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<div dir="auto">Carl,</div>
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<div dir="auto">I recently discovered Patton Robotics while searching for information related to the Teensy 4.0 (<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">a 600MHz ARM Cortex-M7 Arduino-like
processor).</span></div>
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<div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Brian Patton sells robotic parts and kits. Plus he has online tutorials, coding examples and even a curriculum for a</span></div>
<div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">teaching robotics: </span></div>
<div dir="auto">https://pattonrobotics.com</div>
<div dir="auto">https://pattonrobotics.com/products</div>
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</span></div>
<div dir="auto"><font face="sans-serif">https://www.pjrc.com/store/teensy40.html</font><br>
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Regards, </div>
<div dir="auto">David<br>
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<div class="gmail_quote">On Nov 19, 2019 1:16 AM, Murray Altheim via DPRGlist <dprglist@lists.dprg.org> wrote:<br type="attribution">
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<div>External Sender: Use caution with links/attachments.<br>
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Carl Ott <carl.ott.jr@gmail.com> wrote:<br>
> Hi All,<br>
><br>
> Can y'all help build a short list of robot learning platforms that<br>
> are good for coming up to speed with robot platforms? I'm looking<br>
> for kit options with an emphasis on software - e.g. how to read<br>
> sensors and write & implement algorithms to drive actuators.<br>
><br>
> *Any recommendations for kits w/in these constraints?*<br>
><br>
> 1. wheels *with encoders*<br>
><br>
> 2. relatively minimal mechatronics effort & tools needed to get started<br>
><br>
> 3. enough sensors or easy / off-the-shelf plug-n-play extensibility for<br>
> DPRG style contests, e.g.<br>
> ** line following<br>
> ** wall following<br>
> ** quick trip<br>
> ** 4 square<br>
[...]<br>
<br>
Hi Carl,<br>
<br>
Perhaps this is a good time to introduce myself, as I just joined the<br>
mailing list a few days ago, having recently seen David Anderson's<br>
autonomous robots demo on YouTube. If David is on this list I'd like to<br>
thank him: his obvious enthusiasm and pragmatic approach is quite<br>
inspiring. From links on his site and others I've since been reading up<br>
on subjects like subsumption architectures, etc., and found this mailing<br>
list.<br>
<br>
Back in 1979 I built a robot using an 8085-based single board computer,<br>
a couple of large DC motors and a chassis made out of aluminum and some<br>
circular PC boards found in a surplus shop in Des Moines, Iowa, that<br>
were apparently from the insides of a missile. It was an ambitious<br>
project for a high school student and I never quite got the ultrasonic<br>
sensors working properly, but it was a good learning experience, a lot<br>
of fun, and led eventually to an IT career.<br>
<br>
Over that career I had the fortunate experience of working at NASA<br>
Headquarters for a few years, where as a fellow Mac enthusiast I met<br>
David Lavery, the head of the robotics division. At the time he had a<br>
Mars Sojourner rover sitting on his desk. I remember marvelling at the<br>
beauty of the machining of the wheels, and wishing I had that kind of<br>
budget (and a machine shop). While setting up a demo I also had the<br>
opportunity to pilot a telerobotics sled under the ice in Antarctica.<br>
<br>
Years have passed and I now live in New Zealand, where most of my<br>
creative energy has over the past few years been in music (I have an<br>
improvisational abstract band named Barkhausen; we just finished our<br>
second CD).<br>
<br>
The combination of experimenting with some DIY microcontroller-based<br>
Eurorack synthesizer modules and the advances in the world of Raspberry<br>
Pi has found me back into robotics. For the past few months I've been<br>
purchasing various playthings from Pimoroni and Adafruit and doing<br>
some experimenting.<br>
<br>
And planning...<br>
<br>
I decided to purchase an OSEPP tank robot ($89), with the OSEPP motor<br>
encoder kit ($27). I also bought the OSEPP wheel kit in case I'm not<br>
happy with tank treads. Things are beginning to arrive via the mail,<br>
sometimes a bit of a wait on this other side of the world.<br>
<br>
My total set of inputs and outputs are as follows:<br>
<br>
Inputs:<br>
<br>
* bumpers (6 subminiature lever switches, ala Anderson's SR04)<br>
* infrared sensors (Sharp GP2Y0D815Z0F with Pololu carrier,<br>
with a range of 0.5 cm to 15 cm)<br>
* sonar (processed through an Ultraborg)<br>
* motor odometry (using OSEPP motor encoders)<br>
* 9-DoF orientation (Adafruit 9-DOF Absolute Orientation IMU<br>
Fusion Breakout - BNO055)<br>
* ToF/LIDAR (Pimoroni VL53L1X Time of Flight Sensor Breakout)<br>
* audio In (Adafruit I2S MEMS Microphone Breakout - SPH0645LM4H)<br>
* several state setting toggle switches, including power kill<br>
* Pi camera (for telerobotics)<br>
<br>
Outputs:<br>
<br>
* motor controller (using a Thunderborg)<br>
* servo control (provided by Ultraborg, for Sonar & LIDAR)<br>
* audio out (Adafruit STEMMA Speaker - Plug and Play Audio Amplifier)<br>
* LED indicators, plus 11x7 LED Breakout<br>
* display screen (Adafruit Mini PiTFT - 135x240 Color TFT Add-on<br>
for Raspberry Pi or PiTFT Plus Assembled 320x240 2.8" TFT<br>
+ Resistive Touchscreen)<br>
<br>
I've been using a Raspberry Pi Zero W and a 3 B+, will probably use the<br>
latter in the robot.<br>
<br>
Power will be from an 18V Makita power tool battery, sourced through<br>
the Thunderborg. I'm considering purchasing a PiJuice to separate the<br>
motor power from the Pi, but that's not really necessary.<br>
<br>
I'm pretty impressed by the Pimoroni Breakout Garden series of I2C and<br>
SPI modules. In particular, the ToF modules from Pimoroni and Adafruit<br>
(I've tried both) are amazing. The Pimoroni one has three range settings,<br>
and on long range measures up to 4 meters with high accuracy. Mounting<br>
one of these on a servo-controlled scanner provides an enormous amount<br>
of functionality for quite low power, weight and cost. I'm curious to<br>
compare how this works against an ultrasonic sensor. I will be mounting<br>
both on top of the servo, hoping to take advantage of the pros and cons<br>
of each.<br>
<br>
One of the benefits of many of the Pimoroni and Adafruit modules is<br>
that there's a python library available for each, with examples. This<br>
has allowed me to get things up and running quickly.<br>
<br>
Carl, I realise the total cost of my project exceeds your core budget,<br>
but I think it'd still be quite functional with just some bumpers and<br>
one of the long range sensors, e.g., the ToF sensor mounted to a servo<br>
(which comes with the tank project). If tank treads are an issue for<br>
DPRG contests OSEPP sell silicon wheels that fit on the same hubs, or<br>
you could repurpose the OSEPP 2-Wheel Balancing Mechanical Kit by adding<br>
a ball caster.<br>
<br>
I also realise that the above isn't a list of resistors and capacitors<br>
and ICs, but rather mostly finished components. I consider myself rather<br>
old-school, but with the availability of what's effectively a LIDAR unit<br>
for around $18 and the ability to have a tiny 3 gram circuit board provide<br>
nine sensor types (including two kinds of compass orientation, angular<br>
and linear accelerometers, gravity vector and ambient temperature) for<br>
about $35, well, kinda hard to think I'd build that myself. It is 2019,<br>
not 1979 after all. I can build a robot that is in some ways comparable<br>
to that Sojourner robot for about $800 dollars. Amazing.<br>
<br>
I don't have any sense yet of the kinds of projects that DPRG members<br>
create (i.e., what might be typical).<br>
<br>
If there's any interest in the project I would consider blogging about<br>
it as it progresses. I can for example explain some of my experiments in<br>
using Bluetooth as a means of mapping and orientation. These experiments<br>
will obviously progress better once I have a functional robot.<br>
<br>
My thanks for your patience in reading what turned out to be a long<br>
message; I'm happy to answer any questions. I hope this has been helpful.<br>
<br>
Cheers,<br>
<br>
Murray<br>
<br>
...........................................................................<br>
Murray Altheim <murray18 at altheim dot com> = = ===<br>
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=== ===<br>
= = ===<br>
In the evening<br>
The rice leaves in the garden<br>
Rustle in the autumn wind<br>
That blows through my reed hut.<br>
-- Minamoto no Tsunenobu<br>
<br>
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