Today I stopped by a shop with an laser cutter and asked the owner if he'd cut out some acrylic for K-9's eyes. It turned out wonderfully. I'm extremely happy with it and can't wait to get it mounted over my new eye LEDs. Unfortunately I have to build those before I can see what they all look like together.
Later I got his slideshow frame working but on AC power. I've got to hook it up to the internal batteries this week.
I Love Doctor Who! And let me say that you have totally nailed it! The craftsmanship is exceptional. I love the detail you put into him and all the posts. Keep up the awesome work.
Thank you very much Crash. It's been a fun way to learn some new techniques.
I can't say I've ever seen K-9's screen used in any episode so far. I haven't seen every one of them yet. I love the way the screen turned out. I know it's a little small for the opening but it fit and worked in my time crunch.
This is the first time I've had both the keypad buttons flashing and the hex segments on at the same time.
I finally worked out a decent mount system for the tail bellow. I think it might need to be shortened a bit. I'm definitely going to work out a better way to make his tail move in the future.
I just test fit K-9's new eye LEDs, eye plate, and extendable suction probe. It turned out better than I expected. Now I can permanently mount everything.
I made the probe manually extendable. I really didn't have the room for an automated one and it was something I assumed little kids would grab if I extended it at a con. I can use it for photos though.
K-9's laser nose is now installed. I had a minor problem though. The clamp I was using to hold the bracket in place while the glue dried snapped. It took a huge chunk out of his snout that I'll have to patch and repaint. I also forgot to install the red LED. I don't think I'll get that before saturday. The laser goes in and out and can pivot up and down. At least that's the plan. I'm still working out the programming aspects. I hope to meet up with my friend with the R2 tomorrow to help me finish the programming.
Only one issue besides the paint chip remains. I installed and ran the photo frame from the internal batteries but when the ears or tail twitch they cause the frame to reboot. I'm going to have to build a dedicated 5v bus just for the frame. It shouldn't be too difficult.
Here's a short video of it working. I'm only using a servo tester at this point which is why the video flips midway.
I went to Mark's today with K-9 and Tom Servo but we didn't get time to work on K-9's programming. R2 is down for maintenance and needs to be running for Saturday so I spent the time soldering components for the droid. I found time to build a 5 volt regulator for the video screen but I ran into a huge issue that I may or may not have time to fix before the expo. The video screen draws one amp which is the limit for my 5v regulator. In turn the regulator heats up and stops functioning in about 20 seconds. I added a heatsink but it still got way too hot for my comfort. I'm going to look into turning one of my old CPU fans and heatsinks into something to help cool the regulator. If I can't figure that out before saturday I'll just leave the screen off.
Thanks, he's coming along nicely. I just got the laser nose working with my PS2 controller. I hope to install the small red LED into the nose tomorrow to light up with the laser firing noise.
Yes, I chipped his snout again. I'll have to touch it up tomorrow.
I had a great time with K-9 at the Pensacola Pop Expo. I've found a few photos from around the web including a local paper's website.
For some reason the laser nose and ears stopped working completely. Basically every servo in the head went dead. The eyes still lit up, the laser LED would fire, and I could make the tail wag so I know the power to the head and Arduino Nano were working. I haven't done any troubleshooting on it yet so I don't know what happened.
I've been tinkering with a script from Ozzymat on K9 Replica Robot's forum. It sets up a truly random keypad sequence. I put it on a spare Pro Micro and wired it up to some high intensity wide angle LEDs. I'll be putting the color version of the LEDs in the keypad buttons so the colors don't get washed out. White LEDs into red buttons turns them pink.
Another Pensacon has come and gone. I was absolutely overwhelmed by the positive response K-9 received from everyone. He ended up being featured in the local paper and on their website several times. Celebrities were walking by and telling me he was awesome. Our collective ego is quite large now. K-9's is dwarfing mine, as usual.
Marina Sirtis said he was so cool in his Counselor Troi cosplay.
I've been building K-9 a new drive system. The old one is made from an old steel bedframe. It was heavy and not square. The new one is made from aluminum and addresses some issues I had with the old one.
The electronics tray tilts up allowing me easier access to the batteries.
I've got a little more work to do on it before I test out electronics from a different bot in it. Then I'll tranfer K-9's system over to it.
