robots.net blog for edleighton

29 Oct 2001

Mon, 29 Oct 2001 12:39:16 GMT

Hi all,

I have posted a more professional circuit diagram of the Mach 2001's motor control circuitry on my web page.

I must still document the input processing of the PIC16F84 Micro Controller , that will be published in due course.

Greetings,

Eddie

11 Sep 2001

Tue, 11 Sep 2001 09:49:34 GMT

This past weekend I gave the MACH 2001 Model II some finishing touches. The top and front covers were sprayed with gold metallic paint and that produced a lovely finish.

The sensor input programming on the PIC Micro Controller is the next step. This takes the form of interrupt processing , I must just make the time , I'm very busy training for long distance running and that takes up a lot of my free time.

I had a look at my web page stats today , and it is quite apparent that software does not seem as interesting as the robot itself? Programming the PIC is quite a rewarding challenge and it can be applied to everyday life in controlling things around the house too.

I will post some pictures in the near future of the MACH 2001 Model II clad in it's shining armour!

Greetings,

Eddie Leighton , South Africa

23 Aug 2001

Thu, 23 Aug 2001 14:01:21 GMT

Hi all,

It was a wonderful feeling to see that my PIC16F84 micro contoller worked after been programmed with a simple program written in assembler using the MPLAB development IDE from Microchip.

I use a programmer based on david tait's design. I originally had errors saying "Impossible address" but I managed to get hold of a new and better version of programmer software namely PIC84V05.ZIP and it performed well , the programming action takes less than 1 second!.

On my web site is an example PIC program which I used for the test. Have a look and hey .... let me know what you think of the MACH 2001 and the Model II. Any suggestions or comments are most welcome.

Greetings

Eddie Leighton

27 Jul 2001

Fri, 27 Jul 2001 14:08:40 GMT

Hi all,

I have not been on this web site in quite a while. I was away on holiday and really had quite a good rest. A rest can do wonders when thinking of robots.

I was quite fortunate. While discussing my robot lawnmower with an old school friend , the conversation moved to PIC controllers. Gone are the ideas of using C++ and Linux on the 386 PC controller , I'm going to throw all that out , create a more compact robot and use a PIC16F84 to do all the work! Of course I will have to program in PIC assembler using MPLAB but it seems to be a worthwhile direction in which to go!

Any suggestions on software and hardware using the PIC16F84 would be most welcome.

My old school friend even donated a PIC programmer and IC (Man am I grateful)

Okay just a short message to say Hi

Greetings,

Eddie Leighton , Lichtenburg , South Africa

22 May 2001

Tue, 22 May 2001 07:43:04 GMT

Hi all,

As promised , I have posted pictures of the new MACH 2001 Model II on the web.

The URL is www.geocities.com/zs6bne/machmodel2.htm

Greetings,

Eddie Leighton

17 May 2001

Thu, 17 May 2001 07:03:14 GMT

Hi all,

Robots.net seems to be one of the most active robot sites on the net and the whole concept seems to be working very well in joining enthusiasts worldwide. Thanks to all the developers of this site!

I am busy getting myself up to date with C++ programming which seems an ideal language to use on a PC based robot like the MACH2001.

I discovered an article on the net via Linux links and the address is http://guides.oernii.sk/c++/htm/ch06.htm

Just substitute the ch06.htm for the day (1 to 21). I did a course on C++ many years ago and it was always a dark area for me until I discovered this document. I have reached day 7 in three days! One of the guys here said he has not even reached this level in two years!

Happy roboting!

Eddie

7 May 2001

Mon, 7 May 2001 06:32:58 GMT

Hi all,

Thanks to Steve for giving me contact information for robot enthusiasts here in South Africa. I contacted Warren and we have exchanged email.

I modified the MACH 2001 so much so that the name will become the MACH 2001 Model II! The robot is a true 3 wheeler now.

I will post more info with construction details in the near future.

Greetings,

Eddie

3 May 2001

Thu, 3 May 2001 06:34:27 GMT

Reading articles on robot competitions makes me really envious! :) I don't know of such competions in South Africa , sometime I feel quite alone here. Are there any other South African robot enthusiasts?

After adding my large castor wheel I sit with a balancing problem where my centre of gravity on the MACH 2001 is more over the main drive wheels than towards the castor so I may have to rebuild the robot. One great mission so I'm still pondering over a better solution.

At this stage at work we are looking at SUSE LINUX and who knows maybe the operating system on the MACH 2001 might just become that? We should get the professional package this afternoon!

Greetings....

Eddie Leighton

22 Apr 2001

Sun, 22 Apr 2001 19:55:32 GMT

Hi all,

Just come back from a 1000 Km drive to the Northern Cape and back. I discovered ANFY from a robot enthusiast that contacted me by email. What a lovely package to enhance your website with!

Check out my robot displayed with an ANFY effect!

www.geocities.com/zs6bne/anfytest/myanfytest.htm

I was amazed I'm sure you would be too!

Greetings,

Eddie

16 Apr 2001

Mon, 16 Apr 2001 18:53:10 GMT

Hi all,

I mounted my large castor wheel onto the MACH 2001 this weekend and it worked very well. I had to make a very sturdy bracket for it after I found out the hard way that a flimsy bracket gives the effect of a car with worn shock absorbers! :)

There is more to robotics than meets the eye. I wrote a program for the MACH 2001 in PASCAL to go forward and relying on the IR Proximity sensors to avoid obstacles , but the battery voltage went low causing the IR sensitivity to decrease. The robot rammed into a cupboard and almost damaged the electronics!

Whats more to building robots is presenting it on a web page. I discovered new things in HTML for frames and although it seems simple now , it was a mission to learn. :) My son helped me there!

Well here's to a new week that lies ahead.

Happy roboting!

Eddie ..........