Ethel Gets a Makeover in 2010
In her original configuration, Ethel was working very well mechanically,
so that hasn’t changed much. Since she would be going to RoboGames
again, I removed the flame units and decided to concentrate on tele-presence and video. I added an 800 watt Coleman power inverter to
provide 120 VAC to a 15. 7 inch Acer video monitor attached to her upper
chest. I had noticed some shortcomings when using single camera video
tele-presence, so to address this, two Servo City pan and tilt camera mounts
and two Swan Infrared enhanced security cameras were added. These
faced forward (similar to a human’s eye placement) and another IR
enhanced security camera was moved to the rear. This was a bit of a
problem since Ethel only had one video transmitter, so I added a Quad
video processor to combine multiple camera images into one video feed
that could be transmitted and displayed on a single monitor in various split
screen modes.
Since the forward cameras can both pan and tilt, they can either be
synched to move together like human eyes or they can move independently
in any direction. (I like to call this “iguana vision.”) This mode really helps to
improve her peripheral vision and remove those pesky blind spots that were
originally experienced at RoboGames.
Ethel also received a servo mounted USB web cam and microphone on
her chest. This way, I can tilt the USB camera up and down to adjust to the
height of people she meets. By using Skype, Ethel has audio/video tele-presence to anywhere in the world (as long as she is near a WiFi
connection). While running RoboRealm, the video from the USB camera can
be displayed live on her monitor so people can see themselves staring back
from Ethel’s chest. Most everybody — especially children — seemed to really
like this camera mode. In fact, it can make driving forward very difficult
because they just won’t move away!
Probably the smartest thing I did so far was to add a bubble gun to the
rear of Ethel. With this simple toy, Ethel can blow a stream of soap bubbles
and the kids almost always move to the rear of the robot to play with them.
This clears the path in front of her USB camera so she can keep moving
forward.
Of course, no makeover for a woman would be complete without a
new wardrobe. So, I went shopping at the local Goodwill store and found a
nice red skirt and lovely red
hat. The only thing that was
missing was a top. I found
some large soup ladles and
bras at the local fleamarket.
The “helpful” vendor told me
“Well, if they don’t fit you
can bring them back.“
I built a frame for the
dress out of a steel wire
tomato planter hoop. The
soup ladles were mounted
just under Ethel’s monitor to
fill out her bra cups, and off
we went to RoboGames
2010. Nora Judd helped me
with the hat. To my surprise,
the new outfit (which started
off as more of a joke) was a
big hit. The bubbles kept
both kids and adults happy.
46 SERVO 08.2010
