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TWIZ · 01-26-2016

Now, the invention idea: I was thinking about how cool it would be to have a little robot follow you around to take a gopro video of you. Now, I know there are gopro drones that are programed to follow you (which probably won't cost less than $1000), and stationary gopro cameras that pivot to follow your movement from a single location, but no market for all terrain ground bots that follow you. Oh boy, I don't know why I'm posting this, or if I should. I just hope none of you are investors or Thomas Edison reincarnations, but here goes.

I want to make an all terrain bot with a gopro camera attached to it. Simple as that, right? Make an RC car with a gopro mount extended by a stick about 3-4 feet off the ground, easy. Not really. I want to make an automatic hamster wheel-like ball, essentially a star wars bb8, but replace the head with a gopro mount (if you don't know how a bb8 functions, look it up). Sort of, but instead of using a normal gopro mount as a bb8 head, I want to extend it about 4 feet above the bot by using a long stick/rod as the bb8 head, while the mount resides at the top of the stick, so it rests at face-level and acts as a personal camera man. But here's the kicker: at the base of the rod, it won't technically be attached to the "bb8 head." Instead, there will be magnetic suspension between the bb8 head and the rod. Easy to do, I just make a socket where the stick rests in on the bb8 head, and attach a magnet on the base of the socket, and attach another magnet of opposite polarity on the bottom of the rod. So when the rod is placed inside the socket, a magnetic gap will act as suspension if it hits a bump. Furthermore, since the stick isn't technically connected to the bot, it can also be removed and used as a gopro selfie stick.

Now, a problem arises; how does it record you? Typically, a wristband with a radio transceiver is fixed to one's wrist to give a location to the camera, so it follows you and your movement. Obviously, since my idea uses freely moving magnetic suspension, it makes it difficult to actually follow you since the camera/selfie stick is constantly rotating in random directions as it hits bumps. I solved this problem, through attaching an electromagnetic motor around the selfie stick. In the socket, there will be a brushless motor, and on the selfie stick, a magnet perpendicular to the rod. This way, when the selfie stick is placed inside the socket, a brushless motor allows the selfie stick to be rotating in controllable fashion to follow as long as you are wearing a transceiving device, such as a bracelet or a headband or whatever.

The programming will be easy, you just set the average following distance, and you manually set the height of the rod, and everything else in between. The hamster ball part might be about a foot in diameter, and the rod has a maximum heigh of about 5 feet, so that's approximately 6 feet in height total. You might hear many theories about how bb8 works, but mine would require the method where a weight keeps it upright, which might have some computerized assistance.

01-26-2016	10
TWIZ Banned Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: fighting alt-right Posts: 2,570	Now, the invention idea: I was thinking about how cool it would be to have a little robot follow you around to take a gopro video of you. Now, I know there are gopro drones that are programed to follow you (which probably won't cost less than $1000), and stationary gopro cameras that pivot to follow your movement from a single location, but no market for all terrain ground bots that follow you. Oh boy, I don't know why I'm posting this, or if I should. I just hope none of you are investors or Thomas Edison reincarnations, but here goes. I want to make an all terrain bot with a gopro camera attached to it. Simple as that, right? Make an RC car with a gopro mount extended by a stick about 3-4 feet off the ground, easy. Not really. I want to make an automatic hamster wheel-like ball, essentially a star wars bb8, but replace the head with a gopro mount (if you don't know how a bb8 functions, look it up). Sort of, but instead of using a normal gopro mount as a bb8 head, I want to extend it about 4 feet above the bot by using a long stick/rod as the bb8 head, while the mount resides at the top of the stick, so it rests at face-level and acts as a personal camera man. But here's the kicker: at the base of the rod, it won't technically be attached to the "bb8 head." Instead, there will be magnetic suspension between the bb8 head and the rod. Easy to do, I just make a socket where the stick rests in on the bb8 head, and attach a magnet on the base of the socket, and attach another magnet of opposite polarity on the bottom of the rod. So when the rod is placed inside the socket, a magnetic gap will act as suspension if it hits a bump. Furthermore, since the stick isn't technically connected to the bot, it can also be removed and used as a gopro selfie stick. Now, a problem arises; how does it record you? Typically, a wristband with a radio transceiver is fixed to one's wrist to give a location to the camera, so it follows you and your movement. Obviously, since my idea uses freely moving magnetic suspension, it makes it difficult to actually follow you since the camera/selfie stick is constantly rotating in random directions as it hits bumps. I solved this problem, through attaching an electromagnetic motor around the selfie stick. In the socket, there will be a brushless motor, and on the selfie stick, a magnet perpendicular to the rod. This way, when the selfie stick is placed inside the socket, a brushless motor allows the selfie stick to be rotating in controllable fashion to follow as long as you are wearing a transceiving device, such as a bracelet or a headband or whatever. The programming will be easy, you just set the average following distance, and you manually set the height of the rod, and everything else in between. The hamster ball part might be about a foot in diameter, and the rod has a maximum heigh of about 5 feet, so that's approximately 6 feet in height total. You might hear many theories about how bb8 works, but mine would require the method where a weight keeps it upright, which might have some computerized assistance.