SIMPSON2 by Ed Medina

This is my first robot using the BS2. I found the Stamp Stack II from HVW Technologies, runs on a 9v
battery and is designed such that the 2-pin and 16-pin headers fit into breadboards. For my project
the headers were soldered upside down and on top of the PCB. It is identical to the Basic Stamp II
from Parallax and to program you must use Basic Stamp Editor software. It also uses an Infrared
Proximity Detector from Lynxmotion with a range from 8" minimum to 26" maximum. It has been tilted
up about 10 degrees due to interference from the ground and it works awesome! For motor control the
Mini Dual H-Bridge was a must, the inputs use less than 1 milliamp and provides up to 300 mA per motor.
I used a separate power supply for running the motors but it's not needed. 
It can also draw power from the +5v pin on the IRPD.Also includes the Twin-Motor Gearbox and Tracks from TAMIYA. 
The gearbox can be modified to 58:1, 203:1 ratio and sigle or double shaft control. The body was built
from aluminium sheet metal and riveted together. It can carry a small payload in the compartment
below the electronics. The name SIMPSON was already stamped on the metal. It still has 9 open pins
and the 5v pin and ground open for more sensors. All the components have to be assembled and
soldered. The hardest to assemble was the H-Bridge, it is just too small about 1 inch by 1 inch. The
Stamp Stack II comes with the voltage regulator, serial port, pins and PCB for about 30 plus dollars
and there is no need to buy a mother board. It has lots of pull power, I'm not exactly sure how much
weight it can carry. The SIMPSON2 total is about $130.00 and it wants more! The SIMPSONI had a
plastic two level platform with the gearbox on the bottom and I just wanted to give it a metallic
look. For the modifications I only had to reverse the truth table on the program and rewire with
some stuff I found on a broken radio in the trash.

Email: medinae@sacramento.navy.mil