Not Riding Your Bike in the Rain, Build the Escape Robot from a Kit

It is January. Stop watching bad movies on cable. Build a robot from a kit. This is the first of several robot-building experiences for 2008.

The Escape Robot from Jameco costs $19.95, and you just spent that on two chai tea lattes and a couple of pumpkin bars. So, no excuses. You don't have to be an electrical engineer. The directions come in the kit. And it gives you a chance to practice your soldering skills. It has a infrared sensing system. So, it will move in different directions based on what it perceives. It is not at the same level of the Mars Rover, in terms of intelligence, but it is still cool to block its progress and watch it turn to avoid something in its path.

You are not riding your bicycle during the late, dark, rainy night hours. And your non-soldering friends can go wild and unleash their creative forces by building a maze that the robot can negotiate. Building one robot is the first step of creating a Robot Circus.

So, here is how it works:

1. Read the instructions included in the box before you do anything else.



2. Make sure you have fresh batteries in the house. If not, go get some now. Otherwise, it is a total drag when the robot is ready to roll, and you have no way to power it and play with it. (Try to use rechargeable batteries if you can. Since you will probably play with this toy until the batteries are dead.)



3. Organize the pieces in the kit and make sure that they are all there. (I use old egg cartons to separate the pieces.)



4. Follow the instructions and solder it together.



5. Take it to a maze made by your friends and see if the Escape Robot has what it takes to get a job offer from the Robot Circus Director.

More information and photos after the jump.

 

Photos taken by Wheelgirl

Here are a couple of suggestions based on my experience if you are building this kit. If you have your own suggestions that you think might help people, post a helpful comment. Again, I am a beginner. So, my comments are going to relate to my limited experience.

• Invest in the best soldering iron you can afford. Good ones have a knob that allows you to adjust the temperature. It is like having a good toaster if you love to eat toast, there are lots of setting in between warmed over and burnt. However, you can start out with an inexpensive soldering iron. Don't let the equipment get in the way of the discovery.


• Make this kit before you make any other beginner kit: Minty Boost at ladyada.net. Why? Because the project is useful (a portable USB battery pack in an Altoids gum tin to power your iPod). The instructions are clear and complete with really great close-up photos of every soldering and testing step, and Ladyada does the best job of making sure that if you follow the directions, beginners will end up with a successful project. She doesn't assume you know anything. And this is a very good thing for beginning electronic hobbyists. It is a great feeling to make something that works. Also, you will learn things like certain types of resistors and capacitors don't have to be soldered in a certain direction, but electrolytic capacitors, LEDs, and diodes usually do or they won't work. The Escape Robot directions give you clear illustrations, but the directions are all illustrations. There is not a ton of text to read for information. So, you might overlook little clues about component orientation if you don't have a clue as to what certain components require.


• Add some tweezers, scotch tape, and a magnifying glass to your required tool list. (If you get a third hand tool, many times it comes with a magnifying glass.) The tweezers are helpful for holding small things like nuts in place, and a strip of lightly affixed cellophane tape holds components with multiple pins in place, like the chip holder, when you turn over the PCB (printed circuit board) and solder.


• Here are some things I noticed while building the Escape Robot (after I had built the Minty Boost from a kit):
  • Leave the chip on the pink antistatic foam until right before putting the battery holder in place. You can wreck a chip with static electricity.
  
  
  • Take your time. Pay attention to stripes and + and - orientations of leads. Read things twice. If you rush and do something wrong, it may not work. And that will be a drag.
  
  
  • Keep solder on the copper paths on the PCB. Like with sewing or welding, try to make the "unseen" part of your work reflect an attention to detail and a clean, even method of attachment.
  
  
  • Align the components that need to be aligned:
    • The striped resistors in the kit don't have particular alignments (the ones shaped like little rounded hourglasses.)
    
    
    • The Zener diode does have a required alignment. The dark stripe matches up with the wavy line on the PCB drawing.
    
    
    • The brown disc-shaped ceramic capacitors in the kit don't have a particular direction.
    
    
    • The cylindrical electrolytic capacitors do have a particular direction. They need to have their - stripes aligned with the - hole on the PCB drawing.
    
    
    • The transistors have a direction. The flat part lines up with the flat part on the PCB drawing.
    
    
    • The socket that holds the chip has a notch. The notch has to line up with the PCB drawing.
    
    
    • The buzzer has an orientation. The + leg of the buzzer matches the PCB drawing.
    
    
    • The LEDs have an orientation. One leg is shorter than the other. Make sure to match up the proper leg with the PCB drawing.
  
  
  • Use cellophane tape if you are having trouble soldering in components:
    • The M1 and M2 pins to which the battery cables connect are easier to solder if you first place a piece of thin cellophane tape over the holes on the non-soldered black side of the PCB, and then poke the pins through the tape into the holes. The little bit of tape holds the pins, so you can flip over the board and solder the pins (on the green side of the PCB).
    
    
    • The chip socket is easier to solder if you affix it on the black side of the PCB with a piece of scotch tape, and then flip the PCB over and solder it (on the green side of the PCB).
    
    
    • The infrared diodes and holders are easier to solder if you use a little scotch tape to affix them in their holders to the black side of the PCB, and then flip the PCB to solder them in place on the green side of the PCB
  
  
  • Attach the nuts to the screws in the gearbox assembly by holding the nut in place with a pair of tweezers and screwing the bolt into the nut. This worked better for me than trying to thread the teeny nut with my breakfast sausage fingers onto an existing screw.
  
  
  • Make sure that the infrared diodes (the three clear LEDs on the front part of the robot) are facing straight ahead. If they get bent upwards, the infrared receiving module that is affixed to the "tower," can't communicate with them. (One of my clear infrared LEDs got bent during transit to the bike shop, and the robot kept beeping and acting like something was in its way, when the way was actually clear. If this happens, gently bend it back into place.
  
  
  • Have fun with it, and if you are an electrically gifted engineer who can make these robots from kits with one hand tied behind your back, mod this kit and post your mod.

 

Photos taken by Wheelgirl

Winner of Google & Specialized Innovate or Die: Aquaduct Bike

The Google & Specialized Innovate or Die contest $5000 Grand-Prize winner is the Aqueduct bike. It is a three-wheeled bike (trike) that uses a rider's pedal power to transport and filter water from rural water sources.  Women living in rural villages may carry several pounds of water over large distances back to their living spaces. The Aqueduct, designed by a team of inventors in Menlo Park, California, allows you to fill a large water-carrying rear tank, and then filter 2 gallons of water into a clean water receptacle on the front of the bike while pedaling the heavy water back home. If you need to filter more water after arriving home, you can disengage a clutch, and pedal the bike in a stationary position to activate the internal pump and filtering system.

The comments on different sites related to the concept and design of the Aqueduct range from "awesome" to unrealistic for third-world users, due to maintenance, bacteria not addressed by the filtering system, and limited if any access to necessary replacement parts, for example, tires and filters. Per usual for new inventions, some will get iterated and developed, and some people will like them while others will not. I really enjoy seeing how different minds use bicycles and pedal-power to problem solve. Go view the 102 bike-related Innovate or Die contest videos via YouTube. It's Monday. You're moving kind of slow after the weekend. Watch some inspiring movies. (Make sure to wear your headphones if you want to keep your job. Some of the videos get kind of loud.)

Photos lifted from YouTube.
Google to Gizmodo

BionX Electric-Assist Jaibike Lets You Ride and Shop At Target

Last Sunday, David Strain, a self-described carpenter who puts in "Gucci kitchens," brought his electric-assisted Jaibike to the shop. ("Jai," he explained, means "victory to," as in "Victory to you.") He made this bike for the North American Hand-Made Bicycle Show last year. He welded a steel bike frame and rack, assembled the steering, and used old bike parts that work "just fine" for the drive train and braking mechanisms. Then he added a BionX electric assist hub motor and battery kit. He had talked about the Jaibike during a visit to the shop. I asked him to bring it by so I could ride it. You have to ride a bike to get a sense of it, not just read or talk about it.

The BionX kit David added allows you to pedal the Jaibike like a regular cargo-carrying bike, but when the going gets tough, you can select how much assistance you want from a handlebar-mounted panel connected to the electric motor. So, coming back from Target with a toaster oven in the cargo hold and more items on the rear rack presents no worries if you hit an incline. The quiet electric motor kicks in while you pedal, and you can climb with much less effort. The BionX electric-assist kit weighs approximately 17 pounds. BionX has an FAQ on their site you can check out for more kit information.

The clear plastic ferring he placed over the upper portion of the bike and the front wheel allows for speedy descents if you tuck in behind it. David's background in carpentry is apparent by the stylized lockable wooden cargo box on the front of the bike. (More info. about riding the Jaibike, lots of photos, specs, and David's email after the jump.)

   

Photos taken by Wheelgirl

There are four settings on the BionX handle bar control panel. Setting 1 assists at 35 percent and Setting 4 assists at 300 percent. But I mostly used Settings 2 and 3 (75 percent and 150 percent boost, respectively).

I rode the bike around the neighborhood and up some short steep hills. It was a total blast, and I was easily breaking 20 mph going up hill with no cargo in the hold. The motor is quiet. It kicks in gently with no jerky motion. The steering learning curve is a bit like learning to drive a big van. It takes a while to get a sense of where the front wheel is located, since you can't see it when you look down. But after a short while I was steering confidently.

It was a quiet ride, and, if you are like me, someone who enjoys pedaling, you don't have to give up your happy pedaling chemicals. The bike makes practical sense for anyone who doesn't want to drive and park a car while running errands, do shopping, or moving equipment to and from their work site. Bionx makes a kits with 250 W to 350 W motors

Specs for the bike, according to David and the Bionx site, are as follows:

• Electric Motor Power: 350 W nominal and 700 W peak.
  • Nominal torque:  10 Nm
  
  
  • Maximum torque:  32 Nm
  
  
  • The 350W has 4 power-assist levels: The strain gauge allows the BionX motor to measure the rider's effort and boost the thrusting power by 35%, 75%, 150% or 300%, according to the selected assist level.
  
  
  • Weight: 4 kg (8.8 lb )


• Battery is 36V


• Frame and rear rack material is 4130 steel


• Lugs are from Henry James


• Jaibike weight is 80 lbs.


• There is a disconnect on the right break that takes the motor offline when you apply the brakes.


• Front wheel is 20 inches (BMX size)


• Rear wheel is 26 inches (mountain bike size)


• Front disc brake rotor is 200mm on a 20-inch wheel, "So you don't endo if you slam on the brakes," according to David.

If you want to contact David about the Jaibike via email, replace the "at" with an "@", and email him: djstrain "at" sbcglobal.net

Photos taken by Wheelgirl

Home is Where the Handlebars Are

I've been thinking about mobile offices lately. What happens when you attach a towable living structure to a bicycle or tricycle? First, check out Paul Elkins' bicycle camper, a small, towable, 100-pound shelter attached to a bicycle in order to camp more comfortably at the annual Burning Man event held in the Nevada desert.

Then, view the video of Casey Wong's tricycle home, which also has a door, a window, a writing desk and a fold-out bed. Casey's bicycle home, which is 3 x 4 feet in dimension, is a response to the high cost of living space in Hong Kong. Casey now has the ability to enjoy a view of the ocean from his home .

If you think these are newish ideas, take a look at the article from Modern Mechanix July 1935. Joseph Dorocke, from Chicago, Illinois, made a 50 lbs, 4-foot long and 2-foot wide collapsible bicycle sleeping trailer. The bigger box housed a smaller box inside of it. When stopped for the night, he could lengthen his bed to 8-feet of open or enclosed sleeping space in which a cyclist could comfortably catch up on some beauty sleep. (If you've made a bicycle camper trailer, make sure to post a link to photos.)

 

Photos lifted from Paul Elkins' site, Reuters via Giz, and Makezine.com, respectively.

Atomic Zombie Bicycles, Not Your Mom's Trek or Your Dad's Specialized

I read this post on this DIY electric bike by Atomic Zombie that features a commute range of 62 miles on a charge. So, I went to check out the site.

There are some really, as stated in the masthead, "extreme machines" featured on the site. And the plans to make many of these bicycles are available for downloading from the website for around $15 (Canadian, I believe).

Go click around. If you like robots, particularly smaller spy robots, make sure to check out the electronics gadgets pages on the site. And clicking around on the links page will fill up all of your working hours after lunch.

Remember, it is Friday, the day you spend your AM work hours clicking around on bike sites until it is time to go to lunch, and then you spend your PM work hours clicking around on bike sites until it is time to go home. Get to work.

   

All photos lifted from the Atomic Zombie site.

giz to atomic zombie

Innovate or Die, Inertia Weld and Launch Tennis Balls by Pedaling A Bicycle

Here are two videos from Specialized and Google's competition, Innovate or Die, that feature bicycle pedal-powered projects. One video is from Mike, who is part of a team that inertia welds two pieces of aluminum by pedaling a stationary bike. The bike is attached to a 150 kilogram flywheel, which is then attached to motorcycle chain, which is connected to a pre-WW II lathe. The weld is "slightly out of tolerance," but the two pieces of aluminum are in fact joined. Check out this First YouTube video. (Technical and energy specs for the machine after the jump.)

The other video is of Daniel who pedals his bike to the tennis court with a "bike trailer" that is a pedal-powered tennis ball launcher. To make the tennis ball launcher, he used a leaking 5 gallon water jug and recycled some old bikes and components. Check out this Second YouTube video. (Of course, this begs the question, what else might some cyclists with creative imaginations and more time on their hands than sense launch with a similar type of machine?)

Image lifted from the YouTube videos by Wheelgirl. Pedal-powered inertia welding via bicyledesign to ecofriend. Pedal-powered tennis ball launcher via danielbauen to makezine .

According to bicycledesign, here are the specs on the inertia welder rig:

"Flywheel weight - approx 150 kg
Gear ratio to flywheel - 5.79:1
Gear ratio flywheel to work piece - 37:19
Flywheel energy - 30 Kilojoules @ 500 rpm (I think we only managed around 400-450 rpm though)"

Make a Room Screen From Old Chain Rings, Cassettes, and Cogs

At the shop, we had been talking about putting a screen of some sort in front of the repair area to protect these bikes from the over curious.  Right after that conversation, Head Mechanic, Daniel, found this old fireplace screen with holes in it by the dumpster. The discarded screen had one broken support stand with it. Stainless Matt (maker of stainless steel bike frames) took the support stand, flipped it, drilled some holes, and created a base for the screen. Customer Ben helped sort some worn bike parts for shop art projects, and he filled a box with a bunch of cogs and chain rings.  I cleaned the parts in the solvent tank and decorated the screen with these no longer useful chain rings and disassembled cassettes.

So, if you are a road or mountain warrior or a fixed gear rider, you can write down your hours and miles on the bike in your training journal. Or, you can ride as much as you can. And then, decorate a screen with your used up and shark-toothed chain rings, cassettes, and cogs to create a visual representation of your commitment. If you make a screen with your old chain rings and cogs, send us a link to a photo. (More information after the jump.)

Photos taken by Wheelgirl.

I tried a few ways to affix the chain rings and cogs to the screen. First, I thought I might use wire loops and solder the ends of the wire together. But solder joints are typically not flexible. And the screen is flexible. The wire mesh it like a cloth, in a sense. It is woven out of metal threads, and it moves like cloth might move. Whatever you use to attach the pieces to the screen, it needs to feature a flexible joint. Anything really inflexible will break if and when the screen flexes in its frame.

The next idea was to sew the rings and cogs on with dental floss or a heavy nylon thread. But I didn't have a sewing kit handy. What I did have was a $4.39 hot glue gun. So, that is how I chose to affix these worn rings and cogs to the screen. You have to get a decent technique in place, or the glue won't fill the holes in the screen and / or will dry before you can align the teeth or the pieces. Also, if you don't use enough glue, when you stand up the screen, the glue bond won't hold the weight of the metal pieces, and they will fall off. Experiment, and you will probably come up with your own improved process.

1. I set down the screen so it was flat, parallel to the floor. (I had to prop up one end with some books to make it parallel, since the base was already attached.)


2. Then, I put white paper on the floor under the screen. The black screen on the brown wood floor made the design hard to see. So, the white paper provided more visual contrast, and it made the design easier for my eyes to see.


3. I arranged the rings and cogs into a design. Some of the component designs and shapes are really lovely. So, try to feature whatever makes your eyes the happiest.


4. Then I hot glued the pieces with flexible glue and pressed them onto the screen. I started at the bottom left corner and worked my way to the top right corner, so most all of the teeth are interlocking at multiple points. I glued the outer rings first, and the cogs inside those rings second.


5. I did my best to cover most of the holes in the screen. There are a few that didn't get covered, since I would have had to change the composition of the design too much in order to cover all of the holes.


6. Once you stand up the screen, try not to move it back down parallel to the floor again and again. Each time you put the screen in a horizontal position (flat with the floor), the weight of the components flexes the screen down toward the floor. This can disrupt the glue joints.  So, try to get all of your gluing done, and then keep the screen vertical and upright. Since in this upright position the screen rarely flexes in its frame.