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New Robot called the
Blue Quad is now on Brickshelf.com
Vision Command Sensor Camera mounted in the head.
Red/Green polarity sensitive LED lights in the eyes (Courtesy HiTechnic).
Light
sensor mounted in the mandible area.
The head also articulates up and down. The head left/right movement is
monitored by a rotation sensor. The neck is based on a cam mechanism that
moves the up/down articulation in a continuous cycle.
The camera sensor in the head connects to your computer via a 15 foot USB cable.
Many features like motion, color, and light detection plus communication with
the RCX are possible when configured to run in the MINDSTORMS Vision Command
mode.
 
The blue MINDSTORMS Scout unit controls the up/down & left/right movements of
the neck and head with two motors. The Scout is located in the rear forward area
or center section. The robot contains a bay where the Scout can be removed or
replaced with a MINDSTORMS RCX unit.
A Micro Scout powers the gear box that moves the flex cable in the tail to
create a wagging effect. The tail has a LEGO compass mounted at a level angle in
the tail. When the tail wags, you can see the compass working, recalibrating to
point due North.
The spine pivot is mechanically linked to gears that in turn compress two large
shock absorbers. There are four weighted bricks located in a square around the
spine to force weight towards the pivot in the center of the body.
The legs of the Blue Quad are not powered. The first attempt at building the
Blue Quad (see preview pictures in the Gallery) and motorizing it was halted.
Though successful, I would rather build a larger quad with proper scale so the
robot was sure to work with the entire robot. At the most I expected the
motorized chaise to wiggle the robot or just make it fall, so I saved the
attempt of a fully articulated quad for a later build. One that would utilized
motors at all the limb’s joints. More motors than the MINDSTORMS Scout could
reliably power.
The Blue Quad is the second design exercise in a series of quads that have
wheels at the feet. The final version will have a fully motorized frame along
with RC motors and large balloon tires at the feet. I want a robot that can
climb stairs. A robot with wheels at it’s feet to help push and pull itself up
the staircase. Perhaps quads that can trot and skate.
The shoulders of the Blue Quad contain shock absorbers and Throw Bot gear boxes
that use worm gears. The mid section of the robots four limbs contain a lateral
shock absorbed auto return system. Designed to help in the walking gait by
allowing the limbs to twist and push the robot evenly as tension forced itself
diagonally across the body. This was a feature I kept from the original internal
cam driven chaise.
The lower limbs use wheels at the ends instead of feet. Specifically the 56x30
balloon tires.
Interestingly, just the four tires, not counting any blue, just the tires and
the inner hubs, all four tires contain 100 pieces!
25 parts are required to
center and secure the hub and wheel to the structure of the leg.
A shock absorber cushions the robot at the lower limbs. Gear arms from the
Bohrok sets provide the pivot and mechanical linkage for the system.
The Blue Quad took about 2 months to complete. The initial mechanical internal
cam chaise was perfected and the lower limbs built in the first few weeks.
Followed by a break, I then completed new chaise and head. I kept the first set
of lower limbs. Then I installed the lateral shock auto return system and mated
them to the Throw Bot gear boxes at the shoulders. I created the tail from
principles learned in TECHNIC CONROL CENTER set # 8485.
Blue Quad on
Brickshelf.com
The robot was completed July 18 2006. ESLC Biomechanical Bricks - Eric Sophie
Enjoy - your thoughts are welcome.
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