Automating RadBot... our benchtop robot
RadBot is my new self-designed pet robot which we will learn to program, equip with sensors, and use to perform various challenges. I used 3DRad to assemble RadBot, then ported it to my Automation Workshop. Here's a pic of the disassembled parts. All parts are 3DRad rigidbodies which are fitted together using joints... just as in the "real" world! The 3DRad Editor was used as the assembly tool.
And here is RadBot fully assembled:
The last few days have seen me giving RadBot a workout in my Automation Workshop. I've equipped RadBot with a simple script to enable him to perform a sequence of movements, simply by controlling direction, speed and timing of the left and right drive motors.
Here is a video of the action:
Here is a video of the action:
Or, if you prefer YouTube:
And here the script that allows RadBot to perform the above action:
26/04/2013
Here is the installer for the RadBot experiment:
Here is the installer for the RadBot experiment:
| automationworkshop_experiment02_installer.zip |
When you start the experiment, RadBot will be standing motionless on the benchtop. Proceed to connect up Motor01 and Motor02 to the PLC as shown in the video, then load and run "script_01.as", also as shown in the video. Please note that the video shows "script_05.as" being loaded, but you must load "script_01.as"
You can edit "script_01.as" or make your own scripts using the supplied SciTE Editor, as explained in
the Automation and Process Control Workshop page.
At the moment, RadBot is just a moving toy vehicle. The next phase is to provide RadBot with sensors to enable him to obtain feedback from his environment, so that he can make intelligent decisions. This will require that RadBot's brain (PLC) gets programmed accordingly.
You can edit "script_01.as" or make your own scripts using the supplied SciTE Editor, as explained in
the Automation and Process Control Workshop page.
At the moment, RadBot is just a moving toy vehicle. The next phase is to provide RadBot with sensors to enable him to obtain feedback from his environment, so that he can make intelligent decisions. This will require that RadBot's brain (PLC) gets programmed accordingly.