WiMo's Garage

Downloads and Discontinued Parts

BCross — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 08:25:23 GMT

The download section for the code and binaries should be working again. Looks like the server was being filled up by spam in the comments, so I have disabled the comments on the blog for now. If you have any problems getting to the source code or other information on the site, please let me know.

It looks like the OOPic is going to be discontinued. So, it looks like I'll have to find another microcontroller to work with. I've also been told that the Lynxmotion dual h-bridge was discontinued. It was a pretty standard looking dual h-bridge, so other similar ones with similar specs should work fine as well.

I haven't really had much time to make progress on the WiMo project lately, but I am hoping to come back to it sometime in the future (maybe/hopefully later in the Fall). In the meantime, please continue to use the code I have available for your projects. It has been great to hear from everyone on their various WiMo-like projects, even while I haven't had the time to actually do any work on WiMo. So, keep the emails coming :)

--Brian

OOPics on sale

BCross — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:28:14 GMT

I just got word that for one week only OOPics are on sale for $49... this is fairly decent as the OOPic-R's are usually about $80... I think/hope that this comes with the new firmware as well which has a few new objects to play with.

Just thought that if you were thinking of creating a WiMo or like project, that you'd want to know! :)

http://www.oopic.com

-- Brian

WiMobot site will be down this weekend

BCross — Tue, 06 May 2008 21:29:00 GMT

I know I haven't posted too much lately, but I'm still here and am enjoying the emails that I get from people who are still playing around with WiMo and building variants. I have some photos of one to post and will do that when I get a chance. I'm also hoping to release a software update (not sure exactly when yet).

But just wanted to get the word out that if you visit the WiMobot site this weekend, it may be down for system maintenance (or at least that is what I have been told).

You know how free time goes, but I'm looking forward to more frequent posts and some updates on WiMo and a couple related projects that I hope to work on soon.

More soon!

Brian

Happy 50th Anniversary Lego!

BCross — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:49:04 GMT

Yesterday, Lego celebrated its 50th Anniversary and C|Net published an article with some cool photos of Lego past and present. It was neat to see a photo of WiMo in the article. Happy anniversary Lego!

More soon!

-- Brian

WiMo has a sibling

BCross — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 01:13:53 GMT

So, it looks like WiMo has a sibling out there, or at least a distant cousin. Olivier Bloch, an Embedded Developer that I met at MEDC, decided to show another way on how easy it is to use your Windows Mobile device to remotely control a robot. Similar to the early versions of WiMo, you can use your device to drive the robot. What is cool is that he mainly used Microsoft Robotics Studio's VPL to create the entire thing.

I'll be taking some time off from work this December, and I'm looking forward to dabbling around with WiMo again. I'm hoping to finish some of the projects I started (WiMonet, MSRS 1.5). I even have another WiMo project in mind. But if you can't wait until then to get started on MSRS 1.5 and VPL... definitely go check out Olivier's stuff.

-- Brian

Using the OOPic on Vista

BCross — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 10:36:19 GMT

I'm back to working on WiMo after a longer than expected break (Summer, my day job, and other random stuff that came up). I still owe you all the WiMonet How-To and I'm long over do for a code update. I hope to have some new stuff posted soon. I even have a new WiMo project/modification I'm going to be working on soon.

In a few of my WiMo designs (WiMo Aggressor, WiMonet, Monster WiMo and a few other prototypes) i have used the OOPic as the microcontroller. The only real problem with this microcontroller is that the compiler for it does not work on Vista. So, when it came time to modify OOPic code, i just used a spare XP machine. Not necessarily ideal. Especially when I want to work on WiMo away from the office or home, just on my laptop (which I run Vista on).

I do believe that Savage Innovations is working on getting the compiler to work on Vista, but until then, here's one way you can get by using Vista. I just set this up tonight and so far it is working fairly nicely. A little slower, but it sure beats having to dual boot my machine or working on two separate machines.

Basically, you run Windows XP in Virtual PC (VPC). In case you didn't know, Virtual PC 2007 is a free download from Microsoft. It's a neat application that allows you to host other Operating Systems within a Virtual Environment.

If you have a copy of XP, you can install XP onto the Virtual PC. Then you can install the OOPic compiler on the VPC and code away. How about downloading your code to the OOPic? Well, all you have to do is map the VPC's COM port (i used COM2) to the COM port you have the OOPic hooked up to on your physical machine. VPC will pass all of the serial traffic from the OOPic to XP and vice versa.

Here are the settings that I used when I created the Virtual PC to which i installed XP:

Harddrive: 20 Gig max, just incase
Memory: 355MB
COM2: Physical COM3

All the rest of the settings are based more on your preference. The really cool part is that I am actually using Bluetooth to hook the laptop up to the OOPic. Via the Vista Bluetooth device settings, i added a partnership with the Sparkfun BlueSmirf i hooked up to the OOPic (see WiMo How-To on how to hook the BlueSmirft to the OOPic). Use the passkey "default" with no quotes when Vista asks you for a passkey otherwise you'll never get a connection (you don't need this passkey when connecting via the Smartphone). Take note of the Outgoing port (mine was COM3, hence the setting above) that is assigned. Then boot up your VPC XP and presto! You should be able to launch the OOPic software, setup the cable configuration to COM2 (assuming you used my settings) and be able to talk to the OOPic.

If you ever turn off the OOPic, you'll need to restart the VPC XP (at least that is what I have notice so far).

I hope this helps some of you out. You do need a copy of XP for this to work. I just a copy of XP from a machine I wasn't using anymore (like the machine i used to use for the OOPic :) ).

Back to some WiMo work. Hope to have something new posted for everyone soon. :)

-- Brian

Web problems and Code

BCross — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 01:25:27 GMT

The WiMoBot web site had a few problems the last couple of weeks, especially with the blog and downloads sections. They seem to be fixed now. Let me know if you ever hit a part of the site that blows up.

As for a WiMo update, I think I owe everyone one :). I was working on fine-tuning WiMonet but never quite finished. So, I am still planning on posting the instructions on how to build him and the source code. In fact, the source code may get updated sooner than the instructions since I have added some new features, fixed a few bugs, etc. All of which apply to WiMo in general (not just WiMonet). I could guess on when I'll post it, but with my recent track record (hey, it IS summer :) ), I think i'll just say "soon" :) I think once summer comes to an official end I'll get back to more WiMo antics.

The following are on my TODO list:

Get WiMo up and running on the latest MSRS
Post instructions on building WiMonet
more WiMo-based robots/systems.

Stay tuned and keep the emails coming :) Oh, and if you have a WiMo that you have built, let me know! I'd love to see it and add you to the community section.

-- Brian

WiMonet Number 3 on the way

BCross — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 07:31:04 GMT

It's been long enough. It is time to work on WiMo again. That's one of the nice things of a hobby, you can pick it up and put it down. But unlike some of my hobbies, I've picked WiMo back up :).

For MEDC I built 2 WiMonets (always nice to have a backup). I have parts to build one more WiMonet and so, that is what I am doing this week. Only, I hope to make some improvements. I am also jotting down the notes and taking pictures so that I can post the How-To in a little bit.

I'm experimenting with the Wheel Watcher set of quadrature encoders on the wheels this time. this should provide more accuracy in turning and moving around. I'm sure I'll still have some drift and whatnot, but it should be better.

I had originally planned to use a digital compass, but i haven't had the best of (consistent) luck with it yet. I'm putting them aside for now and will play with the compasses later.

I'm hoping to have the 3rd WiMonet built by next week sometime and hope to have the instructions out shortly after that.

-- Brian

The WiMos are Resting

BCross — Thu, 31 May 2007 10:03:36 GMT

Just a little update to tell you where I'm at with the posting of the new code and the instructions on how to build WiMonet. I will still be posting these, but it may be a little longer than I first expected. Time has been real short lately and a small break is good for creativity. Like I've said many times, I do all of this work mostly on my own time (only a little bit is done during "working" hours). At this point, I'm hoping to get something posted in about a month or a little after.

While I haven't worked on WiMo since MEDC, it has been fun answering the emails on WiMo. Looks like there are a few other WiMo projects brewing and I hope to post them on the site when there is something to show.

-- Brian

WiMonet Info and Maker Faire

BCross — Sat, 12 May 2007 01:44:00 GMT

It's been a week since MEDC, and I thought I'd give you all a little update on WiMonet.

WiMonet worked pretty well at MEDC, but there are some parts that I'd like to improve. I'd like the turning angles to be more precise. Most of the time, when WiMonet turned 90 degrees, he would turn about 90 degrees, but more often than I would like, he would turn anywhere from 75 to 105 degrees. There are a number of possible reasons why this was so:

The encoder ticks were about 1 tick/4 degrees in ratio. I was told that if i use a quadencoder i could get better accuracy. I've since ordered one and they should be here soon.
Wheel slippage: I don't think the wheels slipped much, but it is possible that i couldn't notice small slippage.
Sloped or uneven terrain. The whiteboard was pretty flat, but if it wasn't level, or there was a small divot in the board, this could have caused error as well.
The actual encoders not counting every tick due to wheel wobble or other factors.

So, before I post the code and instructions on how to build WiMonet, i'd like to work out a few of these minor problems so that he is a bit more consistent.

In other news, unfortunately, I won't be able to attend Maker Faire this year. I was really excited to bring all of the WiMo's and show people how cool Windows Mobile is, but due to work (remember, I work with WiMo on the side, so sometimes the day job gets in the way ;) ) and other commitments, I just can't take the time away.

So, stay tuned for more updates on WiMonet and I'll work to get the code and hardware how-to up online as soon as I can. I also have a few other WiMo projects on deck as well. Always exciting!

- Brian

MEDC Day 2 & 3

BCross — Fri, 04 May 2007 00:42:00 GMT

I just finished up day 3 here at MEDC in Las Vegas. It's been a lot of fun being a "street performer" here. I've been going around the show floor setting up the whiteboard and getting WiMonet to draw whatever drawing I drew on my T-Mobile Dash.

WiMo, just after drawing is name.

There has been a good amount of interest in WiMo and hopefully the project will help you in whatever new Windows Mobile applications you may create, especially maybe another WiMo?

WiMonet was podcasted at MEDC, so if you'd like to see a little bit of him in action, click here.

I'll try to get the updated source code as well as hardware instructions on WiMonet up online in about a month or so. There are a few little changes I would like to make before I write up the how-to that may make WiMonet more accurate.

As always, if you have questions, shoot me an email.

- Brian

MEDC Day #1

BCross — Wed, 02 May 2007 02:01:00 GMT

Day #1 of MEDC is almost over and WiMonet is holding up pretty well... I've been out and about the conference setting up WiMonet's canvas (aka whiteboard) so that he can show off his new artistic skills.

Today's demo consisted of a small drawing application that I wrote. In the app, you can draw a simple drawing using polylines. When the masterpiece has been created, you can send it over to WiMonet via text messages (SMS). WiMonet intercepts the text message (using the ultra cool MessageInterceptor .net class introduced in Windows Mobile 5.0) and then sets out to draw it.

I'm pretty happy with how WiMonet is drawing. He's not perfect, of course. More work could definitely be done to improve the accuracy of the sensors and what not, but this will be an on going process. The slight inaccuracies also makes it more of a work of art ;).

I'll have some pictures and videos later from the conference, but in the meantime, check out the impromptu preview video of WiMonet that Loke took when he came by my office one day a week or so ago.

More Soon!

Brian

WiMonet's First Square

BCross — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:08:12 GMT

WiMo is coming a long way since his first drawing last week. Check out the very first square that WiMo drew.

Yes, there were many attempts before this one, but this is the first one that looks more or less like a square :).

MEDC 2007 is just around the corner, and I hope to have WiMo drawing more than just squares.

More to come!

- Brian

Reducing Spam

BCross — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 23:49:08 GMT

No, WiMo hasn't been sent to reduce spam (yet)... but I am. I had left anonymous comments enabled, hoping I wouldn't get hit hard by the spam bots, but that was foolish thinking :). So, if you'd like to make a comment, you'll have to create an account. It's very quick. If you have any problems, let me know.

Hope to have some more info on WiMonet up soon.

-- Brian

Hi! My Name is WiMonet, I'm Ready To Paint.

BCross — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 07:16:03 GMT

I'd like to introduce the newest addition to the WiMo family, WiMonet (prounounced Wee-Monay).

WiMonet is a 2 wheeled robot that has the ability to draw on a whiteboard using a dry-erase marker. WiMonet will make his debut at MEDC 2007, so come on by and have WiMonet draw something for you :).

This robot is hot off the assembly line, so there is still some work to be done. There are a few hardware tweaks I want to make as well as the software to get him drawing on his own. Currently I can manually drive him like the previous WiMos. Check out the first picture drawn by WiMonet:

WiMonet is learning to be quite the artist. He is currently in his abstract phase :)

I need to center the pen a bit better, but that shouldn't be too big of a task. The circle toward the center at the bottom (with the diagonal line) is the result of WiMonet dancing the hokey pokey :).

What's new in WiMonet?

Similar to the Aggressor model, WiMonet uses a OOPic microcontroller and BlueSmirf Bluetooth module for the low-level brain and a Windows Mobile Smartphone as the main brain on board. WiMonet also adds the following new features:

Longer battery life: This was a must. That little 9v battery I was using didn't last very long mainly because it was powering the servo that turned the smartphone, and because 9v batteries only hold about 850mAh of juice (compared to the 2,000+ mAh of a AA)
360 degree turning servo: Now WiMo's head can turn all the way around. The Aggressor model used a standard servo which could only turn about 180 degrees. The servo i'm using now has a custom made (via BudgetRobotics) gear that allows it to turn a bit more than 360 degrees using a common servo.
Wheel Encoders: I went with very basic Wheel encoders here. These only measure how much the wheel has moved, not the direction. But either way, this gives WiMonet the ability to programatically go specific distances (as well as keep track of those distances).
Digital Compass: While not as accurate as I have dreamed (although i'm still getting the hang of it) this compass was pretty easy (was recommended) and one of the cheapest i could find ($52). This will give WiMonet a sense of direction.

WiMonet kept the ever-rugged rubberbands and even added a clothespin, although it's the more expensive plastic kind which you can get at Target for $4 for a pack of 25 :)

I'm planning on having a tutorial as well as an update to the source code in a couple of weeks so that you can build your own. I think it's time for me to go learn Logo ;)

Hope to see you at MEDC!

-- Brian

Robot Parts

BCross — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 08:09:50 GMT

So, I am wondering... Where do you go for your robot parts? Sensors, electronics, tools, etc. Every now and then I find a new place to shop on the net for parts and so I'm guessing there are quite a few.

For the original WiMo i used Jameco/Robotstore, Sparkfun, and BudgetRobotics. Recently i found RoboticsConnection. In fact, they have the OOPic on sale for $69 (instead of $85 i've seen it at other places). I've found a few other places here and there. Are there any other places that you recommend? I'd love to hear.

Oh, and the comments on the blog should be working now... If not, please let me know.

-- Brian

When they say "Keep the cable short," they mean that

BCross — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 09:49:00 GMT

I am working on some new WiMo creations for MEDC this year. Lots of fun stuff, and so far (knock on wood) everything seems to be playing nicely for the most part. I'm playing with wheel encoders, a digital compass, and some more servos. I may even throw in an ultrasonic sensor. Yeah, I think my next code release of WiMo will be a fun one.

So, tonight was my first time playing with I2C. Not only was I learning a new protocol/concept, I was also trying to interface with a compass I just bought. Of course, it didn't work on the first try, and I went through quite a bit of time trying to figure out what it could be. Did I hook it up to the wrong port on the OOPic? Did I connect the correct pins on the compass and the OOPic? Is there a bug in my test program? Do I have a bad compass? Did the Earth lose its magnetism? aCk!

Tip #1: There are 2 ports on the OOPic-R that look the same. In fact, they are both I2C, except that one of them (labeld I2C) is ONLY for networking to other OOPics (which is pretty cool that you can do that) and the other (labelled prg) is for hooking up external components.

Tip #2: When they say not to make the wires longer than 6" when connecting I2C devices, they really mean that. This was my problem. Whenever I make my own cables, I tend to make them on the shorter side. This time i decided that i would make them longer because i didn't know where i'd end up putting the compass and i also was tired of always having my wires be too short. Well, 11" wires are just way to long I found out. After much searching for my problem, i found that that the consensus is about 6" (at least for the OOPic). I cut mine down to 4" and all of a sudden, WiMo knew which way north was (after some calibration).

I love building character :)

Anyone else have any gotchyas they'd like to share?

-- Brian

Introducing WiMo's Garage

BCross — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 13:55:53 GMT

The new blog and community site, WiMo's Garage, is up and running. I still have a bunch of customizations to do, but I am glad to have most of it up and functional at this point. Mostly, I'm excited to have a better blogging solution now which will allow everyone to add their comments. I'm looking forward to conversations on WiMo and robotics in general. Now you'll have a choice of emailing or responding to my posts on the site.

I'm also looking into possibly setting up some forums as well, but that may not happen for a bit.

For now, the top 5 blog entries will show up on the www.wimobot.com homepage. I may switch over to the blog being the front page and the rest of the pages being linked off of the blog, but I'll decide that later. It will be fun to play with the site, but while I do, all of the same information on WiMo will be readily available to you.

Alright, enough about the site, I've got some robots to build :)

-- Brian

New WiMo blog coming soon

BCross — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:29:00 GMT

I’m almost done setting up a real blog for this site. It will be a lot easier for me to keep everyone up-to-date as well as a way to get a 2-way conversation going. I’d love to hear about everyone’s projects and talk about WiMo.

Hopefully will have it soon,
Brian

WiMo's Newest Cousin

BCross — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:21:00 GMT

Another WiMo is born. Take a look at Kevin Wolf’s WiMo that he built out of a toy tractor bought at Target. He calls it "NiVek J.D.". I have no clue what that means, but this thing is pretty sweet.

I knew it was just a matter of time before people started improving upon my design :) I may have to make a run to Target and get one of these tractors.

Wimo at the Microsoft Academic Days on Windows and Embedded Computing

BCross — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 14:22:00 GMT

In the next 2.5 months, WiMo will be going on a short little tour of the west coast. Three stops spread out between now and the end of May.

Today, I am in Tempe, Arizona at the Microsoft Academic Days on Windows and Embedded Computing at Arizona State University. This is a conference where faculty from all of ther world gather to learn about Windows and Windows Embedded (XP Embedded, CE, and Windows Mobile). Microsoft Robotics Studio is also presenting a bunch of sessions explaining how their framework works.

I gave one session this morning which pretty much was an overview of Windows Mobile. I showed many of our .Net APIs that are specific to Windows Mobile, and then at the end I gave a demo of WiMo, which was very well received. It is always so much fun to show WiMo. There are many opportunities in using WiMo in education. In fact, education was one of the reasons why I built WiMo; I wanted to learn more about electronics and the hardware side of software. Many of the professors and faculty showed a lot of interest, and I’m looking forward to hearing from them in the future.

Next stop, MEDC in Las Vegas. Then, Maker Faire like I mentioned earlier. Hopefully just enough time to make up some new WiMo demos :)

Wimo at Maker Faire

BCross — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 21:18:00 GMT

Wimo’s schedule just got a little busier. I just received the news that Wimo has been accepted to Maker Faire.

If you haven’t heard about Maker Faire, or Make magazine especially, you should go take a look at the link. Make is a great magazine that has loads of information and inspiring projects. So, if you are going to be in the Bay Area May 19th-20th Wimo will be there too. I can wait to see what else is there.

Also, if you at all interested in developing for Windows Mobile, you should check out MEDC 2007. The conference is the first week of May at Las Vegas, NV. I’ll definitely have Wimo there, so if you go, don’t forget to say hi.

Traveling WiMo around

BCross — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 14:48:00 GMT

It’s been a busy 2 weeks as far as Wimo is concerned. First thing you may notice are some changes in the wimobot.com website. I’m working to make the page look a little nicer, as well as make it easier for me to get information out there for everyone to read.

Well, it’s official! We have Wimos being built by people other than me! Some students and faculty at MIT’s Auto ID Lab have built a couple Wimos! I had the pleasure to meet with them while I was on a recruiting trip in Boston. Looks like they’ll be looking into using Wimo to help them with their class projects this next term. I’ll be creating the official Wimo community page when I get some time so that I can post what other people are doing with Wimo!

It’s exciting to hear from everyone that has started building a Wimo. Keep the questions coming, and please let me know how your projects are going. Feel free to send me photos of your Wimo (and include yourself!) for the soon-to-be-posted community part of Wimobot.

I’ve been working on a couple more robots. I hope to have the Wimo ICreate done real soon!

New Source code Posted

BCross — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 11:33:00 GMT

It’s posted! I held off from doing some of the cool things I wanted to do so that I could get the update finally up on the website. Please go check it out in the source code section of the site. Please let me know if you have any problems building or using the code.
Here are just a few of the updates that are included in this drop:

Now uses MSRS v1!
Microcontrollers are abstracted out
Hardware is abstracted out
Because of the above 2 items, one app works on all of the Wimos have i built so far and allows you to add to the Wimo hardware easier.
More documentation online!

Update coming soon

BCross — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 19:23:00 GMT

Just wanted to chime in and let you all know that i hope to have a decent code update pretty soon. I’m hoping within the week, but can’t promise :). Like I said before, the new code works with the RTM of the Microsoft Robotics Studio! The visual programming language is pretty cool to play with. I was controlling WiMo with the XBOX 360 controller and i didn’t have to change anything!

I also have a few cool new things added in the Wimo API layer. It is now possible to have direct access to the microcontroller from anywhere (not just locally to the smartphone). So, essentially, you can use the Smartphone as a conduit to the microcontroller.

I am also separating out the microcontroller specific code out of the main Wimo application. Not only will this help to pretty up the main form code, but it will allow you to add a different microcontroller to wimo and have it work right away with the rest of the code base.

Thanks for being patient, I know many of you have asked for the new code. I hope to have it up soon!

Along with the new code, I hope to have pictures of my two new hardware platforms that i’m playing with... one of them is similar to the Wimo II (Aggressor) and the other uses the new IRobot Create!