Every Project Has Purpose: A Quick Survey of Some of My Robots

Have you ever looked back at the different projects you’ve done through the years and taken inventory of what you’ve learned from each one? While in the office today, I gathered up a small number of my larger robot projects with the longer-term plan of making each one of them run for demonstration. Over time, my robots have stopped working for different reasons, like losing the code due to computer crashes, fires (I’ve had two incidents with LiPo batteries in the office), scavenging parts from one to make another, and even loss of interest. Within a few months, you’ll see all of these robots working again. 

Here’s what I’ve learned from each project:

• Large walking robot (1997) was my first introduction to using a manual milling machine, shear and brake.  Originally controlled by a BASIC Stamp 2, but now a Propeller 1 with BlocklyProp code. 
• Penguin Robot (2003) was about learning 2.4D drawings, toolpaths and CNC machining. We bought our first Haas Mini Mill to make these, and I got to keep the tool in my garage until things got serious and I had to move it to Parallax.
• Hoverboard Robot (2022) is a test platform for evaluating Hoverboard-style brushless motors on a medium-sized robot. Parallax has assembled a reference design, all the hardware, and source code so customers can control these motors from the Propeller 2, a FlySky R/C remote control, or via serial control from a Raspberri Pi or microcontroller. Customers are now using this design. 
• Super-sized cyber:bot (2020) is a 5x scaled-up fully functional version of the cyber:bot. The purpose of this project was to build a promotional robot for events, but the skill gained was TIG welding of aluminum. The chassis is 3/16″ plate aluminum, waterjet at the local community college. Welding this was a frustrating experience! 
• Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) Robotic Boat (2018) was created to make a GPS-guided platform I could put into Lake Tahoe for purposes of showing how our BlocklyProp visual programming language can do real work. Mission achieved! The actual robot boat was made by a partner of Parallax; I only installed the electronics and did the programming. 

One project leads to another. There are always skills developed along the way. Even if you abandoned the effort, the takeaways are always worth the effort in my opinion. 

I realize you want to see these robots do their thing. That’s coming soon! 

Ken Gracey
Parallax Inc.