alot has happened since my last entry. changed my primary controller to a pc mmotherboard running windows. the robot control software is being written in visual basic. here are some things being worked on and added now that i have more power and functionality.

speech synthesis (this was the easiest part, it works well)

sound and speech recognition (i have some outlines and ideas, not much working code though)

vision via color webcam (still looking for a good usb cam with a great SDK)

Self Programming behavioral and learning patterns (it's a radical idea i have evolved from others ideas. i think it works well so far. a robot that gains it's personality from it's interaction with its environment. awe shibby, it's sweet!)

delagation of functions to micro controllers (the pc tells the micro where to move, the micro moves it and reports back it's progress. the micro tells the pc when it's sensors spot something and the pc determins a course of action.)

one thing your really gonna have to watch for in my robots are their ability to learn new things and ways of doing things via teaching instead of programming. so far, it seems like i'll be baby talking my robots till my code gets a little more advanced. for the most part it learns by associating images, colors, shapes, words, strings of actions, and then trying to make sense of things by compareing things to it's memory banks, then acheving more definition via communication and interaction. then from what one robot learns, another robot can be updated with that memory and then can act like that robot also. hopefully, two robots that i build identically can be seperated for a whole month and be interacted with by different people in different environments, will in the end act like two different robots. say robot one and two come in contact with the same object. one might grasp the object and pull on it because it was tought by encouragement to do so, the other might ignore the object all together or even let out a blurb of speech noting that it had seen an object it recognized but had no further interest in it. my ideas are radical and my code progresses slowly. soooo... some people need to start joining the HELP ME HELP YOU robotics project. if you have any experience with VB(any version). all code is shared with the group, and only the group. it's an ishow you my code if you show me yours thing. it works.

between 2 people in my family and my girlfriend all moving at the same time, i have no time to work on my robots. the most robot related things i get to do is think about them and surf for them at work. who saw the movie virus? i used to read the comic book too. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewItem&item=3317202274&category=790

whoooo hooo! i got my new gearmotor and wheel coupler in. i think i may buy another new gearmotor while i can. i also got my new motor driver in. so saturday should be a very productive day. i hope to pop on by home depot to buy some supplies. hopefully i can have my robot put back togoether with the addition of a head. or atleast start building it. i have been toying with some code for my bot. the code is all in one and can do different things, just by me asking it to. theses things i can ask of my robot include, where to move, what LEDs to turn on, autopilot (wont work till i add more sensors)and sweep the floor(for the hokey attachment). the movies of my robot turned out to be poor quality. it was dim in the room, so you can barely see my robot, you just see black, hear me speaking, and hear my robot move. you can see a dark shadow move, but it's not impressing enough to show off. hopefully saturday i can get it right.

still waiting for my motor driver and new gearbox to get here. over the weekend, i wrote some code that will count my wheels movement while turning. this way i can make the robot move X degrees, but the robot whould really be moveing XX increments. i think when i use the solid shaft and new motor, my robot will be moveing in more of a straight line. i'm about to order some wire and connectors for connecting the sonar to my robot.

i think i'm going to work on some A.I. personality for it. or maybe the sweep routine. all the sweep program has to do is roll back and forth around the room with the hokey attached to the front of it.

this is my first post to this website. it's good to be able to announce my findings on a site that people will actualy see. i have detailed progress notes on my robots construction at my website http://www.clarkober.com/robotics.htm check it out. i will be posting my newest ideas and progress notes on this site now :)

hmm, that reminds me. i ordered a new gearbox and wheel coupler yesterday. i hope that the new gearbox will make my robot drive in straigter lines. with the addition of new 6" wheel and the wheel couplings, i can add my encoder disks and also add a straight thrugh 1/2" aluminum rod as an axel instead of a 1/2" bolt on each side. i think this is what caused one of my motors to grind it's insides away.