Lynxmotion Tech Support

Hi everyone, I have been gone for a while wrapping up my degree, but now that I have graduated I wanted to post some of my recent robot projects. This one has been complete for a while now, and I hope you enjoy it!



Nagaina is a twelve degree of freedom snake robot designed, built, and programmed by me. Nagaina's kinematics allow for autonomous or manual control schemes. The head contains three sonar and one IR sensor for detecting dangers (obstacles or falls). The passive wheels are on small springs to insure that contact with the ground is made at all segments. Unfortunately, due to high torque on the servos, Nagaina has a run-time of about 45 minutes between recharges. The total cost of the project came to about 600 to 700 dollars ( hard to estimate since I used spare parts from previous projects). Nagaina took one day to program from scratch.

FYI, Nagaina is named for the villainous mother-cobra from one of my favorite stories, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, by Rudyard Kipling.

Congratulations on graduating! This is a cool robot. Do I see some of my brackets in there?

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Jim Frye, the Robot Guy
http://www.lynxmotion.com
I've always tried to do my best...

WOW!!! Perfect embodiment of evil.

Jim Frye finally has a reason to shout his signature line.

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Ted, RoboTed
Never quite finishing means never having to admit failure!

Thanks for the compliments.

Indeed Jim you see more then just you're brackets, The sensors and servo controller where brought here. I forgot to mention this is a ARC-32 controlled robot. Even the remote control is Lynxmotion branded.

The custom pieces are the ribs, and the head. The head was a complicated build in which I CNCed a negative mold from some balsa wood scrap i had lying around, created a two positive plaster-of-paris plugs (using the plaster left over from my aunt's visit), and then vacuum formed down over them with abs and acrylic sheets.

Ultimately I chose the acrylic over the abs. I would not have gone through the trouble if I had not also been doing the same for my mechanical jelly fish which I will be posting later this week I think.

Hi,

Gratz on graduating! You did a great job with the snake. I like that you're using passive wheels and get the motion from the kinetic movement of the snake. Very nature like. Well done!

I still got plans to build a snake one day. Have you considered 2DOF for each joint? Can you tell me more about the servo's you're using?

Thanks, Xan

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[b]Share, Use and Improve![/b]
Digging trough: [i]Theory of Applied Robotics: Kinematics, Dynamics, and Control[/i]
Xan's YouTube Channel
http://www.youtube.com/xanore

That is truly an awesome robot! I would love to see some closeup images. Very nice!

@Robo Ted
That was already heard in the shop the day the newspaper came and interviewed me. Part of the interview was a photo shoot where they had me pose with robots all over me... It was funny. But honestly I think the sig line more accurately represents my dislike of the stress of running a business where "robot" is a metaphor for the company.

_________________
Jim Frye, the Robot Guy
http://www.lynxmotion.com
I've always tried to do my best...

@Xan

In fact I do have plans for a 2dof per link snake.

Image:
http://fav.me/d4db0vm

I have a few projects on the table first before I build it though, plus I need to find a full time job now that I can't live off of research grants.
As per the servos, they are HS-645MGs, however if you have the money for stronger I would consider it since there are a few things i learned here:

1) Expect the servos to run near stall load frequently.
2) Weight is you're friend on this robot type. The heavier the faster you can go.
There are two limiting factor on Nagaina's speed:
A)Any faster than her current velocity and the wheels (which are on elastic shock absorbers) skip out from under her.
B)The servos cannot handle any higher torque than I have them under and moving faster fails to keep up with the servo speed at stall.

Great project!

Thanks for your input about what you've learned in this project. Looks like the 5990's or some strong Robotis servo would work even better then.
The 2 DOF link system looks very interesting, especially that the 2DOF joint share the same axis for rotation.

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[b]Kåre Halvorsen, Zenta[/b]
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Zenta's blog
http://zentasrobots.com/
Zenta's YouTube channel
http://www.youtube.com/ZentaOlbaid
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In that case, Jim, I fear you may be hoist, a bit, on your own petard. Perhaps "robot" is an overly constraining term for your vision of your company. But you must admit that you have created a company and a product line that inspires and excites robot hobbyists around the world. Worse, to compound your sins, you consistently offer a high grade of customer service both in part satisfaction and also in a constant stream of advice and counsel on how to make effective and innovative use of your parts and products. In short, you talk the talk that helps us make our robots walk the walk.

Perhaps your company may yet escape the confining term "robot." Recent additions to your offerings of servos and control boards or systems such as pan and tilts push your horizons further out. Your encouragement on the forum of extra-traditional projects such as DiaLFonZo's copters, INNERBREED's animatronics, anything of Zenta's inventive genius, or the programming tours-de-force of Kurte or Xan, certainly illustrates the versatility of Lynxmotion's products.

But as long as servos commanded by microcontrollers in response to sensors are equated with robotics, I am afraid your company will be branded that way.

You might consider learning to live with it and basking in your glory. Or you could consume the bottle your avatar trundles around. Either one should reduce your "stress" to endurable limits.

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Ted, RoboTed
Never quite finishing means never having to admit failure!

WGhost9, a very cool snake robot you built there.
i love the 3D concept design for your next project 'and as Zenta pointed out the common axis idea is very cool.

here is an idea i was working on for an animatronic neck.

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Jonny Poole,
Freelance Concept Art & Animatronics, 3D Art and 3D Modelling, as well as Physical Modelling, Mechanical design, and illustration.
http://www.innerbreed.co.uk/
Create, Innovate, Inspire.

That is one BADASS SNAKE!

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ROBOTS FTW! ^____^
http://kaizoku-robots.co.uk