$7.00 CANADA $5.50 U.S. Cover.qxd 2/2/2011 9:06 AM Page 1 Vol. 9 No. 3 SERVO MAGAZINE UNDULATING FIN WAVE PROPULSION • CPLDs • TELEPRESENCE • ENERGY HARVESTING March 2011 Full Page.qxd 9/2/2010 3:03 PM Page 2 WorldMags WorldMags WorldMags METAL GEARMOTORS SERVOS FORCE SENSOR? METAL GEARMOTOR SERVO CONTROLLER MOTOR CONTROLLER ? AT POLOLU COM! LASER CUT PIECES SHARP SENSORS SERVOS JRK CONTROLLER CHECK OUT SMC? CODE! Take your design from idea to reality WorldMagsEngage Your Brain www.pololu.com TOC Mar11.qxd 2/1/2011 6:26 PM Page 4 WorldMags 03.2011 VOL. 9 NO. 3 Did you know that each article in SERVO Magazine has its own webpage? It’s where you go for downloads, comments, updates, corrections, or to link to the article in the digital issue. The unique link for each webpage is included with the article. You can also visit article pages from back issues at www. servomagazine.com. Just select the Past Issues tab from the About SERVO drop down menu, click the Table of Contents link, and the article name. Departments 06 Mind/Iron 17 Showcase 18 Events Calendar 20 New Products 22 Bots in Brief 67 SERVO Webstore 81 Robo-Links PAGE 70 81 Advertiser’s Index Columns PAGE 08 08 Robytes by Jeff Eckert Stimulating Robot Tidbits 10 GeerHead by David Geer Knifefish Research Robot Models Undulating Fin Wave Propulsion 14 Ask Mr. Roboto by Dennis Clark Your Problems Solved Here 62 The NXT Big Thing #8 by Greg Intermaggio Stay on Course! 70 Twin Tweaks by Bryce and Evan Woolley Little Robot Shop of Adventure 76 Then and Now by Tom Carroll Telepresence SERVO Magazine (ISSN 1546-0592/CDN Pub Agree#40702530) is published monthly for $24.95 per year by T & L Publications,Inc., 430 Princeland Court, Corona, CA 92879. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT CORONA, CA AND AT ADDITIONAL ENTRY MAILING OFFICES. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to SERVO Magazine, P.O. Box 15277, North Hollywood, CA 91615 or Station A, P.O. Box 54,Windsor ON N9A 6J5; [email protected] 4 SERVO 03.2011 WorldMags TOC Mar11.qxd 2/1/2011 6:27 PM Page 5 WorldMags In This Issue ... PAGE 43 PAGE 56 38 Harvest Energy for Your Robots 52 CPLDs — Part 1: An Introduction With the EnerChip by David Ward by Fred Eady Anyone involved with digital electronics should Once you understand how energy harvesting become familiar with complex programmable works, you can apply this knowledge to your logic devices. This tutorial will take you through own low power robotic projects. the paces, culminating with a demonstration of how to incorporate a CPLD to control a mobile 43 Making Robots With the robotics platform. Arduino — Part 5 56 Build Your Own Big Walker by Gordon McComb by Daniel Albert Adding sensors to explore the world. Part 2: Mechanical Design. The Combat Zone... 35 PARTS IS PARTS: Features Mtroniks Viper Events 28 BUILD REPORT: Building Combat Arenas: 36 Upcoming Events A Guide to Staying Safe 31 RioBotz Combot Tutorial Summarized: Brushless DC Motors 32 MANUFACTURING: Hobbyweight Weapon Blade and Hub SERVO 03.2011 5 WorldMags Mind-Iron - Mar11.qxd 1/31/2011 7:43 PM Page 6 WorldMags Mind / Iron by Bryan Bergeron, Editor Building with Repurposing in Mind useful for power supplies. In these cost-conscious times, the economics of Many of the sensor breakout boards from Parallax robotic experimentation may be at odds with your come with headers designed for easy insertion into budget. A DIY robot with microprocessor, a few sensors, breakout boards. These work fine as long as you can fit and two or more servos can easily run $100 or more in your creation in a breadboard. However, the vertical pins parts. And once you’ve built and tested your robot, you’ll can be difficult to work with cables and connectors, inevitably want to upgrade or significantly improve the unless you can mount the board upside down. design. That’s when it starts to get expensive. Another way to avoid soldering directly to You can minimize your total cash outlay by building components is to use wire-wrapping to connect your robots with repurposing in mind. That is, assume components, sockets, and pins. You’ll need to invest in a your robotic creations are temporary, and that one day wire-wrap tool ($6 at RadioShack) and 30-gauge wire- soon you’ll be using all or some of the parts in some wrapping wire ($9 for a 100’ spool; SparkFun). The great other robotics project. Tearing down one of your robots thing about wire-wrapping is that once you get the hang needn’t be an arduous, lengthy task if you go about your of it, it’s much faster than soldering. And you can quickly prototyping with repurposing in mind. and harmlessly unwrap wire from a pin or component. One obvious approach is to use a solderless There’s no soldering iron, fumes, or potential solder breadboard for your work. The larger boards with splashes to deal with – all plusses for experimenters of aluminum backing and multiple binding posts for power any age. can be great for basic circuit prototyping, before you The downside of wire-wrapping is that the tool and deploy the circuit on a mobile platform. However, except special wire can be expensive – be careful where you for small boards, breadboards are often too cumbersome shop. The same tool available from RadioShack for $6 and heavy for deploying on a robotic platform. The sells for $16 to $56 on some websites. Another issue is solderless breadboards that are integrated with the that 30-gauge wire has limited current carrying capacity. robots from Parallax (www.Parallax.com) and the mini You’ll want to consider heavier gauge wire and solder or 1.8”x1.4”self-adhesive breadboards from SparkFun crimp-on lugs, and other substantial connectors for (www.sparkfun.com) are useful, but limited in battery and motor connections. component capacity. When you need to work with more When possible, use terminal blocks instead of than a dozen components or with unwieldy components soldering wire to expensive circuit boards. For example, that don’t insert neatly into a solderless breadboard, the screw shield for the Arduino — available from The you’ll have to turn to other options. RobotShop (www.robotshop.com) and others — is a You can avoid soldering ICs directly into a circuit and handy prototyping tool if you work with the Arduino. In use IC sockets instead. I don’t use the gold-plated variety, fact, shields in general are a great way to repurpose your but whatever is on sale from suppliers like All Electronics microprocessor boards. Simply unplug the shield and (www.allelectronics.com). At 15–20 cents, sockets are move your processors to your next project. a no-brainer when it comes to repurposing ICs. You’ll My last suggestion is to document what you build. spend that much on solder-wick if you try to unsolder an Sketch a schematic of your device before you retire it. IC from a board, and you may damage the IC in the With schematic in hand, you won’t have to examine your process. collection of robots to find the one with the 3V power One step up from IC sockets is to use breakout supply, or the one in which you used the 16 MHz version boards, or miniature circuit board modules with of a processor. connections to all or most of the pins on an IC or other At some point in your prototyping, you may develop device. I like to use breakout boards from SparkFun, but a ‘keeper’ – something you’ll never disassemble for parts. instead of soldering wire to the boards directly, I add When you reach that stage, a custom printed circuit headers so that I can use cables with connectors. board and soldered components will usually provide the That way, I can move the modules from project to best reliability and smallest footprint. Good luck with your project in minutes. This module approach is especially projects. SV 6 SERVO 03.2011 WorldMags Mind-Iron - Mar11.qxd 2/1/2011 3:11 PM Page 7 WorldMags FOR THE ROBOT ERVO INNOVATOR Published Monthly By T & L Publications, Inc. 430 Princeland Ct., Corona, CA 92879-1300 (951) 371-8497 FAX (951) 371-3052 Webstore Only 1-800-783-4624 www.servomagazine.com Subscriptions Toll Free 1-877-525-2539 Outside US 1-818-487-4545 P.O. Box 15277, N. Hollywood, CA 91615 PUBLISHER Larry Lemieux [email protected] ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ VP OF SALES/MARKETING Robin Lemieux [email protected] EDITOR Bryan Bergeron [email protected] CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Jeff Eckert Jenn Eckert Tom Carroll David Geer Dennis Clark R. Steven Rainwater Fred Eady Kevin Berry Bryce Woolley Evan Woolley Gregory Intermaggio Gordon McComb David Ward Daniel Albert Pete Smith James Baker CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Tracy Kerley [email protected] MARKETING COORDINATOR WEBSTORE Brian Kirkpatrick [email protected] WEB CONTENT Michael Kaudze [email protected] ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Debbie Stauffacher PRODUCTION/GRAPHICS Shannon Christensen Copyright 2011 by T & L Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved All advertising is subject to publisher’s approval. We are not responsible for mistakes, misprints, or typographical errors. SERVO Magazine assumes no responsibility for the availability or condition of advertised items or for the honesty of the advertiser. 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