I have a raspberry pi! So this is going to be my next robot project!

Some pictures of my first prototype's. The first proto is the metal one & the second is the printed black one. I realised when I had the black printed body arrive, I could make the design much better & stronger. Until I had my design printed out I never knew what to expect. 3D Print Uk are amazing & use very high end machines to print designs. Maybe i should of got just a small desigh printed first, but until I had a real life design, It was difficult to enhance my robot body. I will keep posting as i try new things with sensors & software..

Photography by Alan Lee Photography.

This pic is how Irowe currently is. I have had a pro photographer take some shots so I will upload them soon. I am working with a sound sensor @ the moment & trying to sort it into the software for it. Its been a pain lol. I will keep this blog updated. Working on another video of it too. The printed body looks so cool & its very strong too. Fully recommend using 3D Printing if its done on a top end machine. 3D print UK printed this one.

iRowe

iRowe is a Miniature robot measuring 80mm width,  & 85mm length. Its 65mm high, weighing only a mere 222 grams! iRowe is fully autonomous, it uses four Sharp 2D120x ir sensors on the front @ various angles to accurately navigate the world around it. It also has fast homemade reaction floor sensors to stop it falling off an edge. These floor sensors also detect if Irowe has been picked up. It has a light sensor & turns lights on when its dark. I'm not sure what else to implement them any further as yet. Irowe uses a Microchip pic18f4550 tqfp (surface mounted) for its micro controller as it has pretty much all of the features I was looking for in a mcu. Most of iRowe's circuitry is surface mounted technology & is completely hand built & hand soldered. It has two separate lipo batteries, one for the mcu & sensors & one for the motors. It can also tell you when the batteries are low & warns 5 mins before Irowe is needed to be charged via power led's. Being light weight Irowe lasts approx 45 mins on a single charge. Irowe also cuts out when either battery is needed recharging. the batteries can be charged by simply plugging in a charger adapter in Irowe's charging jacks. The chassis is 3D printed! Using four ir sensors rather than using one & scanning the surroundings gives iRowe more computing speed & can see angles.  It has a warning sounder &  Its fully programmable using in circuit debugging. I use Mplab in C to program Irowe. (software is still being developed along with sensors etc) Copyright© 2013 Stephen Lacey All Rights Reserved.


Contact: miniaturerobotcreations@gmail.com