“companion” software that lets you plug your
transmitter into the computer and program
it (Figure
E
). This alone is a big step above
standard radios. Programming a radio via a
computer is amazing! Another great feature —
you can run them as simulators, to test out your
movements, before you ever send commands to
the robot.
Channel Mixing
Let’s take a closer look at my preferred system,
OpenTX, and how to use it for mixing channels
— the secret sauce that allows you to control
multiple movements by mixing inputs for your
robot, model, or prop.
With our Mecanum robot platform, we attach
the motor controllers to the receiver, each one
getting a channel. I used channels 3, 4, 5, and 6
(Figure
F
). From there, we move completely to
the transmitter for all the rest of this.
What follows below is the top-level look at
how it’s done. I’m not going into much detail, but
the OpenTX and EdgeTX communities are very
helpful, and you can figure this out via the guides
on the websites or on the forums.
youtube.com/@DreadMakerRoberts
E
F
“Wilson Has a
Mind of His Own”
Ben Eadie was working at Fuse33, a
makerspace in Calgary, Alberta, where he
met some movie people and got invited
to work on special effects for Star Trek
Beyond. That led to FX work on movies
like Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which led to a
friendship with a certain Mythbuster.
“I got a phone call at the beginning of the
year from Adam Savage,” Ben writes. “He
wanted to know if I could build a sphere
robot. Of course I said yes, even though I
really had no clue. Because no one wants
to disappoint a friend. Then he told me the
robot was for Tom Hanks ... the Tom Hanks!
Before I could eat humble pie, I was on the
phone with Tom telling him that I could do
what he asked. Follow along on my journey
to find out if it all worked.”
» Tom Hanks Asked Me to Make a
Robot Wilson for His First Pitch:
youtu.be/l5ps2VzAfA0
33
make.co
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