Robotics

Rovio Lights&Lasers Mod

Leaving the plans to build a really cool remote controlled robot (see Overview) for the retirement, I have invested into the WowWee Rovio robot. It is a nice toy. I especially like the chassis any-direction (tri-pod) movement construction. However, there are several problems. One of those is the operation in low light conditions. In order to solve that problem I have decided to do some intrusive modifications and also add laser pointers for potential object distance tracking from the software (Rovio can be controlled through a public HTML-based API). Here you can see the original Rovio, and on the right is the new breed.

There is a post about the mod on the forums, but to be consistent and document everything in one place, here it is.

It is quite intrusive. The extra lights are tied to the existent light control (they turn on/off along with the built-in light). The laser pointers are controlled by the signal to the IR Radar diode (turned on/off when obstacle detection is enabled/disabled in the settings). The light holders are made from under $3 WalMart 3-in-one pens that combine blue light emitting diode, red laser pointer and a pen. It is powered by 3x1.5v batteries, so the voltage is close enough and the only things left to do are fitting, mounting, wiring and changing button switches to simple transistor switches (a 15 pack of switching transistors bought under $3 in local Radio Shack).

Like many others I did not like the blue decorative lights around the Rovio's body, so also removed all of them, which turned out to be very simple. Those light diodes and their control board can be unscrewed, disconnected (just 1 connector) and completely removed from the toy without any irreversible damage. The pictures below show some of the intermediate steps and the camera test images.

Lights test	Lights test	Lasers test	Ambient light	Lasers test
Lights close	Control wires (red&black)	Control wires (red&black)	Exterior	Exterior w/ lights
Lighted room	Head up	Head up lighting	Exterior lasers	Exterior lasers
Exterior lasers	Exterior lasers	L&L modules	L&L modules	Beam form
Lights in bright room	Beam form	Beam form	Beam form	Beam form
Lasers test	Lasers test	Lasers bright room

Note: be careful with lasers, even low power ones can cause damage to your eyes, do not try to look directly into them).