Wishful Coding

First post from the US!

I can’t really do nice photography, video and building instructions here, but I did make a robot.

This thing sits under your laptop, and can drive it around and tilt the screen. The idea is that it will always face you, and keep a fixed distance too.

It uses the webcam of my laptop to track my face using OpenCV from Python.

It could also keep a fixed distance using the ultrasonic sensor, but this is not implemented.

I found a video that features a skating robot, it moves, but skating? I did a lot of skating myself, so I started to think about a better skating movement.

It occurred to me that while skating around pylons, you don’t need to take your skates of the ground. What you do instead is hard to explain.

I tried to explain my idea to anyone who’d listen in #mindboards, but to no avail. You just have to see it with your own eyes.

It is a really fun thing to build and play around with. I suspect you can find more efficient and inexplicable ways to move and turn.

Get the building instructions for this model

This is the Mirah code I used in the video:

import lejos.nxt.Motor
import lejos.nxt.Button

def align()
	Motor.A.rotate(360 - (Motor.A.getTachoCount() % 360))
	Motor.C.rotate(360 - (Motor.C.getTachoCount() % 360))
end

speed = 150
Motor.A.setSpeed(speed)
Motor.C.setSpeed(speed)

Motor.A.forward()
Motor.C.forward()

Thread.sleep(20000)

Motor.A.stop()
Motor.C.stop()

align()

Motor.A.backward()
Motor.C.forward()

Thread.sleep(20000)

align()

Motor.A.forward()
Motor.C.forward()

Button.waitForAnyPress()

I am going to attend Hacker School this summer. While I will fill half of my suitcase with LEGO, I won’t be posting regularly.

With that said, I hope there will be some exciting projects I can share with you. Have a great summer… or winter!