Swarm Robots

So the aim would be to start thinking about swarm projects:

Here are some links.

http://www.swarm-bots.org/

http://www.swarm-bots.org/first_page_pictures/downtoexplore.jpg

http://www.swarmanoid.org/

I love this video

CPL with kinect

Started using C++ got the kinect functioning with visulisation.

Using SVN 8190?

Running the following code :

source:- http://www.pointclouds.org/documentation/tutorials/openni_grabber.php#openni-grabber

using this to compile with CMakelists.txt

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8 FATAL_ERROR)

project(openni_grabber)

find_package(PCL 1.2 REQUIRED)

include_directories(${PCL_INCLUDE_DIRS})
link_directories(${PCL_LIBRARY_DIRS})
add_definitions(${PCL_DEFINITIONS})

add_executable (openni_grabber openni_grabber.cpp)
target_link_libraries (openni_grabber ${PCL_LIBRARIES})

With the following result
used ffmpeg to convert .ogv to .avi

ffmpeg -i out.ogv -vcodec libx264 -vpre medium -crf 24 -threads 0 -acodec copy foo.mkv

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KSPYSXg2H8&feature=youtu.be

Using point clouds

So I finially rewired the wiring for the 3d printer and seem to be getting more consistant results.  So its time to move on to the 3d scanning part.

I came across this excellent C++ Library on point cloud manipulation PCL only problem is I need to try and learn some C++ in order to use the library. I've been using this site www.learncpp.com which gives a good start.

C++ IDE for ubuntu

Been trying to decide which IDE to use to do C++ programming in Ubuntu.

Loaded eclipse and spent ages trying to get things to compile, no matter what I did it wouldn't work correctly, used pkg-config plugin still no joy.
Command line compiled fine, gave up and started using it purley as a text editor.

Installed Qt creator instead, similar issues although much better help.

Main issue is trying to use C++ libraries.

useful command when trying to solve pkg-config problems:

pkg-config --list-all >pkglist.txt (this lists all known packages and sends to a file for searching)

posted issue on pkg-config here - http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2088584



Decided best way was just to use it to write the .cpp files and use command line compiler.

Using CMakelists.txt and the following:
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make

and then running the file with ./

Bridgeport power feed

My Bridgeport 2J2 mill when I got it had a broken X and Y powerfeed.  This is the log of getting it functioning.

The Bridgeport has a 6F powerfeed and Eskine control boards, there is no circuit diagram on the web.

The initial indication showed the thermal switch had failed so this was bypassed with 5A fuse wire as you will see in the video perhaps not the best idea :-)

Initial investigation of the problem was done see this video:

As you can see the power resistor went bang!

After lots of looking the common issue tends to be with the capacitors, I spent a lot of time trying to test the capacitors in circuit, this was a dead loss, although it may infer an issue it was never conclusive.
I then decided to remove the capacitors and test them out of circuit, long story short due to the age of the capacitors and circuit board I caused more issues than there was originally. No capacitors were faulty, I
crushed capacitors and de laminating  traces from the board.

This photo shows a capacitor which I damaged whilst removing it and the new replacement solder in place.

This shows a de laminated trace!!

So after this misadventure I decided to try and reverse engineer the board to understand where the problem may be.

I used LT Spice IV  to document the circuit (I didn't finish the circuit, but this is the 80%)

These are the boards that are in the bridgeport mill.

 This is the power feed board above.

This is the changeover board for the X and Y feed.  I was initially confused by the cable colours as some colours were used for different functions.

The review of the circuit showed the issue was with the 110VDC power side so I decided to check the main  rectification circuit diodes and thyristors.

Bang went the traces

Well when your using lashed up electronics be careful of the polarity!!

Connect up backwards and blew the traces of the board.

Reprap adventures in 3d printing

I've been interested in building a 3d printer and have been reviewing www.reprap.org which is a fantastic resource.

So far I've built this with the view to printing parts for the darwin, although the medel is starting to develop.

The design is based on the wolfstrap as this is the easiest to start, then I can print the parts for the next machine.