My first attempt was to buy a C-Control computer from the electronic distributor
Conrad and to realize the hardware using Märklin Metal construction boxes.
After a few successes at the beginning this attempt has been abandoned. The only
good thing to tell is, that I got more money when auctioning the parts.
The C-Control was way to slow when prograaming with BASIC. Programming with assembler
was a bit faster, but was limited to some bytes and therefore not suitsble
for building intelligent robots.
The Märklin-Metall construction set has been even worse, it was absolutely
improprietary for this aim. The stiltet connections loosened on vibrations
in no time. The parts have been very heavy and so too much energy was
needed for the movement. The supplied gears had heavy friction and consumed
even more energy.
The goal was to create autonomous robots, which should work as a
servant and react on spoken commands. It should be able to transport
things like drinks and do simple homework like moulding plants and
cleaning the floor.
The development should have been done in five steps. For simplicity
I wanted to name the robots just "number 1" to "number 9".
Number 1
The robot should have moved into the optimal direction and the optimal
position for the maximum light gain to charge its accumulators.
The Märklin-Metall construction set has been chosen because of its
good stability.
The elricity part contains a NiMH accumulator as power supply,
which shall be feeded by a solar cell. This technique should have
made possible the autonomous existence of the robot. Added was a
DC Motor for driving and a servo for steerage.
The electronic consisted of a combination of a Conrad C-Control
Microcontroller and a self build electronic circuit. Two
photoresistors at the front measured direction and intensity of
the light. The circuit contained a part to measure the
accumulator voltage, so the load status could be controlled.
The motor has been switched on/off and forward/backward using
two relais.
The program moth has been written in C-Control
basic. In addition I wrote an assembler program to control the
servo.
Number 2
Also this Robot should have been manufactured using the
Märklin-Metallbaukasten and some self produced parts.
The robot had been armed with an arm to move things like
a waterglas. The mechanik has not been completed.
