FYP Process 6: Robot Appearance Researches

show researched :

These are the show I watched in the past 2 weeks to get ideas for the robot personality, appearance concepts, and the overall world for O.U.R.S..

next gen:

This is the nearest concept to what I have in mind, from the robot characteristic, appearance, to the overall concept. the Lab scene, the destroyed appearance is what i could reference on and I really like it.

Final space:

The personality of KVN(Kevin, the round robot) of this show got some really interesting personality, it is really irritating and have some sense of self realization that it is easily replaceable was really cool.

altered carbon:

watched to get a general sense of a cyberpunk theme(which is the world O.U.R.S was placed in) really cool technological stuffs here and the city was really well made.

dragon pilot:

Dragon + Robot, quite cool, except for the fact that the anime was good, there was nothing much for me to reference here.

Wall E:

classic, robotic sound can create emotions too, simple movement and eye from the robot could say alot.

Real Steel:

it is just an action movie with robot, nothing much here.

current Art Direction for explorer 27:

Friendly, empathy, not industry looking, not intimidating.

BY 26 OCT :

unity + touchscreen control master arduino

read book (I robot – Isaac Asimov)

By 9th nov:

drawing for concept

lidar(maybe)

head model (maybe)

Further Research Done:

“Mobile Robot Planning to Seek Help with Spatially-Situated Tasks
Stephanie Rosenthal and Manuela Veloso
Computer Science Department
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213”

FYP Process 4: Construction, Unity and Lidar

Aluminium profile measuring and cutting

20mm*20mm aluminium profile was used to construct the internal frame because it is easy to work with, lightweight and durable.

(Just for the record, I did not work in the dark but turned off the light for documentation purposes only.)

3D Modeling

This is the mounting adapter created in tinkercad to match the steel bearing, the motor and the wheel to the 20mm*20mm aluminium profile. the adapter for the suspension was created later as the suspension had not reach at the time of modeling the mounting adapter, however the 3 part fit nicely with just one try!

3d printing

Frame constructions and 3D printing part assembling.

many different screws, bolt and nuts were used to construct the frame and attach the wheel mount on the aliminium profiles.

Suspension Addition

The suspension is required as the Mecanum Wheel require friction to move in any direction, so the suspension does not only reduce the vibration, but to force the wheel to have traction with the floor at any point of time even on uneven surfaces.

Unity:
Animation done in Unity,

IlSample quest screen (there will be another screen to show the map or something)

These 3 were drawn in Adobe illustrator in separate layers and imported into unity to animate it.

Lidar:

Lidar uses infared laser to sense the distance in a 360 degree manner, it could give thousands of readings per second and the program will calculate them and map it out through a point cloud.

I bought a Lidar from China to try it out and the 1 I bought was C0602 

when using the program that was provided, the lidar works perfectly, but since I am going to use it in Unity, there are problems as Unity runs on C#(a programming language) while the SDK(Software Development Kit) runs in C++, although it is not impossible to write a bridge between the 2 language or write another code in C# to use the Lidar directly in unity, it was out of my capabilities to do so after trying for a week, and while researching for how to do it, i came across another Lidar that provided the Unity codes, however the code does not work on the current lidar I have……

SO, simple solution to this problem, either i ditch the idea of using a lidar OR I buy the Lidar with the Unity code and I put the current Lidar I have for sale online (at higher price than I bought it of course.) And of course, I chosed the 2nd option, to sell the one I have and buy the other 1 that provide a unity code. Carousell, my best friend.

 

FYP Process 3 – rebranding: O.U.R.S. + parts and systems

Changing Project title and Styling

As inspired from the trip from Japan, I decided to change the theme/styling of my FYP from a futuristic company(Hephaestus System Link 1 & Link 2) to a Tech Company in a Cyber Punkish Futuristic world, and after giving in depth thoughts about the branding of the tech company, I came out with “O.U.R.S” the acronym for “Omni Utility Robotic Systems”. There are many reason that this will be the perfect title for my FYP because the original idea of my FYP is to build something that could help out with all of  FYP student’s FYP exhibition, so “OUR” Robot fits the bill perfectly. Furthermore, I am changing the moving System from a simple robot that moves like a remote controlled car(only front and back with turn) to a Omni-Wheel System(Mecanum Wheel) whereby it could also move diagonal/sideways without changing the orientation. “Omni-Utility” could  both meant Omni wheeled robot with practicality and multi-utility robots with many functions built into it, “Robotic systems” was on the same idea with the previous “Hephaestus Systems” I do not want to only create a single robot, I wanted to create a system whereby that robot is only part of the system. So Omni Utility Robotic Systems (O.U.R.S) will probably be the name for my (Imaginary) company as well as the title for my FYP.

Logo Design:

With a Picture I took in Japan, Tokyo, Shibuya Crossing as “Mood Board”

Improved Unity UI(Slightly)

added a simple(sample) animation with the standard UI, buttons and back buttons work fine,(the actual animation is much smoother, but the GIF is slow)

Unity-Arduino Control

I learnt how to use unity to send Serial output to Arduino, although it was quite easy, but it took a really long time for me to figure out how it was done.

The arduino code was written in a way that it gives multiple values in a < > bracket as start and end marker, so that it could be changed to spin the motor and sms the student through arduino in the future, example of the serial communication <255,255,255,255,(phoneNumber),(UsersMessage)>

New Parts, New Systems

I had decided to build ONE robot instead of TWO robot at this point, so my total budget for building the robot just X2 instantly, this was the reason that I am changing the idea of using the kids vehicle to using Mecanum Wheel because it will be much more impressive.

This is a 11 inch screen with HDIM driver with a separate touchpanel, however the seller sent me the wrong usb wire so I cant test the touchscreen before they replace it, however the screen works well! although it is abit small, but it is good for my budget and power issue (my robot will run with internal battery so every component used in it must have their power consumption taken into consideration before everything.) 

The 2cm*2cm Aluminium profile reached and I measured the size i will probably need as the base frame of the robots.The largest single component in the robot will be the laptop which will be used to run the calculations within the robot so the minimum base size will be atleast the size of my laptop (the wheels will be protruding the frame so tha actual base will be about 15cm wider) I’ve cut the profile to form 47cm by 40cm(+~15cm for wheels) currently and I might make changes along the way.

 

For the SMS system which will be in the robot for the visitor to leave a feedback directly to the student, I’ve purchased a Sim-card along with a SIM900A module which enable Arduino to send SMS through the SIM card.
After sometime of trying the SIM900A module out, it does not connect to the service provider and I did the research about it and apparently this module only uses 2G from the simcard, and Singapore had phased out 2G service, so this module was unable to be used in Singapore, therefore I had to purchase another better simcard module which supports 3G/4G(and they are rather expensive but I had to do it…)

It could change direction then the direction change wire is connected to the ground. Powered by a 12V battery, Arduino Uno and a PAC9685 servo driver.

Mecanum wheel and the Motors will probably be the most expensive components in my whole robot(other then the laptop which I already have) as I purchased the best valued component, not the cheapest, an industrial grade aluminium CNC Mecanum wheel(10cm diameter and capable of handling 45KG load) to make sure they will last at least a year plus a month of exhibition time. The Motor is a high torque (8kg/cm *this is torque, not the load it could carry*) and can do PWM speed control, Speed Feedback and Breaking system built into it.
So although the price, I had gotten the best possible combination of parts with my given budget.

Have you ever wondered what a freelancer could do for you?

I thought of this as a joke(or potentially useful for my FYP), but what if I could have someone to draw my initial concept for me to have a starting point to develop my robot?

Since asking people to do it for free is not something which I prefer, I came to fiverr to find character design gigs just for fun, after asking multiple seller about what they could do, I found one potential one.

Of course I had no expectation to have something that I could use as a final, but it would be really cool if I can see a work created specially for my project… and I gave a super vague brief to the artist on purpose because I just wanted to see what kind of weird ideas I could get, and if there are any ideas good enough, I will just adopt into my robot!

So after half day or so, the seller delivered the drawing I requested.

It is really cute and definitely not something I would use, It look like a cardboard robot and is not what I would like to build, but well, it is really funny and refreshing to see my potential “robot” to go for picnic alone!

I shall just start thinking about the design on my own(afterall I had done too much reference research from existing artwork hence this weird idea of getting others to draw me a tailored robot.) and take advice from my friends around me and not do weird stuffs online.

Other Inspirations:

Is the time of the personal robot coming of age?

FYP Process 2 – Research in Japan

During the holiday, I went to Japan and did research as the first country that I would think of robotic will be Japan as they are really advance and I really love the styling of the way they built their robots (digitally or physically) as I grew up watching robot anime like Gundam.

Japan was awesome in technology, toys, and food!!

The Gundam outside Odaiba, Tokyo, I really like the styling of Gundams.

This is the The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) of Tokyo.

the iconic location of Miraikan, i am amazed by the scale of it.

Upon entering the Museum, I was greeted by one of the robots, its really cool to see the “undressed” robot so that i can take a look at the constructions and the system they were using. cool stuffs!

 

this personal vehicle was made by Honda which could carry the person, much like an hoverboard but the sitting version, the visitor could try it buy i missed this activity if not i would really love to try one.

The main purpose I went to Miraikan, to see the famous Asimo, its really cute and i love the astronaut-styling it has. i must say it was really well made and it can dance and kick a ball, although they are pre-programmed, its still inspiring nontheless.

there was this touch screen which display the details of the globe over there and explain the stuffs on it, since I am also using UI in my robot, this was the futuristic style I had in mind, black background with bluish outline that has the advanced feel to it.

The history of Bi-pedal Robots

 

I was inspired by the space exhibit and thought that it was really cool to build my robot with a space+futuristic theme as I like that style alot.

many of the exhibits in Miraikan was screen-based installation which was not related to FYP other than those that was in the post, however they were all amazingly made and really impressive.


Internal of Miraikan.

and I really like Asimo so i bought one figurine which was rather expensive but it will work as a exhibit for my FYP booth.

 

 

HEPHAESTUS SYSTEM FYP Presentation slides + speaker notes

Google Drive Download Link 

 

FYP part 5- Hephaestus Systems Planning + Software learning + Modelling + Gantt Chart

To understand what to plan for, I would need to understand the nature of the project. As the task for completing a physical + mechanical project differed far from a virtual-screen-based project like games and visuals. There will be more restrictions in doing a physical project than virtual one due to the nature law of physic, material and cost.

Money Problems:

As for building a few robots will cost me quite some money, budgeting will be even more important than time planning, as for where the monies come from, I will probably save up from selling things online and work studies and treat it like a commitment because I think that no one is forcing me to do anything and its all my resolution to fund my own project.
I had thought about asking for sponsorship and that may even happen if I have to. (especially for the batteries that I will be using in the robots, these little things must be of great quality due to safety issues while a good + durable + high capacity + low weight battery cost about $500 and up each and I would need at least 3(excluding spares), which I am totally unable to afford.)

During this few weeks, I had been learning Blender (3D modeling Software) from scratch, it is really difficult to pick up, but i think the potential of Blender is far beyond what I need, so I will stick to learning this super useful program.

I’ve tried to follow a few tutorial and learn the basic of Blender from youtube, this was my first blender experience in building a 3D model.

I stated to learn by building chest as it got similar shape of what I want to produce, and after this, I used the skills i learnt from here and applied into the attempt of my R1 Robot.

the overall shape of this is rather similar to the chest so it took a while to get used to this, however after building this, I realized that I don’t know how to make the top of the robot. So I progressed into another tutorial.

and this was the over shape that I made and I am pleased with it for a first timer effort, although it took me 2 days to reach here, after this, I continued to build the details at the side and front…

Side view

Front view

and I decided to make it like a production poster so I rendered another isometric view to make it to looks legit for my presentation.

In blender, there is a animation function and I thought it would be really cool if I can learn it, so I went ahead to learn it from an online tutorial and produced this.

After I feel that this is good enough for the presentation, I tried to 3D print the model out, it was then then I realized that my model was full of mistakes and it only look good, in actual fact, the surface of the robot was really badly made. So the effort I made in this 3D model got to the furthest here, I will definitely be modeling everything again for the actual robots that I will be building for this FYP as this model doesn’t work, however this was a good learning experience for me and understand that I need to build the model’s surface properly.

the surface detail was not able to be printed due to the mistake I made during modeling, which creates an non solid surface and therefore not printable.

and then it was attached to a small remote control car for proof of concept to be used during the presentation.

now, the Crowd Favourite…..
Mr Gantt Chart!

I started the Gantt chart at 1st of April 2018 as it was all research done till this point.

Within each task, there will be multiple small task which falls into the same category and I will explain them as well as a short description of what it is about here in this post.

Since my project will be physical+mechanical+ technological+ I need to get student’s FYP work early, it is really important to start the execution really early and throughout the holiday because building of the actual robot and troubleshooting the system will take quite some time, and I have to ask all FYP student to submit their work to me really early to make everything work.

Research 1 (1st -30th of April):
I think this is the most important factor of the project, good research done here will help me to reduce work greatly in the future.
Researches up till this point (16th April) – Similar Existing Products, potential parts, platforms for interaction, things I have to learn, Inspiration of artistic works, Parts price comparison, Target market and segmentation, 

Skills Acquiring ( 10th April – 8th July):
There are many lacking knowledge and skills required for me to complete this project, like the list of things to learn, I need to learn a few of them to make sure that my system could work. Also, I need to pick-up 3D modelling skills as the knowledge I have now is insufficient, In the past few days, I’ve started to learn Blender, which is a free software for 3D modelling and is great for my project, still, time is needed to hone the skills hence the long period of time allocated to learn these skills.

Initial Purchases (25th April – 27 April):
One of the biggest way to save money is to purchase them from china, which will take weeks for the item to arrive, hence it is really important to buy research about the parts required and buy them early to use the least money for the best result. Also, initial purchases is set to 25th because I will be presenting on that day, if no major changes were made, I could only really consider what to buy after that.

R1 Prototype (Software and Hardware) (2nd May- 8th July):
This will go hand in hand with skills acquiring, as I need to have a goal of what exactly to learn, it is the best to do while learning and learn while doing. R1 is the first Robot that I will be building of the set of 3, which will be the bare-bone of the Robot basic functionality and act as a confirmation to the general systems and parts requires to build R2 and R3.

R1 Movement System Finalization (18th June – 29 June):
As movement is really difficult task to achieve while concerning about the safety of the people and booth, (It is really easy to make something move, but it is much harder to make it move while not destroying things.)
so I gave more time for me to think about how I will achieve this.

Research 2 ( 20th June – 4th July):
When I think of robots, I will think of Japan, maybe its just me since I was influenced by the robotic culture of Japan when I was young, so I will travel to Japan during this period to experience their advancement of robotics first hand. (Place which I will visit :National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan)Unicorn Gundam in Odaibabot at Haneda AirportHenn-na Hotel, Robot Restaurant (not sure about this).

R1 Movement Prototype (4th July-23rd July):
Start to prototype right after I am back from Japan from experiencing their robots and hopefully get to see how they works in Japan.

R1+R2+R3 Concept Generation and Refinement( 4th July -27th July):
Since by this point I’ve already understand what parts R1 requires and already have the measurement of parts and sizes like motors and screen size, I could think about exactly how each Robots will look like as they will look different and have different functionality.

R1+R2+R3 Secondary Purchase (27th July – 29th July):
Knowing what parts each robot needs, I could finally purchase the basic parts for R2 and R3, plus the add-on function for all 3 robots(each robots have different functionality so require different parts)

3D modeling(Aesthetics) (27th July – 20th August):
This will be the final appearance for all 3 robots, 3D modelling done in blender.

R1 Prototype(Aesthetics+ Software + Hardware) (20th August – 24th Sep):
3D printing of all R1 modeled parts, fix them together and make sure the software and hardware works, if it doesn’t, edit and reprint of the parts.

R1 Prototype Trial and Testing ( 24th Sep – 1st October):
when all parts work together, test the robots and system in a location to make sure everything work as expected and fine tune.

R2 and R3 Prototype V1 (Software and Hardware) ( 1st October – 5th Nov):
Since the primary component and system of R2 and R3 is the same as the already working R1, these 2 robots will require lesser time and the main portion of this 2 robot will be in 3D printing and executing the different function in them.

User Interaction Trail and Testing ( 5th Nov – 19th Nov):
Testing and making sure that there are no major bugs in the system, touchscreen and functionality works well.

FYP Student’s Work Collection 1 (20th Nov – 1st Dec):
At this time, all 3 Robot can roughly work and I’ve already document these robots, so instead of just verbally telling them I will help them in making their FYP better, It will be more stimulating if I show them a system which already work and ask them to prepare a document for this system for their own benefit. (it will not be easy to ask people to do extra work, so I need to make sure that I sell my Idea to them really early*That’s 1 semester before the end of FYP* by making these robots cool and they will be losing out if their work is not in the systems.) Also, at this point they don’t have to send me any work and it is already the semester break so they have some time to think about what they want to prepare for the systems.

Booth System Conceptualization.( 20th Nov – 3rd Dec):
By this time, I should have the system of the robots working and I need to incorporate that into booth for our FYP, and this will probably be the time which we will know where our FYP will take place(in school or in public) and this will change how the booth system drastically, so it will be better to place this at the end of semester break.

Booth System Prototype (Software + Hardware) (3rd Dec – 14th Jan):
after the conceptualization, prototype will come next and I hope to have this done before the start of semester so that I will have the fully working prototype done and having the whole semester to polish my work, troubleshoot and bug fix.

Software and hardware Refinement (14th Jan – 1st April):
Software and Hardware refinement will take up most of the time as the real problem will usually emerge at this point of time where some shortcoming of the project will be apparent, also, there might be good suggestion/advice by people along the way and this will be the time to incorporate these wonderful suggestion into the project.

User Interaction Testing 2(1st April – 8th April):
Testing of the final system, to make sure all parts and component work as it should. if problem found, atleast there are time to replace these components.

FYP Student’s Work Collection 2( 1st April – 1st May):
The final collection of (Hopefully) all of the student’s work and adding them to the system once it’s collected. At the very least, there will be the basic information of every student which is uploaded to the FYP website.

Aesthetic Refinement( 8th April – 29th April):
The polishing and painting of the 3 robots and making of props/items for the booth. (when all software and hardware is working)

Booth Preparation & Stylization (1st May – 8th May):
Production of prints for booth, name cards/postcards and such.

FYP Show Preparation. (8th May – 10th May):
The actual preparation of the Booth and to bring the robots down to the exhibition area and set everything them up.

FYP SHOW( 10th May- 20th May):
Make sure the show runs smoothly, on-site repair if needed.

 

CATEGORY

FYP IDEA: To create a system which will benefit the FYP students and gives the guest an improved visiting experience.

researches,

component (pricing, compatibility, functionality, component sponsorship(especially for battery))

softwares (research for platform + udemy courses)

movement (sensors, moving system + hardware) (main moving calculation should be done on the booth computer and transmit over to robots due to power issue, (more computation power it runs, more power it will draw)

 

 

FYP part 4- Hephaestus Systems – Initial Concept Generation + Further Researches

continuation from the previous post, part 3 (Initial Project Brief, Specification, Moodboard & Researches),

Project update since the previous post, I decided to shift my focus of the project from ” To build a set of robots that help our FYP Show” to “To build a system that help our FYP show”. The Basic direction and everything is still the same whereby I will still be building the robots for user interactions, but instead of only focusing just on the robots which I feel does not match up to the true potential of this project, I think this project will be about trying to make the FYP show slightly better for us and the robot itself will be just one of the many aspect within the whole system

Yes, maybe it doesn’t matter because the project will be the same and the only thing that changed was the way that I look at this project but I think this is really important for me because depending on how I look at the project, the course of developing this project will change later on. Instead of narrowing my focus onto just the robot and become fixated into trying to create the perfect robots, I should look at the bigger picture and maybe sacrifice some aspect of these robot and use the time and resources into other aspect of the project like the interactivity of the system, my booth, or even overall branding of my FYP. (yes, branding is not important in FYP, but always good to have.  I should consider about branding from now on since I may use it at the end and this kind of thing will not be achievable in the last minute consideration. *atleast for me, I know I am not smart enough to package thing nicely at the end.*)

Edit: After a week of thinking about branding, I came up with a “Company” name as I thought It will be more interesting to have a “Company” so I could revolve my FYP around it.

Initial Concept Generations(Branding):

At the start I was playing out with Company Name Generator to find interesting names, then I came across something like ApolloRobots, Apollo was from Greek mythology and I thought to myself…”Is there a god for creativity?”

And, I found Hephaestus.
According to Wiki *I know this is not a place for doing research, but it is fast place to understand a concept or who someone is.*

“Hephaestus is the Greek god of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire, and volcanoes.
As a smithing god, Hephaestus made all the weapons of the gods in Olympus. He served as the blacksmith of the gods, and was worshipped in the manufacturing and industrial centers of Greece, particularly Athens. The cult of Hephaestus was based in Lemnos. Hephaestus’ symbols are a smith’s hammer, anvil, and a pair of tongs.”

As I want to use my project as a tool for all student to have better exposure and the first object that I think about tool is hammer. There I have it, “Hephaestus Hammer”

My Initial design of the logo.

The Logo Evolution
Hammer + H H (Hephaestus Hammer) Within a gear which represent system/robots, the 3 dots in it represent the 3 robots which I intended to produce for this project. 21 teeth on the gear symbolize selflessness, which remind me that the system will be to serve others.

It was at this point that I figured out that the suitability of the name and logo is really Important, “Hephaestus Hammer”sounded too aggressive and it is not what I intend to do, Unless I intend to make military robots, which I am not. So I changed “Hephaestus Hammer” to “Hephaestus Systems” and the colour scheme from gradient which is really hard to control during printing so I also changed it to flat colours. The reason I switched orientation of tilt was because the H within the logo seemed heavier than the S partly due to the extension of the H below the base line while S stopped at the base line, so I change the tilt orientation to make it more visually pleasing.

As there is a saying, a good logo will recognizable in black and white and even in small size. so I think this logo isn’t perfect, but good enough for me.

Initial Concept Generations(Robots):

So, after I’ve generate my initial idea of company name and logo, I proceed to develop my idea generation for a better overview of what kind of feeling i want to achieve in the robots which I may build.

and then I digitally coloured it.

Out of these, I like the third column third row one the most as it really simple and could potentially fit 2 screen onto the flat surface so I’ve decided to further develop it.

This will be the general appearance and sizing of the robot and I will probably change it drastically along the way, however I would like to use this as an example to explain about my project. Without this drawing, I normally explain to people by saying “a trash bin alike robot that move around” and by trash bin, I simply meant no limbs and I think it will be rather misleading.

Also, this drawing is an attempt to not make an “industrial” like robot like the typical robot that we have in our mind, like this-

White humanoid with round, smooth features, almost no surface detailing and no styling, just a LED eye or sometimes a screen on its chest. Nope, I don’t want to do it like this.

As for research…

Styling Researches:

as for this past 2 weeks, I had been visiting ADM library to look for inspiration for my FYP in terms of artistic and styling for the overall look and feel for my project, and I found out that the illustration book of movies from Pixar really inspired me.

I’ve also joined many DIY robots groups in the past 2 weeks, these people in there are really helpful and does really amazing projects, the amount of effort they put into their project were astonishing and because most of them treat it as a hobby, I can see their enthusiasm in it.

Like this, they are all really willing to share their incomplete projects and technologies if I asked, more often than not, they will reply! Afterwhich, I did a google search….
https://www.adafruit.com/product/870

to my surprise, I found out that I already have this exact 8×8 matrix somewhere in my toolbox, maybe I should make use of these wonderful object which I did not previously know how beautiful they are and the outcome will be more than what it appeared to be. (look at this 8×8 matrix as a component = boring. Put it in a cool looking helmet and make it blink like an eye = SUPER AWESOME! )

Movement Systems:

Kid’s controlled cars (cheap, heavy duty, comes with battery and remote), the size of these small vehicles will be really great for my project and it could easily carry the weight of the robot, maybe around 10kg and still move around efficiently. Furthermore the stability of it appears to be really good for it’s size.

 

Omni Wheels:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omni_wheel

These wonderful wheels move really well and when built and code properly, I really like these and it could even go side way and look way too cool. The reason they work this way is because each wheel could rotate in 4 directions (front back left right) and as a bonus fact, since their axis of rotation will not change while the direction changes, the stability of these wheels will be really incredible.

Tracks

Like A tank, they  usually have low speed(which is what I need) and also really high in stability, however the downside is the power efficiency unless I purchase a really good track which will be rather expensive, so unless really required, I will probably not go with this.

Computer + screen system:

I will Probably go for one or two these systems depends on availability, the base line here will be that it will all be the same system as I would prefer to create one app for all 3 robots rather than different apps due to the different system used.

1- CPU with a normal monitor upgraded with touchscreen interface.

This is probably the most cost saving, but the logistic and power consumption seemed to be a problem (unless I use energy saving computer or mini computer, will do more research about this)

2- CPU with a touchscreen monitor.
Probably not this as a basic touchscreen monitor will be really expensive.(easily 800 and up, and I need 3 at minimum )

3- CPU with a tablet modified into a touch screen monitor.
More research need to be done in this system, probably the hardest of all options due to the technical difficulties to modify (software and hardware) the tablet and also finding a cheap and good tablet with well documented modification will be challenging.

4- Refurbished touchscreen laptops.
This is really a good choice due to power efficiency and I will also save on CPU

https://carousell.com/p/lenovo-yoga-tablet-2-1051l-159838190/?ref=search&ref_query=yoga%20tablet&ref_referrer=%2Fsearch%2Fproducts%2F%3Fquery%3Dyoga%2520tablet&ref_reqId=kGMeBn4ZCGi1MoSpTU2LZsSgEJtwTh98
https://carousell.com/p/lenovo-ideapad-miix300-162987790/?ref=search&ref_query=touchscreen%20laptop&ref_referrer=%2Fsearch%2Fproducts%2F%3Fquery%3Dtouchscreen%2520laptop&ref_reqId=VYTfRz1WJ57K6xzzm86UwBWsSFGZRIFO

https://carousell.com/p/acer-one-10-s1003-15sl-160240336/?ref=search&ref_query=windows%20tablet&ref_referrer=%2Fsearch%2Fproducts%2F%3Fquery%3Dwindows%2520tablet&ref_reqId=TUU0Ay7kL5JbkBDNJZeSxHuTjwdUYTt8

5- Windows based Tablets that supports output like HDMI and USB.

Alike the touch screen Laptop, this will be really similar, except that sometimes I dont really need a keyboard and touchpad as it is touchscreen.

https://carousell.com/p/microsoft-surface-rt-163893593/?ref=search&ref_query=windows%20tablet&ref_referrer=%2Fsearch%2Fproducts%2F%3Fquery%3Dwindows%2520tablet&ref_reqId=TUU0Ay7kL5JbkBDNJZeSxHuTjwdUYTt8
https://carousell.com/p/alcatel-plus-window-10-hybrid-tablet-163692457/?ref=search&ref_query=windows%20tablet&ref_referrer=%2Fsearch%2Fproducts%2F%3Fquery%3Dwindows%2520tablet&ref_reqId=TUU0Ay7kL5JbkBDNJZeSxHuTjwdUYTt8

https://www.gearbest.com/tablet-pcs/pp_1362098.html

https://www.gearbest.com/tablet-pcs/pp_626050.html?wid=37

https://www.gearbest.com/tablet-pcs/pp_356017.html?wid=37

 

FYP part 3, Initial FYP Idea – ADM Exhibitchine (Initial Project Brief, Specification, Moodboard & Researches)

continuation from the previous part 2 post with some new ideas after the talk about the past FYP showcase from Assoc Prof Laura Miotto, I’ve been inspired to do something that focuses solely on the showcase, since the showcase will mark the end ADM life of all current year 3, I would like to do something for many of the peers that would enhance student’s FYP showcase capability as well as the visitor’s experience of the visit.

As the founder of Kimchi and Chips, Elliot Woods asked during the Emergent Visions Symposium,

“What is the work that only I can make?”

This question hit me like Tiger Woods golf clubbed me in the head…

Yes, what is the work that only I can make in this coming FYP showcase?

back to my first post, I’ve already know what my strength is at this point of time, I would really want my FYP to have an impact on others, why not use my strength into making other’s FYP presentation to potentially having slightly more possibility? Wouldn’t that be great?!

so, this will be an idea which I know that I would enjoy spending a year to complete.

A set of robots(3 to 6) that will display student’s work in complementary of their booth where visitor could get more information(project info/booth location).

Just imagine, every student have their booth while a robot moving around in the FYP show displaying their project on its screen, when a visitor saw it on the screen, got interested and wanted to see the booth, they simply click a “Bring me to this booth” button and the robot will do so. How much more potential exposure will that bring to that student?

And on another aspect viewing this project, what will be realer than an actual application of an FYP project during the FYP show?  What the visitor sees is what was actually made specially for that FYP show, if it doesn’t work or spoiled halfway, it simply meant that I did not plan well/have a backup or do a good enough job but there will not be an imaginative scenario where “This FYP was supposed to work in another location” *I am not saying that that kind of project isn’t good,  but just what I would not like to do* 

Project Brief ver.1-

To design a set of Robots that have the ability to move around while avoiding people/obstacles during the FYP show. The purpose of the Robots is to expand the presentation possibility of student’s project while enhancing the experiences of the visitors. Safety of the people around the robot should be of the utmost importance and under no circumstances whereby injuries caused by the robot should happens.

Project Specification Ver.1 –

  1. Each Robot should have a minimum battery life of 6 hours on single charge.
  2. Every Robot designed should be unique and serves different function.
  3. The Robots should be designed with ease of maintenance system that allows ad hoc repair.
  4. The interface on every Robot will be touchscreen enabled to suit the behavioral characteristic of the targeted user. ( young adult of developed country)
  5. Network between Robots and a Central Hub should be setup to enable a smooth flow of communication and for controls during the exhibition.

 

Similar Project :

Although it will be really hard to do so, but I aimed to complete a project of this standard but the task which my robot will do is much simpler.

Moodboard:

Computational System Research:

There were many considerations made for this aspect of the project, firstly, the Cost and Value Analysis of the system must be made, of course, if money isn’t a problem, then this part would be really easy as I will just get the suitable parts which I need for the FYP, but sadly that isn’t the case… Money is a problem in FYP.

So, how can I maximize the output of my project by using the minimum amount of money? I have to also consider about how strong/fast the system is, and how would I like to have the user interface (touch screen) to be incorporated into the system.

These are the types of computation system which might be possible for my project at reasonable price –

Raspberry Pi 3 –

This is the latest Raspberry Pi 3. It features a 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU with 802.11n Wireless LAN and Bluetooth 4.1. Like Raspberry Pi 2, it also has 1GB RAM,4 USB ports,40 GPIO pins,Full HDMI port and Ethernet port. This third generation Pi is an excellent tool for hackers, makers and educators because of its small footprint, low power consumption, and low price.

Pi 3 comes with build in WIFI system so that would save me about $30 for WIFI module, output of screen is easy to setup(like a normal computer), runs on Linux system, which I have a slight experience on and as a bonus, I own one of this so that would save me some money too.

Latte Panda –

A LattePanda is a complete Windows 10 single board computer. It has everything a regular PC has and can do anything that a regular PC does. It is compatible with almost every gadget likw printers, joysticks, cameras and more. Any peripherals that work on PC will work on a LattePanda.

In terms of processing strength, completely overpowered Raspberry Pi 3, the price is however much steeper than Pi 3, also as an added bonus, I already own a Lattepanda and I would rather work on Lattepanda over Raspberry Pi as it runs on Windows system and that would save a huge amount of time for me, plus overall it is much faster at processing video and even runs Max MSP(a programming software)  which is what I will probably be using. I am sure Latte Panda will be more responsive than Raspberry Pi 3 at the cost of more $$.

Cheap Desktop CPU –

Yes, I praised so much about Lattepanda, but the cheap CPU nowadays is already cheaper than a LattePanda, although bigger,heavier and more power hungry, it is way cheaper than a Lattepanda at relatively same processing power and also, a cheap CPU usually comes with Internal HDD(atleast 128GB) while Lattepanda only has a mere 64GB(minus operating system installed, leaving about 40GB). Best part, Desktop CPU comes with built-in cooling fan, which overheating is a problem for Lattepanda.

*REFURBISH is the word here hence the cheap price*
since I don’t really need a brand new computer to get the job done. This is the normal sized CPU, which is rather big but I am sure it is small enough to be build into a robot.

Second handed/refurb touchscreen laptop –

For me, I think that this is the best system i could think of for now which I will need, firstly, touchscreen laptop meant that I do not need to purchase another separate touchscreen(which is usually really expensive) secondly, it comes with all the benefit of a CPU like cooling fan and such, also, laptop have a additional battery which reduce the load of the power supply, like if the main power supply ran out, there will still be time for the system to send out notification to the control system which then battery could be replaced. lastly, laptop will be slightly lighter and uses lesser power in comparison to a CPU, which make it really good over a normal CPU.

These are really good deal I think, I have been also browsing on carousell to find cheap and well condition touchscreen laptops, will update when I found some.

By having a computer doesn’t meant that this project will work, of course, what I am going to do on the computer is all that matter.

Since I don’t have sufficient knowledge in programming for windows system or app, so I also looked up for some online courses which I think I may follow during the holiday.

https://www.udemy.com/the-complete-windows-10-c-course-and-build-2-apps/
This will be useful for my own personal knowledge as well as for this FYP, courses are from Udemy and they usually have offer on their courses, I could just wait for the $5.99 or $9.99 sale.

https://www.udemy.com/windows-iot/
since there will be network communication between the robots, this might be really useful for me.

https://www.udemy.com/the-complete-design-course/
another way to work around is to design an mobile app and bridge it between the computer with a tablet that will be used as the screen or simply just built an app which is fully functional within the tablet itself. I still have to do further researches about this.

 

Power supply Researches

Off the shelf high capacity powerbank:

Car battery:

If I were to use a car battery, I would get the deep cycle/marine battery as it is made for continuous discharge when connected to my computer within the robot/motors.

DIY battery from car battery:

 

Emergent visions: Kimchi and Chips (by Bao, Fabian and Zifeng)

LUNAR SURFACE (2014, 2015)

In collaboration with photographer Eunyoung Kim.

LUNAR SURFACE by Kimchi and Chips, In collaboration with photographer Eunyoung Kim.
Digital photo print 1500 x 1000mm, Live scanning installation [dimensions variable].
2014, 2015

A vertical flag of fabric is stroked by the wind, displaced by curves of air, swinging back and forth. The fabric is tracked by a 3D camera whilst a projector replays a response onto it according to its evolving shape. As it sweeps, it leaves a trail of light which draws a heavy fragile moon floating in space. The flag renders this moon from another reality, the silk surface acting as an intermediating manifold between reality and virtuality.

This artwork is an installation set up within the concrete chambers of Bucheon city Incinerator, a stagnant industrial processing plant decommissioned in 2010.

At locations within the building, the artists collaborated with photographer Eunyoung Kim to capture moments of the moon being birthed. Long exposure photography trades the dimension of time for a dimension of space, extruding the moon into existence on a set of photographic prints, capturing a painting enacted by the details of the wind.

2015_Lunar_Docu2_123 / 2015_Lunar_Docu2_123_w1 / 2015_Lunar_Docu2_123_w2

Inspired by the 2 moons of Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84 (a Japanese fictional book) and the flags of space travel, the artists present a portal into another existence where another moon orbits. This other place is made material by the fabric of the flag.

LIGHT BARRIER THIRD EDITION(2016)

Concave mirrors, Projection, Scanning, commissioned by the Asia Culture Center in Gwangju. The technology is enabled by Rulr, an open source graphical toolkit for calibrating spatial devices, created by Kimchi and Chips.

The installations present a semi-material mode of existence, materializing objects from light. Light Barrier Third Edition is a new installment in this series that exploits the confusion and non-conformities at the boundary between materials and non-materials, reality and illusion, and existence and absence.

The 6-minute sequence employs the motif of the circle to travel through themes of birth, death, and rebirth, helping shift the audience into the new mode of existence. The artists use the circle often in their works to evoke the fundamentals of materials and the external connection between life and death.

I think that Kimchi and Chips place a lot of effort into producing the Light Barrier and making it work, also as mentioned by Elliot Woods, when they started their project, they were not really earning a substantial amount of money and the project seemed really expensive to build as the concave mirrors and the structure needs to be customized built. This is also why the scale of the first edition of light barrier was much smaller. However as my own preferences, I like the first edition more due to the light beams were more focused as there were lesser mirrors used.

 

Halo (08 – 27 Jun 2018.)

Kimchi and Chipswill have a new outdoor installation, commissioned by Somerset House. Halo will be happening in London from 08 – 27 Jun 2018. 200 mirrors will reflect sunlight and together with mist of the fountains in the courtyard, a shape of light will be ‘drawn’ and suspended in the air. The mirrors are programmed to react to the direction of sunlight.

This kind of reminds of our Spectra light show at MBS, which make use of light projection and water sprays to create sort of holographic effects, except that it is done at night.
Kimchi and Chips really utilise technology by looking at the physics behind the machine. These states of semi-materiality created is as fascinating as any wonder of nature we could possibly encounter. And they make us immediately want to make sense and grasp the seemingly new material, only to discover it is just nothing but light.

 

Interactive spaces Idea Generations part 2: Candles, More Candles.

Why Candles?

I think that Candles are really interesting, not only that they are visually appealing to watch as an therapeutic experience, they also produces smell depending on the nature of the candle, even extinguishing a candle produces a different smell. In short, a candle will utilize 3 out of the traditional five external senses which are sight, smell, touch but not hear and taste.

There are always meaning to everything and many objects have different meaning depending on the cultural context of the objects, However, candle have similar meaning across the globe as the candle symbolizes light in the darkness of life especially individual life, illlumination; it is the symbol of holy illumination of the spirit of truth.

There are festivals among different cultures around the world which uses candles as part of the “rituals”

Judaism – Hanukah, the ‘Festival of Lights’- a candle is lit for each of the 8 nights. Used to ward off evil spirits, life safe as long as candle burns

Hindu – Deepavali, spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair.

Western Christian – Halloween, candles were carried from eleven til midnight, if the candle went out it was an evil omen, if it didn’t it meant one year free from witchcraft.

Mahayana Buddhism – the lighting of a candle or an oil lamp represents the light of wisdom illuminating the darkness of ignorance.

 “Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the single candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared”

 

Main Idea

I want to play with the idea of Light and darkness which is the most common way to depict a candle, however the Project should incorporate a sense of aesthetic and should look nice and pleasant (Opinions on the matter vary from person to person) especially in the analogue stage.