Below
are links to information needed to build an android, along with various
projects attempting such. Also included are references to traditional robotics
parts that may find use in a humanoid.
The World of
Androids lists some complete walker kits. These links are for either
individual parts or tools to use once your android can walk.
The
Air Muscle is a small, light, and simple actuator. If consists of a rubber tube
covered with a tough plastic mesh/net that shortens when the rubber tube is
inflated. It is soft, has good power to mass ratio, and has qualities similar
to biomuscle. It requires a compressed air source.
Shadow Robotics Group is known for its use of
air muscles in their designs.
Untethered pneumatic walking metamere robot using air
muscles
Biologically
Inspired Robotics Lab applies biological insight to the field of
robotics
Air Muscle at the BioRobotics Lab
Pneumatic Parts from Special Effect Supply is
a source for some of the extras needed for a pneumatic design.
Bobby a household robot by Walter Fritz
Venderbilt Intelligent Robotics Labs
builds humanoid robots using McKibben muscles. They also have an interesting
control architecture.
Muscle
wire is made of nitinol, a nickel-titanium alloy that can assume different
shapes at different temperatures. An electric current heats the wire, which
will shrink up to 8%. One problem is the heat generated, and the need for the
wire to cool to return to the unstreched state. Peltier Effect coolers (like
those use to cool CPU's) have been used to improve cycle time.
Hot wire muscle a non-Nitinol based muscle.
Shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators
Shape memory alloy (SMA) and smart materials links
Stiquito online reference. A small
Nitinol-powered hexapod kit.
DYNALLOY
Flexinol wires.
Vision
is the standard way of gaining a large quantity of information about the world
around us. Vision systems must extract both object identification and map the
world for collision avoidance and navigation. These links point to both
explanations of the computations required and some source code that can be used
for such tasks.
Computer Vision--A Modern Approach a
college-level textbook on computer vision available online by David Forsyth and
Jean Ponce.
Vision Code by the Robust Image Understanding
Lab.
Computer Vision Source Code links by CMU.
Intel Open Source Computer Vision Library.
Depth Discontinuities using Pixel-to-Pixel
Stereo with source code.
Primitive Vision: basic visual signals eyes
detect.
ASC16 (same
controller at Robostore).
NAVLAB has done vision and driving research
for years. SKIMER was partially modeled on their ALVINN system. Want to see
cars that drive themselves?
Vision Based Behavioral Robotics
Thesis: Design and Implementation of Opinion-Based Behaviors for an Autonomous
Mobile Robot with Vision By Lee Rossey.
Micropilot
UAV kits. Got a project that involves Unmanned Arial Vehicles? GPS
way-points and remote control, and "package drop" capability.
NASA’s
Cool Robot Of The Week.
BrainBo. A massive IQ boost for the AIBO by AIBOpet. LAN
connection to the PC that does Voice recognition and provides the brains. A
design we plan to emulate.
Here
are some items not usually listed that you may find worth experimenting with:
Infra-Red
Sensors. Analog and digital range-finding sensors.
RS-232 Data Acquisition Module w/11 12
bit A/D ports. A low-cost, fully assembled item.
MondoTronics
RoboStore. Online store with lots of robotic kits and parts.