Culture Shock II, a robot by the Lawrence Tech team, first caught our eye due to it’s unique drive train. Upon further investigation we found a very well built robot with a ton of unique features. The first thing we noticed about CultureShockII are the giant 36″ wheels. The wheel assemblies are actually unicycles modified to be driven by the geared motors on the bottom. The reason such large wheels were chosen was to keep the center of gravity well below the axle, providing a very self stabilizing robot. The robot also has two casters with a suspension system to act as dampers and stabilizers in the case of shocks and inclines. Pictured Below.

The next thing we noticed were the strange semi-circles mounted above the casters. Upon further inquiry we found that the robot uses 10 lasers to project cross-hairs on the ground so that it can use its stereo vision at night.

The robot has two stereo vision cameras from Videre, a brand that has been very popular at this year’s IGVC. The cameras overlap and provide the AI with a pixel-associated 3d point map. The team also came up with a clever way to adjust the camera to different lighting situations with two “candy canes” sticking out into the robot’s field of vision. The robot can look at these and use an algorithm to adjust the colors according. This helps greatly with white line detection. (The robots must stay within two white lines painted about 10 feet apart on the grass.)

Along with the stereo vision the robot also features an Omnistar-VBS enabled gps capable of sub meter accuracy and a digital compass. Aside from the driver software for the cameras, the robot is written completely in Java. The AI uses frame-by-frame mapping. Each frame the robot sets an objective out in the distance and moves towards it. In the next frame the robot checks to see if that objective is still reachable and moves towards it, otherwise it changes its path. To get around objects the robot hugs the obstacle until it is behind it. The system is a hybrid of mapping and reactive AI. The robot’s brain is a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Quad running 32bit windows. It has a solid state drive and 4GB of ram. One cool thing to note is that all of the sensors and micro-controllers run off the ATX power supply for the computer. Instead of using an inverter they found a suitable 12V ATX supply.

The rear control panel is pretty neat too. It has a touch screen, switches for all the main components, and status LEDs. Below it you can see the very back of the computer, hosed in a shuttle style thermaltake case.

If you take the panel on the front off you are greeted with a view of the robot’s power and signal distribution. The green board is a Roboteq AX3500 which runs the motors and manages the PID feedback. The robot has 70lbs of sealed lead acid batteries in its base which allows it to run for approximately two hours. The remote E-stop (required by the rules) for this robot is actually a remote garage door opener hacked into turning the robot on and off. We’ll finish with a shot of happy* engineers working away on their robots.

*depending on the state of their robot Day One Report

I often get excited about Halloween. Nothing is cooler than dressing up in your favorite outlandish style (creepy or not) and collecting a bag full of free candy!This Halloween, the coolest ideas for costumes are anything Steampunk. And if that Steampunk costume has this gun as part of it, your cool...By: V-Man737

OverviewGroup riding would be much safer if bikes had brake lights.  The lack of brake lighting on bicycles has lead to the audio cues of "SLOWING" or "STOPPING" being shouted at every turn.  While this may enhance safety, it certainly cuts into the serenity of a ride.This project offers a viable so...By: WyoJustin

"My first observations positively terrified me as there was present in them something mysterious, not to say supernatural, and I was alone in my laboratory at night"- Nikola Tesla 1901The Spooky Tesla Spirit Radio is a crystal radio circuit in a jam-jar. It makes fun spooky sounds by responding to i...By: mrfixits

Normal0falsefalsefalseMicrosoftInternetExplorer4/* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:'Table Normal';mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:'';mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;mso-para-margin:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001p...By: AndyGadget

In this tutorial I am going to show you, how to make your own Rubik USB Flash DriveYou can see the finished product in the following video:  What you need This is what you need: material: a very small usb flash drive (e.g. EagleTec USB Nano Flash Drive or Delock USB Nano Memory stick)...By: BrittLiv

Our first open source Homeland Security non-lethal weapon project - The "THE BEDAZZLER: A Do-it-yourself Handheld LED-Incapacitator".

After attending a conference where the $1 million "sea-sick flashlight" (named "THE DAZZLER") was demonstrated by the US Dept. of Ho... By: adafruit

After looking at some of the available kits for making a pop-up character, they seemed of good quality but I have a lot of left over stuff in my garage and felt I could build one for less than the cost of the kit. And I offer this for the do it yourself person who may have some left over lawn sprin... By: Back Roads

Hello, in this Instructable I will show you how to generate solar power using inexpensive solid state parts and without PV (photovoltaic) cells or panels. I wanted to make this project to see if I could beat the dollars per watt costs of commercially available solar panels.

You only need a few inex... By: bananafred

This is my first Instructable YAY! In this Instructable I will show you how to apply a wood veneer finish to your laptop to achieve an old school look to modern tech.

Materials

The materials you will need for this project: 1) Laptop 2) A sheet of wood veneer(you can pick this up at most hardware s... By: DracoGT

This is a quick project to tell the time using words.

I saw a cool clock on the Make Blog the other day (http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/09/qlocktwo_clock_tells_time_with_word.html), and thought 'Hey - I can make one of those', so here it is!

Have fun - It is surprisingly simple to make!

... By: drj113

This image stabilizer can be used with any lens and camera. It works the in same way as the Hubble telescope keeps pointed to the same object during multi day exposures.

This stabilizer can be used succesfully with moderately long exposures and moderately long focal lengths.

Needed: 2 discarded ... By: BobS

This Instructable is for the Skittlespider A.T.S (All Together System) also known as "The Contraption"

This project turned out to be harder than I expected. In a few ways it was easier too, so I can't say it was an overall hard or easy project. The difficulty varies between the steps. ... By: skittlespider

The Lense Flares included in PhotoShop Elements are great, but lets create a better, anamorphic one.

The Elements

Create a new project in Photo Shop with a transparent background. adjust the size depending on the type of application your working on. The Flare will be composed of the following: The... By: digitech

i'm going to show you people how to make a skatebaord, tell you the materials you need and where to get the materials.

(MATERIALS) 1. venner (hard rock maple for the wood go to http://www.snowboardmaterials.com) 2. tiebond glue 3 ultimite glue 3. molded press 4. jig saw or band saw (if you have one) 5.... By: PAPAROACH

To see my personal site with these tutorials and news, please visit http://www.BrennanZelener.com

DISCLAIMER

I am not responsible for any damage that you may cause to your iPhone or any device that you use with this charger. I can not stress the importance of checking your circuits with a mult... By: akbrennan

This will tell you how to make a real, down to earth black hole. I swear this is a real instructable! Now, if you have the money, I invite you to build this project. So, I will also tell you that, because I haven't the money, I have not exactly done this. I CAN tell you that it should work. At least... By: 007dna

This project was built for the 2008 Roboexotica conference in Vienna, Austria where it tied for first place in the drink serving category. Here's how it was made!

Story

Our delicious fresh fairies are hand-captured from only the finest wormwood forests of Northern Europe. We take extreme pride in ... By: numberandom

The locking tab of RJ45 plugs tends to break very easily. Replace it by two nylon cable ties, in minutes.

On Broken RJ45 Locking Tabs...

There are always some Ethernet cables around with a broken tab. Did you remember to exchange the cable?

Now the RJ45 plug no longer locks properly, making the c... By: laxap

We have made an interactive Halloween mirror.

It is a computerprogram with a face recognition module. It use a webcam to take a live video and put funny Halloween masks on the faces on the screen.

You can download the installation program for Windows here.

You need just a few things for the Hal... By: lighttamer