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			<title>Wow.  Has it been four weeks?</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/l05xy8ICM0Y/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:39:43 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[Tough to believe it's been a month since I first got the XMOS  (http://www.xmos.com)plugged in.  Things have been a little wild off-and-on, but I did...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>Tough to believe it's been a month since I first got the <a href="http://www.xmos.com" target="_blank">XMOS </a>plugged in.  Things have been a little wild off-and-on, but I did have a chance to play with it a bit more, learning its architecture.<br />
<br />
I had a bit of a challenge understanding the &quot;pins/ports/banks&quot; mapping of the XMOS initially, but Ross over at <a href="http://www.xmoslinkers.org" target="_blank">XMOSLinkers </a>set me straight with <a href="http://www.xmos.com/published/xc_en" target="_blank">this document</a> .  Page 129 is especially useful. :)<br />
<br />
So once I had that pin mapping understanding, I was able to swipe the UART sample code, plug in an LCD that I hadn't ever had a chance to play with and bit bash some single-byte hex commands to it, and do a little &quot;hello world&quot; display.<br />
<br />
Here's what it looked like [click once for larger legible image, twice for full-size]: <br />
<br />
<a href="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog_attachment.php?attachmentid=51&amp;d=1257283325" rel="Lightbox" id="attachment51" target="_blank"><img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog_attachment.php?attachmentid=51&amp;thumb=1&amp;d=1257283325" class="thumbnail" border="0" alt="Click image for larger version

Name:	xmos-on-4d-lcd.jpg
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<br />
<br />
Since then, I've ported over some video algorithms and am really just waiting on a prototype board to come back and parts to come in.  Alas, the memory and scan converter are both small SMT parts and don't take to just being slapped in a breadboard.  Actually, parts and boards are probably in the mail box right now, I just haven't checked.<br />
<br />
Really the learning curve on the XMOS hasn't been all that tough.  There's always a little head-bumping-in-dark-caves when you endeavor to pick up a new architecture, and this one has been relatively painless/bruise-less.  Even many of the apparent limitations can be relatively easily overcome - for example:  you can do software emulated floats, but they can't be done in XC, and there are some limitations - tip to the wise:  extern c.  You can reference external ANSI C from the XC module, so the XC contains your main and then you can go off and do whatever it is you want to do in C, returning to your XC whatever external data you've generated.  XC supports the extensions like par[rallel] and on-std-core[] for example.<br />
<br />
Here's a stripped-down example of how one might talk to the LCD I was using.  It's based entirely on the sample software uart code, just my LCD specifics merged in - but it does show how one maps to 1-bit ports and can extend the documentation referenced above.  This simple example just autobauds the serial display, clears the screen, and sets the background to white:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin:20px; margin-top:5px">
	<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px">Code:</div>
	<pre class="alt2" dir="ltr" style="
		margin: 0px;
		padding: 6px;
		border: 1px inset;
		width: 640px;
		height: 498px;
		text-align: left;
		overflow: auto">#include &lt;platform.h&gt;

#define BIT_RATE 38400  //Baud = 38.4k
#define BIT_TIME XS1_TIMER_HZ / BIT_RATE

//BitBash to Pin D37 in Proto Area
on stdcore[0] : out port TXD = XS1_PORT_1N;  //out port TXD = PORT_UART_TX; 

void txByte(out port TXD, int byte);

int main(void) 
{
   txByte(TXD, 0x55); //Send the AutoBauding Character
   txByte(TXD, 0x45); //CLS
   txByte(TXD, 0x42); // Set Background to
   txByte(TXD, 0xFF); // White LSB
   txByte(TXD, 0xFF); // White MSB
   return 0;
}

void txByte(out port TXD, int byte) 
{
  unsigned time;
  timer t;

  /* get initial time */
  t :&gt; time;
   
  /* output start bit */
  TXD &lt;: 0;
  time += BIT_TIME;
  t when timerafter(time) :&gt; void;
      
  /* output data bits */
  for (int i=0; i&lt;8; i++) 
  {
    TXD &lt;: &gt;&gt; byte;
    time += BIT_TIME;
    t when timerafter(time) :&gt; void;
  }

  /* output stop bit */
  TXD &lt;: 1;
  time += BIT_TIME;
  t when timerafter(time) :&gt; void;
}</pre>
</div>So that's it for the moment.  More as progress continues on the daughter card for video capture and buffer memory.</div>

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			<dc:creator>Adrenalynn</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog.php?b=208</guid>
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		<item>
			<title>Snoopy has a BeagleBoard backpack!</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/j8GP2YHCi_Y/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:00:23 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>Last night I was stoked to get finished, so I was up a little late, but the reward was worth it.  :D 
 
Fastened the corners with my handy packing...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>Last night I was stoked to get finished, so I was up a little late, but the reward was worth it.  :D<br />
<br />
Fastened the corners with my handy packing tape.  Same as the base, one strip 32cm long to wrap around the entire thing.  I learned from my difficulties with the base and cut the strip so it was about 3/4 the width.  There was less to wrap around to the inside and it was much easier to work with.  the result was a much prettier looking lid.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/picture.php?albumid=67&amp;pictureid=346" border="0" alt="" /><br />
<br />
Then cut holes in the lid lining them up with the base.  I need new blades for my xacto knife.  This was far more tedious than it needed to be.  Wish I'd brought either my drill or dremel when I moved to Hong Kong.  Might have to get new ones for the next little project like this.  I considered using my soldering iron to burn the openings, but didn't want to deal with the smell or the clean up.  I did mess up and over sliced up from the DVI port's top right corner.  Nearly to the top of the lid!  The plus side is it's not very noticeable.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/picture.php?albumid=67&amp;pictureid=344" border="0" alt="" /><br />
<br />
The end result came out almost as good as I hoped.  I was aiming to be able to see into it better, but my mildly botched tape job on the base took away from that splendor.  Oh well, I'm still happy with it.  With the lid finished and on, the whole container is quite sturdy.  The fears of a smashed BeagleBoard due to a backwards fall are gone.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/picture.php?albumid=67&amp;pictureid=347" border="0" alt="" /><br />
<br />
Now that all the pieces are done, was time to put it all together and fire it up!<br />
<br />
Bolted the base on.  I had to consider the orientation of the base carefully as there is going to be an SD card sticking out.  I'd hate to have a catastrophic failure do to Snoopy accidentally smashing himself in the SD card.  Luckily for me, I did that pondering over the weekend while I was fresh, so I only needed to recall which way was up.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/picture.php?albumid=32&amp;pictureid=348" border="0" alt="" /><br />
<br />
It was late.  I just finished tightening the last nut to hold the BeagleBoard in place when I realized I forgot to attach the serial line.  Opps!  Couple minutes more and we were assembled and styling.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/picture.php?albumid=32&amp;pictureid=350" border="0" alt="" /><br />
<br />
Last thing was to plug Snoopy in and see the pretty lights.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/picture.php?albumid=32&amp;pictureid=352" border="0" alt="" /><br />
<br />
Looking good Snoopy!<br />
<br />
Now I need to ensure I get Snoopy setup for wireless connectivity to my PC and setup an NFS mount to there.  I'm going to start off with bluetooth as I have a few dongles already, but my initial tests with my PC hasn't been great.  My laptop worked ok which was odd.  Not sure what I boffed there.  Worst case, I'll find a Wifi USB stick that works well with the BeagleBoard and get one.<br />
<br />
Then, go back over my code for the CM5 and ensure that my servo command relay setup is still looking good.  Then get to work writing Snoopy's servo control system.<br />
<br />
I'm planning on an SQLite DB on the backend, that works 2 fold.  In memory and on disk.  Short term and long term memory.<br />
<br />
I might be a little too ambitious with my 256MB ram and 500MHz processing power, but what the heck.  I should be able to make Snoopy just focus on the now and have my PC be the &quot;subconsciousness&quot;.  Something to that effect.<br />
<br />
I'd love to hear other's opinions/exploits on anything like this.<br />
<br />
Cheers for now!<br />
<br />
:p</div>

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			<dc:creator>kamondelious</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog.php?b=207</guid>
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		<item>
			<title>getting there ...</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/Eo0yr01d2E4/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:57:06 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[Well I didn't quite get as much time as I'd be thinking I'd might to work on Snoopy today. 
 
I managed to finish the base of the BeagleBoard...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>Well I didn't quite get as much time as I'd be thinking I'd might to work on Snoopy today.<br />
<br />
I managed to finish the base of the BeagleBoard housing, get brackets on the back for mounting it and most of the work on the lid for the base.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/picture.php?albumid=67&amp;pictureid=340" border="0" alt="" /><br />
<br />
<img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/picture.php?albumid=32&amp;pictureid=343" border="0" alt="" /><br />
<br />
<img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/picture.php?albumid=67&amp;pictureid=342" border="0" alt="" /><br />
<br />
The packing tape I used is super tacky making it hard to work with.  The base didn't turn out quite as pretty as I was hoping for, but I think the marks/lines give it more character.  Hopefully I don't boff the lid up when I tape it.<br />
<br />
It's funny how flimsy looking this container seems, but it's been holding up well under some simple stress load tests.  Like letting Snoopy sit on it.  Once I finish the lid and the 2 pieces are together, it should safely house the BeagleBoard from the inevitable falls that will take place when he's up and walking.<br />
<br />
With any luck I will be able to get the last of this sorted out and mounted tomorrow after work.  I'll be sure and post some pics of the final work.<br />
<br />
Cheers!<br />
<br />
:p</div>

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			<dc:creator>kamondelious</dc:creator>
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		<item>
			<title>Introducing Snoopy</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/9WP35YL8Jj0/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:40:21 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[My ultimate goal is to have a reasonably interactive humanoid robot.  I'm planning to do stereo vision & hearing with auditory output.  I'm using a...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>My ultimate goal is to have a reasonably interactive humanoid robot.  I'm planning to do stereo vision &amp; hearing with auditory output.  I'm using a Bioloid comprehesive kit (19DOF) which I've added 8 servos to for 27DOF.  The extra mobility is in the pan/tilt head and arms with simple clasping hands.<br />
<br />
I have been tinkering a lot with the configuration of my Bioloid over the past year.  Please check out my Bioloid album to see the transformation.<br />
<br />
My most recent changes include using the extra chest unit I have to house the hips and mount the battery on the butt.  I hopped the lower centre of gravity would make for a more stable stance and to make room on the back of the torso to mount a BeagleBoard.  The lower centre of gravity does indeed makes it far easier for the bioloid to just stand, power off, in various positions, without toppling over.<br />
<br />
I'm going to keep the CM5 as it tie's nicely with the battery and I should easily be able to command it with the BeagleBoard via serial connection.  The BeagleBoard can link to a my PC via USB wifi and bluetooth.  I have bluetooth dongles, but I've had only moderate susccess so far with getting them to work, so I might cop out and get a USB wifi stick.  I do prefer the lower power usage of the bluetooth dongles, but if I can not make them work, then it's going to be wifi.  With my wireless connectivity out of the way I can have an NFS mount for saving data or offloading any &quot;heavy thinking&quot; so Snoopy can focus on staying on his feet and taking in his surroundings.<br />
<br />
I began work on how to mount the BeagleBoard on Snoopy's back today.  After a lot of measuring and size comparing everything in the house that was anywhere near the size of the BeagleBoard (7.8cmx7.6cm or 3&quot;c3.1&quot;).  I've opted to just build my own out of a couple plastic trays that some mushrooms from the grocerystore came on.  It's pretty sturdy, not prone to tearing and not brittle.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/picture.php?albumid=67&amp;pictureid=335" border="0" alt="" /><br />
<br />
<br />
I'm going to make 2 pieces, one for mounting directly to the back of Snoopy, which will also be where the BeagleBoard is mounted.  The other will basically be a lid, but I will also mount a 4 port USB hub on the outside (maybe the inside) of it.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/picture.php?albumid=67&amp;pictureid=337" border="0" alt="" /><br />
<br />
<img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/picture.php?albumid=67&amp;pictureid=338" border="0" alt="" /><br />
<br />
That's where I'm at.  More as I get it done.<br />
<br />
:p</div>

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			<dc:creator>kamondelious</dc:creator>
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		<item>
			<title>update 2: basic 2d drawing</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/l3C-DWxidvQ/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:22:24 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>here is a very quick 2d drawing i did in autocad. 
 
this is the basic setup, i just need to adjust body height and stuff. ill probably end up...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>here is a very quick 2d drawing i did in autocad.<br />
<br />
this is the basic setup, i just need to adjust body height and stuff. ill probably end up building it out of cardboard first:)<br />
<br />
the whole thing is a total of 30 inches tall<br />
the bed and the front is 10 inches tall<br />
the cabin part is 6 inches tall<br />
the pillow blocks are 2.5 inches tall by 5 inches wide<br />
wheels are 13 inches tall, with a 1 inch gap from the wheel to the frame<br />
<br />
let me know what you guys think of my project so far:D<br />
questions, comments, concerns... all welcome:)<br />
<br />
cheers<br />
seesoe</div>


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			<dc:creator>seesoe</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog.php?b=204</guid>
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		<item>
			<title>Semi-teQ II</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/rbTMU8vgKjQ/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:56:07 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>hello all, i currently have an unfinished wifi bot called semi-teq, the build can be found here...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>hello all, i currently have an unfinished wifi bot called semi-teq, the build can be found <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;ct=res&amp;cd=1&amp;ved=0CAkQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fforums.bit-tech.net%2Fshowthread.php%3Ft%3D134568&amp;ei=yEHqSo6-CIrUNYbClR0&amp;usg=AFQjCNEzdTEt-Zms6i1wSYh2FJRuuSheMQ&amp;sig2=8Ofqfa5EDpctCJwznA2OMg" target="_blank">here</a>. that was my first robot that i built when i was 17. its pretty messy and half assed, but the past few years i have learned tones of things, like the build mistakes i made with semi-teq I. the original project was supposed to an 18 wheeler type robot shape, with a tailor to go with it, hence the first part semi, teq stands for technology, but with a q at the end instead of ch because the controller im using is from RoboteQ.<br />
<br />
<br />
enough intro, out with semi-teq I, and in with semi-teq II.<br />
<br />
i parted out the old robot already, and started laying out the new one, the old frame was welded together by me and a friend and we had drive alignment issues. so im going to build the new one out of slotted metal angle steel.<br />
<br />
the new design will be like a truck (simple bed and all). im going to take extra care to make the frame as square as possible, it really messed up the old robot a lot.<br />
<br />
the old robot was rear wheel drive with casters in the front, but i hated how the casters had to pivot in place and distort the drive pattern. i decided i will make semi-teq II AWD:), however im only going to use to motors (left back front, and right back front). there will be a lot of chain and stuff on the inside this time, especially due to the fact that i decided that i want this robot to be raised.<br />
<br />
the old robot had the motor on the side of it, and the shaft came out like an inch off the bottom of the frame and the tires are about 13 inches high, so that placed the robot at about 5.5 inches off the ground. this time around the robot will be the full 13 inches off the ground by more chain and sprocket stuff.<br />
<br />
on each corner i will have a v coming down for the wheel to be mounted on and the chain to be run down. i am also working on suspension ideas by removing on of the legs on the v and replacing it with a shock absorber, possibly pneumatics for some hydraulics :P<br />
<br />
<br />
the old robot's base was 17x30 inches, the new one will be 40x20.<br />
words can only say so much, ill try and work on a quick autocad drawing of what i just all explained. <br />
<br />
till then, Mc Master Carr and Google is your friend:)<br />
cheers<br />
seesoe</div>

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			<dc:creator>seesoe</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog.php?b=203</guid>
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		<item>
			<title>IRBot</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/EmvDgrOIKCs/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:32:19 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[I've built my first Arduino-based bot today. It's a wheeled rover with Sharp IR sensor for obstacle detection. The brains are a Boarduino w/ Atmega...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>I've built my first Arduino-based bot today. It's a wheeled rover with Sharp IR sensor for obstacle detection. The brains are a Boarduino w/ Atmega 328 inserted in a mini breadboard from Radio Shack. For locomotion, I'm using a pair of Hitec HSR-1425 continuous rotation servos and a 1/2&quot; plastic ball caster. This is just a little diversion from work on my Mech Warfare bot, but I'd like to play around with the code some more and try out different sensors. It's just the right size platform to experiment with line following, sumo, maybe even firefighting! I have some Tamiya 3V DC motors and a track kit that will find their way on later, once I get a suitable motor controller.<br />
<br />
Parts List:<br />
<br />
$17.50 DC Boarduino kit <br />
$12.99 Hitec HSR -1425CR servos (each x2)<br />
$ 7.50 Hitec Plastic Servo Wheels w/ Tires (pair)<br />
$ 5.95 Lynxmotion aluminum servo bracket (pair)<br />
$ 3.99 Pololu 1/2&quot; Ball caster<br />
$12.99 Sharp IR sensorGP2D12<br />
$ 1.95 Sharp IR sensor to servo cable<br />
$ 3.00 9V battery clip with 2.1mm barrel plug <br />
$ 5.00 half-size breadboard<br />
-------<br />
$81.91 Total (not including tax, shipping, and misc. items such as screws and wire)<br />
<br />
A $20.00 USB-TTL to RS-232 cable is required to upload sketches to this board, as it has no onboard FTDI chip. I am not including this in the cost, as I plan to reuse the cable for other projects besides this. And its not physically mounted on the bot.<br />
<br />
All this is attached to a piece of scrap aluminum I had laying around, but a piece of 1/8&quot; plastic or wood should work just as well. I splurged a little on the aluminum servo brackets and caster. You could just servo tape or velcro the servos to your base. You could also shave some dough, shopping around for cheaper servos and  wheels (peanut butter lids work great!)<br />
<img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_RBehtyGR3tY/StPjzawaJPI/AAAAAAAAAog/YFCag4DrIgo/s800/CIMG4388.JPG" border="0" alt="" /><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_RBehtyGR3tY/StPj2krQjxI/AAAAAAAAAok/h3p1HkSJTj4/s800/CIMG4390.JPG" border="0" alt="" /><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_RBehtyGR3tY/StPkPa5GjOI/AAAAAAAAAoo/LUuRD2w9cpg/s800/CIMG4391.JPG" border="0" alt="" /><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_RBehtyGR3tY/StPkUTp0z4I/AAAAAAAAApE/IDRIHrhcmoQ/s800/CIMG4392.JPG" border="0" alt="" /><br />
<div style="margin:20px; margin-top:5px">
	<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px">Code:</div>
	<pre class="alt2" dir="ltr" style="
		margin: 0px;
		padding: 6px;
		border: 1px inset;
		width: 640px;
		height: 498px;
		text-align: left;
		overflow: auto">/* Project: IRBot
 * Differential drive robot using continuous rotation hobby servos
 * and Sharp GP2D12 IR sensor for collision avoidance. 
 * Inspired by: Makey Robot, MAKE Magazine, Volume 19, p. 77, created: June 2009 Kris Magri
 * Modified: Oct 11, 2009 'MannyR7' mramirezjr7(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
 */
  #include &lt;Servo.h&gt; 
  
  #define BOUNDARY     10      // Avoid objects closer than ~24&quot;

  Servo leftservo;  // create servo objects to control a servo 
  Servo rightservo;  // 0 = full speed forward, 90 = full stop, 180 = full reverse (ONE SERVO IS REVERSE ROTATION!!!)

  long distance1 = 0;   // First distance reading from rangefinder.
  long distance2 = 0;   // Second distance reading from rangefinder. 
  long distance3 = 0;   // Third distance reading from rangefinder.
  int irReader = 1;    // the analog input pin for the IR reader

void setup()                                                 
{
  leftservo.attach(9);  // attaches the servos on pins 9 and 10 to the servo objects 
  rightservo.attach(10);
}

// Main program
// Roam around while avoiding objects.
// 
// Set motors to move forward,
// Take distance readings over and over, 
// as long as no objects are too close (determined by BOUNDARY).
// If object is too close, avoid it -- back up and turn.
// Repeat.

void loop()                     
{    
  do 
  {
    forward(); // Robot moves forward continuously.    
    distance1 =  analogRead(irReader);// Take a distance reading from the IR sensor
    delay(30);
    distance2 =  analogRead(irReader);// Take a distance reading from the IR sensor
    delay(30);   
    distance3 = analogRead(irReader);// Take a distance reading from the IR sensor
    delay(30);
    distance1 = ((distance1 + distance2 + distance3)/3);
  }
  while(distance1 &lt; BOUNDARY);      // Loop while no objects close-by.
    // Robot has sensed a nearby object and exited the while loop. Take evasive action to avoid object.     
    backward();    // Move backward 300ms.          
    delay(300);     
    rightTurn();   // Turn right 500ms. ~ 45 degrees  
    delay(500);     
 } // end Main program

void forward()
{ 
    leftservo.write(0);           // tell servo to go to position in variable 'pos'
    rightservo.write(180);        // tell servo to go to position in variable 'pos'
    delay(500);
}  

void backward()
{
    leftservo.write(180);           // tell servo to go to position in variable 'pos'
    rightservo.write(0);           // tell servo to go to position in variable 'pos'           
}

void rightTurn()
{
    leftservo.write(0);           // tell servo to go to position in variable 'pos'
    rightservo.write(0);           // tell servo to go to position in variable 'pos'
}</pre>
</div><font size="5">Video as promised!!</font><br />
<br />
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~4/EmvDgrOIKCs" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
			<dc:creator>mannyr7</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog.php?b=202</guid>
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		<item>
			<title>robotix</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/VVwIlqLseQs/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:58:35 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[Technology Robotix Society invites all robot enthusiasts to 
ROBOTiX2010 
ROBOTiX is Asia's largest college level robotics fest held in IIT...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>Technology Robotix Society invites all robot enthusiasts to<br />
ROBOTiX2010<br />
ROBOTiX is Asia's largest college level robotics fest held in IIT<br />
Kharagpur during it's mega technomanagement fest Ksitij from 28th-31st<br />
Jan 2010.<br />
With the success of ROBOTiX09 which saw participation from over 1000<br />
teams with over 2.5 lakhs worth prize money being distributed, ROBOTiX<br />
has made its mark in the robotics community<br />
ROBOTiX returns in a new avatar with more challenging events and over<br />
3 lakhs to be given away in prize money.<br />
This years event challenges participants, from colleges all around the<br />
world, with 7 intriguing events.<br />
8MileX- India's first outdoor ,image processing robotics event.<br />
Participants will compete to build a robot that is able to navigate a<br />
street and perform a series of driving manouveres.<br />
ASME SDC- In association with American Society of Mechanical Engineers<br />
ROBOTiX challenges participants to come up with automated solutions to<br />
the real world problem of garbage sorting.<br />
eXplore - Participants build robots to navigate an obstacle course and<br />
release trapped targets. The catch? It's all underwater.<br />
TribotX Tournament- Teams will have their resourcefullness stretched<br />
to the limit. An event involving three tasks with the problem<br />
statement being released just 12 hours before the task.<br />
Xants- An online event where participants need only submit their code.<br />
Employing concepts like swarm logic and resource optimization, sure to<br />
get the gray cells firing.<br />
Xplode- Robotic co-operation opens new avenues for what robots can do.<br />
participants have to build a grid navigator which searches for mines<br />
and relays it back to another robot which finds a path avoiding the<br />
mines.<br />
Xtension- Participants have to build a team of robots both manual and<br />
autonomous to work together to cross a series of chasms.<br />
<br />
Further details are availiable on our website<br />
<a href="http://www.robotix.in" target="_blank">www.robotix.in</a><br />
<br />
If you have a doubt please post it on our forum. We'll be happy .<br />
<br />
The ROBOTiX Team</div>

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			<dc:creator>shrutikhatri</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog.php?b=201</guid>
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		<item>
			<title>XMOS XC-2 :: First Impressions</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/bhFg99CJsDI/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:59:31 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[[Note:  Click photos once to enlarge, twice for full-size, some are very detailed if you care. ;)] 
 
After DAYS of USPS screw-up, I finally received...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><font size="1"><i>[Note:  Click photos once to enlarge, twice for full-size, some are very detailed if you care. ;)]</i></font><br />
<br />
After DAYS of USPS screw-up, I finally received my <a href="http://www.xmos.com/products/development-kits/xc-2-ethernet-kit" target="_blank">XMOS XC-2</a> yesterday afternoon.  <font size="1">[As a side-note:  The only nice thing I can say about the United States Postal Service is that they are so horrible they actually make UPS look competent...]</font><br />
<br />
The board arrived in a nice plastic case, sorta like a DVD case on steroids.  Opening it up, there was the dev board (they note it's credit-card sized, but it's always hard for me to appreciate just how tiny these things are getting!), the XTAG programming interface, and a USB self-retracting cable.  They're stored in cut-out foam.<br />
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<a href="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog_attachment.php?attachmentid=43&amp;d=1254854426" rel="Lightbox" id="attachment43" target="_blank"><img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog_attachment.php?attachmentid=43&amp;thumb=1&amp;d=1254854426" class="thumbnail" border="0" alt="Click image for larger version

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A couple things not immediately apparent:  <a href="http://www.xmos.com" target="_blank">XMOS</a> thought through this thing enough ahead that they included flat-bottomed stand-offs and a resealable anti-static bag.  Nice touch!  Every bit of packaging says &quot;been there, done that...&quot;<br />
<br />
But that's just the start of the excess.  When you open the static bag and pull that board out - it takes your breath away.  It is _gorgeous_.  Not at all what we've become accustomed to as hobbyists.  Clearly <a href="http://www.xmos.com" target="_blank">XMOS </a>is losing money on these dev boards looking to get the volume chip-sales dollars.  Gold gold gold.  Gold everywhere.  The proto area pads are gold-plate on both sides of the board.   The XTAG connector pins on _both_ sides are gold plated.  The freakin' ground plane is gold including the mounting holes - which appear to be double-plate.  <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.xmos.com" target="_blank">XMOS </a>chose their BGA part on this board, and used the smallest SMT parts they could come up with.  The BGA part allowed them to go multi-layer and embed almost all of the traces, which contributes to the overall feeling of clean design.  I suspect they went out of their way to bury the traces in the middle layer[s] just to make the board shiny and clean.  The traces that are visible are practically microscopic.  The only through-hole components are the Ethernet interface, the XTAG connector, and the headers I soldered on, of course.<br />
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<a href="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog_attachment.php?attachmentid=44&amp;d=1254854426" rel="Lightbox" id="attachment44" target="_blank"><img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog_attachment.php?attachmentid=44&amp;thumb=1&amp;d=1254854426" class="thumbnail" border="0" alt="Click image for larger version

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I know I'm going on at length about the attractiveness of the board - and I gave some thought to why it was so surprising.  I pulled out other high-end dev boards to compare.  The Axis, the SBC-GX1, the Scenix SX-Stack eval, ... all hideous by comparison.  The thing that is probably so striking to me is that my process has always gone from protoboard (where you can't see the board for all the greenwire jumpers) to production board where I'm trying to shave fractions of a cent off the build cost to increase margin.  I never get a chance to build excessively expensive pretty boards.  Some day I'd like to, but for right now, we'll just put this in a frame and hang it on the wall when we're done. :)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.xmos.com" target="_blank">XMOS </a>even thought to include not just a power brick/wall wort - but a world-power wall wort with a handful of different plug types!  <br />
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<a href="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog_attachment.php?attachmentid=49&amp;d=1254854625" rel="Lightbox" id="attachment49" target="_blank"><img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog_attachment.php?attachmentid=49&amp;thumb=1&amp;d=1254854625" class="thumbnail" border="0" alt="Click image for larger version

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All the pads are unpopulated, giving the developer the option of soldering whatever the project warrants.  I elected to populate mine with male pins.  It was almost a shame to solder over that gold - but I used my finest leaded  solder (shhhh!  don't tell the state I still have a cache of it! ;) ) and the high heat transfer of the gold made the solder flow like hot butter.  I was actually a bit nervous - I'd have never lived down blowing up that chip with excessive heat-load, but I kept the station down to 280deg and did the 5-on-5-off thing and the chip never got more than about 20deg above ambient.  In fact, it runs way hotter than it got soldering, but that's getting ahead of the review.<br />
<br />
<br />
I followed the Getting Started.  Well sorta.  Kinda.  You know... ;)  The onboard web server on the <a href="http://www.xmos.com/products/development-kits/xc-2-ethernet-kit" target="_blank">XC-2</a> actually takes some of the excitement out.  Like everything else, it was clean and easy.  Plug in a network cable, power it on, the leds cycle letting you know it's plugged in, hit the onboard webserver (which dhcp'd almost instantly on my local network), boom.  There's the board.  Don't believe it?  You can turn LEDs on and off and check the status of the onboard buttons - eyup - the board is talking to the network.  I had to check and make sure.  <br />
<br />
<a href="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog_attachment.php?attachmentid=47&amp;d=1254854426" rel="Lightbox" id="attachment47" target="_blank"><img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog_attachment.php?attachmentid=47&amp;thumb=1&amp;d=1254854426" class="thumbnail" border="0" alt="Click image for larger version

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I was going to write a tutorial for the installation of the toolchain, but there's nothing to write.  <a href="http://www.xmos.com/technology/design-tools" target="_blank">Download one file</a>.  Run the installer.  Pick the directory.  Take a bio-break, come back and it's done.  That's all.  No muss, no fuss.  If anything, it's easier than the Arduino environment to install.  Larger download (90+ MB), but these days that's a big &quot;so what&quot;.<br />
<br />
After installing the environment, I plugged in the power and USB to the board (using my own cable, thanks.  Those reel cables are cute, but my physical environment is already set up with high grade cables for everything imaginable...), and Windows XP recognized a composite USB device.  I turned away for a minute, turned back, and everything was installed.  Really?<br />
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<a href="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog_attachment.php?attachmentid=46&amp;d=1254854426" rel="Lightbox" id="attachment46" target="_blank"><img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog_attachment.php?attachmentid=46&amp;thumb=1&amp;d=1254854426" class="thumbnail" border="0" alt="Click image for larger version

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Next I executed the IDE, which is based on Eclipse, and it started right up with the guided tutorials.  I ran through a couple, tweaked them, tossed them out to the board, and just no fuss and no muss.  The <a href="http://www.xmos.com" target="_blank">XMOS </a>feels more mature than the Arduino environment even though the Arduino has massive library support.  The <a href="http://www.xmos.com" target="_blank">XMOS </a>has simulation and the comforting familiarity of full-on gdb debugger.  Just another place where it feels more commercial instead of hobby.  A little more &quot;serious tool&quot;.  And that's where it's not just cosmetic.  With parallel execution, multi-core-multi-thread, those tools are going to be a requirement later...<br />
<br />
<a href="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog_attachment.php?attachmentid=48&amp;d=1254854426" rel="Lightbox" id="attachment48" target="_blank"><img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog_attachment.php?attachmentid=48&amp;thumb=1&amp;d=1254854426" class="thumbnail" border="0" alt="Click image for larger version

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So I played a little more with getting different processors to run different code simultaneously, played a bit with the threading, and went to bed.  Enough damage for one evening.<br />
<br />
All in all, I'd guess, including populating the board (until I ran out of headers :o ), it took probably three hours to get to the point that I was writing original code and feeling comfortable with the basics.  IMHO, that's not all that bad for an entirely new [to me] architecture.  I'm sure it will be wicked-harder once I start trying to do wicked-harder stuff, but it's nice to know I have gdb and the simulator to help with that...<br />
<br />
A note on populating the proto-area headers:  <a href="http://www.xmos.com/support/documentation" target="_blank">Check the PDFs</a> for the <a href="http://www.xmos.com/published/xc2hw" target="_blank">hardware manual</a> <i>[F, Chap 7, at the time of this writing]</i> or look closely at the underside of the board.  You don't need to populate every row most likely.  The second and third rows are tied together and then the fourth-fifth-sixth are tied to each other.  I ran out of headers before I could populate Core-3, Port B.  I'll take care of it when my next order comes in...<br />
<br />
That's all for now!  I'll post more when I have a chance to write something fun... :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog_attachment.php?attachmentid=46&amp;d=1254854426" rel="Lightbox" id="attachment46" target="_blank"><img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog_attachment.php?attachmentid=46&amp;thumb=1&amp;d=1254854426" class="thumbnail" border="0" alt="Click image for larger version

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			<dc:creator>Adrenalynn</dc:creator>
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		<item>
			<title>Christmas in September...</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/YvXmEsYSTao/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:18:42 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[I ordered a Tamiya track and wheel kit, double motor gearbox and 1/2" plastic ball caster late Friday night. Also a Boarduino and USB to TTL cable...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>I ordered a Tamiya track and wheel kit, double motor gearbox and 1/2&quot; plastic ball caster late Friday night. Also a Boarduino and USB to TTL cable Saturday morning from Adafruit Industries. I went to see &quot;Gamer&quot; after work today;(:sad: sucked big-time, don't bother). Anyway, just got home and EVERYTHING arrived already! Kudos to Adafruit, Pololu, and the US Postal Service!!!</div>

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			<dc:creator>mannyr7</dc:creator>
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		<item>
			<title>Robust Multi-Target General Human Recognition (XMOS Challenge)</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/t8tRpKfHmbo/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:56:14 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>Woot!  It looks like XMOS (http://www.xmos.com) will be hooking me up with a DevKit...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>Woot!  It looks like <a href="http://www.xmos.com" target="_blank">XMOS</a> will be hooking me up with a <a href="https://www.xmos.com/products/development-kits/xc-1-development-kit" target="_blank">DevKit</a>.  I've been working on a pretty robust method of recognizing and tracking humans via video.  My plan is to attempt to embed a more limited version within the tiny little <a href="https://www.xmos.com/store/catalog" target="_blank">XMOS</a>.  Don't let the small size fool you - it's got some clocks behind it!<br />
<br />
For those unfamiliar with <a href="http://www.xmos.com" target="_blank">XMOS</a>, they are a company that specializes in <a href="http://www.xmos.com/technology/xcore" target="_blank">high-performance event-driven multi-threaded single and multicore microprocessors for digital electronics that need a lot of integer MIPs</a>.  Firmware reprogrammable DSPs, effectively.  Perfect for rapid prototyping and fast time-to-market - which also makes them ideal for the robotics hobbyist.  They have their own C compiler (XC) as well as supporting standards C, C++, and Assembler - <a href="http://www.xmos.com/technology/open-source" target="_blank">they're big on open-source tools support.</a>  They  support the <a href="http://www.xmos.com/technology/open-source" target="_blank">GNU GDB Debugger</a> which is nice because it cuts the learning curve down, and creates a familiar tool-chain for developers.  They have their own simulation tools as well, making it a really complete development environment.<br />
<br />
In fact, the <a href="http://www.mech-warefare.com" target="_blank">mech-warfare</a> group should look into it because <a href="http://www.xmos.com/applications/comms/usb-class-library-hid" target="_blank">they already have HID support available</a> - makes designing custom controls for the mech a lot easier!<br />
<br />
Their <a href="https://www.xmos.com/products/xs1-l-family/l1lq64" target="_blank">sample pricing is as low as $7/unit</a>, with very little support circuitry required.<br />
<br />
I'll be using my BLOG here to track my progress - from setting up the tool chain to implementing an integer linpack (I hope!), and on to the &quot;tough stuff&quot;.<br />
<br />
Stay Tuned for More!</div>

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			<dc:creator>Adrenalynn</dc:creator>
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			<title>Meet Emiglio!</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/Ljemv-lLI8w/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:43:44 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>Image: http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/gallery/files/2/8/4/0/cimg4168.jpg  
  
This is Emiliglio! I found him at the Goodwill the other day. For...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/gallery/files/2/8/4/0/cimg4168.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br />
 <br />
This is Emiliglio! I found him at the Goodwill the other day. For $5.99 AS IS, he was marked. Searching the internet, it looks like he was made around 1996 by GP Toys and features differential drive, light up LED eyes, and brightly colored head panels and a speaker in his head. Speaker? Oh yes, this is the good part. He originally came with a transmitter you could speak into and your voice would come out in one of three settings, Robot, Human, or Martian! I didn't see the transmitter laying around, but I'm gonna go back and see if maybe I can find it. He also has a rotating head and poseable elbows, rotating wrists and VERY strong spring-loaded grippers (all of which are manual, not motorized :() . He stands 2 feet tall and has a cargo pocket in the rear which is rated to 1 lb. according to the manufacturer. He also originally came with a tray that was held with one of his grippers making him a li'l robo-butler, but I didn't see this either.<br />
 <br />
So, after a careful disassembly and bath in warm soapy water, Emiliglio looks good as new! All the original stickers are there, undamaged and still as bright and shiny as Christmas day 1996! The original brainboard came on a slide-out tray in the back of his head. I carefully snipped the two bundles of wiring from the board (one for batteries and motors in the base, another for lights and sound in the head) and will put molex plugs on these. Hopefully, I can locate the transmitter. Then I can switch between factory spec and the custom upgrades to come.<br />
 <br />
PLANS: <br />
1. Drivetrain: All the electronics still work, but these motors are really loud and whiny! Ideally, I'd like to put some treads under here with dual high torque motors and optical encoders. <br />
2. Sensors: Probably 3 IR and 3 ultrasonic (one forward and one each 45 degrees off-center). Maybe sound sensors in the ear pods. IP camera behind the black eyeshield for remote piloting.<br />
3. Structural: Emiglio is made of very durable ABS plastic. He is also large and hollow, so I plan to make some internal decks with slide out trays from the rear for ease of experimenting.<br />
4. Power: He ran off 4 D-cell batteries, which sit around the drive motors in the base and there is a charging port here as well. Bonus! These will get the heave-ho and a 12V gel-cell <a href="http://www.trossenrobotics.com/store/p/3448-Gel-Cell-12V-7-2AH-Zeus.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.trossenrobotics.com/store...-2AH-Zeus.aspx</a> and charging system will be integrated in their place.<br />
5. Brains: As stated before, There is a voluminous amount of empty space in this guy! Sooo, either an Arduino for simplicity, my Dell Mini9 netbook could fit in here, or a pico itx system, or my unused Netgear router running linux. So many possibilities! I think I'll try the router first, and upgrade once the sensory package starts falling into place.<br />
6. Voice: Oh, if only I could extract that vocal circuit he came with! I'll make do with either a Speakjet board or possibly HAL reader if I go the PC route.<br />
 <br />
Well there it is. My second bot under way. Please, all questions, comments, and especially suggestions are appreciated! :)</div>

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			<dc:creator>mannyr7</dc:creator>
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			<title><![CDATA[Manny's Robot Blog]]></title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/Zw6VAblevnA/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:28:59 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[I've decided to create this blog to document my progress on CLYDE, my biped mech warfare robot. His purpose is to battle other biped and quadroped...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>I've decided to create this blog to document my progress on CLYDE, my biped mech warfare robot. His purpose is to battle other biped and quadroped robots at Robogames 2010. His armament consists of a machine gun, firing 6mm plastic airsoft bb's and a gripping claw. Clyde is not autonomous. Piloting is by laptop computer, running custom software to a Lynxmotion Bot Board 2, still to be coded at this point. For vision, a Trendnet IP110W wifi video camera transmits what the bot sees to the same laptop. Clyde features 4 degrees of freedom per leg. The pan and tilt head links the main gun to the video camera, while the right arm features 4 degrees of freedom, including the gripper. Here is my progress, thus far.<br />
<br />
<img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/gallery/files/2/8/4/0/photo1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></div>

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			<dc:creator>mannyr7</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog.php?b=196</guid>
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		<item>
			<title>1st post/update on my robot</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/fkfWEZYM_ik/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:28:33 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>Well last week i got my Bioloid Comprehensive Kit and i started building it that day. Finished building the legs the first day (4 hrs cuz i took my...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>Well last week i got my Bioloid Comprehensive Kit and i started building it that day. Finished building the legs the first day (4 hrs cuz i took my time). The next day i looked over the legs just to make sure they were all aligned properly and everything was screwed in right and the correct motors were in the correct spots. Turns out I must have been really tired the first night cuz some of the motors were in the wrongs spots and in the wrong direction haha. After like an hour of corrections i continued on with the arms and managed to build those all correctly! The torso was pretty easy to build with only minor complications. Inserted the pcb and the arms and connected all the wires, aligned all the motors, and then connected the sensor to the top part of the torso and screwed in it and then it was physically complete! I tried the basic preloaded motions and it moved and made sounds...however only the arms moved and the legs didnt (is this supposed to happen?)...now im at a UW camp thing and wont be able to do anything related to the robot until like the 21st. Any comments, tips/pointers for building/programming?<br />
Thanks,<br />
<font face="Arial Narrow"><font color="Black">Calvin</font></font> :mad:</div>

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			<dc:creator>CTR1</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog.php?b=195</guid>
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		<item>
			<title>first day at trosen robotics</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/GkWYS8DaywM/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 18 Jul 2009 08:58:52 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>hello , 
it was my first day after joining trosen robotics and it was jus awesome but i found a  gr8 setback when someone found it very absurd that i...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>hello ,<br />
it was my first day after joining trosen robotics and it was jus awesome but i found a  gr8 setback when someone found it very absurd that i had replied the post in a capitial letters.wat's the problem in it huh????it is way of thinking of the person and not the appearance which tells about  the  behaviour..........one should not judge a book by it's cover .so i wanna go against that wat is the problem in writing in different styles.it was  very very very funny to listen this weird story .lolzzzzzzz.well so i m now into this new place and i will hopefully help someone and be helped by many .<br />
bye,<br />
cheers,<br />
-gaurav parida:D</div>

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			<dc:creator>gaurav.p</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog.php?b=188</guid>
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			<title>How does a .Net developer build a robot?</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/uHGiTjTG9wU/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:48:25 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>…having never done it before it is a challenge. I recall the first time I ran across one of the Trossen YouTube videos. I was pretty interested but...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><font color="black"><font face="Verdana">…having never done it before it is a challenge. I recall the first time I ran across one of the Trossen YouTube videos. I was pretty interested but after assembling items in the shopping cart I abandoned the idea. This can be an expensive hobby. A year later my curiosity got the better of me and I bought a Phidgets interface kit. </font></font><br />
 <br />
<font color="black"><font face="Verdana">I had been looking for a solution to a “toy” light tree for a race track, not for racing but for tuning my brother in laws 4-wheeler (ATV). I was impressed with how accessible the Phidgets hardware was with the .Net library. So much so, that I am mystified why more developers don’t already know about it. It is sooo easy to get into. </font></font><br />
 <br />
<font color="black"><font face="Verdana">So, a few projects down the road and I’d decided I wanted to build a robot that I can interact with. I guess it was from watching Jimmy Neutron with my kids and thinking “How hard could it be to create a Godard?”, Jimmy’s robot dog. Of course nothing I could make would even come close to that but since being a software developer in a small town (that works for a company in a state far away); I guess I needed a buddy.</font></font><br />
 <br />
<font color="black"><font face="Verdana">Being a high level developer, I get PC’s. I don’t get PWM signals, I don’t get loading Amtel boards with code and those wheelie things that some people say you need to monitor motor positions. There are a lot of developers that won't either. </font></font><br />
 <br />
<img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/gallery/files/3/1/8/2/002.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br />
 <br />
 <br />
<font color="black"><font face="Verdana">Having said all that, I chose to buy a Mini-ITX board and build something up from there. Pico ITX is a bit more expensive and Micro ITX is way too big. Nano-ITX is the odd ball of the bunch and still more costly than a Mini. I wanted to order a case for it too but those were too expensive. I found a good one but the site’s stock was out…no telling when they’d have more in. So… I built it out of an electrical box at the hardware store. I have no idea what its original intended purpose was but I found modifying it was easy. Drilling and cutting resulted in smooth clean edges every time.</font></font><br />
 <br />
<img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/gallery/files/3/1/8/2/003.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br />
 <br />
<font color="black"><font face="Verdana">I also bought a pico power supply but found I needed to also buy an ATX power extension to plug it in. Damn capacitors do it every time!!!</font></font><br />
 <br />
<font color="black"><font face="Verdana">Since the board had a single PCI slot I used a wireless card I had lying around. Buying stuff was getting on my nerves at this point because I had also purchased a web cam and a pan and tilt kit with the servo controller board too. Did I mention this seems like an expensive hobby?</font></font><br />
 <br />
<img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/gallery/files/3/1/8/2/009.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br />
 <br />
<font color="black"><font face="Verdana">I was barely able to fit in an 80mm fan. I was a bit concerned about heat initially so I left the case IO panel off until I could be sure things were running fine.</font></font><br />
 <br />
<font color="black"><font face="Verdana">I used a SATA drive that was lying around. I was pretty happy with the mounting position once I got it in. I had to zip tie the back of the drive because the mounting holes only lined up with the front of the drive. This worked out in my favor as I was able to rotate the drive upwards giving me room to access the PS beneath it.</font></font><br />
 <br />
<img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/gallery/files/3/1/8/2/010.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br />
 <br />
<font color="black"><font face="Verdana">So, here it sits on a file cabinet next to my desk, just waiting for my really bad coding skills to give it some kind of life. </font></font><br />
 <br />
<img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/gallery/files/3/1/8/2/012.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br />
 <br />
<font color="black"><font face="Verdana">If I get the bugs just right I might make CNN as the first man to die at the hands of a robot. </font></font><font color="black"><font face="Wingdings"><font face="Wingdings">J</font></font></font></div>

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			<dc:creator>nbdeveloper</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog.php?b=185</guid>
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		<item>
			<title>Webcam capture and image processing - first look</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/OOecvWk3iSo/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:56:16 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[I'll say upfront, I've never captured an image from a web cam before. I went looking for a .Net library that is easy to use and full featured. I've...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>I'll say upfront, I've never captured an image from a web cam before. I went looking for a .Net library that is easy to use and full featured. I've looked over these articles:<br />
 <br />
<a href="http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/Intel_OpenCV.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/Intel_OpenCV.aspx</a><br />
 <br />
<a href="http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/alip.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/alip.aspx</a><br />
 <br />
<a href="http://www.codeproject.com/KB/audio-video/haar_detection.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.codeproject.com/KB/audio-...detection.aspx</a><br />
 <br />
<a href="http://www.codeproject.com/KB/graphics/edge_detection.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.codeproject.com/KB/graphi...detection.aspx</a><br />
 <br />
Two things came to mind after a bit of Googling for .Net capable imaging libraries. <b>One</b>: Using OpenCV as a base is the obvious choice. <b>Two</b>: <a href="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/Members/Chesnokov-Yuriy" target="_blank"><b>Chesnokov Yuriy</b></a> is brilliant.<br />
 <br />
I found OpenCVdotNet and the <a href="http://code.google.com/p/opencvdotnet/wiki/Tutorial" target="_blank">code sample </a>seemed pretty easy to do a simple image capture. I installed opencv 1.0 (there's a 1.1 but opencvdotnet doesn't work with it) and tried it out. Sure enough, pretty simple and easy to use. Several lines of code later and I had a streaming (refreshing) image in a winform app. Nice. I also enjoyed reading thier paper on the <a href="http://opencvdotnet.googlecode.com/files/Tracking%20of%20Humans%20Using%20Masked%20Histograms%20and%20Mean%20Shift.pdf" target="_blank">Tracking of Humans Using Masked Histograms and Mean Shift</a>.<br />
 <br />
After a bit of looking around in the API I noticed OpenCV had a machine learning area that had not been implimented in OpenCVdotNet. Bummer. I have no idea what that entails but I don't want to be left out. So I went looking around at other libraries. I found a thread on <a href="http://www.stackoverflow.com" target="_blank">StackOverflow</a> that suggested a few. The one that seemed commented on the most was <a href="http://www.emgu.com/wiki/index.php/Emgu_CV" target="_blank">Emgu.CV</a>. After installing and reading some of the wiki documentation I can tell this is the one to use for a .Net developer.<br />
 <br />
I created a winform app:<br />
 <br />
<div align="center"><img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/picture.php?albumid=55&amp;pictureid=261" border="0" alt="" /></div> <br />
I dropped a picture box control in it and docked it to the form and set the dock property to fill. I also dropped in a timer control and set the interval property to 40 (24 frames/sec ?). I also double clicked the interval event for the timer i the properties dialog to stub out the elapsed method. I love that...no code so far... <br />
 <br />
After adding in the references to the Emgu libraries and adding the using statements, I created a Capture object in the class and created an image from the capture in the timer interval method then set the image to the pictrebox image and wha-la! &quot;Streaming&quot; video to my winform app.<br />
 <br />
<div align="center"><img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/picture.php?albumid=55&amp;pictureid=262" border="0" alt="" /></div> <br />
I decided, without knowing anything about the library (but having a little experience in photography and image editing) that I would try out the methods available in my image. The one I liked the best was Dilate, I think it made my hand look like a robot:<br />
 <br />
<div align="center"><img src="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/picture.php?albumid=55&amp;pictureid=263" border="0" alt="" /></div> <br />
I tried out different methods and added some comments at the end. Now I'll have to go read some documentation to really understand what I'm doing. Pretty sweet though! Here's the code (only 3 lines needed to get a streaming video):<br />
 <br />
<font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">using</font></font></font></font><font size="2"> System;</font><br />
<font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">using</font></font></font></font><font size="2"> System.Collections.Generic;</font><br />
<font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">using</font></font></font></font><font size="2"> System.ComponentModel;</font><br />
<font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">using</font></font></font></font><font size="2"> System.Data;</font><br />
<font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">using</font></font></font></font><font size="2"> System.Drawing;</font><br />
<font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">using</font></font></font></font><font size="2"> System.Linq;</font><br />
<font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">using</font></font></font></font><font size="2"> System.Text;</font><br />
<font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">using</font></font></font></font><font size="2"> System.Windows.Forms;</font><br />
<font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">using</font></font></font></font><font size="2"> Emgu.CV;</font><br />
<font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">using</font></font></font></font><font size="2"> Emgu.CV.UI;</font><br />
<font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">using</font></font></font></font><font size="2"> Emgu.CV.Structure;</font><br />
<font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">namespace</font></font></font></font><font size="2"> OpenCVdotNet_Test</font><br />
<font size="2">{</font><br />
<font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">public</font></font></font></font><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">partial</font></font></font></font><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">class</font></font></font></font><font size="2"><font color="#2b91af"><font size="2"><font color="#2b91af">Form1</font></font></font></font><font size="2"> : </font><font size="2"><font color="#2b91af"><font size="2"><font color="#2b91af">Form</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2">{</font><br />
<font size="2"><font color="#2b91af"><font size="2"><font color="#2b91af">Capture</font></font></font></font><font size="2"> capture = </font><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">new</font></font></font></font><font size="2"><font color="#2b91af"><font size="2"><font color="#2b91af">Capture</font></font></font></font><font size="2">();</font><br />
<font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">public</font></font></font></font><font size="2"> Form1()</font><br />
<font size="2">{</font><br />
<font size="2">InitializeComponent(); </font><br />
<font size="2">}</font><br />
<font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">private</font></font></font></font><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">void</font></font></font></font><font size="2"> timer1_Tick(</font><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">object</font></font></font></font><font size="2"> sender, </font><font size="2"><font color="#2b91af"><font size="2"><font color="#2b91af">EventArgs</font></font></font></font><font size="2"> e)</font><br />
<font size="2">{</font><br />
<font size="2"><font color="#2b91af"><font size="2"><font color="#2b91af">Image</font></font></font></font><font size="2">&lt;</font><font size="2"><font color="#2b91af"><font size="2"><font color="#2b91af">Bgr</font></font></font></font><font size="2">, </font><font size="2"><font color="#2b91af"><font size="2"><font color="#2b91af">Byte</font></font></font></font><font size="2">&gt; image = capture.QueryFrame();</font><br />
<font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image._Dilate(10); //pixelize outlines, reinforce shape outlines</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image._EqualizeHist(); //error, needs 8uC1 images?</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image._Erode(10); //shape pixelization - lower contrast, lose shape outlines</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image._Flip(Emgu.CV.CvEnum.FLIP.HORIZONTAL); //duh, it flips the image</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image._SmoothGaussian(10, 10, 10, 10); //doesn't work, something about mask height and width needing to be &gt;= 1</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//Bgr bgr1 = new Bgr(1, 1, 1);</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//Bgr bgr2 = new Bgr(2, 2, 2);</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image.Canny(bgr1, bgr2); //works, but nothing shows up, probably needs correct values to mark the edges...</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image.Convolution(new ConvolutionKernelF(100, 100)); //works, but nothing shows up, probably needs correct values to convolute the image...</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image.Dilate(10); //no change to image</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image.Erode(10); //no change to image</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image.Flip(Emgu.CV.CvEnum.FLIP.HORIZONTAL); //no change to image</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image.GoodFeaturesToTrack(2, 10, 10, 10); //error, averaging window size must be an odd number &gt;= 3</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image.PyrDown(); //no change to image</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image.PyrUp(); //4 times larger image, no change, probably because the picture box is a set HxW</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image.Resize(240, 320); //um, just resizes</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image.ROI = new Rectangle(100, 100, 100, 100); //zoom, very cool!</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image.Rotate(45, new Bgr(Color.Blue)); //no change to image</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image.SmoothBilatral(10, 10); //error, only square windows of odd size?</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image.SmoothBlur(10, 10); //error, something about mask height and width needing to be &gt;= 1</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image.SmoothGaussian( //same error as above with _SmoothGausian</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image.SmoothMedian(10);//error, something about mask height and width needing to be &gt;= 1</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image.Split(); //splits but no change to image, this must allow manipulating of the RGB layers</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2"><font color="#008000"><font size="2"><font color="#008000">//image = image.Sub(new Bgr(Color.Blue)); //subtract color - cool!</font></font><br />
</font></font><font size="2">pictureBox1.Image = image.ToBitmap(pictureBox1.Width, pictureBox1.Height);</font><br />
<font size="2">}</font><br />
<font size="2">}</font><br />
<font size="2">}</font></div>

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			<dc:creator>nbdeveloper</dc:creator>
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		<item>
			<title>Shameless plug for Trossen</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/5XFFZkufmN4/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:32:31 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[http://stackoverflow.com/questions/539859/how-to-create-real-life-robots 
  
As of 6/8/2009 I'm last on the page.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><a href="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/539859/how-to-create-real-life-robots" target="_blank">http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5...al-life-robots</a><br />
 <br />
As of 6/8/2009 I'm last on the page.</div>

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			<dc:creator>nbdeveloper</dc:creator>
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			<title>StackOverflow</title>
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			<pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:31:04 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>http://stackoverflow.com/questions/966911/fastest-net-and-sql-data-types 
  
If you want milk, go to the cow. 
  
Image:...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><a href="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/966911/fastest-net-and-sql-data-types" target="_blank">http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9...sql-data-types</a><br />
 <br />
If you want milk, go to the cow.<br />
 <br />
<img src="http://stackoverflow.com/content/img/so/logo.png" border="0" alt="" /></div>

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			<dc:creator>nbdeveloper</dc:creator>
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			<title>Geeks there?</title>
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			<pubDate>Thu, 28 May 2009 06:56:57 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>Was wondering if I could teach some geeks here the uses of Dahn Yoga, and in return gain some knowledge about different technologies. Give and Take,...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>Was wondering if I could teach some geeks here the uses of Dahn Yoga, and in return gain some knowledge about different technologies. Give and Take, i always an interesting concept.</div>

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			<dc:creator>thomasgrantnice</dc:creator>
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		<item>
			<title>Wall-e update</title>
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			<pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2009 02:29:13 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[*Might be slow but at least I'm ruff!* 
  
Wasn't sure wether to make my Wall-e a brand new or bashed-up unit. But after my rough ass go at painting...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><b>Might be slow but at least I'm ruff!</b><br />
 <br />
Wasn't sure wether to make my Wall-e a brand new or bashed-up unit. But after my rough ass go at painting the thing- made the decision a bit easier. <br />
 <br />
Problems and wins so far:<br />
Pico P700 stopped working<br />
5A sabertooth too small for the banebots motors and 3&quot; track<br />
The firgelli actuators working well straight from ssc32. <br />
Surveyor svs working well and driving 10A sabertooth. (highly recomend the SVS, support is excellent and continually being improved)<br />
Wall-e's legs working well, independantly moving each side with approx 20mm travel.<br />
Case was laser cut 1mm m/steel and folded for $70 Aus.<br />
 <br />
I also looked at the bits and pieces left over from this one and found there was enough to make a smaller version (easy to get side-tracked). This one will be a lot more solid and easy to experiment with and will use distance, pir, light sensors with a axon and would like to add vision later on. (see 3d model)</div>


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			<dc:creator>mallster</dc:creator>
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			<title>MomPC: add video and audio outputs to Combo VCR/DCD/TV (progress 001)</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/HeXyIfOh-dQ/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Sun, 19 Apr 2009 08:55:51 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>*Significant progress! * 
 
*Found a scope on Ebay from someone very nearby. Today I took readings from many logical locations on the Magnavox combo...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><b><font color="#26353f"><font face="Arial">Significant progress! </font></font></b><br />
<br />
<b><font color="#26353f"><font face="Arial">Found a scope on Ebay from someone very nearby. Today I took readings from many logical locations on the Magnavox combo TV’s motherboard and came up with the following details:</font></font></b><br />
<br />
<b><font color="#26353f"><font face="Arial">Please check this web page:</font></font></b><br />
<b><font face="Arial"><a href="http://www.kevinwaite.com/MomPC/" target="_blank"><font color="#800080">http://www.kevinwaite.com/MomPC/</font></a></font></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<b><font face="Arial">Before I start connecting other video equipment to jumper J1298 – if anyone out there knows about the following measured voltage increases. </font></b><br />
<br />
<b><font face="Arial">J1298 (a) appears to be a composite video signal – but it also appears to be 2 times greater voltage than the input composite found on Ext. V-IN J1297. J1298 (a) carries the selected signal of DVD/VCR and TV.</font></b><br />
<br />
<b><font face="Arial">The RED J1831 (and it shows more trace activity was more red is shown) (same for Green and for Blue) – these signals are about 6 times greater than the  input composite found on Ext. V-IN J1297. Test points RED GREEN BLUE test points carry the selected signal of DVD/VCR and TV.</font></b><br />
<br />
<b><font face="Arial">Any input or guidance – is greatly appreciated.</font></b><br />
<br />
<b><font face="Arial">Thanks.</font></b><br />
<br />
<b><font face="Arial">Sincerely,</font></b><br />
<b><font face="Arial">Kevin Waite</font></b><br />
 <br />
<b><font face="Arial"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Arial">The main Tuner / VCR board found inside is a: <br />
BTD850F01012 x4 Triple Main PCB -- the VCR box is found <br />
above this board. I have found this board for sale as: <br />
VHS PLAYER ASSY BTD850F01012 X4 from MAGNAVOX 27MDTR20/17 <br />
Part Type: VHS PLAYER ASSY </font></font></font></b><br />
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			<dc:creator>kgw</dc:creator>
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			<title>Tricks of the trade, usage conventions, and reverse voltage regulators...</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/lq9B0i4AvOQ/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:42:50 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[Alrighty, 
I've been watching blog activity on trossen and it's been a little slow so I'm back to spice it up with my progress.  Work has kept me...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>Alrighty,<br />
I've been watching blog activity on trossen and it's been a little slow so I'm back to spice it up with my progress.  Work has kept me busy so I just got to sit down last night and finish trouble shooting my servo driver.<br />
 <br />
Being that my background is in computer science and I am unfamiliar with usage conventions of the atmel atmega168 or typical tricks of the trade for robotics I've learned a lot with my little project.<br />
 <br />
Current setup has a potentiometer input controlling a servo through it's full range of motion.  Full left on the potentiometer puts the servo at full left and same for the right.<br />
 <br />
Code is located here for those looking for a working example:<br />
<a href="http://pastebin.com/f7d5fb77e" target="_blank">http://pastebin.com/f7d5fb77e</a><br />
 <br />
Note that if you are going to use that code you need to have the same circuit I have or you'll break something probably.  It's just meant to be an example so someone can adapt pieces of it to their codebase(how to use the ADC or timer etc).<br />
 <br />
Alright...So I encountered quite a few issues.<br />
 <br />
<b>Reverse Voltage Regulators</b>.  Don't know what they do(reversed)...but it definitely doesn't regulate when put in backwards.  I've apparently had 9v running through my circuit intended for 5v the entire time.  Nice.  I found out when I was troubleshooting my ADC which was not doing conversions after I rotated the potentiometer enough.  I put my multi-meter on the circuit and found the output from the potentiometer was higher then 5v.  Now I'm not an electric engineer but that seemed impossible if it was getting only 5v.  So I looked at my power control circuitry and saw I had the regulator in backwards:(.  Now it's fixed.  That leads me to a trick of the robot trade.<br />
 <br />
<b>Hardware emulating a Potentiometer at a fixed value:</b><br />
So...Going along I realised I needed another potentiometer.  I use one to calibrate the intensity of my little lcd screen and I use one to drive the servo.  I also only have on potentiometer.  Knowing it's basically just an adjustable resistor I did a quick google (and I had tons of regular resistors sitting around).  I found a guitar audio website where some guy talked about putting two resistors in series and tapping the power output at the meeting point of the resistors.  In this case each resistor emulates one leg of resistance in the 3 leg potentiometer(input-output,ouput-ground).  And the point at which they meet emulates the 3rd leg(output).  Nice trick.  Probably would have known that one if were an electrical eng.  I positioned the potentiometer where I wanted it then used my multimeter to measure resistance of input to output and output to ground.<br />
I used that trick to pick a fixed value for my lcd screen and used the actual potentiometer to control the servo.  When I fixed the voltage regulator issue I also had to recalibrate my potentiometer emulator since I have a smaller input voltage.<br />
 <br />
<b>Free Running Analog to Digital converter(ADC):</b><br />
You can configure the ADC to run in Free Running mode.  This means the ADC does conversions back to back without waiting for a request.  All you have to do to make sure you don't read an invalid result is to read ADCL first with locks the result register then read ADCH and you are good:).<br />
 <br />
<b>Project Outcome:</b><br />
Servo control works with the Potentiometer Control:)<br />
 <br />
<b>Existing Problems:</b><br />
I think my interrupt handler is taking to long to execute.<br />
 <br />
Using my handling paradigm for driving the servo I have two timers.  Timer0 is throwing an interrupt every 15ms.  It causes an interrupt handler to execute which reads the ADC then takes the read result and converts it to a 1.1-1.9ms pulse on pin C4 by setting timer1 with a certain prescaler and top value.  I set the pin c4 high then start the timer, wait till it's done, then set pin c4 low.  That pin is connected to the hobby rc servo I bought and it responds by moving the a corresponding position.  I was also running an infinite loop in main() to print out the ADC value and the top value of timer1.  The problem is that the servo is working but I not seeing any prints on the lcd.  I figured that my interrupts are taking so long to execute that the lcd print doesn't get to run.  I went looking for ways to speed up execution in the datasheet and found the free running ADC trick that works but not quite enough to get me my lcd prints.<br />
 <br />
If anyone has suggestions on how to improve I would appreciate it:).  I've got my code up on pastebin.  I should really move the servo control code out of the interrupt handler:).  Probably my biggest issue.</div>

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			<dc:creator>RabidCicada</dc:creator>
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			<title>MomPC: add video and audio outputs to Combo VCR/DCD/TV</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/0j2ezt744cU/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:12:29 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>Hello, my name is Kevin Waite, I am working on a complex project for a stroke patient. One part/phase of this project is to add a 2nd TV flat screen...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>Hello, my name is Kevin Waite, I am working on a complex project for a stroke patient. One part/phase of this project is to add a 2nd TV flat screen to their environment. Very low cost is a driving factor. The patient has a MAGNAVOX 27MDTR20/17 combo TV/DVD/VCR -- and it does not have video/audio outputs -- this sucks -- because solving this -- conventionally would mean adding a cable turner DVD recorder -- and that leaves out the VCR -- this would greatly increase complexity of the IR computer controlled efforts for MomPC. <br />
<br />
Creating (hacking) an audio outputs is trival -- because I can tap the speaker left or right or both or tap the headphone jack..... Audio output is not my concern. . . <br />
<br />
The video ouput is. How does one test for a video signal? <br />
<br />
The main Tuner / VCR board found inside is a: <br />
BTD850F01012 x4 Triple Main PCB -- the VCR box is found <br />
above this board. I have found this board for sale as: <br />
VHS PLAYER ASSY BTD850F01012 X4 from MAGNAVOX 27MDTR20/17 <br />
Part Type: VHS PLAYER ASSY <br />
<br />
This board is connected to the DVD player board (or at least this 2nd &quot;DVD&quot; board is found under the DVD player box, see (b) below. (I have photos I can post.) These two boards are bridged (wire connected) via two 19 wired connectors labeled CN2804 CN2803 <br />
<br />
I can describe in great detail the various connections between the 4 primary circuit boards found within this 27MDTR20. <br />
<br />
a) BTD850F01012 x4 Triple Main PCB w/ VCR drive box above <br />
b) BTD930F01031-A DVD / power board with DVD drive box above <br />
c) high voltage TV tube board mounted vert. on the left upper part of the <br />
TV (looking at TV from the backside) <br />
d) small circuit board attached to the business end of the TV tubes cathode. <br />
<br />
This TV allows the user to select between AUX, TV, DVD, VCR -- if a DVD is started or if a tape in the VCR is started -- then the scope of TV output jumps automatically to the corresponding play beginning device either DVD or VCR. <br />
<br />
Bottom line -- if I could find the TV signal in composite / or / s-video / or / componet form -- at any pathway within the inside of this TV -- that would allow me to hack and get my desired Video output. <br />
<br />
There are 8 wire ribbon cables connecting these boards, and there is <br />
a 5 wire ribbon cable going from board (a) to the business end of the cathode of the TV tube. There is a logical flow of 8 wire ribbon connectors -- I mean -- it appears that there are both DVD and VCR 8 wire ribbon connectors going up to the vert. mounted circuit board that includes the high voltage circuits for the picture tube. <br />
<br />
Please send me any help you know about to carry out or understand if this is impossible or not. These 8 wire ribbon cables are most likely carrying the video and possibly audio signals -- does anyone have spec sheet for these or any of these boards? If these are carying a video signal what type of video signal would it be? <br />
<br />
Thank you in advance. <br />
<br />
You can learn more abour MomPC at: <br />
<a href="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog.php?b=165" target="_blank"><font color="#0000dd">http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog.php?b=165</font></a> <br />
<a href="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog.php?b=168" target="_blank"><font color="#0000dd">http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog.php?b=168</font></a> <br />
<a href="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog.php?b=169" target="_blank"><font color="#0000dd">http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog.php?b=169</font></a> <br />
<a href="http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog.php?b=172" target="_blank"><font color="#0000dd">http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/blog.php?b=172</font></a> <br />
<br />
Sincerely, <br />
Kevin Waite</div>

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			<dc:creator>kgw</dc:creator>
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			<title>The Mech that Matt Built</title>
			<link>http://feeds.trossenrobotics.com/~r/TRCommunity-Blogs/~3/TL3rSExwvYc/blog.php</link>
			<pubDate>Sat, 04 Apr 2009 02:59:00 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[I am considering a unique change in leg design. Rather than have a knee that bends, I've been thinking about having two concentric tubes that slide...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>I am considering a unique change in leg design. Rather than have a knee that bends, I've been thinking about having two concentric tubes that slide inside each other. The lower tube would be the larger tube probably made of steel to allow me to weld toes to it. The inner tube would most likely be a solid piece of UHMW with two holes drilled in it to allow cables to run through it. So technically it isn't a tube. I'll try to draft it up tonight and post some pics.<br />
 <br />
-Matt-</div>

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			<dc:creator>MSpurk</dc:creator>
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