CD Avenger

I completed the video today!
Check it out, I hope its a cheesy as I hoped!

I also added some more pictures I had forgotten, here are a couple. Checkout the rest in the Picture Gallery link on the right.

Assembly montage.

I finally start gluing (literally) all the pieces together for my make robot. I'm running out of time and the pressure is really on!

 

 The close to completed circuit board

Left side is the motor controller a pair of IXDN chips.

Power supply on right complete with reverse/over voltage protection.

(Thanks to David Cook's books and website at http://www.robotroom.com)
Micro controller is center on separate carrier board.

Of all the myriad ways to attach CDs

In my latest video I test out 12 different adhesive methods of attaching CDs to themselves and I do my best to attempt to burn some up,  Enjoy!!


Adhesives undergoing test

Journal

                                  

                                                                                                                       

CD/DVD Drive testing rig

In my first Make: Robotics Coaster Bot built video I wire up a quick circuit to test the performance of the cd/dvd drives that I rescued from the E-Waste bin at work.



A picture of the design of the
testing rig Complete with
multimeter Hookup points.

Microcontroller pseudo code v1.0

The SX28 chip I intend to use as CD Avenger's Brain. More details about my adventures with this chip are available here.

1. uC activates arm #1's drive lifter mechanism to lift up the front edge arm #2 (customized swinging arm hooked to cdroms laser positioniner)
2. uC ejects cdrom tray (with spike on the end that can bite into carpet. replaceable for different carpet styles?
3. uC after $timeout detects if tray fully extended (use existing opto isolators) and sets $arm#1_obstruction=10 if it IS NOT FULLY EXTENDED

if arm#1_obstruction is set we need to reverse direction for a while (decrementing $arm#1_obstruction)

4A. uC injects cdrom tray (not dropping spike)
5A. uc deactivates arm #1's drive lifter mechanism to drop the spike into the carpet.
6A. uC ejects cdrom tray
7A. uC activates arm #1's drive lifter mechanism to drop the spike into the carpet.
8A. Decrement $arm#1_obstruction and if $arm#1_obstruction > 1 jump back to step 4A

else

4B. uC deactivates arm #1's drive lifter mechanism to drop the spike into the carpet.
5B. uC injects cdrom tray (pulling cdavenger forward).
6B. Jump to step 1 and repeat with ARM#2

My movie script, Now I just need to build it!

For every stack of 100 CDs only 1 cd is truly meant for greatness. The others are cast off, hated, cursed, shunned, shredded ,smashed and tossed into a pit of despair.

For years they have waited, bidding their time. Waiting until their masters fell out of favor and they could rise up and take revenge on their true tormentors. This summer, Who will save us?!

CD AVENGER

In a world that didn't care one bot rose up to destroy the cd coaster....horde.

But to defeat the coasters it had to BECOME that which it hunted. Stalking across the vast cd wastelands CD Avenger battles the evil forces of CDs consuming them so that it can continue its crusades against the vast foe.

Build hint (ascii art ftw)

Front profile of robot

cdbody
||   v   ||
||-------||
||       ||
drive  drive

Side view of cd tray leg

||||---------|
||||---   ---|
||||--     --|
||||---   ---|=| S
||||---------|=| P
|              | I
#  <-lifter    | K                
               V E
CARPET CARPET CARPET 

I'm following the rules, from a certain point of view!

I'm not going to be able to build a better coaster bot than anyone else. There is always someone smarter than you out there. I figured instead of making a better bot, I'd focus on trying to make something a little more unique. As such, I've decided to take an unconventional view of the project requirements.

This very well may disqualify me for the contest, which I'm totally fine with, no tears will be shed. I'm not even sure if the idea will work, and I will have to run with it to find out, this blog may document my monumental failure! If there are explosions I hope to capture then on video for you! In any event I hope this is an interesting journey for myself and any readers.

When I first read the contest rules I immediately starting trying to think of ways to submit something unique. I came up with the usual ideas of using the cds as various non-chassis elements (wheels, treads, etc) Then as I thought more about it I realized that the locomotion method was going to be the same for most of the submissions.

This led me to the design I hope to successfully build!

CD Avenger

I've decided to name my bot CD AVENGER. More details will be forthcoming!

I plan on using as much E-Waste as I can for my project. Here are some CD/DVD roms from my work that were dead and reclaimed from the recycle bin.

Weight is always an issue with small robotics. You have limited torque and amperage available to you. As you add more power (batteries) you also add more weight, it's a vicious cycle. I decided to weigh components individually that way I can crunch numbers later and see what has to go when the going gets tough, err Heavy!

Body material: Compact Discs - 0.56ounces each. Pressed CDs vs burned seem to weigh the same