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Summer of Projects

May 182009

So I have reciently been complaining about not having stuff to do, yet I have a garage full of tools and a list of projects a mile long. I think it is time to be proactive and get some stuff done. So I have dubbed this the “summer of projects”

Here are a beginning list of things I AM going to work on.

Coaxial Swerve drive – my team wants to build one and convert the robot for IRI. I am waiting for the kids to start being proactive about this;as I am going to guide them, not design it for them.
Robotic lawn mower – Last year my boss gave me a black & decker electric lawn mower. Cutting my lawn is up there as a thing I don’t want to do so it makes sense. I will design and build a chassis for it and start by converting it to RC then add sensors and other goodness as time goes on.
CNC router – I have been interested in CNC for some time now and no matter how many times I have had things made for me I still don’t have much experience with it myself. So the net is filled with plans and ideas on DIY cnc stuff so building one for my garage would be fun, IMO.
Underwater ROV – I have never done an underwater robot before and think it could be fun. We have this sketchy pond infront of work which seems prime to stick a robot in and explore. Also the cost factor with this one is low which makes it ideal for my garage.

I think that’s a good start. Also with these projects I am going to start developing the robot webcast show Botcentric I started on last year, these 3 things seems to be a good idea for a few episodes. As always I am going to post project updates to this site, twitter, facebook, and any other tool a stalker could use to find out what I am doing. So if you don’t see updates poke me because that means I have either gotten lazy about the projects or am sucking at documentation.

Greg

I have a new hero

Technical, webfinds No Responses »

Mar 292009

Shigeo Hirose, is the director of the Hirose-Fukushima Robotics Lab at Tokyo Tech. Thanks to Gizmodo for bringing him to my attention. After having exploring his site it is very obvious to me that he and his team are by far the leading experts in robotic mechanical design. I make the specific claim about mechanical design because there are always more AI and EE developments that are non public, but seeing his work is like looking at a robotic art gallery. I can only aspire to be as good as him in my lifetime, yet I fear that I will never reach that point.

video on gizmodo.

mmmm…power drill powered bikes

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Aug 042008

So through this little thing called my “job” I might get my hands on some of the new 36volt xrp drill transmissions and motors. Now they will be going for my new battlebot first but I could see one of these on the horizon also.

Life scripted…

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Jun 142008

So in the last blog post I talked about some of my media endeavors for this summer. Things have taken a development since then. I decided that instead of developing content for many other places online I am going to do my own show. I have started to get the equipment needed (camera, lights, set, etc) and have about 7 episodes already written. There is a new site for this videocast that I am going to launch soon. I will be mirroring the embedded flash videos here on robogreg. The site will be called Botcentric (www.botcentric.com)

here is my new camera a canon HV-20. It shoots 1080i HD onto mini dv tapes and should make my videocast have really good quality HD camera canon HV20

In other news my life has been on an even kilter for a while now which for me is a nice change. I have started to settle into my own skin a bit more and am now able to do the things I want to do.

I have also registered for a motorcycle class and will be getting my license this month. A motorcycle purchase is in my future.

Instructables are coming

Personal, Technical No Responses »

May 292008

I have been working on a bunch of how to articles for robot design and other, which I feel cover alot of the information which is lost in the folds of the internet (cough cough chiefdelphi cough).

I will be doing these in instructables.com format as step by step instructions. Look for them soon. Some topics will include:

Effective use of CAD for robot design

How to decide which, and design your robot drive train

How to install xp over vista for OEM computers

etc….

There was also some talk a few months ago with some of the guys from www.thebluealliance.net about turning some of these into video tutorials. If that happens it won’t be till much later in the summer.

For now sitback and enjoy this dancing robo known as keepon.

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About

Mechanical Engineer with a degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Greg has been involved in almost every form of competitive robotics on the planet. Everything from Battlebots, to the DARPA grand challenge and FIRST robotics. Greg is a founding member of the Dallas Maker Space and active member of the Dallas Personal Robotics Group. Building and creating is a lifestyle for Greg and he is all about pushing the limits of what is possible both personally and technically. He currently works at Innovation First Labs as the Sr. Product Engineer for Hexbug Micro Robotic Creatures, the 2010 Specialty Toy of the Year!