OOPic Projects. OOPic sample programs, oUserClass examples.

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Robot Projects

This is my catalog of small-scale robotics projects. Each project is the result of some quest of mine. It may have been the quest to find the best example of a certain type of robot, or it might have been a quest to create something completely different. In projects overlap each other, but I'll make sure I cross link them so you can see the whole picture.

These are listed with the newest projects at the top, based on when I started them (some still aren't complete).

[BOB V1.1] (July 2005)

BOB (which stands for 'Bot On a Board) is my first "from the ground up" robot creation. BOB is designed to be a Software experimenter platform more than anything else. He has a nice compliment of sensors, including quad encoder feedback on the drive system. BOB's real claim to fame is that there is no chassis to speak of. All the sensors, actuators, and even the battery pack mount directly to the circuit board. BOB is the definition of "Bare Bones Robotics". I used an OOPic for brains, just because I like the programming environment. Since I'm a Beta tester for the new 6.0 OOPic compiler, I'm using the new "closer to real C" syntax on all my code examples.

[Pucky V1.0] (June 2005)

Pucky is my first throw-together robot creation. His drive system resembles a big hockey puck... hence the name. Pucky 1.0 is a generic motion platform. I wanted to try a new controller board while still sticking with the OOPic processor (the OOBOT40 from [Oricom Technologies]). I used a popular twin motor gearbox but I added custom optical encoders. I worked on a new UserClass to encapsulate the basic motion commands.

[Tamiya Twin Motor Gearbox Encoder/Driver] (June 2005)

I wanted a gear motor with an encoder for position and speed feedback, but I couldn't find one. I really liked the Tamiya Twin Gear Motor, so I decided to add my own encoders. This was a fun project that also spawned some companion OOPic software projects.

[Variable Speed Servo Hack] (May 2005)

People have been hacking the classic Radio Controlled Servo to turn it into a wheel drive for quite a while. The basic concept is that you remove any physical stops that prevent the servo horn from continuously rotating, and then you somehow disable the feedback pot. While this method does work, the results are marginal. It's possible to get a few different wheel speeds, but they are not dependable. I wanted to go all digital and replace the servo electronics with a PIC processor.

[Mark III OOPic Object] (April 2005)

I never like writing the same piece of software twice, so after I got the Mark III running, I wanted to create a re-usable robot interface that would let me concentrate on strategy, and not worry about ins and outs any more. I decided to create a self contained MarkIII OOPic software object. The OOPic compiler lets you define your own objects and then call them from any program. So, I built my own UserClass using the OOPic's Virtual Circuits, I created a standard interface to the Mark III's hardware, which anyone can download and use for free.

[Mark III Mini-Sumo] (April 2005)

Sumo is the ancient Japanese combat/sport where two extremely large combatants attempt to force each other out of a circular Sumo Ring (or Dohjo). Robo-Sumo is just the obvious robotic adaptation of the sport. Follow along as I seek out my "ideal" Sumo Starter Kit.