Category Archives: Toys

Resurrecting a Canon PIXMA Pro 10

Posted on December 17, 2024 by peter

I got a deal (I thought) on a Canon PIXMA Pro 10. I am new to photographic inkjet technology, so I didn’t understand the issues involved in resurrecting an under-used printer. I see now that I probably overpaid, but it’s … Continue reading →

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Egg Robot – Version 5 – Walking Update

Posted on June 7, 2024 by peter

The walking version of the Egg Robot walked last week. Unfortunately, it also distorted its legs so that it drags the raised foot on each step, disrupting its path. To fix this, I added a brace to support the legs … Continue reading →

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Egg Robot Cyclops (v3)

Posted on May 22, 2024 by peter

Egg Robot is a Cyclops! Making the Egg Robot (Ham-Steak) into a credible toy means not leaving the internals dangling around where they could be damaged. Version 3 of the Egg Robot adds front and rear covers that protect the … Continue reading →

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Emotive Robotics – Expressive Eyes

Posted on April 17, 2024 by peter

Today’s project is making “expressive” eyes. Eyes can serve dual functions: in addition to observing the world around you, in many animals they also serve to express interest or other emotions. In this project I am focusing on the latter, … Continue reading →

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Firefly Robots

Posted on October 13, 2021 by peter

Some fireflies exhibit a remarkable behavior where their flashes can synchronize with one another. I am interested in seeing if I can reproduce this behavior in small tabletop robots. These robots may use lights and light sensors to reproduce the … Continue reading →

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NFC v3 Reader with Arduino

Posted on February 18, 2018 by peter

Turns out there are playing cards available with NFC capability embedded in them. I’m helping a friend make an automated bridge table. The step I’m helping with in particular is reading the card inputs and pushing the information on to … Continue reading →

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Raspberry Pi Cheatsheet

Posted on February 5, 2018 by peter

Follows is a list of tips for Raspberry Pi setup and use. Direct Ethernet Connect Setup * Turn on my Mac’s Internet Sharing for the Thunderbolt Ethernet adapter. The self-assigned IP on Thunderbolt Ethernet is fine. Use arp -n -i … Continue reading →

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Three-Dimensional Aruco Boards

Posted on November 30, 2017 by peter

I am using Aruco tags to locate mobile robots relative to one another. I have mounted tags on the robots using cubes so that at least one tag will be visible from every side of the robot. In the picture … Continue reading →

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OpenCV Charuco Camera-Calibration

Posted on October 29, 2017 by peter

OpenCV is an amazing tool that can provide accurate pose information in real-time, but first you have to provide it with a model of your camera. The opencv_interactive-calibraiton tool nominally provides that capability. Follows is a record of how I … Continue reading →

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CSE Week Activity – LED Holiday Cards

Posted on December 5, 2016 by peter

This morning I had the opportunity to give a Computer Science Education Week presentation to a third grade class at Liberty Elementary School in Springfield, MA. Since the students already have learned some CS curriculum, I told them about how CS influenced my … Continue reading →

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