Chris Savage

Getting a Handle on Automatic Doors — Part 3
November 2016
The essence of machine control in robotics is motors, mechanical systems, and sensors. This mini-series on automated doors will explore the fundamentals of robotic control systems.

Getting a Handle on Automatic Doors — Part 2
October 2016
The essence of machine control in robotics is motors, mechanical systems, and sensors. This mini-series on automated doors will explore the fundamentals of robotic control systems.

Getting a Handle on Automatic Doors — Part 1
September 2016
The essence of machine control in robotics is motors, mechanical systems, and sensors. This mini-series on automated doors will explore the fundamentals of robotic control systems.

A Look at the Arlo Robotic Platform System
August 2014
As an Engineering Tech at Parallax, Chris is able to give us a bird’s eye review of the company’s newest robot offering.

The Manta Ray — Part 2
July 2014
Wrap-up on the build of this flexible robot platform, and a few minor adjustments.

The Manta Ray — Part 1
June 2014
This unique robot platform is easy to build, inexpensive, and flexible enough to support a number of options.

GPS Navigation - Part 3
May 2010
Our Navigation code will get a bit more complex, so this month the focus will be on how the individual sections work.

GPS Navigation — Part 2
April 2010
Build a small robot to test and prove the theories discussed in Part 1.

GPS Navigation - Part 1
March 2010
Give your bot some good direction so it can travel great distances with very little extra hardware.

Base on a Budget
February 2010
Get a useable robot platform up and running with only a minimal budget.

Getting Control With the Propeller | Part 1
September 2008
Recently, an artist friend asked me how he might go about automating his latest masterpiece using a BASIC Stamp®. After looking at what he had, it turns out he was going to need to control DC motors, hobby servos, and stepper motors. While there are solutions for controlling all of these devices it would generally mean having three separate controllers (one for each device). A better solution would be ...

Getting Control With the Propeller | Part 4 | Propeller Multi-Controller
December 2008
This month, we wrap up our four part series by covering practical use of PWM on the Propeller using our multi-controller board. In last month’s article, Kevin McCullough covered stepper motor control and made schematics available on the project web page. These schematics use the L293D Quad Half-H Driver IC which provides bi-directional drive currents of up to 600 mA from 4.5V to 36V. We will use the L293D in this article for both motor control and light dimming...