommended. This experiment used only temp double stick tape in two places at the top of the pack.

In conclusion, a backpack can be added to Robonova and all functions are retained, including Kung Fu, acrobatics, exercise, and stock motions. Some motions improve and others will need a tweak, depending on the amount of weight added inside the pack. The Matrix move is also successful. The added dimensions will hold many lightweight upgrades inside the 7 cubic inches space when overall weight is kept minimal.

The backpack is convenient - it's easy to add on in a few minutes, and the cover removes in a few seconds, quickly gaining access to the electronics inside. There's no need to disassemble RN to reach the internal body. There's no need to relocate batteries, servos, the head, or other parts. Wire leads from the backpact to the MR-C3024 controller are minimal length and conveniently located. The experiment was a great success! I'm looking forward to customizing my RN using this approach.

I hope this is helpful for others in expanding their RN.

Humanoido

[beermat]

Well, I've noticed there is space between the front plate and the shoulder servos to locate the chip. Only problem is that the chip is then pretty inaccessible when it needs to be removed for programming new sounds, as quite a bit of dismantling will be required to get it out. Toying with extending the wiring through/around the case and exposing a 16 pin connector on his back. I can then rig up a cable to connect between that and the programmer, and also plug the daughter board for the RN control into it.

I love it when hacks are in the phase below. I hope it doesn't hurt:

[tinman1]

LOL, Hey beermat, I think my RN-1 spends 80% of his time in this condition!
I like humanoido's little backpack. I've almost gotten my vacuum forming table set up. When I do it looks like a custom made back board cover is a good 1st project.
There is a real need for more space for "goodies" on the Rn's back. I think I'll start there and maybe work on a head with slightly larger dimensions for stuff in it to be mounted.
Tinman

[Humanoido]

OUCH!!! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ... that's gotta hurt!!!! :wink:
Beermat, it's a great picture and thanks for sharing it. It shows your advanced level of achievement required for this mod. That's the reason I bought the kit version, for moments that look like that, so I'd remember how to put it back together again. Seems I've had a habit of taking things apart, then not getting them back together again. Later in life I could get them back together but had parts left over!

Tinman1, your vacuform project sounds very useful, and look forward to seeing some new version backpacks and slightly larger head versions. It would be great to keep the same robonova head design (and body guard too) but just enlarge it a little so as not to significantly change the appearance. It would really look cool like the pexiglas that comes in smoked black.
Humanoido

[beermat]

So, I found space for the audio chip - between the front chest plate and shoulder servo. The main problem is that a lot of dismantling is required to get to that spot, and because the chip needs to be removed and plugged into the programmer to add new samples, it would be mighty inconvenient to say the least! Extending the pin outs of the chip to a connector available inside the back cover meant I could plug in a 'daughter' board with control circuitry for the audio chip into this, or remove that and easily plug a home made cable between the connector and the programmer, and voila! A hidden location for the chip, but convenient access to the programmer.

Some additional advise for anyone thinking of this mod: Quadrovox have a new chip - QV606 - available, for the exact same price as the one mentioned in the original hack magazine (QV306), but with a much greater memory capacity and a much higher supported sample rate (14 minutes @ 20kbps vs 4 minutes at 4kbps), as well as stereo output. Whilst you can't order the product directly online as yet, it is available and when I exchanged email with their support, they recommended me using the online ordering to order a 306 but in the 'note to vendor' section, say it was for a 606. They have no 306s left, so theres no danger of them shipping the wrong one. I'd email their helpful support guys first, if you are thinking of this hack.

Here are some pics of the various stages, if they are of help to anyone:

Front chest connector for the chip, and extension wires:



Chip in place:



Rear connector:



Rear connector in place. Can plug daughterboard with control circuitry or cable to programmer in here:



Crappy DIY daughterboard:



Daughterboard in place, and appropriate speaker / power / ETX connections made: