Battallaxx
Built by Dan Albert
This is a battle between Battallaxx and Snowcone. This is a 60lb lightweight event at the Robot Club and Grill. Snowcone inflicted heavy damage to Battallaxx but severly damaged her weapon motor in the process.
Johan (pronounced "Yohan")
A robot currently under construction. David Sharp is putting many hours into his new creation.
"Johan is my most ambitious project yet. Basically I am trying to make a robot that is actually capable of functioning in the real world, instead of just in some perfect lab environment. To do that, I think the robot needs to have sensors up the wazoo. A key idea for this project is that every sensor has a weakness, but that by fusing many different types of sensors, their capabilities overlap enough that you can detect faults, and in many cases even detect things that none of the individual sensors alone could tell you anything about. This helps to overcome the weaknesses of the sensors and to even go beyond their normal capabilities. Johan is made up of roughly 7 Main Modules: Mechanics, Environmental Awareness System (EAS), Inertial Navigation System (INS), Emergency / Manual Override System (EMOS), Speed and Traction Controller (STC), a custom wireless terminal (thanks to Bob), and the Main Processor (MP). Each Main Module, with the exception of Mechanics, has its own dedicated processor which reports back to MP. Each Module is responsible for correlating all sensors that it has access to, and the MP can then correlate across modules to give it even more power when attempting to carry out its objectives. In addition to the Main Modules, Johan has a GPS unit that he can combine with the INS to help him accurately know where he is. Using Bob's wireless terminal link, the MP will eventually be capable of wirelessly connecting to a personal computer, which could then act as a yet-higher level of control and processing."
CAbot or Collision Avoidance bot.
Built by Dan Albert and some help from friends Bob Grieb and Dave Sharp. Ultrasonic range detection, solid state compass, two short range and two long range I/R range detectors help CAbot navigate and avoid things for the Collision Avoidance competition held monthly by both the CJRG and SJRG clubs. Based on the PIC 18f452 CAbot's OS, written in C, is constantly being updated.(Almost Daily) All motors and sensors depend heavily on interrupt service routines and some "fuzzy" logic to determine the best course to take.
Sometimes things get too fuzzy!
Now for some hacking!
We have developed an add on for RoboSapien to allow him to operate with other RoboSapiens without interference. Up to 256 RoboSapiens in the same room.
A kit will be available soon!.
Docbot
2003
This bot was built by Dan Albert for a Mini Darpa Grand Challenge event held at Indiana University in 2004. It is equipped with a solid state compass.. CMU-2 cam, Ultrasonic range finder and several short range I/R range detectors. A custom p/c board based on a pic 18f452 handles all the sensors and logic to hunt out the orange cones of the waypoints.
REALbot
2004
REALbot is Joseph Nastasi's creation.
It started out as a basic bot kit...
and grew...
and Grew...
and GREW
Keypad input and custom sensors make this a great bot for Collision Avoidance!
Fritz
August, 2001
Fritz was one of the first robots Dave Sharp had ever built. He was basically a first attempt at using two things that I had never previously tried: DC gearmotors (as opposed to hobby servos) and sonar. There was no "design", "I simply wanted to try out these parts so that I could get experience with them." His electronics are very simple, consisting of basically nothing more than a breadboard (for reconfigurability), an L293D h-bridge, and a Basic Stamp 2, all housed within a Radio Shack project box. A hobby servo sweeps the sonar sensor left and right to gather a crude map of the world ahead.
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Ernesto
Spring 2000
Ernesto was the first robot Dave Sharp ever built. Built for about $60, he was made to be like a "cockroach", seeking shadows and avoiding obstacles using simple feelers. The idea was simple enough. Two hobby servos acting as the drive motors are taped to the underside of a sheet of plastic, and a ping pong ball is the caster. A solderless breadboard was used for the electronics because I wanted it to be fairly reconfigurable. Ernesto's senses are fairly simplistic. His touch sensors are made of music wire (spring steel) and screw eyes. There is a cadmium-sulfide photoresistors to detect ambient light falling on the robot, and two infrared phototranstistors (with built-in epoxy lenses, much like many LEDs have) serving as two directional light detectors. The brains behind Ernesto are a simple PIC16F84 programmed in assembler, executing a simple subsumption-type architecture that would correlate the sensors together and determine the appropriate action.
Bill, aka "The Shazzamitor", aka "Fire Marshal Bill"
Bill was built by Dave Sharp with the help of some members of the IU Robotics Club. He was originally going to be a fire fighting robot (hence the name), but that was scrapped. Most of the robot was built in about 2 weeks. I etched the printed circuit board in my bathroom. Bill features a claw (made by Ryan) that he can open and close using a hobby servo. A break-beam sensor was used in the claw so it could tell when it had an object within its grip. Extending out the front and back are photoreflectors, used to detect lines in an arena. His "head" includes a homebrew color detector and a sonar module mounted on a servo that he can sweep side to side. He also carries a digital compass which he can use to maintain his orientation.
Amos
2003
Amos was built as a screwball way to spend a Saturday night by dave Sharp and friends Alex and Ryan of the IU Robotics Club. The following week was an event where all the clubs on campus could set up booths, and we decided we wanted to build something for the occasion. Amos uses a hobby servo to sweep a sonar sensor from side to side.
When he detects any obstacle within a preset range, he stops sweeping, and turns on a windshield washer pump for 1/3 of a second. The pump draws water out of the 2-liter bottle and forces it up a plastic tube, where it exits from the yellow nozzle next to the sonar module, soaking whoever decided to stand in front of it. I'm sure we all saw this coming, but at the event, one person in particular decided that being hosed down as they walked by was "an invasion of personal space", and... well... that was that.