SLQ Wiki facilities:hte:hte_prototypes

Ant Keeping

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 15:21:01 +0000

Ant Keeping

(a picture of the finished product to go here)

Intro

(Describe why the project was undertaken, what problem you wanted to solve, which target group this might suit and what the product might be used for. as well as any other details you think important)

Materials

(List the materials you used, with dimensions, and quantities. This is often easier to do once the project is at the beta testing stage, but that means you will need to keep a list as you go. It is useful to collect the details of suppliers, quantities, prices and websites in an Excel sheet as an aid to those who follow you - you can upload the Excel table at the end of this document in the space provided)

Tools

(List all the tools you used to complete the project, eg: from #1 Philips screwdrivers, to the CNC machine)

Instructions

(This is where you put the step-by-step photos showing how to carry out your project, as well as an explanation in words. Rename the steps as you like, use italics or bold for emphasis.

Don't forget to include design files for CNC, laser cutting or 3D printing but remember they need to be zipped before uploading to the Wiki ( it is also useful if they are in a transferable format, .svg rather than .ai, for example ).

Step One:

Step Two:

Step Three:

Step Four:

etc …

Development notes

( This is where you can put ideas that you tried, but which did not work and why ! )

Feedback

( Here you can put any suggestions from users that you have not yet implemented, and mention any unforeseen difficulties encountered in operation or construction )

References

This were you put external links like LED generator, if they have not appeared in the Instructions.

Files

This is where you put files for laser cutting, Excel sheets of suppliers etc..

Links

Any External Links like 'Thingiverse' etc. to go here …

Project Progress

( Use this section as a running summary of how the project is going so that others can follow. Diary type entries, with dates, would be a good format.)

Log of works

Itemize work carried out …

Prototype done …

Project Table

Project

Percent Complete

Project Lead

Status

Budget Req

Budget Approved

Next Major Milestone

Subsequent Milestones to complete

Test Page

90%

Byron

Play with

Brick Battle Bots

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 15:21:01 +0000

Brick Battle Bots

aka. Brick‭ Battle Block Bots Bash Bonanza

Intro

Lego. Electronics. Arena. Fun!

Materials

LEGO!

Tools

Your hands.
A desire for flying LEGO pieces.
Shoes. (LEGO is dangerous after all!)

RULES

– Draft‭ –

‭NOTE: Any and all rules can be changed up until the moment of the first round.

Bad sportsmanship, such as fighting with the Judges, sabotaging competitors, willful cheating, etc will result in automatic forfeit.
We are here to have fun after all!

8 to 14 teams. ( Final number to be decided)

Double-elimination.‭ (Less teams but more battles)

Arena is 3×3 meters, roughly 300mm high walls, made from plywood with traps and zones for House Robots.

Each round is between 2 and 3 mins long.

Three judges.‭ The judges rulings are always final.

Winner is by disabled(Counted as unable to move outside it’s own turning circle.) or judges call after timeout.

Each Bot Team will have 2 to 4 members. Teams can decide if just one or if all are the pilots during the battles, however only team member can pilot.

Each Bot will have a maximum weight of 400g (Subject to change) including all electronics, batteries, 3d printed, laser cut and other custom made parts at start of battle.

Limited amounts of 3D printed and laser cut parts are allowed. (See below)

Limited amounts of rubber bands, string and similar if used for energy storage, tyres, control lines or similar.
(This limit is at the discretion of the organisers and judges)

No reinforcing allowed!

IMPORTANT:‭ EVERY CRITICAL JOIN SHOULD BE A LEGO JOIN.

The spirit of using LEGO is to make for a frangible(breakable) robot and thus cannot be held together with any adhesives, solvents, tapes, or binding that would cause the LEGO bricks to be unfairly joined.

The sole exception is to attach LEGO parts to non-LEGO parts. For example, using double-sided tape to add LEGO compatible sides to the motors, battery, etc.

As an example of final strength, a Bot dropped from a height of 1.5m on to a hard floor should SMASH.

Any Bot deemed to be too strong or in violation of this rule may, at the judge’s discretion, be tested this way.

Each team gets:

Official 'Brick Bot' LEGO kit, 1274 assorted pieces.
(These can be shared or traded with other teams at the team’s discretion)

Official Battery Pack
(Currently: 11.1v, 450mAh LiPo, weight aprox: 40g)

Official Electronics Pack
(Pre-programmed with Open Source Code Base) (Weight aprox: 20g)

Choice of official motor options.
(See below)

Robot Remote.
(Currently clone PS3 controller.)

Limited access to laser cutter, chassis plans and one(1) A4 sheet of 3mm Acrylic.

Access to 3d printers and 200g of filament.
(only 100g allowed in the final build.)

Options:

Electronics‭ can drive two(2) DC motors and one(1) servo motor.
This allows the choice of two DC motors for steering and servo for weapon,
OR 1 DC motor for drive, 1 servo for steering and 1 DC motor for weapon.

Two‭ DC motor options. (Slow and fast) are provided. (Wight: 120g/pair)

Two‭ Servo options (Small(light) and large(heavy)

ONCE‭ THIS CHOICE HAS BEEN MADE IT CAN’T BE CHANGED.

Teams‭ can provide an official PS3/4, XBox (360?) or USB Wireless Keyboard/Mouse/Joystick if they wish to replace the supplied controller, conditional to compatibility and time. Other options can be discussed.

Software can be inspected freely and while minor tweaks to the software may be allowed at the discretion of the organizers there is no guarantee.

Software may also be modified by the organisers to solve technical problems, any changes will be made clear if and when they happen.

Workshop‭ details

(Basic‭ outline)

Grand‭ prize

Take‭ home your bot and everything you took into the final battle!

Including‭ all LEGO parts, electronics, controller/remote and battery charger.

Everything you need to play at home, school or work!

Second‭ prize

Electronics/Motor/controller‭ package from your battle!

(No‭ batteries or LEGO)

Third‭ prize

Basic‭ electronics and motor kit. Unassembled.

Three workshops, each of 3(4?) hours

One

Introduction,‭ demonstrations, team decisions
(Motors, team names,warcry, etc)

Initial bot design including work on the base plate and playing with LEGO.

Two

Finish‭ design, building your bot, testing ideas.
(Maybe laser cutter time?)

Three

Practice in the Official Arena against the Demo Robots! Tweak your bot!

Participants are also encouraged to use The Edge facilities during Open Lab hours to work on their bots. Hack The Evening and Wednesday walk-in bookings are good times.

Day‭ of Battle!

Part of the The Edge/SLQ's Fun Palace weekend!

2‭ hours in the morning for elimination rounds.

Public welcome!

(Roughly 10 mins per round including setup/announcements/battle/cleanup).

Mostly this is about having fun, playing with your robots and seeing how others behave as well as working out the final contest.

Four ‭winning contestants go onto the final contest. One or two are chosen by judges based on other merits. Including ‘just poor luck’ and ‘entertainment value’.

1 hour in the afternoon final/grand final!

Public ENCOURAGED!

This‭ will be the ‘big’ one! It might even be held in the auditorium?

BONUS

After the grand final, if there is time, the arena will be left open and teams can play as they like.

Electronics

Code

code

Step Three:

Step Four:

etc …

Development notes

V3 Electronics

* https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Shipping-1pcs-pro-mini-atmega328-Pro-Mini-328-Mini-ATMEGA328-3-3V-8MHz-for-Arduino/32342672626.html?

* https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Mini-USB-Host-Shield-Support-Google-ADK-For-Arduino-UNO-MEGA-Duemilanove-Expansion-Module-Board-SPI/32835497236.html?

* https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5PCS-Free-Shipping-Dual-Motor-Driver-1A-TB6612FNG-for-Arduino-Microcontroller-Better-than-L298N-TB6612/32696432503.html?

* https://www.aliexpress.com/item/ORICO-BTA-403-RD-Mini-Bluetooth-4-0-Adapter-Support-Windows8-Windows-7-Vista-XP-Red/32734449020.html?

* https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10-Pairs-150mm-JST-Connector-Plug-Cable-Male-Female-for-RC-Battery/32716500577.html?

* https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10Pcs-150mm-300mm-500mm-1000mm-100cm-Male-to-Female-Servo-Extension-cable-Lead-Wire-Cable-Connection/32884054260.html?

* https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Ultra-Small-Size-DC-DC-Step-Down-Power-Supply-Module-3A-Buck-Converter-Adjustable-1-8V/32880983608.html?s

* https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Mini360-DC-DC-Buck-Converter-Step-Down-Module-4-75V-23V-to-1V-17V-17x11x3-8mm/32582982343.html?

* https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Mini-DC-DC-12-24V-To-5V-3A-Step-Down-Power-Supply-Module-Voltage-Buck-Converter/32826540392.html?s

* https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5PCS-5V-3-3V-DC-DC-Step-Down-Power-Supply-Buck-Module-AMS1117-LDO-800MA/32732025305.html?

Accessories:

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/hobbykingr-dc-4s-balance-charger-cell-checker-30w-2s-4s.html?___store=en_us

Controllers:

Feedback

( Here you can put any suggestions from users that you have not yet implemented, and mention any unforeseen difficulties encountered in operation or construction )

References

This were you put external links

Files

V1 files: v1_battlebots.zip

Project Progress

( Use this section as a running summary of how the project is going so that others can follow. Diary type entries, with dates, would be a good format.)

Project Table

Project

Percent Complete

Project Lead

Status

Budget Req

Budget Approved

Next Major Milestone

Subsequent Milestones to complete

Test Page

90%

Byron

Play with

Wheel + Motor: x10
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/TT-Motor-Smart-Car-Robot-Gear-Motor-for-arduino/32826863185.html?

10x
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Rubber-DC-Drive-Gear-Motor-wheel-Tyre-Tire-For-Smart-Robot-Car-wheels-Chassis-Accessories-Wheels/32855795877.html?

10x
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Shipping-DS04-NFC-360-degree-continuous-rotation-servos-360-degree-servo-DC-Gear-Motor/32656803984.html?

Introduction to Neopixels

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 12:24:18 +0000

Introduction to Neopixels

Developed by Byron Crowe

Summary

“Neopixels” is Adafruit's brand name for a series of addressable LEDs. While this is an easy name to remember and search for, only Adafruit products are technically 'Neopixels'. On Aliexpress and other suppliers, often searching for the LED types themselves will get better results than this name.

From their guide: “Not all addressable LEDs are NeoPixels. “NeoPixel” is Adafruit’s brand for individually-addressable RGB color pixels and strips based on the WS2812, WS2811 and SK6812 LED/drivers, using a single-wire control protocol.”

Participants will be introduced to addressable LEDs and helped through connection and basic setup of a strip to make pretty lights.

The workshop will cover:

Basic understanding of addressable LEDs.
Basic electronic skills, including how to read tiny text.
Introduction to colour spaces, including RGB and HSV/HSB
Use of online colour pickers

Activity Summary

Pretty lights!
Make lights do what you want!
$/meter of fun. The more $ the more fun! :)

Materials

Material	Quantity	Cost	Supplier	Alt. Supplier
Arduino Nano v3	1	$3.40	AliExpress	Tronixlabs $9
Some neopixels

0.1“ headder

Silicon
Adafruit 8×8 LED Matrix 1.2” w/ Backpack and I2C	1	$18-$23	Tronixlabs	AliExpress, $2.10 Not tested
Female-female jumper wires	4	$0.20	Tronixlabs	AliExpress

Short USB Cable - USB-A to Micro USB	1	$2	Tronixlabs	AliExpress, $0.80
	TOTAL:	$51.50

Tools & Equipment

Computer. This limits practical workshops to 10.
USB drive with example code

Instructions

Step Zero: Strip prep

This should be done as prep for the workshop due to soldering and silicon curing time. Strips can be used for multi-able workshops if not damaged.

Cut strip to requred length. Good length for workshop is 30 pixels. The upper limit of what can be driven from a single USB port.

Some waterproof strips have a cover, cut and peel back the last few mm to expose bare copper.

Tin contacts to ensure they are clean, tin short end of connector. Solder connector in place. Using a socket of some kind helps keep them aligned.

Cover the soldered end from the lettering up and including the plastic base of the header with neutral cure silicon.

After allowing to cure overnight, strip should handle quite a bit of abuse with minimal damage.

–

Another method is to solder wires directly to the strip. More work but sometimes useful.

– While silicon works under all condtions and provides the best join, if the strip is bare type or with a peel back style silicon cover, hot glue works well, is faster and easier to remove.

Step One: Arduino Software and Drivers

If you are using a genuine Arduino with the FT chipsets you won't need to download any drivers on PC and MacOS Sierra or later. If you are using a knockoff Arduino with the CH340G chip you will need to download the drivers for Mac.

Download the latest version of the Arduino IDE. Select your operating system and when prompted choose “Just Download”.

Follow the instruction and install the program on your computer.

Step Two: Connecting and Testing the Arduino Nano

Connect the USB cable to your Arduino. A red and then a green light should light up on the Arduino, indicating that it's receiving power. The green LED should glow solid. Now launch Arduino.

Go to the Tools menu and change the following:

Board to Arduino Nano
Processor to ATmega328
Port to USB/Serial (different depending on OS and Chip)
- If you're having problems finding a USB port you most likely need to download the correct drivers. Once again exact OS (and version) as well as the chip make a big difference.

Once that is done, run “Get Board Info” in the same menu, this should bring up a small popup with some info. As long a you're not receiving an error in the console, you have successfully connected your Arduino!

Another step you can take to test that everything is working is load one of the basic example projects and uploading it to the Arduino.

Go to File → Examples → 01.Basic → Blink

Click on the verify button (Check mark) and let it compile. You should be getting message at the top of the console telling you when it's done (should take no more than a few seconds).

Once that is done, without any errors, click the Upload button (Arrow). This will upload the instructions to the Arduino and it will say “Done Uploading” when everything worked.

Your red LED on the Nano should now be blinking, one second on, one second off. Uploading scripts to your Arduino works! Now we are ready for the real projects.

Step Three: Downloading and Installing Libraries

Go to Sketch → Include Library → Manage Libraries

Search for “Neopixel”, click on the “Adafruit Neopixel” then click the “Install” button. You will need to restart Arduino (by closing the program not just the window).

You can also download and manually install the libraries: * LED Backpack Library * Adafruit GFX Library

Once everything is installed launch Arduino again, it should now have the libraries installed and ready to use.

Go to File → Examples again, at the bottom you should find “Adafruit LED Backpack Library”, within that menu select “Matrix8x8”.

This should open up a new Arduino window with a test project. Once you've completed Step Four: Connect the LED Backpack you can upload this script to try it out.

Step Four: LED strip to Arduino

The strip requires connection of three wires to the arduino, two for power and ground and one for data.

Disconnect Arduino from the computer
Verify that the pre-attached connector is at the end of the strip with the arrows going away from it.

Arduino Nano:

GND (Ground) → GND
DI (Data In) → D6
+5V (Voltage In) → +5V

Step Five: Troubleshooting

Production notes

Critical Success Factors

Which of the critical success factors does this Prototype target? For more details see SLQ-Strategic-Plan-2016-20

Enable Access

Provide life skills and early childhood literacy programs
Increase free access to digital content
Strengthen Queensland library infrastructure and discovery platforms

Engage Community

Grow the State’s historical collection of Queensland culture and heritage
Engage with communities of interest through dedicated centres of engagement
Facilitate the community’s use of and interaction with content

Build Capability

Build capacity within our communities of interest
[✓ sbriggs, 2022-02-14]Generate new revenue sources
Position our workforce for the future

Delivering of The Edge Promises

Aside from the SLQ Strategic Plan, there is The Edge's commitments to the community and the lens we look at it through. Here are a few more check boxes for you to answer

This empowers creative experimentation across...

[✓ phil, 2017-06-08]Art?
Science?
[✓ phil, 2017-06-08]Technology?
Enterprise?

It will inspire...

[✓ phil, 2017-06-08]Whimsy?
Nostalgia?
[✓ phil, 2017-06-08]Curiosity?
[✓ phil, 2017-06-08]Awe?

Feedback

1. Feedback:

Solution:

2. Feedback:

Solution:

3. Feedback:

Solution:

4. Other observations:

References

Everything you need to know is in:

The Magic of NeoPixels

Files

Code: Workshop Examples

> Prototype Workshops

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 11:14:57 +0000

> Prototype Workshops

This is an easy-to-access space for HtE members or other volunteers to write up workshops they are interested in either doing, have done or just want to document.

Once complete to your satisfaction, it can be moved into the main workshops:prototypes: page before being released as a public workshop.

To begin development start by making a new page in the box below. This will make a new page in this namespace, and it will use the namespace template to get you started.

You will jump straight to the edit page, and please… remember to give your workshop a unique name!

Once the prototype stage is finished you can let an admin now and we can move the workshop to its own proper page in the relevant workshops namespace.

SLQ Wiki facilities:hte:hte_prototypes

Ant Keeping

Ant Keeping

Intro

Materials

Tools

Instructions

Step One:

Step Two:

Step Three:

Step Four:

Development notes

Feedback

References

Files

Links

Project Progress

Log of works

Project Table

Brick Battle Bots

Brick Battle Bots

Intro

Materials

Tools

RULES

Each team gets:

Workshop‭ details

Grand‭ prize

Second‭ prize

Third‭ prize

Three workshops, each of 3(4?) hours

One

Two

Three

Day‭ of Battle!

2‭ hours in the morning for elimination rounds.

1 hour in the afternoon final/grand final!

BONUS

Electronics

Code

Step Three:

Step Four:

Development notes

V3 Electronics

Feedback

References

Files

Links

Project Progress

Project Table

Introduction to Neopixels

Introduction to Neopixels

Summary

Activity Summary

Materials

Tools & Equipment

Instructions

Step Zero: Strip prep

Step One: Arduino Software and Drivers

Step Two: Connecting and Testing the Arduino Nano

Step Three: Downloading and Installing Libraries

Step Four: LED strip to Arduino

Step Five: Troubleshooting

Production notes

Critical Success Factors

Enable Access

Engage Community

Build Capability

Delivering of The Edge Promises

This empowers creative experimentation across...

It will inspire...

Feedback

References

Files

> Prototype Workshops

> Prototype Workshops

HtE Prototypes