New Star Wars droid ISN'T a CGI: BB-8's ball body can move i

Post here if it doesn't seem to fit anywhere else.

Moderators: Chuckt, Garth, bitfogav

Post Reply [phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable
Chuckt
I practically live here!
I practically live here!
Posts: 1127
Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2010 1:36 pm
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

New Star Wars droid ISN'T a CGI: BB-8's ball body can move i

Post by Chuckt » Fri Apr 17, 2015 11:04 pm

New Star Wars droid ISN'T a CGI: BB-8's ball body can move in any direction - but how does it work?

It is cool to think that anyone with a microcontroller could make a robot for Star Wars.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... -work.html

User avatar
brad
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 2578
Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2010 10:30 pm
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: New Star Wars droid ISN'T a CGI: BB-8's ball body can mo

Post by brad » Sun Apr 19, 2015 9:53 am

I have never seen that before, it's fantastic!

Could there be some sort of electromagnet / roller combination inside the head perhaps?

Chuckt
I practically live here!
I practically live here!
Posts: 1127
Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2010 1:36 pm
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: New Star Wars droid ISN'T a CGI: BB-8's ball body can mo

Post by Chuckt » Sun Apr 19, 2015 1:46 pm

Probably the same technology that Quadcopters and Segways use to keep level. It probably uses a Triple-axis Accelerometer+Magnetometer on board or some kind of gyroscope that cameras have on news copters. It might have rollers and magnets and there are already balancing bots. I'm sure they would redo the scene if the bot fell apart or over.

http://hackaday.com/2013/11/10/self-bal ... -features/

I found the gyroscope in the self-balancing robot and it is obsolete and non-stocked. The datasheet I found didn't say how to use it so I'm guessing they don't want anyone to use it or I just didn't understand it.

User avatar
brad
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 2578
Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2010 10:30 pm
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: New Star Wars droid ISN'T a CGI: BB-8's ball body can mo

Post by brad » Sun Apr 26, 2015 9:59 pm

Sorry for the late reply Chuck. That's a great robot in that Hackaday link. I'm just wondering how much processing power is required for the robot to be able to decode the signs and the tennis ball. I wonder if you had the tennis ball next to a baseball, would it be able to tell the difference?

Chuckt
I practically live here!
I practically live here!
Posts: 1127
Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2010 1:36 pm
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: New Star Wars droid ISN'T a CGI: BB-8's ball body can mo

Post by Chuckt » Mon Apr 27, 2015 7:40 am

The Gyroscope's datasheet in the previous robot looked like an amplifier but I don't know enough about amplifiers to know how they make it work.

There was a write up on how the BB-8 works. Please see the comments and the video:

http://hackaday.com/2015/04/19/mini-bb- ... -a-sphero/

They also have a project in Instructables.

Chuckt
I practically live here!
I practically live here!
Posts: 1127
Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2010 1:36 pm
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: New Star Wars droid ISN'T a CGI: BB-8's ball body can mo

Post by Chuckt » Mon Apr 27, 2015 10:56 am

brad wrote:Sorry for the late reply Chuck. That's a great robot in that Hackaday link. I'm just wondering how much processing power is required for the robot to be able to decode the signs and the tennis ball. I wonder if you had the tennis ball next to a baseball, would it be able to tell the difference?
I think if it is perfectly round, it could ride any ball if the ratio between base-wheels and ball are the same. Think how you would ride a unicycle. I never road one but how would you get forward motion and maintain balance? I am guessing you might have to lean forward to get the wheel moving a bit and therefore I'm not certain this robot needs magnets to stay on top of the ball because it probably just needs to lean in one direction.

SparkFun 9 Degrees of Freedom IMU Breakout - LSM9DS0
Description: This is the LSM9DS0, a versatile motion-sensing system-in-a-chip that houses a 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis gyroscope, and 3-axis magnetometer. That’s right, 9 degrees of freedom (9dof) from a single IC!

Each sensor in the LSM9DS0 supports a wide range of, well, ranges: the accelerometer’s scale can be set to ± 2, 4, 6, 8, or 16 g, the gyroscope supports ± 245, 500, and 2000 °/s, and the magnetometer has full-scale ranges of ± 2, 4, 8, or 12 gauss. Additionally, the LSM9DS0 includes an I2C serial bus interface supporting standard and fast mode (100 kHz and 400 kHz) and an SPI serial standard interface.
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12636



It seems like a lot of work but the author of the above video shows there are a lot of files already made to use the boards for this robot. The product list starts at 8:45 should you want to fast forward in the video.

Post Reply
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 21 guests