Meet A.S.T.R.I.D.

[LinuxGuy]

I've decided to start another robot project for when I get stalled on W.A.L.T.E.R. or want to work on something completely different. The SES will figure very prominently in this new project, which will be based on a slightly modified A4WD1 v2.0 rover kit. It will not use the stock motors because I want to have encoders on the back wheels. I'm not sure encoders would be useful on the front wheels.

Right now, I would like to use the GHM-14 (front) and GHM-15 (rear) motors, but these are not in stock and I don't know if/when they will be. If that doesn't work out, I will either use the GHM-04 or GHM-16 motors with encoders on the rear motors.

I'm going to get the A4WD1 kit next month, as I've wanted one of these for quite awhile now and the v2.0 rover has most of what I need for doing stuff that would not be appropriate for W.A.L.T.E.R. because he only has two wheels and not enough stability to do what I want to do with A.S.T.R.I.D.

As far as modifications to the A4WD1, I will have to a vertical triple SES hole setup to the side panels near where the current motor mount holes are. I will not be mounting the motors in the standard locations. This is where I will mount the new locomotion system to the rover. This system will provide for variable ground clearance as well as increased climbing ability hopefully. I'm planning to use some sort of wireless control for testing and manual over rides in case of problems.

I already have most of the other parts to build the modified locomotion system for the A4WD1. I've located the short spacers I need for the 2-56 screws at McMaster (http://www.mcmaster.com), which will go between the side panel and an ASB-24 (no 3D model yet) bracket.

Everything I have learned and will learn while working on W.A.L.T.E.R. will come into play with A.S.T.R.I.D. also, since he is still my main development platform. I just need to get some 3D models done for the A4WD1 v2.0 rover parts and the ASB-24 so I can check my designs out before I build. I'm just really starting to realize how much I depend on the 3D CAD stuff for robot designs and builds.

For those who have followed my various designs, you know it will be something quite different than what anyone has seen to date.. :D:D I think this is an exciting new project that will expand the capabilities of the A4WD1 rover base. :)

8-Dale

[LinuxGuy]

I've been tinkering with the Webbot library (http://sourceforge.net/projects/webbotavrclib/) (suggested by Ro-Bot-X), and it is quite interesting. I already have the same setup I was working on before created and working using this library. I'm planning to do some more work with it and see how far I can go with it. I'd call this a great suggestion! :happy:

I think this will allow me to concentrate more on the overall behavior algorithms and not worry about the lower level code. I can't believe I said that! :veryhappy: I guess I've gotten to a point where I am tired of dealing with low level sensor coding and would rather concentrate on the behavior aspects for my robots. I am starting to warm up to the idea of dealing with sensors more as black boxes, and not writing all the code myself.

My first use of this and the Axon controller will be here, on ASTRID. Since I can, at least temporarily, power the Axon from one of the SSC-32 servo headers, this should make a good combination. I won't need the SSC-32 on WALTER, but will need it on ASTRID. I'll be moving the arm I originally designed and built for WALTER to ASTRID, and there will be other servos for the new locomotion system connected to the SSC-32.

I already have the Axon and SSC-32 powered in this configuration and it works fine. I will eventually get a dedicated 7.2V battery pack with the Hitec connector for the Axon and power the SSC-32 from a single 6V@2800mAH pack for the servos. I'm also excited about getting an A4WD1 rover platform to work with for ASTRID and think it will be a very stable and good base for what I want to do.

8-Dale

[LinuxGuy]

I've been doing some more coding for ASTRID and WALTER, but seem to be having a strange problem with some variable definitions relating to the Webbot library.

I have the following:
PingSonar ping[8] = { MAKE_PingSonar(F0),
MAKE_PingSonar(F1),
MAKE_PingSonar(F2),
MAKE_PingSonar(F3),
MAKE_PingSonar(F4),
MAKE_PingSonar(F5),
MAKE_PingSonar(F6),
MAKE_PingSonar(F7)
};

Sharp_GP2D12 ir[8] = { MAKE_Sharp_GP2D12(K0), // <-- This is line 25
MAKE_Sharp_GP2D12(K1),
MAKE_Sharp_GP2D12(K2),
MAKE_Sharp_GP2D12(K3),
MAKE_Sharp_GP2D12(K4),
MAKE_Sharp_GP2D12(K5),
MAKE_Sharp_GP2D12(K6),
MAKE_Sharp_GP2D12(K7)

};The first definition for ping[8] compiles and works perfectly, but the second one for ir[8] gives me an error

"../walter-webbot.c:25: error: expected '=', ',', ';', 'asm' or '__attribute__' before 'ir'",

which does not make any sense to me. I've double checked with the Webbot documentation on how to define and use each type of sensor, the names of the creation routines, etc, and just don't see the problem.

Can anyone shine some light on this problem?

8-Dale