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The final PropBot version was a completely redesigned robot with custom-made processor and sensor boards.   It has a pan/tilt head mechanism and front grippers that open and close.   It maintains the sonar sensor, CMU camera, Sharp IR sensor and encoders from the previous version but it now uses 8 Sharp IR sensors (3 at the front, 2 on each side and one at the back).   A battery monitor was also added.   It has expansion ports for a compass, accelerometer and beacon sensor.

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The PropBot was an improvement over the BOE bot in that it used a Propeller microprocessor which has 8 processors running in parallel.   It allowed for dedicated processes to control the robot's motors and communications while allowing the user-defined program to concentrate on the logic as opposed to motor and communication timing.   There is also a front-mounted CMU cam and improved wheel encoders as well as front-mounted Sharp IR distance sensors that provided better accuracy for collision avoidance.

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This improved version of the BOE bot had a side-mounted IR sensor and also had a block guide and sensor at the front so that the robot could push around cylindrical blocks.   It used the BasicX microprocessor which was more powerful.

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The Board of Education was used as the main processor for this robot which was used in  the COMP4807 robotics course.   I created it with an ultrasonic sensor, IR range sensor and some front and side proximity sensors as well as encoders, light sensors, a compass and bluetooth communication module.   It ran using the Basic Stamp II microprocessor.

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This was a robot with a MiniPC as its processor.   It was assembled by Tyler McGill as a directed study in the School of Computer Science.   It had IR sensors all around and cameras.   It was to used as a testbed for various experiments.   It was built with many expansion capabilities.

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RABI (short for "Robotic Adaptive Behavioral Insect") is a 6-legged robotic platform that can be interfaced to an external computer through a tether. It has 4 frontal antennae (whiskers) and two on the side. It is capable of walking, turning, overcoming small obstacles, avoiding collisions, following edges, mapping and navigation. It uses 12 motors to lift its legs. RABI was built as part of my Master's Thesis in Computer Science. I initially wanted a robot that could walk and climb in a varying terrain, but I realized that it would take more time and money than I had.   The main difficulty I encountered during construction was that the robot could not support its own weight, let alone lift itself up. I went through several pain-staking leg designs in order to achieve a robot that could hold its own weight. It took 6 months to get the thing to walk.

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The "Creeper" is a small 8-legged robot that can be steered by a light source. The robot has tethered 12 and 5 volt power supplies but is otherwise stand-alone.   It was designed and built for the 3rd International BEAM Robot Olympic Games in Toronto, Ontario in 1994. It was built for the legged race event in which non-wheeled robots were to race one another from a start line to a finish line.   This little guy won the gold medal in legged race since its 12volt motors were much quicker that the other competitors which uses solar cells and contracting "muscle" wires.  The main difficulty I encountered was that of creating strong enough legs that would hold the body as well as provide forward motion. The large 12 volt motors added additional weight which was compensated for by the large external power supply.

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The "Ascender" is a small rope climbing robot, which is not unlike an automatic yo-yo. Once attached to the bottom of a rope (actually fishing line), it can climb to the top and back down. It is light-activated (that is, it starts and stops when a light shines upon it). The speed and distance of the climb are both adjustable.   It was designed and built for the 2nd International BEAM Robot Olympic Games in Toronto, Ontario in 1993. It was built for the rope climbing event in which robots raced one another up and down a fishing line of 1 meter in length.  In this context, it won the silver medal in rope climbing in 1993 and won the gold medal in 1994.  The main difficulty that I encountered was that the motors drew a lot of amps from the 9v batteries which caused the logic circuits to occasionally overheat and shut down. Since the speed of the robot was adjustable, I ran it at slow speeds to avoid overheating. Also, camera flashes from photographers at the olympic games caused the robot to suddenly stop climbing (I hadn't thought of that).

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This is the first of my robots built using the LEGO Mindstorms RCX kit.  The robot is able to walk on 4 legs ... a little like using a walker (like the kind you see little old ladies using).  The robot moves all 4 legs at the same time to lift itself up, then moves its body forward and the places its body back down again.   The two frontal antennae allow the robot to steer around obstacles.   The eyes here are just for show and do not have any functionality.

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The first robot that I ever built was for a high school science project.  My dad helped me with the design, the electrical aspects and also to put it all together.   Unfortunately, I have no pictures ... so here is a diagram.   It was tethered to a control box that was plugged in.   The frame was a wooden box covered with black material.  The control box had many  switches that allowed me to steer the robot around (had old drill motors underneath).   It had two grippers at its front that could be moved up and down and opened and closed.   It had LED eyes that lit up and there were many sound modules that allowed it to make various kinds of noises.