Walking Computer Cases

[TJ9]

I am using TJ9's login for this until I get my own.

I am going to try to build a computer case that is able to walk. For this I need help on selecting the case. I want a short wide case. it should be realtively small but can still hold the usually computer parts plus some extra. I want the mother board to remain perpendicular to the ground if possible.
If some one can point me towards instructions on how to do so I could also build my own case in the event a suitable case cannot be found. I have access to and some experience with many wood, and metal working tools and materials.
I will customize the components (mother board, hard drive, power supply etc) to fit the case so those are not a restriction.

I plan on using the microcore circuit designed by Mark Tilden to operate the legs, and have from 6 to 8 legs for stability. The case should be able to safely follow me, and go up or down stairs upon completion. I will continue to post my progress as I continue for those who are interested in the project. Go to www.solarbotics.com for more information on BEAM, and Mark Tilden. This is also part of the BEAM web ring.
BEAM is an acronyme:

B- Bioligic: design the robot after living systems.
E- Electronics: It uses electronics
A- Aesthetics: make it look good
M- Mechanical: uses mechanical devices (motors, gears, etc)

I am thankful for any help that can be provided.

[Taylor]

Thanks for bringing this up- it's the first I've hear dof it. Very interesting indeed. Good luck on your project!

As far as a case goes, my guess is you'll go through a couple before you settle. If you're going to have the thing powered by an umbilical, then you could maybe use any old case/ps.

If you're going to power it with rechargable batteries and/or solar, right away you're limited on the upper end of your computing-power range, because cooling takes up a lot of electricity.

man you must really love this because this could really eat up a lot of your time/ money! I bet I could build a boat in the time it may take someone to make this project of yours fly. My hat's off to you!

[Arkamedies]

I started designing my arachnid computer about 2 years ago and am almost half way done. It is strictly an "as I get time to play" type of project. The stairs are the tough part. Mine will use tank treads for stairs by retracting the 8 legs up and in. Then at the top of the stairs, the legs come, out again.

It is fun and can be exciting, but for the HUGE wow factor I get, the cost and time are NOT worth the effort... especially when Honda is designing the same thing... and they have several million dollars invested in the research and developement of it.

Good Luck, keep us all in check on it..... I hope it will be done before mine!

[azhari]

How about some pictures? That sounds really cool....WOW :D

[Arkamedies]

Pics would be cool... but I still do not own a camera. I have just never seen the need for one... well, I guess I better start the research on getting one now.

Besides, I have only made a very few of the components, mostlyn it is still on design paper. I never took robotics, so I do not have the referenced info they would get in school. It is taking me a bit longer! LOL

[PsYko420]

That would be pretty nice but I suggest you keep it low-profile so it won't tip when going up stairs. So your gonna want a desktop not a tower case that should be enough. Also whats the pt? Its only 50 pounds of computer and you'd need an enourmous power supply (not comp psu).

[Arkamedies]

Actually I am building an actual spider looking case for it. I am hoping it will look like some sort of futuristic spider/mech... we shall see if I can get some concept drawings scanned in. I will check with a gal I know that has a really nice setup.

Its all good....:cool:

[KILLorBE]

Guess this case is too small, I believe its only sold as a barebone.
You might wanna do a search for 'Baby Cube'http://www.ano.be/images/0578_WEB.jpg
http://www.ano.be/images/cf-7989-back.jpghttp://www.ano.be/images/cf-7989.jpg

[Arkamedies]

That one is a bit small, but EXCELLENT suggestion. It has possibilities, but in this situation, I think I would be better off building the right chasis for mine.

TJ9 may be looking for just this type of case. very nice and Very small... perhaps I could use something like that for the conversions to my '68 Cadillac.... hmmm... I like, I like....


Its all good....:cool:

[el]

great thread guys. only one question would my v5 5500 fit in that case? ;)

what kind of requirements does you case need? I would love to see your design ideas.

[Mark McCrea]

I finally got my account activated so that I am no longer using my brothers. I started this thread as TJ9.
I am currently planning on a desktop case. The one I have picked to start with is on www.colorcases.com . It is in the caes category near the bottom of the list in specials. 1702 ATX CodeBlue Desktop is the name of the case. For 20 dollars (US) it will at least serve as a starting point for case design. The steel frome should give it enough strength to support itself with a few cross beams.
For a power supply I was thinking solar augmented by a storage battery for low light situations. I had not planned on operating the computer while walking, but a retractable extension cord (two male plugs, one for ps, and one for monitor) could be used for that purpose.
Does anyone know if a power supply (ps) that allows a monitor to be plugged into it is still availible? I has one on my 486, but haven't seen one on a newer computer. That would reduce the extension cord cost by only needing one male plug, with one female plug.
I had planned on 4 or 6 legs. The six legs is more stable, but less adaptable to varying terrain. The six leg designs generally work by moving 2 or 3 legs from a stable platform while the 4 legs move by controlled falling catching itself with the moving pair of legs.

Here is an excellent tutorial on a smaller battery powered 4 leg, two motor walker:
http://vsim.freeservers.com/amiller/microcore.html

I am considering using two legs angled backward, two legs out the front (two lift up and over) and two more legs out the side for stability and motion.

[Mark McCrea]

The post that starts the similarly to this one was an accident (Tab to indent a paragraph doesn’t work so well. :) Got back to a computer after class now.

I finally got my account activated so that I am no longer using my brothers. I started this thread as TJ9.
I am currently planning on a desktop case. The one I have picked to start with is on www.colorcases.com . It is in the cases category near the bottom of the list in specials. 1702 ATX CodeBlue Desktop is the name of the case. For 20 dollars (US) it will at least serve as a starting point for case design. The steel frame should give it enough strength to support itself with a few cross beams.
The case shown by KILLorBE is a little small, but a slightly larger case would be perfect. I need two external 5.5” bays (DVD and CD-RW), plus a hard drive bay. If that similar size of case were made with the extra drive bay that would be better than the color cases one.
For a power supply I was thinking solar augmented by a storage battery for low light situations. I had not planned on operating the computer while walking, but a retractable extension cord (two cords, or one with two female ends, one for ps, and one for monitor) could be used for that purpose.
Does anyone know if a power supply that allows a monitor to be plugged into it is still available? I had one on my 486, but haven't seen one on a newer computer. That would reduce the extension cord cost by only needing one male plug, with one female plug.
For solar power only 5 to 8 solar panels would be needed to drive the legs. This would provide a minimum of 10 volts in most light conditions (5 panels), and a maximum of 25 volts. I plan on using a capacitor to store power to allow for charging up between steps to allow motion in lower light conditions. The motors will be run at a fairly high gear ratio to allow for sufficient torque, and slow the rate at which the legs move. The microcore will be the majority of the batter power requiring from 2 to 10 volts of power. Fluctuations in the microcore can cause problems so it is best to power this off of a battery separate from the rest to prevent errors. Current levels in the microcore are rather low so a couple of AA batteries should be sufficient. It is possible to draw just enough current from the battery to supplement that which the solar panels can supply, while is high light conditions the solar panel can recharge the battery (nickel cadmium batteries work well in this).
I had planned on 4 or 6 legs. The six legs is more stable, but less adaptable to varying terrain. The six leg designs generally work by moving 2 or 3 legs from a stable platform while the 4 legs move by controlled falling catching itself with the moving pair of legs.

Here is an excellent tutorial on a smaller battery powered 4 leg, two motor walker:
http://vsim.freeservers.com/amiller/microcore.html

I am considering using two legs angled backward, two legs out the front (two lift up and over) and two more legs out the side for stability and motion. The front legs will pull in towards the body of the robot while the back legs push forward. The side legs will lift at this time allowing the robot to move forward. The side legs will move back down after the back and front legs have finished moving. This will provide a stable platform for the front legs to lift up, extend forward, and plant back on the ground. The back legs will then lift up and pull in towards the body. Then the cycle will repeat.
This is similar to how a spider walk pushing it legs forward, then pulling back. Two pairs of legs are always touching the ground at all times. This will provide stability, and will prevent the robot from sliding or tipping. A second pair of legs may be required, but I don’t know yet.
I am going to try to add a touch sensor to tell when the front legs have contacted the ground to prevent my computer from walking over edges. Microcores work well with sensor addons allowing a person to take any behavior from attraction to repulsion to turning or stopping when a sensor is activated. The sensor can be touch, light heat, or anything that gives an electrical signal when activated.
The case I am using weights 20 pounds, I am going to use a nforce mother board, a 40 gig drive, 350 watt power supply, and AMD 1.4 gig chip (pr rating of 1800+ I think). The nforce board comes with an integrated Geforce 2 MX equivalent, network card, and 5.1 Dolby sound card. I will run windows 2000 dual booted with windows 98. For sound I currently have two clam shell speakers. My monitor is a 17” CRT display. I have not bought the case, mother board, or windows 2000.
The case should be able to handle the strain of the weight distribution, but if not a couple of x-braces should be all that is required. The total weight should not come out to more than 50 pounds.
The parts required to make the walking mechanism are (not final) :
6 motors (1 per leg)
74AC14 (microcore chip, requires some resistors and capacitors)
NiCd batteries
5-8 solar panels 5.5 volt each
6 gear boxes
an assortment of switches, capacitors, resistors, and transistors with the occasional diode.
The cost of these parts should be no more than 50 dollars for the parts listed above, to leg material will probably cost 30 dollars extra depending on how much sheet metal a dish washer has. Sheet metal, and some 1/8 to ½ inch X 1 flat should be sufficient to construct the legs, and reinforce the case. The flat costs about a dollar a foot.
I don’t know what a v5 5500 is. If el could explain what that is I would try to answer.
I am designing the walking case robot on CAD. The program that I am using is Inventor by Autodesk. I will try to post pictures of the design progress if someone can tell me how to post a picture onto this message board, or an area where it can be viewed.

[SeigeAkicksass]

about that pwr sup w/ a monitor hook up you could use 2 pwr sup one to pwer your monitor and fans and one to pwr you'r normal comp functions


jsut a thought

[Diggrr]

Use an old laptop flatscreen.

It can be mounted onto the top and folded flat onto the case. Put the solar cells onto the back of it. You can also use an old thinkpad keyboard on it. These would be powered by the system, and use very little at that.
I believe the thinkpad keyboard is removable, as are others.

Self contained walking demo, plug into home base when needed.

I had thought of this for a lan rig.

[Sklathill]

Yo Killorbe! That baby cube you had pictures of...it looks like a Shuttle SV24 with an acrylic front...man, I want that acrylic front now! I can't find that thing anywhere besides that Belgian store...anyone else seen these acrylic front SV24s?