Some time ago, the RobotShop team decided to build a telepresence system. Usually, these kinds of systems are sadly limited to a web-cam and a screen on wheels, and are simply a glorified videophone. This is not the case at RobotShop since we love robots and are all for crazy projects. This is why, a full motion controlled system was put together in order to provide a truly immersive experience to the user. This is very similar to the Justin control haptic suit by DLR featured in the past days, but a few tens of millions of dollars cheaper.
The team did this mainly inspired by one of the coolest robots of all Hollywood history: Johnny 5 (from the Short Circuit movie).
Johnny 5
The Lynxmotion Johnny 5 robotic platform was used, and a motion-capture exoskeleton was put together using mainly potentiometers and wooden sticks. The video below shows further details about the project, its motivations and the end result.
For the reader’s convenience, we have transcribed the list of materials used during the construction featured at the end of the video:
- 1x Lynxmotion Robotic Arm Kit
- 1x Lynxmotion Johnny 5
- 1x SSC-32 Servo Controller
- 1x Wireless Miniature Camera
- 1x Arduino Duemilanove
- 1x Adjustable Power Supply
- Many Rotation Sensors
- Many Bend Sensors
- 1x Serial Bluetooth Module
neil
interesting