Electronics
The electronics are fully programmable allowing a huge range of movement sequences. In practice however, Robops tend to have a standard set of movements and voice designed to optimise the effectiveness of the bird while at the same time using minimum power. Where customers have a special requirement such as a quiet voice or extended running time between charges, the standard programme is changed to meet their requirement. A field programming kit is available to allow customers to do their own re programming but in practice few choose this option.
For Robop’s voice we digitised a real peregrine call. While the timing of the calls is under the control of the microprocessor, the actual voice is produced using a dedicated voice processing chip which drives a waterproof mylar speaker mounted in the tail section. The call can be made very loud but this is rarely done as the sound even at low volume tends to travel a long distance.
We are increasingly supplying birds to run directly off a mains voltage outlet. For this situation we have designed a special regulator which is supplied along with a mains power supply. The power supply converts 240v (or 110v) A.C. to 12v DC. These are supplied in waterproof boxes for external use but the preferred option is to install the power supply indoor and run 12 volts to the regulator which is mounted on the base plate near the feet.
At the heart of every Robop is the electronics. This controls all the movements and the voice. A key design consideration was to keep the power consumption to an absolute minimum to extend the operating time between battery charges. Simplicity is the key but achieving this represented a major design challenge. Using state of the art NiMH cells made into a pack to our specification, gives a total output of 13Ahr. By keeping power consumption to a minimum this gives enough power to keep Robop running for 2 weeks between charges.
