Arduino autonomous tracked robot build Part 3

So I finally got to this step, my bodged together piece of code that makes my robot move. This is the last one in the series.

I uploaded the code to SourceForge so anyone can take it and do whatever they want with it and maybe in the process someone will learn something. Here it is.

Arduino autonomous tracked robot build Part 1
Arduino autonomous tracked robot build Part 2
Arduino autonomous tracked robot build Part 3
Arduino autonomous tracked robot (visual post)

I will start with the easy bits, the small functions and the bits that hold everything together.

Arduino autonomous tracked robot (visual post)

This is a post with the video of my robot in action along with all the photos I have of it. Enjoy!

And the photo gallery below. (and links to the build).

Arduino autonomous tracked robot build Part 1
Arduino autonomous tracked robot build Part 2
Arduino autonomous tracked robot build Part 3
Arduino autonomous tracked robot (visual post)

Arduino autonomous tracked robot build Part 2

On to the actual construction of the tank.
Basically it is made from Tamiya kits, the tracks and gearbox one kit and the platform and diverse small parts in another. I bought them from a local hobby shop and that cost me a lot more than expected but that is my problem. It should be fairly cheap if you source the parts from the source and not third party vendors like I did.

Arduino autonomous tracked rebot

This is the final version of the robot but there were several iterations until I got to this and unfortunately I don't have photos of those but I can still share my experience.

Arduino autonomous tracked robot build Part 1
Arduino autonomous tracked robot build Part 2
Arduino autonomous tracked robot build Part 3
Arduino autonomous tracked robot (visual post)

Arduino autonomous tracked robot build Part 1

So I am finally taking time to write about this one. I created the monster some time ago but I haven't have the chance to talk about it. This is a simple (yet it took me a bloody long time to complete) Arduino Uno, motor shield, Ping sensor, infrared sensor, autonomous robot.

My arduino autonomous tracked robot

So there it is, that picture explains everything, my job is done here :)

Arduino autonomous tracked robot build Part 1
Arduino autonomous tracked robot build Part 2
Arduino autonomous tracked robot build Part 3
Arduino autonomous tracked robot (visual post)

Fast Image resizeing for space saving uploads

Since I started writing this blog there has been one thing that I have been doing manually that I feel like a burden. I take pictures (8MP) of things I build, then I have to download them to my computer and then sort them. After that I want to upload them to my SkyDrive but I have limited space so I have to shrink them. I use Gimp for this, but the manual way. I have read that you can script everything but it seems too hard.
I decided to write my own application that does exactly what I need and not one thing more.

ImageResizer main window

Adjustable LiPo battery charging circuit

So I found myself having a lot of small 1 cell lipo batteries from various devices and gadgets I took apart (broken before or after I disassembled them) and no way to charge them. Recently I found a small boost converter to power small 5V devices. It has a USB female jack on one end and 2 solder pads on the other. It uses anything from 1.5 to 4.5V to output the needed 5V at a maximum of 450mA. The batteries I have would be great but I have no way to use them multiple times. This is the result:

DIY lipo charger

It looks ugly but it does the job great.