http://robots.net/person/wecole/ robots.net blog for wecole en-us mod_virgule Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:48:36 GMT Thu, 19 May 2005 06:23:42 GMT http://robots.net/person/wecole/diary.html?start=0 http://robots.net/person/wecole/diary.html?start=0 I don't really have a lot to write about just yet on my new project. The focus of the project will be to build a robot for visual effect, mostly to inspire children to get involved in robotics. Despite not working my regular job right now due to an injury from a car accident a couple weeks ago, I have two tottlers who keep me pretty busy so I haven't been able to put as much work into this project as I had hoped. Right now I am focusing most of my efforts on learning to program the AVR microcontroller, since physical labor is still somewhat painful right now. Previously, before the accident, I was working on removing the non- functional ornimentation from a 1/6 scale R/C M5 Sherman tank. I was putting a lot of effort into changing the turret to look less like a tank and more like a "classic" Hollywood type robot. I found the torso of a 'Buster' robot which I was adapting to fit the turret. The head of the Buster was removed before I got it, so I decided to use the head of a 'Tor' robot, which gave the entire robot just the right look I was trying to make. Eventually I'll modify the head with LEDS controlled by another AVR to create special effects and give it a certain "wow" factor.