The Refit is coming along

The last few days have been spent refitting and re-wiring the robot to accomodate the EZBV4 controller and the Arduino's and new power supply.

The robot is now 12V powered from one battery mounted below the main deck between the front wheels.  From there the power is routed to a fuse, and a switch and then to a DC-DC converter which provides 6V to another switch and is then routed to the EZBV4 and the Arduino's for computer power.  The 12V power is routed to the two motor controllers to control the steering motor and the drive motor.

Not the neatest wiring, but I am clearing it up as I go...

The EZBV4 controller wired to the motor controllers.

The original Hero Jr. Speaker mount.

Rewired the back panel for the 12v switch, the 6v switch, a USB port and the battery charging port.

Drive Motor

Drive motor controller.  Steering Motor and control in the background.

I have the original distance sensor, light sensor, IR sensor.

Original keypad and LED matrix.  All are being used in the new build.

Getting ready to put the rest of the skins on...

Hero Jr. Gets an Overhaul of all Wiring, Controls and gets Speech Recognition

I have been inactive for a while while rethinking the controls in the Hero Jr. Robot.
The large servo I had to turn the wheel was problematic in that it jittered when standing still under power and had a hard time with the load even though it was rated at a much higher capacity than that of the robot's weight.
I also had a few issues with the drive motor controllers.
So, in the end, I replaced them both, again.
Now, I have rewired the robot to meet the requirements of both motor controllers, and have a 12v battery system in place with a DC-DC 6v converter to power the function controllers.
Also, since adding an EZBV4 controller, I now have speech recognition enabled.
I am happy to say the basic motor controls are working, and here is a short video of that functionality.
I will detail all wiring and controls a little later this week.

There are still some commands that are not defined, but the vocabulary will grow.  I will also most likely change the voice level and add a nicer microphone.

I also have created a web app that will allow the control of the robot from my cell phone...more on that later as well.