Service

There are endless possibilities for robots in the service industry. In Japan, the Henn-na Hotel near Tokyo is run almost entirely by robots with only a handful of human staff remaining. The robots are useful as they speak many languages such as English, Japanese, Korean and Chinese, and they assist with carrying luggage, housekeeping, and dealing with guest requests and emergencies. So far, this is the only hotel known to be using android robots, however, there are plans to add 1,000 similar hotels in the future also using majority robot staff.

Image credit: Pixabay

Casino

Robotic casino dealers are threatening to replace casino croupiers worldwide in the near future, as android dealers have been all the rage in Macau lately. It’s thought that similar robots will be rolling out in casinos worldwide, as they can offer more precise card shuffling and dealing. Robot dealers also help to get around gambling laws in places such as New York in order to bring casino gambling to new areas. This will undoubtedly cost thousands to implement, but one area of the casino industry that cannot be affected is for online casinos. Many of them are offering bonuses such as free bets without a deposit and technology such as live dealer tables to experience an authentic casino experience without leaving the house. So maybe the future truly is online?

Image credit: Bloomberg

Education

In the education industry, technology presents endless possibilities. From interactive whiteboards to tablets and online portals, there are so many ways to engage children in education. Lately, the use of robots is beginning to be incorporated in more classrooms worldwide. There are so many ways for robots to help in the classroom, from computer coding and 3D printing to foreign language training and mathematics. However, it may be some time until schools are completely replaced by robots considering that they are simply programmed to teach and not programmed to connect with student’s learning or help control a classroom, so teachers may not be out of a job yet!

The post Rise of the Robots: The Industries Where Android Robots are Taking Over appeared first on OCFreaks!.

Project Bootstrap – (Yet another xD) DIY 3 Axis CNC

Project Bootstrap is OCFreaks’ 2nd Official Project which is – a Homemade DIY CNC Routing and Milling Machine.

For those guys who are new to CNC and related stuff lemme give you a formal introduction to ‘CNC Machine’ :

Link to CNC on wiki : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerical_control

It all started when I entered into Robotics & Embedded – Somewhere around in late 2009. Back then I was working on a Hexapod Robot project. I had made a new design for my hexapod and then was faced with a challenge. How do I cut the design ? I had to do it manually or get it fabricated. Pro fabricators wont accept such sample quantity jobs. So I had to manually cut the parts for my hexapod .. Damn! During that time a random thought came in my mind – Why not make a CNC router and cut parts for robotics projects at home? I was like .. hmmmmm .. but making a CNC is tough ask. For months I was still like .. hmmmmm .. can I make it? can I really make it? Finally in April 2012 somewhere around my birthday I decided – Enough of this ‘can I make it? crap’ , Lets start freaking buildin’ it. After my exams in June 2012 I started researching on DIY CNCs seriously .. I mean damn seriously .. endlessly going through CNC related stuff for hours n hours n hours. My CNC story starts from here! My CNC project is divided into Intervals – each interval has its own story to say.

Here is Quick Video of Interval 6 : Here I’ve used the CNC to engrave text on PCB Copper Clads:

So .. What next in pipeline? : 2nd Version of the current CNC and a 3D-Printer!

The CNC Build in a Nutshell(sort-of)

6mm Thick Wooden Plates cut as per Design:

Drilled Sandwiched plates with effective thickness of 12mm:

Base aluminum frame:

Anti-backlash Lead Nuts , Regular ball-Bearings , Thrust Bearings & Couplings , Shaft and Lead Screw end support blocks:

Cut & Drilled Aluminum Angles of thickness 2mm:

Open and Closed type Linear Motion Bearings for Linear Motion:

Nema-23 18.9Kgcm Stepper Motors:

20mm Shafts , M10x1.5 Mild-steel & Stainless-steel Lead Screws:

Fasteners:

1st Prototype of Opto-Isolated Parallel Breakout Board – Sadly this prototype failed and didn’t make it ): [2nd Prototype in Progress (:]

2nd Prototype of DRV8825 based stepper motor driver – This too didn’t make it since it had a few bugs ): [3rd Prototype in Progress (:]

5mm Thick Aluminum Angles for reinforcement:

Anti-backlash Lead Nut Housing:

Lead Nut where it should be: When the Lead Screw rotates the Lead Nut moves back-n-forth i.e it converts the rotational motion of stepper motors into linear motion.

X-axis Base on which Z-axis base is mounted:

Y-axis Base:

Z-axis Base :

Z-axis Lead Screw Assembly:

Thrust Bearings to secure Lead Screws in place:

Z-axis Assembly:

Z-axis Stepper Motor:

Y-axis Stepper Motor:

X-axis Stepper Motor:

Y-axis Limit/Home Switches:

X-axis Limit/Home Switches:

Z-axis Limit/Home Switches:

CNC Base assembly:

The Gantry:

CNC almost complete! :

CNC on Wheels! :

The final setup for Test Runs:

Test Print(after calibration) Result:

And its Made in India. (:

The post DIY CNC Router / Mill appeared first on OCFreaks!.

This is DIY CNC Interval 2B – Linear Motion Bearings, Motor & Coupling Selection.

Linear Motion Bearings , Shafts and Support Blocks
For linear translation support I decided to go with 20mmm (dia.) Linear Motion Ball Bearings mounted on 20mm chrome shafts. Per axis 4 Linear Motion Bearings will be used.

Open Type Linear Motion Bearing:

Closed Type Linear Motion Bearing:

The Linear Motion Bearing Stock:

To support shafts I have got some Shaft End support blocks:

Shaft End Support Stock:

20mm Chrome Shafts:

Stepper Motors

I’ve also purchased 3x Nema-23 18.9 Kg-cm Torque Stepper motors which provides enough torque to mill metals like Aluminum given a proper lead screw is used.

Couplings
A Nema 23 Standard Stepper motor shaft has a diameter of 1/4″ i.e 6.35mm. On the other hand my Lead Screws are 10mm in diameter. Hence I wanted a coupling which can couple the 10mm lead screw with 6.35mm stepper shaft. Once such type of coupling was available on Ebay – HongKong but then I found a fabricator who could flexible shaft couplings at almost the same price. Within 5 days I got it fabricated from Excella electronics – Ghatkopar , Mumbai.

Misc

Also got a sample of pillow block bearing which I had originally thought of using as end support for Lead Screw. This might or might not go into the actual CNC.

Interval 1 Post is @ Here
Interval 2A Post is @ Here

The post DIY CNC – LM Bearings, Motor & Coupling Selection appeared first on OCFreaks!.

Introduction
Hey Folks! Lets make our own Lead Screw End support for our DIY CNCs! I’ll let images do all the talking since therez nothing much to write about xD.

So this was my situation : I was having Bearings with ID=10mm , OD=19mm and same kind Flange type bearing with Flange dia=21mm along with a 20mm Shaft End Support. Using those bearings one could easily convert a ‘Shaft End Support’ into a ‘Lead Screw End Support’. Lets see how.

Parts required:
1) 20mm Shaft End Support Block :

2) Normal + Flange type Bearings :

3) Paper Tape :

4) Small Hammer

Building Steps:
Step 1 : Stack the normal bearing over the flange type bearing. Start ‘rolling’ the paper tape over it. Keep on checking the Outer diameter after each full/half revolution. It must not go beyond the Shaft end support’s ID which is 20mm in our case.

Step 2 : Once the Outer diameter barely reaches 20mm its time to cut the tape. Trim the excess tape.

Step 3 : Its time to put the bearing stack into Shaft end support’s 20mm slot. Apply pressure using thumbs to force it in. When its mid-way inside u’ll need a small hammer to force it completely in. If it still wont go inside then a peel of a small section of the paper tape and try again. When its completely inside the slot lock it using Shaft end support’s lock screws.

And thats it! We’r Done!

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DIY CNC Interval 2A: Leadscrew, Leadnut & Bearing Selection

In the first part of this Diy CNC Series I had given a brief introduction on my way of building a CNC. Here I talk on one of the most important part of CNC viz.: leadscrews(& its support bearings) and leadnuts.

Leadscrew(or simply precision threaded rod) is ‘the’ part that converts rotational motion of stepper/servo motors into linear translation. The Leadnut is similar to a nut which moves back and forth as the leadscrew rotates. The pitch of the Lead Screw and the number of thread starts decide the accuracy of a CNC and also the maximum linear speed aka Rapids. Pitch is simply the distance between the center of 2 threads on the Lead Screw. When the Lead Screw makes 1 complete rotation it makes the Lead Nut travel a distance which is equal to its Pitch. In My case I have used a standard Metric Lead Screw of Diameter 10mm and pitch 1.5mm. When it rotates once the lead nut mounted on it travels an exact distance of 1.5mm in the respective direction.

Leadscrews come in a variety of standards and types. Amongst them most famous and widely used in DIY CNC are ACME and Metric M-x(where x is the diameter) thread type leadscrews. ACME is as per the imperial standard and most widely in west. Metric M-x is as per the Metric Standard. Lead screws having ACME threading are generally precision threaded rods. Metric M-x thread type is generally used in fastners hence the leadscrews may have high tolerences hence lower precision. But Precision Metric M-x leadscrews also do exist.

You can find more information on Leadscrews at these links:

• www.cnczone.com/forums/linear_rotary_motion/20745-screw_threads_101_a-5.html
• www.roton.com/acme-lead-screws-nuts.aspx?line=Acme
• www.roton.com/trapezoidal-lead-screws.aspx?line=Trapezoidal
• www.cncroutersource.com/acme-lead-screw.html

Initially I had thought of using ACME 10TPI(2.5mm pitch) threaded Leadscrews but ran into a bit of stock issues since at my place we follow Metric Standard .. hence ACME components are not easily available while Metric components are very cheap and readily available. The counter part to ACME Leadscrew in Metric system is Trapezoidal Leadscrews. Trapezoidal Leadscrews are too not readily available at my location despite of the fact that its a Metric component! Hopefully I found a manufacturer of Leadscrew who could custom make Leadscrews as per my requirement be it ACME or Trapezoidal. Now the problem next was the availability of Trapezoidal nuts and Leadnuts. Trapezoidal nuts are costly .. I could have got them but that would mean more time waste. Since this is the frist time I am making a CNC I thought of using readily available components to make a sort of boot-strap CNC after I could make newer version using ACME leadscrews.

I finally decided to go with M-10 Leadscrew which I got manufactured from a manufacturer. M-10 Leadscrew has 10mm diameter and a pitch of 1.5mm. The advantage of lower pitch is more fine resolution but at the cost of low feed rates. Advantage of having higher pitch is higher feed rates but a bit lower resolution. But the fact is : even in the case of higher pitch the resolution is still very good since stepper have a step angle of 1.8 Degrees and they can be run in micro-stepping too!

M-10 Precision Leadscrew (Mild Steel):

Now , coming to Leadnuts. I ordered 4x M-10 Anti-backlash Leadnuts from www.dumpstercnc.com. The Leadnuts are indeed as per the specs and of top notch quality. When I tried them on M-10 Leadscrew the backlash was 0!

Anti-backlash(AB) Leadnuts:

AB Leadnut mounted on Leadscrew:

To support the Leadscrews at both the ends I also got some flange type and normal ball bearings. I’ll talk about how I have used these bearings for the Leadscrew assembly in detail in next my next post.

Bearings:

Now the last thing remaining was to decide on bearings for the Lead Screw end support which will secure Lead Screw in place. I purchased some normal bearings with ID = 10mm and OD = 19mm and similar Flange type bearing with flange diameter around 21mm. Using these bearings with a 20mm Shaft end support I made my own DIY Lead Screw End Support and later on used Thrust bearings to lock the Lead Screw in place.

The post DIY CNC : Leadscrew , Leadnut & Bearing Selection appeared first on OCFreaks!.

Building Blocks of DIY Quadcopter: Introduction & Overview

Lately I got involved into another DIY project – A Quadcopter. It was during my exams I got into this xD. And it was during my exams I started researching on Quadcopter. Plenty of information is available on the Internet on multicopters. I had decided on using 9×4.7 Propellers since its going to be a Mid-Sized Quadcopter. So , ordered some Clockwise and Anticlockwise Slow Fly Propellors.

Clockwise Props:

Anticlockwise Props:

Also , what I found was that a motor having around 900 to 1200KV was a best fit for my project. KV is simply RPM per Volt. Like many others I too selected Turnigy 2215J-900KV Brushless DC Motor. The Quality and performance of these motors is top-notch considering the price. I ordered 5 of them from Hobbyking.

The package:

The motors:

Closeups:

Accessories:

Next was selecting proper ESC i.e Electronic Speed controller for these motors. As per the specs on Hobbyking these Motors draw upto 20 Amps at around 10-11 Volts. Most of the RC enthusisats select ESC which can handle around 5 to 7 Amps more than their Max requirment. Even I too Agree with this since Higher-AMP Rated ESCs will run much cooler so possibly will last longer. Its better to stay away with smoking ESCs. I selected HobbyKing Blue Series 30 Amp ESCs. I could have gone with 25 Amp ESC but the difference in price was very less hence decided to buy 30 Amp ones instead. Again like with the motors I ordered 5 of them.

Also ordered a Program Card suited for the ESCs I had ordered. Its sort-of necessary to change the ESC parameters for multicopters.

Ill be KK-Multirotor controller since I am a “First Timer”. Planning to use 4AH Lipo Battery for the Quadcopter but not fixed yet. First want a get a prototype ready which will be powered by a bench PSU which I generally use for my Hexapod and other stuff.

At this very moment I’m working on the Frame using Aluminum Extrusions and fasteners.

The post DIY Quadcopter Project : Interval 1 appeared first on OCFreaks!.

DIY CNC Interval 1: Inception

I had originally thought(not planned) of building a CNC Machine back in 2011 .. but then it was just in my head since I was noob in mechanical stuff. Frankly speaking at that time I didnt even knew what is a lead screw , linear bearing , coupling , etc.. which form the basic building blocks of a DIY CNC. It was around in March 2012 that I finally decided to make one(along with quadcopter xD) and had the commitment. I researched a lot online for weeks to get myself comfortable with the mechanics of CNC Machine and related calculations. Had gone through a big number CNC Designs and finally made a rough blue-print of a CNC which I am gonna build. At the moment I’ve still not decided that which kind of Aluminum Extrusion will be used for making the frame.

The post DIY CNC : Interval 1 appeared first on OCFreaks!.

Here are some pics of the ‘Hexapod’ taken in June 2011 after fabricating the body parts at home. I’ve Codenamed it “Harsh”.

Here the ‘Primary’ major challenges were to design the servo controller in terms of Hardware and Software , work out the Inverse Kinematics for the bot , implement different types of Gaits or ‘Walking Algorithms’ (or what I call ‘Walking Rythms’) and finally figure a way out to make them all work together flawlessly! Secondary challenges include wireless interface using Zigbee , balancing , decision making ability (AI) when left alone , object tracking using camera and what not.

Before starting with body design , I first started developing Servo Controller which can control upto 32 (64 too) Servos independently. Then I started work on desinging and cutting body and leg parts for the robot. After that came the toughest part – Inverse Kinematics and then its integration with GAIT generator. At this very moment I am Working on GAIT Generator or Sequencer or whatever its called. This Sequencer controls the movement of legs synchornously for the selected GAIT. I have made the blue-prints of Tripod and Wave Gait.I Had hardcoded the sequences for testing and it seemed to work just fine – so I can safely assume that my method of generating the GAIT sequences is all OK. Now I just need to make a module that can produce the sequences dynamically. Hoping this gets done quiclky after which I can work on generating sequences for complex moves along with Yaw-Pitch-Roll-Translation moves w.r.t to the center of the body.

Heres a Video of Wave Gait :

And heres that of Tripod Gait:

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