Hello friends. I've been working a project off and on to track blocks of a specific color using the pixy cam, particularly the CMU Pixy Cam 5 (http://www.cmucam.org/projects/cmucam5). This camera has been superceded by the Pixy Cam 6, but as far as I can tell all of this material will be applicable to the new camera as well.

A little about the Pixy Cam. It's a super powerful little camera that allows you to identify the location of a color in the frame. My favorite part of the Pixy Cam is that you can select the color you'd like Pixy Cam to track using a small button on the bottom of the camera. Simply place the object in front of the camera and hold the button until the built in LED is the same color as the object, and POOF, you're tracking that color!

The Pixy Cam Arduino library, among other resources, are available at their website (http://www.cmucam.org/projects/cmucam5/w...st_release). The Pixy Cam is set up to power it's own pan/tilt system, and the Arduino library leans toward such a system. This isn't great for mimicArm, so I chose to use the x/y position of the centroid of the object.

The Pixy Cam can detect multiple objects, so for the purposes of this experiment I'm only going to detect whichever block the camera has identified as the first block. Pixy Cam can easily return the x and y coordinates of the object using pixy.blocks[0].x and pixy.blocks[0].y

Through a small amount of manipulation of the provided examples mimicArm will follow a block of a defined color using the code below:


#include <SPI.h>  
#include <Pixy.h>
#include <robot.h>

// This is the main Pixy object
Pixy pixy;

void setup()
{
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial.print("Starting...\n");
  robotActivate();
  robotHome();
  pixy.init();
}

void loop()
{
  static int i = 0;
  int j;
  uint16_t blocks;
  char buf[32];
  //robotMode(arduino);
 
  // grab blocks!
  blocks = pixy.getBlocks();
  Serial.println(blocks);
 
  // If there are detect blocks, print them!
  if (blocks)
  {
    //Serial.println("got here");
    Serial.print("x is \t");
    Serial.print(pixy.blocks[0].x);
    Serial.print("\ty is \t");
    Serial.println(pixy.blocks[0].y);
    robotMove(1, pixy.blocks[0].x);
    robotMove(2, 127);
    robotMove(3, pixy.blocks[0].y);
  }  
  //else robotHome();
  delay(20);
}

void robotHome(){
  robotMove(1, 127);
  robotMove(3, 127);
  robotMove(2, 127);
}

Hi All,

I spotted this video, and found it very interesting and informative. If you have questions, like I did, be sure to read the comments - the author answers a lot of questions there.

I particularly liked learning about the investment casting material he's using - combined with melting out a PLA print to form the mold cavity. The process could be simplified for some kinds of objects, and I think adapted to other casting methods besides hot metal.

Check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVgPM1ojyLw

I don't think I'll get into the metal, but it gets me thinking about things...

Enjoy,
Stan

Hi All,

I was poking around Kickstarter, and found another interesting little project - 3D Gloop.

Basically, if you're having any problems getting your prints to stick to the bed, this seems worth checking out. I'm thinking about getting some just for those occasional problem prints that don't want to stick for whatever reason.

I (along with others) asked a question of the campaign creator about removing prints after they're done. He sent a nice reply, and updated the campaign with a .gif of removing a print. I'm not even a backer yet, so I thought that was cool.

Check it out:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/167...2/3d-gloop

Enjoy,
Stan

Hi All,

I'd like to welcome mimicRobots to our forums! They are finishing up a small but successful kickstarter campaign for their fun and educational trainable robot arm.

As I mention in another post, I had spoken with the proprietor of mimicRobots, Brett several times at the Cincinnati Mini Maker Faire. When I saw the kickstarter, I got in touch with him, and mentioned the Fabric8r.com forums. It turned out that mimicRobots did not have a plan for forums yet, so I offered up some space here for them.

Brett has a good deal of arduino experience, and we look forward to him popping in to our existing forums as well to lend his advice.

mimicRobots now has a dedicated section on the site, currently with three forums - General Discussion, Educator's Corner, and the Project Showcase.

Please join me in welcoming mimicRobots, and hopefully a number of their kickstarter backers soon as well.

I'm trilled fabric8r.com has decided to host our support forum. Welcome one and all. Here you'll find all the latest news, projects, tips and upcoming releases for all the mimic robots. Rememeber, there's still 4 days left to snag mimicArm on Kickstarter, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as well.

Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/713401305/mimicarm-learn-to-code-your-own-ai-robot

Homepage: mimicrobots.com

Hey,

You may know that fabric8r.com is currently based in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. A maker from this area is running a kickstarter project for his educational robots. I've enjoyed talking with him several times at the local mini maker faire.

The robots are not designed for heavy workloads - instead, they are weak for safety. The underlying custom electronics though should support stronger motors if needed (this is what I recall from talking to him - things may have changed, or I might not remember correctly).

Anyway, if you're in Cincinnati, take a chance to support a local, and otherwise check out the offerings and see if they suit you.

Here's the link:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/713...n-ai-robot

Stan

Hi All,

I am making progress in my search for useful, inexpensive 3D modeling softwares, especially those that can work with Linux.

I'll post more soon, but I wanted to mention that I got my windows box working, and one of the things I am playing with is Sculptris. Probably most people have heard of that. I had fun and good luck yesterday creating a figure that I may get to print at some point.

Today, looking at something else entirely, I ran across a free, open source, browser-based, and possibly better tool of the same nature - SculptGL.

https://stephaneginier.com/sculptgl/

I have only known about it for a few minutes, but it's looking great. Check it out.

Stan

Fun with my CR-10

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The quintessentialuniversalbuildingdevice.com domain, last used for the ticketing system, has expired.  It's looking less likely that Q3 still exists.

We'll know for sure on 4/29/18 if q3dprinter.com, which is used for the online ordering site, disappears too

Kirk

For those who have been reading my OneUp V2 Build Log, you will remember I did a post discussing a redesigned SIDEBRACE piece for the OneUp V2.

The SIDEBRACE piece, as designed by Q3D, is flawed.  In an attempt to remove "dead weight," the part is designed with a very narrow section that breaks.

My redesign is a little bulky, but makes for a much more durable part.

I am still not 100% positive on the end tab dimensions.  That may need tweaked once people start playing with it "out in the field."



The attached ZIP file contains four files: 1) A DXF file (CAD drawing file) that can be converted to GCODE for a laser cutter to laser cut the part out of wood or melamime.  Material thickness is believed to be 6 mm.  2) An OpenSCAD file, which imports/extrudes the DXF file to 6 mm for 3D printing of the part.  3) The STL file generated by OpenSCAD.  4) A README file with some information in it.

I am still trying to get my OneUp functional at the time of this writing, so I am not looking to tear it back down to replace the 3D-printed SIDEBRACE pieces (old design - see the rest of my build log for more details) I am currently using.  Maybe after I get up and running, I will print the redesigned piece for comparison to my one good (original) SIDEBRACE piece.

If you end up tweaking the redesign further, post your updates as a reply to this thread.  That way, we will have all the design changes in one place, making the latest-and-greatest version easy to find.

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  SIDEBRACE_REDESIGNED_1.0.zip (Size: 13.05 KB / Downloads: 0)