Robotics

The Wednesday Update: The Wellness Edition

Posted on by burf2000

Welcome to another Wednesday update, due to Compsoft having a Wellness day (bloody epic if you ask me) I have had the whole day to do stuff…..

Gwiz update

So the new 100AH deep cycle Hankook DC31 batteries turned up and I would class it as a success, instead of being able to do about 2 miles on my second-hand batteries, I managed 10 miles without any issues or slowdowns. Everything seemed to work well, got up to 40mph (quite scary in a paper-thin car). I have also wired the car chargers into the original charging port of the car. Next really is to focus on making it drive itself.

Inmoov Robot update

So one of the main things I wanted to do today was fit the arms to my Inmoov humanoid. It still needs a lot of work, repairs, and some restoration however I would see this as a big step forward. One of the hardest bits to get right is setting up the biceps as they have a habit of going crazy and ripping the arm apart (I have 2 3D printers currently on printing replacement parts). I did manage to fit the left arm and part of the right arm however the right arm did break some parts. I hope to do a video soon.

Before I fired up the right arm
After I fired up the right arm

Misc

I am currently trying to work out how to control my electric wheelchair remotely, as mentioned this would be a great platform for an outdoors robot. I have also managed to fire up a 36v mobility scooter motor which could be quite good fun.

The Wednesday Update: The Sunny Edition

Posted on by burf2000

Welcome to another Wednesday update and boy has the weather been great the last 5 days. Compared to the usual rain we had for a good few weeks, the weather has been epic!

Gwiz update
Stuff has happened, the big thing being that I have now ordered brand new (yes actually new) batteries for it. I have gone with some 100AH deep cycle Hankook DC31. I will be running around 65 volts which does make the Gwiz shift a bit! They should arrive ready for the weekend 🙂

Inmoov Robotic Head update

Well, this has started to look pretty cool now that I have tidied up the internals. I have mounted the amplifier, sound level PCB, and other things. I need to reprint the top part of the skull

I think I have got this to a great place. I do want to add a camera to it but to mount that onto the Pi will be a massive challenge. I also need to fix the Burf.co chat API as it’s dying badly. I would also like the Python script to autostart when the head is turned for all of the speech, TTS and API services.

Burf.co : Goodbye server!

So do not run random Linux scripts on a live server from the internet lol. I completely removed SUDO permissions from my box, 1.2 terabytes of data lost! It was a bad day, I was multitasking badly and paid the price. I managed to rebuild the server rather quickly (2 hours) however the main index data will take ages to get back. I like to see this huge mess up as an opportunity to do something different so watch this space!

Review

Let’s see how I am actually doing against the plan, I had a few lost sessions due to house improvements and covid, but how am I doing against the list

List from February

  • Math : Learn Algebra and kinematic (Little progress made)
  • Finish Introducing Robotics  (Done)
  • Start and Finish Robotic Vision: Principles of Vision (Scrapped as very old)
  • Finish Artificial Intelligence for Robotics : This is the self driving course I really want to do but needs maths. (Not started yet)
  • Give a good shot to Machine Learning by Andrew NG : A very famous ML course (Not started yet)
  • Get Robotic head talking and listenering (Done, will go further)
  • Do something useful with Gwiz (Progressing)
  • Finish Electronics course (Not started yet)
  • Start and finish Self driving course using deep learning (Not started yet)
  • Build/use already built little robot to do maze solving work (Little progress made)
  • Finish Robotic Diploma (Missed off list but was important) (Done)
  • Finish Inmoov Robot (Missed off list but is very important) (Progressing)

I find it very odd how I missed the Robotics Diploma and finishing the Inmoov Robot (full size) off the main list as these are actually more important than most of the other things.

So 3 things done, 1 scrapped (it was mentioned in a previous post why), 2 processing well, and 5 academic courses to start. Seeing as it’s 3 months in, I think that is actually good progress.

The Wednesday Update: Bicep Edition!

Posted on by burf2000

So welcome to another Wednesday update, this one is rather special as I have actually managed to publish it on a Wednesday!

Robots Everywhere

I saw a video online of a Ukrainian kid who was learning robotics and had made a cool robot called Markobot. In the background of the video was an Inmoov robot, it wasn’t complete but it reminded me that I had one upstairs that I hadn’t finished yet and though I had been learning cool stuff and building epic things the last few months, nothing really compares to the Inmoov robot. For anyone interested in humanoid 3D printed robots, nothing comes near to the Inmmov Robot

Link to the article https://spectrum.ieee.org/video-friday-markobot

Inmoov Robot Progress Update

So I decided that the majority of today I should get back into fixing up this robot. One of the main bits that had not been assembled were the biceps, these are quite hard to configure and usually end up with broken parts. However, I had a rather successful day

I also had time to test out the hand

Wheelchair Fun

In other news, I managed to also get a broken wheelchair to kick back into life! I believe a great base for a mobile robot that needs to be used outside is an old wheelchair. I paid £50 for this and it’s fantastic (I really enjoyed driving it around the garden). I plan to wire in a Raspberry Pi to allow me to remote control it! Then add some sensors, Lidar etc, and see if I can make it drive itself!

Misc

I am now on module 6 of my Robotics diploma! It’s getting pretty hard now (Inverse Kinematics was this module’s topic) but I hope to finish it!

The Wednesday Update: The quiet edition

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Devcon

Welcome to another Wednesday update, that’s not on a Wednesday! This time round I am live at a Compsoft Devcon. This is a small event where all the devs from Compsoft over the many years meet up after work to discuss and try out new technology. It’s a good laugh and always has free food and drink! There was a good turnout, lots of discussions, and knowledge shared! I took along my Inmoov robotic head.

The quiet Wednesday

Due to a family emergency with my mum going to the hospital, not much was done on the techie front. My mum is ok and in great hands.

Introducing Robotics 

This course has now been finished, well to the best of my ability, what I didn’t realise is that I started it in 2017 and it got archived in 2021. This meant I could go back over the course (which I did) however I could not submit the final quiz. I had already completed over 90% of the course which is classed as complete by Future Learn anyway. I did learn a lot from the maths and the Matlab stuff however it was still very hard work and I am not sure

Introduction to Robotics Diploma

So I am now on module 4 of this, again this started off super basic and then went full on mathematics within 1 page! I will give it a go and see where it takes me.

ROS Robot

ROS (Robotics Operating System) is the standard for Robots, a few years a go I built some cool robots with Lidar systems in them for a VEX Robotics show. I am resurrencting them as they are super useful to learn with.

The Wednesday Update: It’s alive!

Posted on by burf2000

Hello and welcome to another Wednesday update on a different day than Wednesday. This afternoon I tried to focus on 1 task, get my Inmoov robotic head talking. Short version, I DID IT!

As you can see there is plenty of room for improvement however it does work. I want to get the lipsync working a bit better (this is usually down to tweaking the volume output) and the voice is pretty terrible. I need to cure the speaker interference too.

However, there is something else going on here that’s pretty cool. It is wired up to the Burf.co Chat API which makes it a perfect testbed for the website. The API at the moment is just a standard implementation of an AIML library however this opens the doors to do some pretty cool stuff

Check out Wikipedia for more info on AIML

The code is written in Python and is fairly simple stuff, there are lots of examples to make your own Jarvis on the web. The pain was getting the Speech Recogniser working on the Pi. The LipSync purely works by the audio level coming from the headphone jack.

Misc

I also finished a course on Matlab to help me finish Introducing Robotics.

The Wednesday Update: Reviewing the plan

Posted on by burf2000

Hello and welcome to another Wednesday update, after the Speed Edition last week, this one is a little more academic.

Introduction to Machine Learning

So this Wednesday I focused on trying to complete the 4-week course on Machine Learning. I have done ML courses in the past but fancied a refresher. What I was most impressed with is how far the tools have come along to lower the bar to entry for people to use them.
Machine Learning For Kids was a great way for kids to start thinking about ML and it was super easy to use, had templates to get you going and you could even see how the ML had built its model

I also enjoyed using Teachable Machines by Google. This allowed me to make a vision-based model really quickly to play the game Paper, Scissors Rock.

MakeBlock

As mentioned 2 weeks ago I had a great call with MakeBlock, this has resulted in me being sent 3 of their latest products to have a play with. It’s really interesting to see how far they have come since their original Kickstarter back in 2012.

Burf.co

So at the weekend, I started working on making Burf.co a bit more useful. I have now added back the chatbot based on AIML which I hope to develop further. I have also cleaned up the code and added a Web Directory. I can now easily deploy it and have fixed a few proxy issues.

Reviewing the Plan

Below are the items I wanted to achieve, I am now 5-6 weeks in so it’s a good opportunity to see how I have done

  • Begin Robotics : Done
  • Math : Not really started
  • Python course : Done
  • Introducing Robotics : Awaiting Maths
  • Do some practical : Ongoing via Robot head and Gwiz project
  • Burf.co : Started

Redefining the plan

So I think I did alright, I think I have achieved more than is above but at the same point, that shows that I have maybe missed the point in having a plan and not sticking to it. I want to raise the bar a bit and set some harder goals to help me focus. These are part of the end-of-year goals.

I think that’s a rather challenging list but this is for the end of the year.

The Wednesday Update: The Speed Edition!

Posted on by burf2000

So another Wednesday update! This time, we have hit unprecedented speeds!

Gwiz Update: 65 volts of pure madness

Yup, I hit 34MPH in this bad boy uphill, I think any faster and I would need to change my pants. It does become apparent that maybe the brakes need upgrading! The next test is to take it out onto normal roads!

Inmoov head update

I have now started moving the electronics into the skull so that it is more self-contained. I personally think it’s looking pretty awesome. Once I have wired in the speakers I will be able to get it to talk and listen to commands.

Education

Still progressing with Introduction to Machine Learning however I wanted to focus on actually building stuff this week

Misc

I bought a cheap old robotic hover this week after the Rodney Brooks podcast that I recommended last week. I found it really interesting to see how it behaved and plotted its paths around my downstairs. It only has basic sensors (no Lidar) but it was really interesting. My son Max also found it rather interesting and spent 30 minutes playing with it.

The Wednesday Update: On Saturday!

Posted on by burf2000

Even though it’s Saturday night, I wanted to do a weekly update. It’s important to me to at least show progress or benefits of taking time off from work to progress my hobbies/education in one way or another. In the last update, I said I had a rough plan. Now, how well have I progressed with that plan!

Begin Robotics by Reading University

This is now complete and I really enjoyed doing it even though I have completed it before. The simulations tasks really get you thinking and I now even understand the maths in the motor controller example. I did have to take a little time out to get my head around it however this is all part of that plan.

Maths

So I have started relearning Algebra using Khan Academy, I have also been asking friends and family who know maths a lot better than me. This has really helped and I am starting to get the brain working again. At school, maths was my strongest subject by far.

Gwiz electric car

The Gwiz is back from the welder, I have done a few jobs on it and it is booked in for an MOT next Wednesday :). It did come back with an odd beep sound but that was just the door sensor being a pain

Arena

Taking a step back from trying to jump before I can walk, as mentioned I did really enjoy the simulations on the Begin Robotics course. So much so that I plan to set up a hardware (e.g using actual robots) version of it. I have a VEX Robotics competition area that I plan to put in the conservatory. This should allow me to do ultrasonics wall detection, light following, line following and even sending data between robots.

Conclusion

All in all, I do think I am making good progress so far!

The Wednesday Update: Progress so far = I need a plan

Posted on by burf2000

So I have had my first Wednesday afternoon off and I did do some useful things (clear space for working, sell some stuff, do some online learning). However, it has become apparent I really need to focus on a subset of things and get them done. Already I have signed up for lots of online courses, and have a billion ideas. Usually, this would be good thing but context switching wastes time and I don’t have a lot of time!

So, initially here are the high-level objectives I want to achieve over the next couple of months from my Wednesdays afternoons.

Finish Begin Robotics by a Reading university.

To be fair I have completed this 4-week course before but I really enjoyed it and have nearly finished it already again. This is a great introduction to robotics. (ETA 1 week)

Maths

Next I think I need to improve my Maths, mainly Algebra and surrounding topics that are useful for robotics. Robotics can contain quite a lot of formulas from PID controllers to working out the position of things (kinematic) and this is usually the area I really struggle on. Khan Academy is my go-to place for this. (2-3 weeks)

Re-intro into Python and Kinematics
Next, there are 2 other Future Learn courses I want to finish, another robotics one (again nearly finished but paused on the maths) and a really simple Python course which I should smash through. I have done a bit of Python in the past but it’s been a while. Python is the go-to language for AI & Robotics (2 weeks)

Do some practical
Once I reach here I hope to take a short pause from education and put into practice some of the stuff I have learned. I would like to get my Inmoov head talking with lip sync (Arduino wired up to a sound level meter) and I want to add some sensors to the GWiz car and see if we can get a picture of the outside. (2-3 weeks)

Burf.co

On a slight diversion, I would also like to update Burf.co to be a bit more useful/themed around my learning. Everything is a bit static and rather boring. (1-2 weeks)

End of year goals

Once I hit these, I think it’s then time to review and see what I want to do next.
By the end of the year, I would like to be more comfortable with Maths, general robotics and have a semi-complete Inmoov robot. I would also love to finish the Udacity Self Driving course I attempted years ago.

New Burf.co, Business Success Diploma and building furniture!

Posted on by burf2000

So, I am trying my best to make sure I update my blog regularly so that I can look back and see what I have achieved.

Burf.co, now with no search button

So between spending over 12 hours building furniture for the wife (2 new bunk beds, 2 desks, 2 chairs and a bookcase) I also managed to build a new MVP of Burf.co.  The previous version was using Swift and was all in one (frontend/ backend).  The new one is properly structured and uses VueJS for the frontend hosted externally, and the backend is in Java Spring Boot.  It is just a prototype at the moment and doesn’t even have a search button, you just type and it starts getting the results (and smashing the db) but it was a fun prototype to build and is definitely the way I want to go.

Next Steps

  • Increase dataset from 10 million to 100 million and make it fast as f*ck
  • Add site pages (contact, about, submit etc)
  • Add tag cloud and routing to make it better for SEO

Business Success Diploma

So ages ago I signed up to Shaw Academy as it has some great courses and reviews.  I got a lifetime membership so I wasn’t in a rush.  Since I finished the bodybuilding show, I have been caining through the course at super speed and hope to take my exam this week:). It was one of my new year’s resolutions to do (so was Hack24 🙁 ).  I am learning a lot and hope to carry on with more advanced training around business.

Echo

The above projects are the fluff as I call it to get out of the way so that I can focus on Echo and getting this startup off the ground.  I already started building a basic website for them.  Once that’s complete, its time to focus on the MVP

Robotics

When it rains, it pours!  So before I had even thought about the above 3 projects, I had decided I was going to build a humanoid out of VEX EDR, which is a brilliant building platform.  They had just brought out their new V5 system which looks epic (more powerful motors, more motors, vision control, touch screen etc).  VEX was very nice in sending me some V5 hardware to start building this 3D Printed / VEX EDR humanoid!  This will be my chilled weekend project 🙂