Mail-E, a mail-checker robot - now also checks LMR RSS!

By TotoroYamada
@ Wed, 2009-09-16 11:19

• Actuators / output devices: Three 9g mini-servos from DAGU
• Control method: serial-controlled by my pc
• CPU: picaxe 18x
• Operating system: Windows for the software part
• Power source: 4 AA batteries
• Programming language: Basic, Visual Basic .Net
• Target environment: my desk

As i'm waiting for the last missing parts for my "big" project, i play and make few experiments so i learn new stuff... those days i work on serial communication pc/picaxe, and there it is :
                         

a papercrafted Wall-E (because there aren't enough wall-e on LMR ^^ ) that warns me when i have new e-mails.

It's almost finished but not yet.

For now on one hand i can control it (head and arms) from a small VB software as you can see on the video.

The video is a bit long and not that much interesting, it just shows how it moves. (edit: second video added, see update on the bottom).

 On the other hand i already wrote the program which checks my e-mail account using pop3 every X seconds :

So now i just have to mix them and if everything goes well, i'll soon have a small assistant on my desk which will move each time i receive a new mail :)

The robot is actuated by three 9g mini-servos, and controlled by a SD21 servo driver and a picaxe 18x... i know, it's a bit like killing a mouse with a rocket launcher, it's just that i want to get used to the board before building my next robot, but i have to order a bunch of 08M for that kind of experimentation, as soon as i get them i'll do the brain transplantation (and maybe try to fit everything in the robot, but there isn't much space). If i have the time, i'll add wireless communication (i just received the cheap sparkfun modules) so i won't have to put it next to my computer.

Here are few pictures of the inside, 3 servos, some meccano and double-sided tape :

I added a new video, I mixed the programs and that's it, now i have a small assistant that scares warns me  when i receives a new mail! And i realized something, that by analyzing the content of the mail (exp., subject, body etc...) in the VB program i can send different commands to therobot... meaning that i can control it from anywhere, just by sending an e-mail :D

Well, even if i'd like to make some improvements, like make something to house the batteries and pic, modify the movement sequence when the mail arrives, or make it wireless, i consider this project finished for now as i now want to move on my other project and therefore need my SD21 board. But I'll sure come back to it some days!

Thanks to Rudolph who helped me find the LMR RSS feeds, Mail-E now warns me when the front page of LMR changes...

No video since a robot update doesn't seem to modify the RSS (only new robots), so for now here the new program interface :

with a different sequence of movements so i can tell if it's it's a new mail or a change on LMR...:)

And someone who often has good and creative ideas and who recently played with a LCD screen suggested me that i could add one as a front panel to give the details i now display on my computer screen (exp. and subject for e-mails,title and author for LMR rss... that's definitly something i'll think about...