Recent blog entries for sprocket2cog

The chassis for the XBR robot project has been mocked up in foam construction board and is nearing the first tests for motor and power systems. We have built the chassis in identical halves to reduce the cost and construction times by only having to make the same part twice. The chassis has been modified a little from the first sketch and is now higher and shorter then the first test , The second stage of design tests will be centered around the body rings, but first we finish and run the chassis.

The Xbr-001 chassis project (www.xbr-online.blogspot.com) is taking up the body of our time. Another think tank session has meant small changes to the pin layout on the bodyring and a new easier to draw :P chassis shape, its still the double D style but now has no ridges or extra protrusions, this will let an extrusion of the body be made if someone wants to, the idea for this robot is to create sections that are really easy to produce that when put together look like a pop culture or movie style robot, the chances of your robot project winning that tea server comp are increased :) we are always looking for new open tech projects that may be implemented in a body like this one so we can try to accomadte them into the design. For example The guys at http://www.robotpower.com have developed an open motor control project that could be used in the robot, they sent the size of the robot controller to me so I could see if it fits inside , and it does. so now we have an option avaliable to you guys for motor control. see you round. Sean

The XBR project is well under way with a new message forum, idea showcase listing and varius images and plans being posted. Check out the project page for a quick run down or head to our main site for the whole show. www.xbr-online.blogspot.com

The project is halfway though the cad design with next week set out to finish the side covers and head assembly. This completes the first design stage ready for a mockup. The second stage will fix small issues and check that we didnt over look anything. Followed by a full scale mock up with more detail and better finish, we may even mount systems in this one as a first run concept model before spending up on plastic sheeting for the first "real" prptotype that molds could be made from. see you around the net. sprocket2cog

Well the latest for us is the design and construction of a plastic body shell for the robot domestic market, Plansare in the pipe line now to bring this product to the market before the years end. http://xbr-online.blogspot.com/ Ive also been working on the microbric stuff, with the release of the new ai2 firmware just this week, Check out their site at, www.microbric.com.au

I started out way back in the eighty`s with a big track and aratron robot then went into computers a bit, currently im hacking wowwee robots for some fun and as an australian im assessing the microbric viper as well. A member of the evosapien team run by roschler, im currently involved in testing the alpha release of the robodance program. I run several sites including a blog a raptor site and a viper resource site. check out www.sprocketslog.blogspot for the details and head to http://www.upnaway.com/~terraform/microbric/index.html for the lowdown on the viper. Im working on a few robots including a rcx powered plexiglass room rover and a single motor larger scale robot to carry things around.