News

Yale’s Open Hand Project

2015-02-25 Dan

Yale Open Hand Model T

If you know me, you know I’ve been obsessed with robot arms for a long time. People ask me “what will you put for a hand?” and I used to say “Who cares? It could be any tool you like.” Well, now I have a better answer.

Yale’s Open Hand Project aims to make an open source robot hand that anyone can download and build. It even comes with adapters for several popular robots already on the market.

I think my favorite part is their Hybrid Deposition Manufacturing (HDM) technique: The finger bones come out of the printer with built in pockets into which you pour a urethane solution. When the urethane hardens to a rubber consistency, the pockets break open and you’re left with a 2-material, super flexible shape. Genius!

Tutorials

Introduction to Joysticks

2015-02-24 Dan

Today, I’m going to show you a little bit more of the joystick with an Arduino and what exactly a deadzone is. Let’s hop right in! A deadzone lets you see into people’s future and tell if they’re going to be the next Hitler or not. Wait, no, hold on. That’s the Stephen King novel. Let me start again.

Programming-wise, a deadzone is a region at the center of the joystick that is not recognized by the device. What’s this mean? On most joysticks, there’s going to be a small area where moving the stick does not result in movement of the device. This deadzone area varies from model to model, but it can usually be adjusted. Let’s play with that today.

A photo posted by Dan Royer (@imakerobots) on

Take a look at the joystick we get to play with. It’s fairly similar to the kind you’ll see on your XBOX or PS3 controller. It’s got an x-axis, a y-axis, and if you push straight down you get a button. You’ll remember that we used this joystick in our tetris game.
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Uncategorized

New level: Distributors & Resellers

2015-02-19 Dan

We’re now ready to start supporting distributors and resellers. It’s a thrilling adventure for us to reach this new level. Marginally Clever is always scaling up and growing, so this seems like the natural next step.

Basically, a distributor is any brick & mortar chain. A reseller can be almost anyone, provided they meet the requirements. Contact us to sign up, and then start receiving discounts on larger orders.

As always, if you have questions or feedback, send it in. We live for your insights.

News Tutorials

Little Big Planet Sackboy faces with the Arduino Starter Kit

2015-02-18 Dan

Today, we’re going to build faces using LEDs and a joystick. Previously, we’ve wired up LEDs and learned how to control individual lights, how to draw pictures, and how to use a joystick. Today, we’re gonna put them all together to make a set of emotions based on the direction we push the joystick. Again, we’ve got the debounce, so the emotion will stay on our screen until we push the stick in a new direction.

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