A new robot project

It was about three years since last time I built a robot. I have learned a lot of things since then, now it is time for a new robot project. Now I have built a self balancing robot based on Arduino. This robot uses stepper motors, the balancing is done using a PID regulator. In this video, the setpoint angle is adjusted proportionally to the speed of the motors to keep the robot from drifting away. Later I will add a second PID regulator for this instead.

Currently the robot can only stand still, but this will be a platform for more experiments in the future. There is a Raspberry Pi 2 installed in the robot. Right now it does nothing, but it will bu used to persorm higher level functions like navigation, obstacle avoidance, remote control and maybe computer vision using the raspberry pi camera module. 

Steam Digger

Steam Digger is a game that I made in the course “TDDD23 Design and Programming of Computer Games” at the university. The game is inspired by an old browser-game called “motherload” the I played a lot when I was a kid. My version is made using Java, libGDX and Box2D. This was interesting to make because if was the first time I used an actual game-library any physics engine to make something. I did not have as mush time as I wanted to spend on this project. There were some features and detailed that were planed, put never added. I think it turned out pretty well anyway. Maybe I will finish this project someday.

Download the game and try it for yourself: http://steamdigger.brinkeby.se/


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APM copter V2 gimabl testing

Here I am testing my homebuilt gimbal om my new APM quadcopter. It is a two axes gimbal based on the same Martinez Open Source gimbal controller and the same Quanum 2208 gimbal motors as the first APM quadcopter. I am not happy with how mush of the propellers that are visible in the video. Maybe a solution could be to extend the gimbal and landing gear further down.  During this flight I used my 13-inch propellers that I cut down to about 11.5 inches.

First flights of the new APM copter V2

There is still a lot of tuning to be done. In the video I fly with propellers that are a little to small (10 inch), this results in sluggish yaw behavior. The 13 inch propellers in the images where to large, they caused the copter to be a little unstable and fly strange due to the low RPM. Currently the camera is hard-mounted, but this copter will carry a gimbal when it is complete. I do have problems with “altitude hold mode” on the APM. Maybe this is because I fly with wrong sized propellers, or there is wind blowing on the sensor.

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Bulding a new APM quadcopter

I am building a new quadcopter frame for my Ardupilot. Hopefully the frame will be lighter and a lot more agile. I went with a more traditional frame-design this time as you can see in the images. This quad will use the same motors and ESCs as my previus APM quad. The GoPro gimbal will be mounted underneath the main plate, and it will be easily detachable if I want to fly without a camera. There will also be possible to attach other things such as a hard-mounted camera or an FPV-module.

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FPV Quadcopter Racing Simulator version 2

Version 2 of my FPV Quadcopter Racing Simulator adds soundeffects. I have also placed a number of gates around the world to fly trough, and added more trees and grass and flowers to make the world more interesting. In this video I fly using an xbox360 controller, but it should work with any controller, including real “RC simulator transmitters”.

Download version 2 here and try it for yourself (requires decent gaming grade graphics card): FPV racing quadcopter simulator download page

Particle systems in Realization Engine

Version 19 of my graphics/game engine project demonstrates particle systems with fire, smoke, falling leaves, and snow. All entities (objects) also support normal maps. This makes it possible to make rough and uneven surfaces look more realistic. There is also multiple skyboxes that can be faded and mixed independently. Watch the video or try it yourself:
Realization Engine downloads page
Realization Engine project page