FlexBot
 The Robot  Make Controller Inside  The Control Application  Communication Devices  Battery Compartment |
April 2009 - ongoing Project DescriptionA personal project to create a mobile robotic platform, started more than a year ago. Desktop software (originally created in .NET C# and then ported to Flex/ActionScript) communicates with the mobile platform, can monitor its surroundings via a mounted webcam, operate it remotely and activate autonomous mode.Initially planning to use a Lynxmotion 4WD2 chassis, but ended up using the excellent updated 4WD1 chassis from Lynxmotion. The rover is driven by 4 12vdc 50:1 175rpm motors, which are powered by a 12v 5000 mAh battery. I am able get around the 1A per channel limitation of the Make Controller by using a Sabertooth 2x10 motor controller from Dimension Engineering. The Sabertooth is controlled by two servo ports on the Make Controller, each port controls two motors simultaneously. The host application communicates over ethernet via a pair of Logitech Play Link wireless bridges, originally intended to hook a game console to a local network. One bridge is connected to a router, the other to a Linksys five port hub on the rover. The hub also connects the Make Controller and a D-Link DCS-900 webcam. The webcam is mounted on a pan/tilt servo setup from Budget Robotics so it can be positioned. All these electronics are powered by a 6v 1000mAh battery. For autonomous navigation a MaxBotix LV-MaxSonar-EZ1 connected to AnalogIn 4 and mounted on a stepper motor. The stepper setup allows for very smooth panning. The EZ1 gives very reliable readings and I can't recommend it highly enough on ease of use! ResourcesGrab the code yourself, make your own tweaks and hack to your heart's content - http://code.google.com/p/makingthings-flex-botMajor Components
Also, thanks to Alistair Rutherford (www.netthreads.co.uk) for IFrame.as
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