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The original Walkman was quite an amazing
machine, a "capable quadruped having 1.25 DOF per leg". Walkmans showed
a considerable propensity for exploration, however despite the papers
and studies on its abilities,to me, they remained a mysteryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
So, wanting to find out what they
were, I decided to build my own version of Walkman using Tilden's
handwritten notes on the machine. Special thanks goes to Harold Ilano,
through his correspondence via email I was able to learn some tips and
give some ideas for improvement on Tilden's design.
I also want to say that TILDEN DIDN'T GET THE ESCAP MU915L MOTORS from SONY WALKMAN WMD6Cs.
I have one of these machines, and They DO NOT use those motors. In fact, the only thing which
Tilden(that I can see) used is the front fascia panel from the WMD6C (metal panel which says "WALKMAN")
as Vbug 1.5's cover. It is unclear what electronics components were used as well.
| Vbug 1.5 schematic |
Dradis Schematic |
Dradis Planform |
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Building this robot presented
its own unique set of challenges. But it was a worthwhile endeavour,
it is a fun toy to play with and it has taught me much about
electronics and Nv tech.
Dradis exhibits all of walkman's features, including the crabwalk!
Walkman exhibits "aggressive phototropism", the eyes being connected to
the Enable pins of the leg motor driver AC240. While this is an effective
way to turn the robot(the eyes effectively shut off one side of the robot),
when placed in bright Caribbean sunlight, the robot won't move. The resistors
had to be considerably high for outdoors operation. This means that even brighter
light must be used to attract the robot.
CONSTRUCTION
Dradis was built with what
ever could be found at the time. As usual, I try not to purchase things.
Materials:
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Nokia N810 case [my friends cat broke it]
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Brass terminal blocks
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Solarbotics Leg mounting pads [My favourite SB item]
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Solarbotics Gumby wire [legs]
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Rubber Antenna booties
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M3 nuts and bolts
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Fine brass wire (tactile sensors)
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Male DC barrel plugs (tactile sensors)
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Generic Breadboard with IC
foil pattern and double sided copper clad PCB
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5 GWS mini servos (removed
electronics only)
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3.6V Li-Po from smashed iPod Mini
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Hi-end IDE cable [connecting wires]
Features:
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Crab-walking, hard turning,
reversing, turn and reverse, phototaxis
Dimensions:
| |
dimension /mm |
| length |
180 |
| width |
72.6->160 |
| height |
60 |
Weight:
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