Tag Archives: Robots

CMSIS-DAP Debug Probe for Robots and Pixhawk with KiCAD

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Need to debug your robot or drone? In a HSLU university research project I’m using a Pixhawk and PX4 based drone hardware. Pixhawk and PX4 is an open standard for drone hardware and firmware and runs with NuttX RTOS. It is mainly used for drones, but is very capable for any other kind of mobile robots.

With the Pixhawk 6x-RT there is a powerful flight controller, using the NXP i.MX RT1176 dual-core processor. While this and other controller hardware do offer a hardware debug probe, it is not a simple task as there are different pin-outs and connectors, making debugging a mess with different cables and adapters. To simplify this, I have now a unified debug CMSIS-DAP debug probe using the NXP LPC55S69 as processor, with all the different headers and UART adapters included: the MCU-Link-MR (Mobule Robots) debug probe.

MCU-Link-MR (v0.1)

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Sneak Preview: DIY SMT Pick & Place Machine with OpenPnP

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I apologize: I have not been blogging much in the past weeks :-(. One reason is that I’m working on a DIY SMT/SMD Pick&Place machine which keeps me busy most of my spare time :-). I admit that this project is not finished yet, but now is the time I can give a sneak preview: a SMD/SMT pick and place machine:

Pick&Place Machine

Pick&Place Machine

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Making Perfect Sticky DIY Sumo Robot Tires

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Sumo robot challenges are fun. One important aspect of every Sumo robot are the tires: if they are sticky enough, the robot can push out the opponent. In this article I compare different available robot hubs and tires, and how to make DIY hubs and tires.

Selection of Sumo Robot Wheels and Tires

Selection of Sumo Robot Wheels and Tires

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