Solar Robot

On Sunday I spent the afternoon on my deck outside working on a project that I had been wanting to do for a long time. Make: 06 featured some simple and fun robotics projects that seemed like a good starting point for getting more familiar with soldering some electronics circuits. I ordered a simple BEAM kit similar to the one in the magazine from Solarbotics in Canada for $12.50 plus s+h, and got all my soldering equipment at radio shack for 25 bucks. This bot soaks up solar energy, stores it up in its capacitors, and then releases the charge when it reaches a certain voltage in order to power its motor. It was a freeform circuit, meaning I just soldered one piece to the next in sequence until it was complete; no need for prototyping, and no circuit board to fit components into. It was a difficult process, and I worked very carefully. It took me a couple hours to attach four capacitors in a ring around a small motor, and to assemble a simple 1381 solarengine circuit and attach it to the motor. I then soldered some wires to the motor and the tiny solar panel included in the kit, and practically jumped out of my seat when the motor started spinning. It took me a second to realize that I had done it, and then I just started laughing like a supervillain. It took me a while longer to complete the robot's structure, and make it unique. I bent and connected three paper clips to form a bumper ring and solar panel support. I soldered a dime to the top support to provide a platform for the solar panel, and then just stuck it on with some putty. Because of the dime, I named it "The Liberty Spinner" Later, I attached a pencil lead to each of the capacitors with some putty and set it on some paper surrounded by cups and under a lamp in order to have it draw an image.

It gets around by spinning a small rubber nub on the bottom of it, which gives it a twitchy, tippy, rotational motion. Under intense light, it will activate the motor every second or so. It's really fun to watch it go, because it will move until it bumps up against something, and then slowly work its way around it. You can see it moving around in this photo gallery. When it gets stuck, it will often wiggle itself loose after a few dozen twitches. With the pencil drawing it made, I could get a sense for its overall behavior, without having to watch it for the whole three hours it took to draw this. The darker circles are the outlines of the cups that I traced just to show where the obstacles were. The smudgy marks are from the chalk pieces that I attached first, but swapped because they were too tough to balance and not well defined enough. I also moved one of the cups because it kept getting stuck between it and the lamp base, which was just a bit shorter than the bot's bumper ring. It's neat to see how far it could reach into the corners, and how it spun its way around some of the cups, leaving a jittery concentric arc.



This was a very fun and satisfying project. It has me really excited about the future projects I'm planning. I think I'll start with an "Eggbot". I got a tutorial on it by its creator when I attended this month's meeting of the Twin Cities Robotics Group. Man was that ever a great time. I can't wait for the next one.

Creations

Here are a couple things I created recently.

Auryn, a pipestone pendant commission



and "The Blood Mesa Cake"



For my brother John's birthday party on Saturday I baked a cake with some help from my dad. It is composed of - in ascending order - a layer of chocolate cake, a thin layer of frosting, then a nice thick layer of berry compote, another chocolate cake layer, a thick layer of frosting, and then all the blended berries that oozed out the sides spread back on top. It turned out gruesome yet majestic, hence the name. Also considered: "The Alien Spore Cake", but that was a tad less appetizing. And it was delicious.

Bat House(s)

My brother Scott wanted to complete his eagle project. After he graduated from high school early about a month and a half ago, he decided for sure that he wanted to go through with it. He turns eighteen tomorrow. He will get his eagle scout rank. Here is the story how. He had the idea to install bird feeders at nursing homes. He discovered this wouldn't work for a few reasons, one being that the organization is a business, another being the logistics of maintaining a supply of bird food. I suggested bat houses. I had always wanted to install a bat house on our property, but never did. Scott researched and found the criteria for where they could be set up, and found some plans. Scott had the idea to install them at the Excelsior commons where the mosquito reduction would be most welcome. My mom pointed out that the Excelsior government would allow him to finish his project on a time frame that would make the war in Iraq seem quick and easy. She suggested a nearby church. Scott made contacts, and found our site. He asked me for help in making his plan look professional, and for some consultation on the design, construction, and mounting of the houses. I used SolidWorks to draw up the plans, and while it was mostly for show, it did help us better understand how things needed to fit together, and allowed us to easily modify the design to suit our purposes for the mounting process.



I helped document the project, since I'm such a shutterbug. He needed to show he had adult supervision during the assembly process, and since our parents were in DC, that responsibility fell to me. I basically just made jokes and shared trivia on the little brown bats, our future tenants.



I also documented the installation process, which was pretty fun too. Another group of guys (who are not afraid of heights) assembled to haul around a twenty foot ladder all over the church's property, up and down hills with deep snowdrifts, over slush covered frozen ponds, and into the woods to bolt the houses in place. They installed eight houses in total. Four were of the above design, while four were of a smaller variety that Home Depot donated. It felt good to finally install some bat houses (though I never climbed the ladder once).



Thanks to Scott's diligence, determination, and his writing and leadership skills, the prodding of several of his fellow scouts (who all got their eagles as well), a few helpful and timely suggestions, and a lot of friends, family, and community members who were happy to lend a hand (and a saw, and a drill, etc.), Scott has completed his project in just under a month. It was a good feeling just to be a part of it. I guess that's the whole point of scouting: to become the kind of person who can bring people together to make significant things happen, all while having a good time.