Full agreement from me about what Linus said about starting small.

If you don't know a reasonable amount about electronics and programming - it
is easy to bite off more than you can chew.

(though with the address sunset coding I guess you can program some kind of
languages)

Is everyone still from brisbane here ?

If so - should we get together and do something small to get the confidence
up ?



>From: "Quinn" <quinn@...>
>Reply-To: robot_sig@yahoogroups.com
>To: <robot_sig@yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: RE: {Definitely Spam?} {Disarmed} [robot_sig] Quinn's Project
>Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2006 18:35:08 +1000
>
>Ok maybe it's a bit to much to start with, but I am wanting to do
>something,
>I am sick of sitting around doing nothing.
>
>
>
>From: robot_sig@yahoogroups.com [mailto:robot_sig@yahoogroups.com] On
>Behalf
>Of Linus Dillon
>Sent: Sunday, August 27, 2006 9:11 AM
>To: Robot Sig
>Subject: {Definitely Spam?} {Disarmed} [robot_sig] Quinn's Project
>
>
>
>Hi Quinn,
>
>
>
>Thought it best to start a new thread to discuss your idea.
>
>
>
>First up (and don't take this as criticism), be careful biting off too much
>initially. I know that's why I ended up dropping out from the group. You
>may
>want to either aim for some smaller projects first, or ensure that whatever
>you build can be done in smaller stages which themselves are interesting.
>
>
>
>Having said that, I guess the first thing to work out about the larger
>project is what you are aiming for. You say it will feature either tracks
>or
>wheels, however those two architectures are very different, so you will
>have
>to decide that before anything else. What do you want the robot to DO? What
>problem do you want it to solve? What challenge would you like to explore
>with it?
>
>
>
>You will then have to start thinking about what you will build it from.
>Modified existing toy? Pre-designed kit? Lego? Meccano? Plastics? Metal
>section? Wood? Ask yourself what skills do you already have with respect to
>building stuff? How much can/will you spend? (note, that given your
>statement about it being 3 to 4 feet tall (AHH! metric please! errr...
>about
>1 metre tall) you will probably need to look at wood/metal section for the
>skeleton for something that size).
>
>
>
>Obviously tracks would be easier (there are some tracked-vehicle kits out
>there so you can get the basic components easily enough and them adjust to
>the form you actually want), however tracked vehicles chew up a fair bit of
>power and don't turn all that neatly on carpets. Bipeds are now finally
>starting to take off, and you can even buy a simple one for $100 or so and
>then hack that if you wish (RoboSapien and RoboSapien V2), however if you
>wish to build form the ground up there are also several servo-based kits
>available now (although pricey), and building your own from scratch is no
>longer impossible. However it will probably not be able to lift/do too much
>else, and your looking at a VERY long project if you starting from the
>group
>up.
>
>
>
>Have you considered the 'segway' style robots? I find these quite
>interesting, and people have even built basic models from LEGO Mindstorms!
>You could view them as featuring some of the same issues as biped (dynamic
>balance) with much simpler mechanics, lower power consumption, and capable
>of bearing larger weights. I haven't seen too much PRACTICAL use made of
>them as yet however, but I know the guys who did the RoboSapiens are soon
>to
>release a robot with arms that has this style of locomotion.
>
>
>
>You may be interested in this: http://www.msl.ri.cmu.edu/projects/ballbot/
>-
>probably NOT what your after, but the idea of a robot balancing on a ball
>is
>interesting.
>
>
>
>-Linus
>
>
>