I Am Sam I Am (Blog 5)

5 Sep 2022

Intro

This blog introduces Sammy Semaphore actually using semaphore signals to send a message. I have to apologize for skimping on showing more build steps. I am really under the weather - high fever, I can hardly think, productivity is down around 5% and progress is very painful in every sense of the word. I had planned a lot of other stuff and a more aesthetical wiring job, but the show must go on regardless. Unfortunately this coincides with Sammy's big debut, but at least he is working and he can't catch Covid.

Sammy Semaphore

ralphjy has pointed out I messed up on the SAM semaphores - I will fix it when I feel a bit better.

Servo Issues

These servo motors were specially ordered because they claim to have 270 degree capability. They took a long time to arrive and when they did, they were not capable of 270 operation. They do not have a hard stop and it is possible to make them spin continuously if pulse width limits are exceeded. Unfortunately I doubt new motors will arrive in time to be used in this contest, so Sammy cannot display "H" or "Z". That is a major bummer, but the motors are easy to swap in when they do arrive.

Servo Tuning

I made a little video about exploring the servo range - no promises about video quality:

Discussion of Blog 5

My brain is so addled right now, I can't tell if I'm even coherent. I did get a new load of connector pins from Randall this week, but obviously did not get around to assembling them as planned. I am still waiting for PCBs for the connector tester - they shipped a couple of weeks ago. The bottom line is there is some progress despite adversity

Relevant Links:

Twist, Turn and Move Design Challenge with TE Robotics
Sammy Semaphore - blog 1
Connector Tester - blog 2
NEO Pixel Display - blog 3
Sammy Semaphore Torso Demo - Blog 4
I Am Sam I Am - Blog 5
TE Connectivity Connector Tester Blog 6
Sammy Semaphore Fully Functional Blog 7

Parents

beacon_dave over 3 years ago

Looking great.

If you added some machine vision to read Sammy's signals, you could perhaps set up a fun semaphore relay comms link.

Get well soon.
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beacon_dave over 3 years ago

Looking great.

If you added some machine vision to read Sammy's signals, you could perhaps set up a fun semaphore relay comms link.

Get well soon.
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ralphjy over 3 years ago in reply to beacon_dave

That’s actually a great idea for a machine learning project. It would be interesting to train a model based on human semaphore signaling image data and test its accuracy in recognizing Sammy’s signals.
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dougw over 3 years ago in reply to beacon_dave

Great idea. It would be a good way to get started with machine vision since semaphore signals are intended to be easy to recognize.
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