Sound on! And so concludes our blog for PiWars2022. Good luck everyone!
Author Archives: pidrogen
Shepherds Pi Update
Earlier in the month I said we were dropping Shepherds Pi in favour of the other autonomous games. Things have moved on since then… To start with, we finished videos of the other two autonomous games that could be submitted. I think we will probably attempt new videos of both; we can certainly get themContinue reading “Shepherds Pi Update”
Evolution of an Apple Picker
Our apple picker uses fork like prongs protruding to the front of the robot. The robot drives up to the tree, guided by the camera looking for the apple on the middle branch. The prongs dislodge the apples which (hopefully) drop into the chutes below. However, this wasn’t all that reliable to start with; sometimesContinue reading “Evolution of an Apple Picker”
Today must be my lucky day….
It turns out the last year’s feed the fish controller (on the right in the picture), combined with a little microphone preamp board (on the left) that someone bought for my birthday years ago, should work as a whistle detector! I reckon my stars must be aligned or something. I’m off to buy a lotteryContinue reading “Today must be my lucky day….”
Sheep-pen-ator Version 2.
In early May it became clear that our attachment for Shepherds Pi wouldn’t work because the combined length of the robot and attachment was too much to permit a turn within the delivery pen. So, here is the new version: As you can see, this version can lift the sheep completely above the body ofContinue reading “Sheep-pen-ator Version 2.”
Nature’s Bounty Update
There’s been some progress this week on Nature’s Bounty. The Apple picker has been printed and assembled, and the game play code has been written. After some (read “a lot of”) adjustments we managed to get a video of the robot picking 24 (of a possible 36) apples within the allowed 5 minutes. There’s stillContinue reading “Nature’s Bounty Update”
Arena Props
As you know (hopefully), we have made a big effort with the aesthetic aspects of our robot this year. However, we have also tried to make our arena and game pieces look the part too. Here are some details… The Arena There’s a slightly cartoon look to PJD, so we have carried that through intoContinue reading “Arena Props”
Ro-Bovinator Mk3
If you follow this blog, then you’ll know that there have been two designs for the Feed the Cattle mechanism; a hopper with doors and one based on an Archimedes’ screw. Well, now there’s a third (and can I say final?) version, which has been inspired by the work of a couple of other teamsContinue reading “Ro-Bovinator Mk3”
Good and Really Bad News
It’s been a mixed weekend. First the good news… The good news is that my test on an Archimedes’ screw-based cattle feed delivery system went well. I’m now printing the remaining parts (a hopper and a chute) to complete the build. (Actually, that would be half a build; I plan to use two of them.)Continue reading “Good and Really Bad News”
Sheep-pen-ator Fails
This is the sheep lift I built for Shepherds Pi. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. The right-angle drive shown in the highlighted circle (which is made of Lego parts) is used to grip the top of the sheep. However, the shaft that carries the drive from the servo flexes when too much torque is applied. ThisContinue reading “Sheep-pen-ator Fails”
Team PiDrogen 