The Make It Last Build Series Newsletter, Build #2, Dispatch #3
Greetings! Welcome to the third newsletter for the Robot Plant build. This week, we're going to build an extendable stem for our plant from a tape measure, and mount it inside of the flower pot. Combined with the plant brain we built last time, we're well on our way to having a functional robot plant!
The official contest rules can be found on the contest landing page, along with everything else about the contest. Check out the awesome prizes, including a $200 pre-paid gift card and copies of our best-selling Make: Electronics book! We'd love to hear from you, so don't hesitate to contact Matt
or Gareth with any questions or concerns you might have. We've also set up a Forum topic for this contest, so be sure to stop by and introduce yourself!
Cheers,
Matt and Gareth
back to top Robotic Plant Stalk
For part two of our build, we're going to assemble the backbone of our robotic plant: the stalk. Made out of a modified tape measure, it can be extended up into the air with a simple turn from a servo motor. Check out the tutorial on the blog for instructions!
back to top Reminder: Design a Plant Challenge!
Our design a plant challenge from last week is still open:
What do you think of when you hear the phrase "robotic plant?" Do you think of a hulking, carnivorous metal beast, or perhaps a delicate machine that gently blooms in response to electromagnetic fluctuations? Or perhaps a Frankensteinian combination of the two? Should it slowly climb up a wall, or turn its face to you and sing when you walk by?
We'd love to see what you are thinking about, so let's have a quick challenge! The first five people to share their idea for a robot plant will win a cool goodie pack, containing the following items:
- MCP1640 Single Cell Boost Converter for Energizer® MAX AlkalineAAAA (power your next project using a single battery!)
- Energizer® LED Pen Light
- 2x Energizer® Ultimate Lithium AAA Batteries
- 2x Energizer® Ultimate Lithium AA Batteries
- 2x Energizer® AAAA Alkaline Batteries
- FREE Class Coupon for use at a Microchip Regional Training Center (a $99 value)
- CD with Training Class Presentations
To enter the contest, just submit your sketch/painting/photo/videos to the MAKE Flickr Pool, and tag them with the hashtag #robotplant. The deadline is Midnight on December 5th, and we'll announce the winners next week, on December 6th. Note that you have to be eligible for the main contest in order to be eligible for a prize, however everyone is welcome to join in the fun!
The above photo is of a robotic sunflower, by researchers at the University of Kyushu. Remember, a robot plant could come in any form!
back to top Battery Pack Hacking
The PIC microcontroller that we are using for this project has excellent low-power capabilities, but requires a power source that is less than 3.6V. Unfortunately, the servo motor that we want to use in the build requires a voltage closer to 5V, so what are we to do? Rather than including multiple battery packs (which would be bulky and redundant), we can instead modify a standard 3 AA batteryto provide both 3v and 4.5v outputs. To do this, all you need to do is solder an extra wire to the between the second and third battery connectors, like so:
back to top Tech Note: Controlling the Servo
We've chosen to use a continuous rotation servomotor to actuate (move) the main stalk of the robot plant. There are many different kinds of actuators that you could use (DC motors, steppers, solenoids, etc), however servos are convenient because they come in compact packages, and are easy to control. For a great introduction to how they work, see Tod Kurt's servo primer, which first appeared in MAKE Volume 19.
The servo that we specified for the project (Parallax continuous rotation servo) comes pre-modified to work like this, however it is possible to modify regular servos to be continous rotation as well. If you've got one lying around that you want to use for this purpose, check out this tutorial by Karl Demuth .
back to top Microchip Discount Code
Want to pick up a PIC programmer or development kit? As part of the contest, Microchip is offering a 20% discount on the following development tools:
PICkit3
PICkit3 Debug Express
ICD3 In-Circuit Debugger
XLP 16-bit Development Board
F1 Evaluation Platform
F1 Evaluation Kit
If you've been thinking about getting started with PIC programming, this could be a great opportunity to get a good deal on a programmer. To request a discount code, send an email to makeitlast@makezine.com.
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