Friday, February 24, 2012
Hexapod Rudimentary Sketch
Here is a quick mock-up of the design for the hexapod. The red indicates where muscle wire will be attached. It still needs much work and more aesthetics. In any case this is just to give you an idea.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Revival - New Project Ideas
Hello again. I am back from a year in France and have decided to revive my project blog. I have my mind set on two new projects. One is a small robotic hexapod that uses muscle wire, and the other is a large scale art project that will turn the area outside Georgia Tech's student center into a large koi pond.
How am I going to do these? Here are some details on each:
Hexapod
The hexapod I will be creating will be small and relatively silent. The idea of using muscle wire comes from wanting a low-cost solution. Additional advantages are that it will be completely silent, as opposed to the far more common servo models. My Perspective and Robotics class, taught by Dr. Mike Stilman was what first sparked my real desire to build a hexapod for myself. This project would allow me to explore and model various motions and gaits. The hexapod structure is already well known for being a simple platform to start with as it is intrinsically stable. As I began to research hexapod designs, however, I discovered that any prefabricated designs were going to cost me upwards of $500 at the cheapest. I resolved, therefore, to build my own.
My hexapod prototype will be controlled with an Arduino Mini 5V microcontroller. The muscle wires themselves will be powered through a 9V battery (the Arduino cannot provide enough current itself). For the body of the hexapod, I am planning to use laser-cut polycarbonate. Each leg will have two degrees of freedom. This will be enough to allow forward, reverse, and turning motions. Using two instead of three degrees of freedom on each leg does remove the ability to walk sideways. Right now I am attempting to develop a body and leg design that could allow sideways motion through sliding and shifting of the center of mass of the robot.
Koi Pond
I have long been interested in large artwork, as shown by my footprint stencil project. I did attempt initial work towards a large koi pond, but found that the clear plastic I was using was impossible to see and too flimsy to really work with. In my new attempt, I am going even bigger than before and have ordered a 10' wide and 25' long sheet of black .006" thick Polyethylene film from McMaster-Carr. I plan to place three large fish done in spray chalk around the student center by the end of this semester. For this project I will need to document the square footage to spray chalk ratio for the recipe I choose to use.
As I work on designs towards these two projects, I will post the progress here. As soon as parts arrive, I should be able to get going!
How am I going to do these? Here are some details on each:
Hexapod
The hexapod I will be creating will be small and relatively silent. The idea of using muscle wire comes from wanting a low-cost solution. Additional advantages are that it will be completely silent, as opposed to the far more common servo models. My Perspective and Robotics class, taught by Dr. Mike Stilman was what first sparked my real desire to build a hexapod for myself. This project would allow me to explore and model various motions and gaits. The hexapod structure is already well known for being a simple platform to start with as it is intrinsically stable. As I began to research hexapod designs, however, I discovered that any prefabricated designs were going to cost me upwards of $500 at the cheapest. I resolved, therefore, to build my own.
My hexapod prototype will be controlled with an Arduino Mini 5V microcontroller. The muscle wires themselves will be powered through a 9V battery (the Arduino cannot provide enough current itself). For the body of the hexapod, I am planning to use laser-cut polycarbonate. Each leg will have two degrees of freedom. This will be enough to allow forward, reverse, and turning motions. Using two instead of three degrees of freedom on each leg does remove the ability to walk sideways. Right now I am attempting to develop a body and leg design that could allow sideways motion through sliding and shifting of the center of mass of the robot.
Koi Pond
I have long been interested in large artwork, as shown by my footprint stencil project. I did attempt initial work towards a large koi pond, but found that the clear plastic I was using was impossible to see and too flimsy to really work with. In my new attempt, I am going even bigger than before and have ordered a 10' wide and 25' long sheet of black .006" thick Polyethylene film from McMaster-Carr. I plan to place three large fish done in spray chalk around the student center by the end of this semester. For this project I will need to document the square footage to spray chalk ratio for the recipe I choose to use.
As I work on designs towards these two projects, I will post the progress here. As soon as parts arrive, I should be able to get going!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Homemade Snow Globe
What says the holidays more than a nice old fashioned snow globe? Even better would be one with a special place in it. So I thought, why not make a snow globe with a model of my house in it?
Supplies:
I got the snow globe kit from snowdomes.com. All the measurements are on their website, but the wooden base I received did not look like the one in their pictures. I took some pictures of my house for reference as I sculpted with the clay. I have read online to be weary of using paint, as sometimes it will degrade and make the water cloudy.
First step:
Make the basic shapes of the house. Then add a consistent layer of snow over the roof. Finally, I've found that adding some simple texture does wonders for the overall appearance. I used a small flat head screwdriver to add horizontal lines to the sides of the building where they is paneling.
Second Step:
Add the details. Windows were little black squares on top of slightly larger white squares. I used the flat of a knife to press the clay into very thin layers. Again, textures really help. I put a white layer on the base for the snowy ground.
Third Step:
Baking! The directions for clays will vary, but mine took about two hours to cook since the house was about an inch thick. The picture below with the pencil shows the scale.
Fourth Step:
Check to be sure that the stiff model still fits inside the glass dome easily. Then use epoxy generously to affix the model to the rubber stopper. I let it dry for several hours. Then invert the dome and fill it with snow and distilled water. I only used about half of the snow, because all of it seemed very overwhelming. Next squeeze the stopper in very gently. Once the overflowed water is dry, use more epoxy to seal the dome completely. When dry, invert and glue into the base. All done!
Supplies:
- Snow Globe Kit (glass dome, wood base, and snow flecks; I used a "Large" size)
- Distilled Water
- Glue (I used epoxy, caulk/tub sealant does NOT work - it makes the water cloudy)
- Colored Polymer Clay (Premo or other brand from Michael's, etc.)
- Beads?
- Other waterproof details
I got the snow globe kit from snowdomes.com. All the measurements are on their website, but the wooden base I received did not look like the one in their pictures. I took some pictures of my house for reference as I sculpted with the clay. I have read online to be weary of using paint, as sometimes it will degrade and make the water cloudy.
First step:
Make the basic shapes of the house. Then add a consistent layer of snow over the roof. Finally, I've found that adding some simple texture does wonders for the overall appearance. I used a small flat head screwdriver to add horizontal lines to the sides of the building where they is paneling.
Second Step:
Add the details. Windows were little black squares on top of slightly larger white squares. I used the flat of a knife to press the clay into very thin layers. Again, textures really help. I put a white layer on the base for the snowy ground.
Third Step:
Baking! The directions for clays will vary, but mine took about two hours to cook since the house was about an inch thick. The picture below with the pencil shows the scale.
Fourth Step:
Check to be sure that the stiff model still fits inside the glass dome easily. Then use epoxy generously to affix the model to the rubber stopper. I let it dry for several hours. Then invert the dome and fill it with snow and distilled water. I only used about half of the snow, because all of it seemed very overwhelming. Next squeeze the stopper in very gently. Once the overflowed water is dry, use more epoxy to seal the dome completely. When dry, invert and glue into the base. All done!
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