Well, it has been a while since I have posted anything. A lot has happened. I am out of the military after 8 long years (yeah!) and I am now living with my family up in Portland. I have got a great job and a great house.

The house has a small shop, 6x10, just enough room for me to do some work. I am currently in the process of developing a new type of electric motor that will have more torque then a standard DC motor. I am also still designing my bipedal, but it is slow going.

I will hopefully be joining a robotics group up here as soon as I find the time, heck, maybe I will start my own. Anyone interested in meeting in St. Helens Oregon?

--Ev--

Okay, it has been a while since I have posted anything, the main reason for that is because I am living with friends and I don't have any way to work on my robot. I am about to seperate from the military after eight long years of serving my country. Looking back it has been a very good learning experience for me, but I realize I am just not cut out for this life. I am planning on joining my family in Portland OR and going to college while I work. I hope to finish a degree in Computer Engineering in the next 3-4 years.

Robot wise I am just not progressing like I thought I would. There is a lot to this stuff and I get caught up in the trial and error of learning. I am still hoping to accomplish my goal of fabricating a biped and it is always in the back of my mind. Well I will post something as an update later. Until next time keep coming until you get where your going.

---Ev---

OK, I am having a heck of a time with my H-Bridge circuits! I know that they are a relatively easy circuit, but they are really holding me down. I am struggling with finding the right transistors. I will keep working at it though. Any help would be great!

---Ev---

Well, I am moving in a couple of weeks. That being said, I will have little to no time to work on my bot. I am hoping that when I get settled down again I will be able to start hitting it harder then I have been. I have been working on a new bot though. I am putting my biped on hold to complete this one. It is a tread bot, and man does it have mobility! I managed to salvage one of my son's toys, an old battery operated tank. It made a lot of sounds and moved back and forth when the 'cannon' was fired. That is all it did, wiggle back and forth. So when he had torn it up to the point I could take it without any guilt =) I jumped on it. After cracking it open I found a dual motor system that was tied together to provide forward/backward movement. I unsoldered those connections and made some new ones that provide forward/backward, left/right. I am making the H-Bridges now. I also modified the body to let it climb better. Before I did this the body stuck out past the treads, so it would not climb anything taller then itself. Now, man does it grab a hold and go! I must say that I am normally a big proponent of fabrication, and I do not like to take toys apart to make robots. I see it a lot and it works for some people, I am just not one of those people.....until now!!! Man, it is a lot easier. Anyway I will slap some sensors on it, maybe an arm, and put a STAMP for a brain. I would like to make this thing to have a deliberate purpose (like fire detection/fighting, etc.)But I haven't decided yet. I will start back on my biped later this year or at the start of '06. I would like to purchase a metal mill and a metal lathe along with an o-scope before then, but we will see. I am relocating to the Portland, OR Metro area later this year (end of Nov.) and I am looking forward to joining up with some groups up there. I'll right soon.

---Ev---

I am back home! I am so happy to be with my family again, it has been almost 5 months! My kids have changed so much, it is crazy. Well, part of my robot got smashed on the road trip home, so I will have to do repairs. I am also rearranging my work shop to allow for more room. I am not sure how much quality time I will be able to spend on completing my robot since I am moving in about 3 months and I have got a 76' Westy I need to get up and running. But I will put an honest effort into getting some results. Will post later.

---Ev---