Testing the EZ-Robots Kit
Half a year ago, reading Habr, I came across a note about the Canadian company EZ-Robots, which sells parts for building a home robot. The childhood dream of “making yourself a robot” was easier than ever to be implemented, and my friend and I decided to purchase a kit.
For insurance, we ordered two “The Complete Robot Kit”, each of which cost $ 212. Each kit contains:
')
I did not want to wait for a long time, so I chose the aerial delivery, namely Small Packet International - Air, for $ 60. On the Canadian Mail website, the delivery speed was indicated as “In as little as 6 days”. In fact, the advantages of Canadian logistics were not so obvious. Two days after placing the order, a letter arrived that the package had gone to its destination. Then for three weeks no news came. After several unsuccessful attempts to get a response from the Canadian mail, I wrote ez-robots in support. The next day came the answer, in which it was reported that delivery may take 3-4 weeks. And indeed, after 4 weeks from placing the order, parts of the future robot finally landed at the Moscow Post Office.
Since the EZ robot comes without a case, solely as a set of electronic components, the question of choosing the base immediately arose. Having considered two possibilities - a modification of some technical toy and an assembly from scratch from the designer - we chose the second one and purchased the missing parts in the Children's World.
By the way, it turned out that most of the standard toys (cars, tanks) are not suitable for creating a robot - there is too little space for the board and engines or the method of fixing parts is extremely inconvenient. A real find turned out to be a designer with the brutal title “Steel and Iron Compounds”. Perhaps someone remembers the old Soviet designer with slats, angles and screws - it was him. With a very low price, it was ideal for running around ideas. The size of the designer screws corresponded to the fasteners located on the servos, and its details were well correlated with the EZ components in size. But he still had one drawback - if you put the board down with contacts on unpainted metal parts, the circuit is short, and it starts to work incorrectly. The problem is solved, for example, by a piece of polyethylene as a gasket or painting parts manually.
Below is a step-by-step build process for the first model. We used a simple design - a four-wheeled vehicle with a rotating distance sensor and a camera, with which it should navigate and go around obstacles. On the basis of the first model, you can create more complex and interesting designs, just adding additional modules to it.
1. Disassembled
2. Assemble the casing and frame for mounting wheels
3. Add auxiliary mounts and stand for the ultrasonic sensor
4. Install the wheels and secondary mounting
5. We attach servomotors to the frame and fasten them to the rest of the electronics.
6. Install ultrasound and microcircuit
7. Connect the power supply and install the side wireless webcam
Here it is, here it is, the moment of my dream - it's time to connect the robot and breathe life into it. We connect the power and start the search for available devices, after which we turn on the EZ-Builder (you can download it from ez-robots.com). And we get a connection error: it turns out we forgot to update the firmware. The problem is solved with the help of the utility that comes with the ez-builder.
The builder himself was cute and clear: after watching three videos from the site, I could freely manipulate the robot. To control using a distance sensor, you only need to configure the finished items. It should be understood that, although Ez-builder allows you to create your own scripts and algorithms, they are seriously limited. For example, in the condition it is impossible to compare arbitrary values, only a few specifically for this purpose. However, with the same ez-robot.com you can download the EZ-SDK and implement everything you want with it.
Results: designer EZ-ROBOTS was easy to learn. The software is usable and allows you to create your first robot even with minimal programming knowledge. Soviet designer - a very convenient option to create a frame. The time from getting the package with the details to hand is the result that you see in the photos - three evenings, three hours each.
Future plans:
1. Translate from EZ to freeduino: the speed of delivery of parts from abroad is absolutely not satisfactory.
2. Move from the power supply from the set to similar batteries.
3. Find the best servos servos. Try the walking mechanism.
4. Teach the robot to navigate through the picture from the webcam.
5. Teach the robot to memorize the route and make a map of the area.
And finally, a short video about the robot in action.
http://youtu.be/o95fQRay-dw
http://youtu.be/6mlr2F49kPw
For insurance, we ordered two “The Complete Robot Kit”, each of which cost $ 212. Each kit contains:
- EZ-B v3 Bluetooth Robot Controller
- Wireless webcam (charging for it has the shape of a plug for an American outlet, but you can also charge it from any USB)
- Ultrasonic distance sensor
- 3 servo drives with limited rotation angle
- 2 servo continuous rotation
- 2 wheels
- Several additional wires
')
I did not want to wait for a long time, so I chose the aerial delivery, namely Small Packet International - Air, for $ 60. On the Canadian Mail website, the delivery speed was indicated as “In as little as 6 days”. In fact, the advantages of Canadian logistics were not so obvious. Two days after placing the order, a letter arrived that the package had gone to its destination. Then for three weeks no news came. After several unsuccessful attempts to get a response from the Canadian mail, I wrote ez-robots in support. The next day came the answer, in which it was reported that delivery may take 3-4 weeks. And indeed, after 4 weeks from placing the order, parts of the future robot finally landed at the Moscow Post Office.
Since the EZ robot comes without a case, solely as a set of electronic components, the question of choosing the base immediately arose. Having considered two possibilities - a modification of some technical toy and an assembly from scratch from the designer - we chose the second one and purchased the missing parts in the Children's World.
By the way, it turned out that most of the standard toys (cars, tanks) are not suitable for creating a robot - there is too little space for the board and engines or the method of fixing parts is extremely inconvenient. A real find turned out to be a designer with the brutal title “Steel and Iron Compounds”. Perhaps someone remembers the old Soviet designer with slats, angles and screws - it was him. With a very low price, it was ideal for running around ideas. The size of the designer screws corresponded to the fasteners located on the servos, and its details were well correlated with the EZ components in size. But he still had one drawback - if you put the board down with contacts on unpainted metal parts, the circuit is short, and it starts to work incorrectly. The problem is solved, for example, by a piece of polyethylene as a gasket or painting parts manually.
Below is a step-by-step build process for the first model. We used a simple design - a four-wheeled vehicle with a rotating distance sensor and a camera, with which it should navigate and go around obstacles. On the basis of the first model, you can create more complex and interesting designs, just adding additional modules to it.
1. Disassembled
2. Assemble the casing and frame for mounting wheels
3. Add auxiliary mounts and stand for the ultrasonic sensor
4. Install the wheels and secondary mounting
5. We attach servomotors to the frame and fasten them to the rest of the electronics.
6. Install ultrasound and microcircuit
7. Connect the power supply and install the side wireless webcam
Here it is, here it is, the moment of my dream - it's time to connect the robot and breathe life into it. We connect the power and start the search for available devices, after which we turn on the EZ-Builder (you can download it from ez-robots.com). And we get a connection error: it turns out we forgot to update the firmware. The problem is solved with the help of the utility that comes with the ez-builder.
The builder himself was cute and clear: after watching three videos from the site, I could freely manipulate the robot. To control using a distance sensor, you only need to configure the finished items. It should be understood that, although Ez-builder allows you to create your own scripts and algorithms, they are seriously limited. For example, in the condition it is impossible to compare arbitrary values, only a few specifically for this purpose. However, with the same ez-robot.com you can download the EZ-SDK and implement everything you want with it.
Results: designer EZ-ROBOTS was easy to learn. The software is usable and allows you to create your first robot even with minimal programming knowledge. Soviet designer - a very convenient option to create a frame. The time from getting the package with the details to hand is the result that you see in the photos - three evenings, three hours each.
Future plans:
1. Translate from EZ to freeduino: the speed of delivery of parts from abroad is absolutely not satisfactory.
2. Move from the power supply from the set to similar batteries.
3. Find the best servos servos. Try the walking mechanism.
4. Teach the robot to navigate through the picture from the webcam.
5. Teach the robot to memorize the route and make a map of the area.
And finally, a short video about the robot in action.
http://youtu.be/o95fQRay-dw
http://youtu.be/6mlr2F49kPw
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/145760/
All Articles