Scott S. ( B9-0058 )

Brains & Soil Samplers

Small and simple voltage regulator circuit. This one drops 6volt down to 5volt. My second one uses a heat sink and drops 6v down to 1.5v.  Cost is about $6.00. Great for controlling the speed of the sensors!

This circuit was designed and made for me by Saverio Ratta.  I was going to use relays to control the torso and radar rotation and Saverio came up with this circuit that does not use relays and is fast and quiet.  It has 4 inputs, #1 and #2 control clockwise /counterclockwise rotation, #3 toggles between the moving radar section and torso, and #4 turns the unit on and off.  The fourth input will be used later to add another 3, 6, or 9 functions to my 4 channel remote.

This is my remote for the robot.  The same size of a car alarm keyfob.  This comes as a kit from Oatley Electronics from Australia.

This is the motor I am using to rotate the torso.  I machined a nylon drive wheel and made two grooves that will accept large rubber o-rings.  Easy to replace the o-rings as they wear.

Close-up of drivewheel with o-rings installed.  The ride on the inner portion of the aluminum lazy susan.

Closeup of the brain out of the bubble.  Notice the lenses installed in the corner eyes.

Inside shot of the brain.  I used the brains as the ground and cut the wiring in half.  This is how wiring should look - neat and simple.  Also shows the plug to plug the top plate in that has the 3 bulbs.

Close-up of the light sockets and how they are screwed onto the bottom of the brain,  The screws are soldered to the bottom of the brain and do not show from underneath.  This aloows you to position the lights and also remove them from the brain.  Also shows the brain cam that moves the light antennas.

A close-up of the lightrod.  Small, sleek, and elegant.

This is the soil sampling housing I made that mounts under the soil door. Some wood, the wifes ex-curling iron and some bondo and we are on our way!

Inside shot of the soil sampling housing.  This was used to make a silicon mold and cast a one piece resin replica.

Side shot of the extended soil sampling mechanism.

Painted soil sampling housing.  This is the resin replica attached to the soil door.

Soil sampling mechanism mounted to the inside of the treadsection.

More photos of the soil sampler mech.

There is also a motor which opens the soil sampler door attached to the treadsection that is not shown.  The system uses micro switches to control al the sequences (open door, extend tube, rotate tip of tube, retract tube, close door).  The circuit board controls the speed of the cutter tip.  I also put foil backed insulation around the motor and cam to quiet it up a bit and also reduce electrical interference caused my the motor.

My sidepanel signed by Robert Kinoshita! (the designer of the B9 and Robby the robot).