Solar power toy shows us the way to the moon.

This new little gadget is six toys in one.

From the sales website:

This ‘do it yourself kit’ is a great beginners introduction to solar power technology and the end result is your very own little robot. There are 6 different ways to build it, so you could have a robot dog one minute, or a boat for your bath the next! If either of those don’t do anything for you then why not build your own little plane (moving or still), windmill or solar powered car!

The good news is that you don’t need a degree in robotics to start with, or have to try and figure out which screw is A678b and how part D456 slots into F9097a!! The diagrams are big and very easy to follow, there are only 25 parts and no screws are involved!

Sounds great so far, but what if you live in the UK, like us, which hardly ever see’s the sun? Well, this eco friendly robot can also be powered by a 50 halogen bulb (or brighter).

You can build:

1 - Robotic Dog

2 - Boat

3 - Moving Plane

4 - Car

5 - Windmill

6 - Desktop Plane

This just helps prove my point that it's possible to have a rover that can be more than one thing. There's no reason why a robot can't be programmed to attach simple connections and such.

Mars rover is stuck...

http://gizmodo.com/5264223/fellow-robots-trying-to-help-stuck-mars-spirit

This is another reason why sending more than one of something is a better idea. If one of my rovers got stuck it could be rescued by other rovers. 2 heads are better than one.

Transmitting power without wires!

My best friend (after my wife of course) MaTT just found a GREAT treasure on Thinkgeek.com.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/wec.shtm

From ThinkGeek:

Just plug the Wireless Extension Cord (WEC) base unit into a standard wall outlet, and plug whatever you need into the satellite unit. The WEC uses microwaves in the 7.2GHz range, so it won't interfere with wireless networks, Bluetooth components, etc. Now, all you need to do is adjust the antennae on the two units so they are aimed at each other. Turn everything on and you have the power! The distance the WEC units can broadcast differs from situation to situation (due to interference of such things as walls, power lines, and microwave ovens), but we've beamed power over 300 feet! The future is wireless - and the WEC's are your ticket to the future.

This could be VERY handy on a rover. I would put on one each rover in case it gets stuck or too far from a charging station. It sends out a signal of where it is and that is needs power. Charging station can locate the rover and adjust the sending panel and transmit power to the power hungry rover.

MaTT was also the man to bring the Powerpad to my attention. This is the actual site he gave me... http://www.powermatusa.com/. See how the technology works here.

Rover recharging.

I found this article while trying to find a site that I found the other day. Powerpad could be used to recharge rovers.

An early design of the technology resembles a thick rubber place mat. Metal "connectivity points" span the pad's surface and deliver power to the charging contacts on a compatible notebook, cell phone, or other device that is laid on the surface. A single pad can power or recharge various compatible devices at once, accommodating as many as will fit on the pad, according to company representatives. Each unit will contain the intelligence to identify itself and its specs to the pad.

This could EASILY be modified to charge dying batteries for my rovers. Using this method of charging alleviates the need to be very precise when connecting to a charge station.

According to the article this was made to be released in 2003 so I'm sure there have been some advances in this technology.

Battery powered motorcycle made from junk!

This guy got laid off from work and decided to build a motorcycle from junk he found to run on batteries.

You can watch the video here... http://blog.makezine.com
or visit his website here... http://www.firstontop.com/electragreen.htm

The point to this post is to show that if some random person in Nebraska can build a motorcycle (from junk) to run from batteries and be charged with solar (from junk) or wind (from junk) with NO foreknowledge about how to build these things (from junk) then NASA should be able to do the same thing but about 100x more efficient.

Here is a picture of the bike with wind generator and solar panel.

I should get a basic parts list of what it could take to get one of my rovers built. I bet it's well under $2,000. Wonder what a single Spider-bot would cost.

Rovers: the technology is available.

I found this article today about a guy who designed "a mobile robotic platform, started more than a year ago. Desktop software (originally created in .NET C# and then ported to Flex/ActionScript) communicates with the mobile platform, can monitor its surroundings via a mounted webcam, operate it remotely and activate autonomous mode."

You can get more detailed information at the creator's web site.

This guy is on the right track. With this kind of technology there is no reason a lunar rover can't run on it's own to do simple tasks. Or complex ones. I say give this guy a job at NASA to help me get my rovers to the moon and beyond.

Where else could we send my rovers to explore? Make them wateproof and drop them in the ocean. Give them the ability to surface and recharge with solar panels. While it's surfaced transmit it's data back to base. The idea may be without limits.

Lunar Rover: more scenes.

Here we see an updated version of unloading materials and supplies.

Here are 2 rovers changing a tire on a third.

This is the VERY basic concept of the power connectors. The silver circles are the magnets to hold them in place. The brown circles are the connection points. It's very simple. The only thing that would interfere is dust. I've updated the main rover with a row of these along the long sides. You will see these in the 2 above pictures.

Click to enlarge.

Lunar Rover Updates.

I've redesigned the rover a little. I've decided that the simplest way to allow for multiple modules to be added and moved is to make the main floor out of bars. This correlates with my idea of adding "claws" to the bottoms of each module.


Here is an example "scene" of something that may happen. The smaller rover in the bottom left has been fitted with 2 HD cameras and a solar panel. This will allow the rover to basically roam wherever it wants to taking pictures. The main action here is the 3 larger rovers. The middle one is carrying 3 garden pods (containing lettuce) and is flanked by 2 other rovers who will be lifting each pod. The larger rover on the right has also been fitted with 2 solar panels to help charge it's batteries and help them last longer.

As you can see there are many scenarios where this method can be utilized. This is the main thought on my mind recently so there will be more updates on this.

One large hurdle to figure out is the universal connectors that should connect the modules sitting on the rover sled to the computer on the rover. I like the idea of the power connector on Macbooks. Magnetic and easy to connect and disconnect. I also like the concept of a USB plug and play method. More to come...

Lunar robots: My idea.

I started by reading this: http://gizmodo.com/5252255/x-prize-team-to-send-swarm-of-spiders-to-the-moon

So I read an article yesterday about some Italian team creating spider-like robots to walk on the moon, take pictures and send them back to Earth. My first thought is, "how are you going to get them back? Or are you just going to leave your trash there?" Then I got to thinking that they are going about this all wrong. If you are going to send up a bunch of robots why not make them MUCH more worthwhile?

With today’s technology we could easily send up a couple of robots (or a million) and have them run around digging and whatnot. In fact, why not design them to complete advanced tasks such as assembling buildings and maintenance on each other? Here’s what I would do if I had NASA money…

· Build robots that can travel 50 miles using rechargeable batteries. Robots themselves can’t recharge. People are retrofitting their motor cycles to use batteries and can get 40 miles per charge and go 60 miles per hour.

· Send up payloads containing various modules.

o “GPS” stations to create grid for mapping and navigating. Solar powered.Antennas need to be set up to help robots triangulate their position on the planet.

o Charging stations for robots. Each charging station is portable and is self powered via solar panels. Hundreds of units can be set up to expand the range of each robot.

o Human base stations. Could be inflatable so all a robot has to do is roll it to where it’s needed and connect CO2 canister to inflate.

o Greenhouse. If we are planning on sending people there to live for a while why not get a greenhouse going BEFORE they get there?

o Extra parts for robot self repair. Why not? Why can’t a robot replace the battery on another robot? Robots can be fitted with interchangeable arms to perform various functions.

o Labs. Send up additional labs for robots to send samples for analysis.

· Shuttles aren’t needed. Only a rocket large enough to get the payload off the ground is needed.Payloads can vary from small to huge.

So basically you want to send up a couple robots, charging stations and the transmitting towers to get “the grid” started. Now there is a way for robots to triangulate their position and not get lost. Next, you can send up 50 bots and 100 charging stations. Have the bots set the charging stations all over the place to expand the area the bots can go. Send up a base for sending data back to Earth. This can also be linked to a lab where samples are taken for analysis.

All this can be done easily with NASA’s resources. Use the moon as a testing ground. Then start on mars.

Here are some very basic concepts. You can click on each image to enlarge it.

There are all kinds of sizes and variations that can be built with this system.

Example of a solar panel collecting power to charge rover batteries.

Basic rover with two arm modules. All components and modules could be "plug and play" for easy assembly.

Feedback is welcome. Note to NASA: if you want to know more of my ideas just ask. ;)