Roboraptor Mods and Hacks

I was able to make a number of modifications and hacks to the Roboraptor. After hacking the firmware, I gave it extensive guarding subroutines. With more sensitive microphones in his eyes, the Roboraptor can now move towards any sound and track it. For this I am using the same code I used for the BigTrak a few years ago. When both of the robots are ON at the same time, they have a tendency to follow one another, which is a strange interaction.

It then occurred to me that if he remained switched ON all night, then it will cost a fortune in batteries. Therefore I found a way to modify the power supply system so he could be powered by a mains adapter whilst in guard mode. This involved building a small circuit with a pair of SMD voltage regulators to produce 6 V and 3 V rails. This was installed inside the main body where there is plenty of space. The power to this circuit was fed through a mono 3.5 mm jack socket fitted near his power switch. The robot can walk a few meters whilst remaining tethered to the power supply, however if he continued, then the jack will simply pull out of the socket and then he will operate on battery power.

Each and every covering part was sprayed chrome and then reassembled. I was going for that Star Wars droid look, but unfortunately the spray paint did not give me the mirror finish chrome look I was hoping to get. Instead it has a metallic look, which still looks mostly impressive.

The robot surgery involved building this power supply circuit and installing it into his chest cavity. The operation was a success and took only two hours to perform. My hands were moving faster than my eyes could see, but it was just meant to be...

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