SlantWatch

Another conceptual design. How I would make a smartwatch.

Smartwatches do not need to have large displays. In fact, the less obtrusive they are the better. So the SlantWatch has a thin profile.

Straps on smartwatches are also a waste of space. For something so dependent on battery more space needs to be made for the battery. So the Slant watch would house that battery in one half of the rigid cuff. The other half would hold excess electronics.

The entire piece is semi-solid. The flexible points would be near the top of the cuffs before the screen. This allows the watch to take some extra abuse while being put on.

The watch uses a flexible OLED display, with a solid glass capacitive touch screen. Though E-paper would also be an option.

The interface would be like a wheel on the wrist. As you scroll through apps you would eventually circle back around to the beginning. In order to change categories or menus one would side-swipe, basically "changing the wheel."

In a future version it would be great if the display could go all the way around the cuff, making it effectively seamless, no mater what angle your wrist is at.

Wrist Multitool

Over spring break from school I decided to build a multitool that I could wear in a shop were it would always be quick and easy to grab and use for just about anything.

The Wrist Tool is an early version. I have adapters on it for screwdrivers and socket wrenches. The top also has an english hex set cut in it. And what tool would be complete without a bottle opener.

The entire thing is 3-D printed. In the future I'll add holders for the screwdriver set on the inside of the tool.

Useful Robots

I recently started a blog called 'Useful Robots.' In it I outline robots that can be purchased and used by anyone who wants one.

The reason I made 'Useful Robots" was because there was really no place online that gives the average consumer or businessman an insight into what automation solutions are available to them. So I give profiles, not on research or the next big thing, but on the robotic mowers, or factory assistants, or vacuums that are ready to use right out of the box. It isn't cluttered with what a nerd would love, just with what an average person needs to know to buy.

Tour PNADDER

Tour PNADDER (Path Navigating Autonomous Differentially-Driven Escort Robot) is a project that I was a part of, as half of my senior project. The name is pronounced 'tor-nader.'

Tour PNADDER is meant to be a robotic tour guide for the Embry-Riddle campus. Guests will eventually be able to select a destination and the robot will lead them there.

Since, I came in at the half-way point of this project,  I did not have input on the initial designs, mechanical or otherwise (i.e. the name). My job, therefore, has been to design and develop the vision system that the robot is to rely on to navigate.

The vision system consists of a single Logitech webcam plugged into a Linux computer. I have to develop code, using Python and Open CV, that will let the robot know where it is with respect to the edge of any sidewalk on campus. I have never done anything with vision systems prior to this project.

The white lines display what the program believes 

to be the edge of the sidewalk.

The green line is a set-point to be used for localization

Performed on an indoor calibration grid I made.

So far, I have been able to implement a draft program that is able to run several filters on the video (Canny, Hough ...) to determine exactly how far the robot is from the edge of the sidewalk. This info will then be fed into a trajectory generator that will tell the robot where it needs to go.

I am still working to finalize the code. It runs a little slowly and has my error checking still in it. I'll post it when I'm finished.