TiLDA Balance

First entry of https://wiki.emfcamp.org/wiki/Badge_Creations !!!

I'm working on making use of the TiLDA with its MPU-6050 as the brains of a balancing platform (initially a little balance-bot but eventually a ridable Segway-like platform if all goes well). The MPU-6050 has a 3-axis gyroscope, 3-axis accelerometer, and a Digital Motion Processor(TM) (DMP) integrated into a tiny little package on the back of the badge (IC2). It can do a lot of the grunt work leaving the badge micro plenty of space and time to do the other cool stuff.

--Michael Erskine (talk) 4 September 2014

• The MPU-6050
  • https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11028
  • https://www.sparkfun.com/pages/accel_gyro_guide

First bot

• 
  gearmotor, smooth side with m3 bolts
• 
  gearmotor, side view
• 
  cheap L298N motor driver board (eBay)
• 
  wheel, gearmotor, driver
• 
  wheel mounted on gearmotor
• 
  TiLDA

• Getting to grips with development on TiLDA: see EMF wiki for the most part (https://wiki.emfcamp.org/wiki/TiLDA_MKe)
• https://github.com/emfcamp/Mk2-Firmware
• MPU-6050
  • MPU = Motion Processing Unit
  • compare TiLDA usage with that of Sparkfun breakout schematic at https://cdn.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Sensors/IMU/Triple_Axis_Accelerometer-Gyro_Breakout_-_MPU-6050_v12.pdf
  • orientation of the device and mapping to "normal" badge orientation
• libs... TODO
• Cheap little motors: I want a quick and cheap entry point for people to achieve first before forking out for expensive parts. With this in mind I am trying out these little almost ubiquitous gearmotors: zzzzzzzzzzz
• Cheap motor drivers: ubiquitous L298N module
• Battery power: separate power supply from rechargeable AA batteries direct to motor driver.

prototype body

• Laser cut (naturally!) from 3mm ply. Acrylic may be a bit brittle for the crashing that will occur!
• box out the motors as "legs" and form pegs to connect those to a smallish horizontal platform
• the motor driver can dangle below the platform, twixt the legs to "catch the breeze"!
• the TiLDA will be mounted above the platform in a variety of orientations configurable in the software

prototype software

• choose how much of the emfcampbadge software to integrate
  • e.g. do we want to just add RTOS tasks to the existing badge software?
  • the display driver and menu system would be handy

Stretch Goals

• Ball balancing: http://youtu.be/dr5xdpLL58A
• Total Segway domination - human or multi-human carrying!
• wheel-less eerie ball/egg