If you are a desi geek into robotics then you must try yourself at the international contest. International robotics Olympiad 2007 is going to be held at Singapore from November 27th to 30th.
If you are too young probably your mom will not let you all the way there!! .These are the contest for the above 18 age group to Singapore.
Most of the robots are meant to be autonomous. The not very popular IROC seems to have showcased some good robots last year. I’d given a good-full search for the videos but the one below was the only and the most impressive of all.
Nothing much new here. I would just capture an image from my web camera and process it to identify something. I am actually making a small project to identify motion or intrusion into the field of view of the camera.
I will just put the images i got and the code. I am planning to implement this basics and construct the intrusion system around this.
for i=1:240,
for j=1:320,
zeros(i,j)=i;
end
end
figure; imshow(zeros);
for i=1:240,
for j=1:320,
if zeros(i,j) < 128
zeros(i,j)=0;
else
zeros(i,j)=255;
end
end
end
figure; imshow(zeros);
The result generates two images as below respectively:
1)
2)
In the above two images i have just done some pixel-wise threshold modification on figure 11 to obtain clear distinct images on figure 18.
figure 11 has been generated in the first part of the code . In the second half of the code i have assigned value based in a set threshold are 128 thus giving clear distinct black and white regions.
I will give the hand representation in the following post. This above example just give n example of pixel operations on an image.The capturing of image is not included here but you’l find it in one of my previous posts.
There are standard available regulators. 12V,9V and 5V. Have you ever analyzed what you might need to generate a voltage regulation of say 12.7 V , 13.4 v ? or say 5.7V , 6.4 V ?Do you see some similarity? i think you do. They are increasing in steps of 0.7 .
Well the technique to do that is as given in the image below:
For the time being lets forget the capacitors . The only other thing left in the circuit are the 7812 IC and the diodes . What you might wonder is a 7812 regulates the input voltage of 16-20 volts to 12 V . But the circuit here shows 13.8V . How to you account for that?
well is like this , The base or the middle pin drains through the two diodes dropping a voltage equivalent to their forward bias junction voltage. Since by applying standard voltage addition law you can add the voltages of the two forward biased diodes and the regulated voltage.
Slight math will give you : 12 + .7 + .7 = 13.4 . Here the diodes i assume give a forward junction voltage of 0.9V . Thus giving 1.8 V extra.
But the concept remains the same. The circuit shows IN4148 . Do check the forward bias junction voltage and tally the equation. But if you take a IN4007 Standard diode it will give you 13.4 in such a configuration.
You may regulate variable voltages in this method.
Many times you might try to tinker with your serial port and get your external hardware interface with the serial port. In cases your serial port might not seem to respond. now the question arises if your hardware is at fault or your serial port?
The best way to test Serial Port:
Plug in a serial mouse and restart your computer. If the mouse works then you can make sure that you serial port is working perfectly. If otherwise you must check or replace your serial port.
Since most of us have shifted to USB keyboards its most common not to find one such mouse.In such cases you can try the following method.
Hyperterminal Serial Port Test:
Note the pin configuration of a male socket of a serial port.
PIN OUTS :
Steps:
1) Take a serial cable. Connect one end to the computer and have the other end free.
2) Short pins 2 and 3 of the side which are free . They are actually Tx and Rx pins. This setup is called NULL Modem configuration. Once the pins on the free end have been shorted you may proceed to the next step.
DB-9 :
DB 25:
3) Now you have essentially allowed a complete connection. the data that is transmitted through Tx is going to be as such received by Rx
4)Hyperterminal in windows can be used to send and receive datas. Open Hyperterminal:
5) Open windows hyperterminal
6)
7) Once a window opens after clicking ok. Type anything. here the phrase is “This is a Loopback test”
If you are able to type then your serial port is sending and receiving signals properly.
If you are not able to write then you’l have to check further (There might be a some problem with the port).
Invobot website has been changed with the changing requirement and popularity of the kits provided at the site. Invobot is a workshop company based in Chennai. The Kits offered deal with beginner robotics to advanced automation . Computer control is one of the new addition to the kits.
Invobot conducts the cheapest and the best workshops on robotics in India. The curriculum is based on teaching you the concepts and some hands on experience so that you can get into business on your own in future in this Field.
we have had 6 robotic beginner workshops as of now which also include the one at National Institute of Technology hamirpur
If you want to link to the site and become a web partner you can use the image below
Invobot is also looking for people to be employed in this field. if you want to work part time and you are situated at Chennai , India just send a mail after you go through the company details.
Robotics india is one good high traffic sites that talk about robotics.it is a sad state to see it hacked . I don’t know since when this had occurred but i saw it today and was pretty surprised to see the note be the hacker saying “Site hacked by damascus”
A good googling will give you information about this new genere of hackers who have set to disrupt the websites around the world.
This is what the forum looked like : Click to enloage
I guess its long since i posted much. I’m into serious web programming and developing. I am searching for ideas deep inside me and also everywhere around in the world. At the end of the day i’d have found nothing much.
Starting from how search engines get better to awaiting web 3.0 i blow up my broadband bill to find nothing . Just then your heart gets heavier and your brain ceases to transmit one more impulse to the adjacent neuron. I gaze at one of the best framed websites (w3 Schools) and i find this.
It really made my day!! at Last i had a peacefull sleep tonight.
Refresh the page if the GIF above is not animated.
You would want to move robot controlled by your eyes , or probably make a bio signal controlled robot , you need to actually amplify Bio-signals.
Here i talk about a simple construction to amplify and filter bio-signals . In this particular project a robot is controlled with signals based on eye movement. To be more precise when the eye moves left the bot moves left. Similarly right straight and stop.
The various stages in this project is to acquire the bio signals properly. When the eye moves there is produced a micro-volt variations in the electrodes in that region around the eyes this they pick up those signals.
Prominent disturbances of bio-signal are from external sources of nice thus it needs Low pass filtering . After filtering it will need a section to amplify at the last stage and avoid the threshold noise that is produces.
All the above said is achieve in the following circuit diagram and the three sages are marked.
Acquiring Bio-Signals
Filtering external noise
Signal Amplification
Stage (1) collects the Bio-signal and amplifies in the first stage with a AD622 instrumentation amplifier. This give a huge voltage amplification (i’ve heard its given out as samples… do check) . Once the amplified signal is obtained you’l have to low pass filter it.
These bio signals have a very low frequency around 8Hz or so and hence a good low pass filter would remove all the noise. The op-amp shown in the second and third stages are either a 741 or LM324 .
The last and output stage has a normal amplifier with a op-amp. The third stage also helps us set the threshold voltage so that only the bio signal is amplified. The ‘POT’ in the third stage is set accordingly such that the total output of this circuit is ‘0′ at no signal input.
This the output will be a voltage > O for a signal from the electrode or ‘NO VOLTAGE’ .
In case you’l want to analyse these signals in digital logic , i.e “is there a bio signal or not?” then use the IC 7414 as in outIR sensor circuit .
Have you ever wanted to process your image and then do some processing and then move your robot?
well this can be easily done through MATLAB. Get Matlab 7.You must check if you have the data acquisition toolbox in your version. that you have installed.
TO FIND IF YOU HAVE DATA ACQUISITION
Just get to the Matlab Start menu
That shows that the toolbox exixts.
Want more?
Type “imaqhinfo” in command window to see this
Notice that the adaptor is ‘Winvideo’
Any webcam you connect is accessed through this adaptor. Now the main part 1)Connect your webcam to the computer through the USB.
vid = videoinput(‘winvideo’, 1, ‘RGB24_320×240′);
Specify the adaptor name and resolution
2)Open Preview window to view video at runtime
preview(vid);
This will open a window similar to yahoo messenger Webcam interface. And you will be able to view the video demo the webcam at runtime
3) Capture
data = getsnapshot(vid);
This command will store the image of that instant into the variable data in a matrix of 320X240.
That’s it , now that you have the image of what your robot is looking at or probably the desired object, you may carry on processing and provide proper control signals to your Parallel Ports . If You are new to parallel ports read here.
comment your thoughts, don’t keep them to yourself!!!
Once a window opens after clicking ok. Type anything. here the phrase is “This is a Loopback test”
at Last i had a peacefull sleep tonight.
