Norris Labs

Norris Labs Robots with a Mission

Welcome to Norris Labs. My name is Steve Norris. This is my personal web site. Here you will find a collection of robot projects that I have built over the past few years. You are free to use the schematics, diagrams and source code to build your own version for non-commercial use.

What's New!

Look for my review of the new MINDS-i 6-Wheel Super Rover in the next exciting issue of Robot Magazine.

Undoubtedly two of the most admired robots on this planet, or any other, are the Mars Rovers Opportunity and Spirit. Primarily telepresence robots, the Mars Rovers are rugged six wheel machines that remotely execute instructions wirelessly received from Earth. They truly are the ultimate in “outdoor” robots. I’ve been fascinated by their design and always planned to build my own, albeit much simpler, version. The complexity of building a six wheel robot has prevented me from proceeding with such an ambitious build. Well up until now that is. With the introduction of the MINDS-i Super Rover Kit my dream of a Mars Rover exploring the wilds of my back yard while I control it from the comfort of my easy chair can now be realized.

Follow Norris Labs on Twitter. I'm now logging status updates and new information about my robots and other projects on Twitter. Be sure to follow my account @norrislabs.

Hi-Res Photos Available - Looking for hi-res pictures of my robots? You can download them from my Flickr account. Once there simply click on the photo you want and then click "All Sizes" and "Original" to download the full size image.

In the Lab: K-See - A Kinect-based Autonomous Robot

K-See is my first robot to use the amazing Microsoft Kinect game controller. Loosely based on the Microsoft “standard model” robot, K-See has the following components:

Microsoft Kinect mounted on a Lynxmotion Base Rotate Kit
Asus Eee-PC 1215N
Parallax Propeller Proto Board and a Prototino (Arduino clone)
Parallax Motor Mount Kit
3 Ping Ultrasonic Sensors
2 Infrared (GP2D12) Sensors

The obstacle avoidance and glyph tracking functions were implemented using my EmergeRT robot operating system and the Microsoft Kinect SDK. Screen shot of the user interface is below.

Stay tuned! K-See will appear in the next issue to Robot Magazine.