13/07/2010
#7 - NXT Archerfish – by Fay Rhodes
Put a Zamor shooter in the hands of an animal robot designer and what do you have—spitting robots! A search of the Web for spitting animals reveals that there are not as many as I thought, but three stand out for me—the spitting cobra, the llama, and the archerfish.
I would have liked to create a spitting cobra, but I discovered that creating a robotic snake is a challenge that many robotic researchers at top universities are still struggling to accomplish.
I have had better success with the llama (the first NXT 2.0 bonus model), and the archerfish, which can be programming to spit at “insects” you might dangle before its eyes.
While I’ve included the instructions for a complete robot, I encourage you to be creative in your design. It is particularly easy to create your own tail fin design, since it is primarily ornamental. You can also have some fun creating “insects” out of whatever material you might have at hand—LEGO pieces or other craft material. (Note: The Ultrasonic sensor can be fooled by certain textures, so you may need to tinker with the insect design a bit.)
One more thing—Please don’t put your NXT in water! A wet NXT is an unhappy NXT.
Here you can download (right click "save as"):
Building instructions
by Fay Rhodes
July 2010