Pretty RAD after all
I received the first of my two RAD 2.0 robots, and I must say I am impressed. I can see why so many people snap these up for robotic platforms, as the track drive and arms/waist are very functional and there is a ton of space inside to cram electronics. In this installment of the on-going saga I detail the basics of a stock RAD, and discuss where I might go from here. Read all about it here in Chapter Two: Pretty RAD after all.
thirteen comments:
Hello, I got a RAD 2.0 bot back in 2000, I believe; looks like some interesting modding you are doing. I might get around to modding it myself, sometime…robot is at home right now though… But I do have the instruction manual for it.. I could scan it the next time I go home… but I don’t remember it being that useful. The high/low setting are for torque, it goes faster on one setting, but has less power, and goes slower on the other setting, but has a lot of power. The talk feature makes a lot of noise… and a couple of times, when the robot was low on power, I heard a radio station playing through the robot’s speakers really faintly…..it was FM….perhaps 102.7, always wondered about the jack on the back of the robot though
Anubis () - 01 28 08 - 00:33
Thanks for confirming that I probably know how to use RAD even without a manual! Still, just for the sake of being a completist I would appreciate a copy of the manual, so if you ever get the chance please send me one and I will post it here for the world to see.
The thing that originally attracted me to RAD was the track drive, but I am beginning to think it is nearly meaningless since the center-of-gravity is so high that many obsticles could topple the poor ‘bot over. I will try the torque setting to see if that helps, and I will see if I can determine the approximate angle it takes to make RAD fall backwards… just for science sake. ;)
It isn’t too surprising you heard voices coming from RAD, and no you are not crazy (AFAIK ;), 27MHz is part of the CB band (and old walkie-talkies too) and as such it is quite possible that you will hear at least one side of some trucker’s conversation. Given how fairly primitive RAD is I am going to guess that the radio link is amplitude-modulated (AM) not frequency-modulated (FM), so it would be close to impossible to pick up FM radio with RAD.
If you ever do mod your RAD, drop me a line!
—Don
Don Stratton () - 01 28 08 - 08:31
Alright, I just got back from spring break, and I have the R.A.D. manual with me now…. currently switching computers in the library so i can scan it. Just tell me how you want me to send it to you.
Anubis () - 03 11 08 - 02:55
I found the manual here:
http://www.theoldrobots.com/book15m.html
I’m currently trying to extend my rad 2.0s range by unraveling the antenna from its head, and stretching it out. Then plan on adding a 2.4 ghz wireless camera I have under the chin. I also added a swtch to turn off the speaker, as most of the time its just making static noise. Should be fun for my son and I to drive around the house.
gernith () (link) - 11 22 08 - 14:03
AWESOME! Thanks a lot, Gernith! I have been to that site many times in the past, and either I completely missed the RAD documentation or it wasn’t there when I looked. I’ve grabbed all the pages and plan on making a nice PDF of it which I will eventually post here.
Adding the speaker switch is a really good idea, and I may do something similar when I get back to h4xx0ring these bots, but you have given me an even better, although much more complicated, idea; add a “squelch” circuit with an adjustable threshold. That way you won’t have to hear static all the time, but you will still be able to use the one-way voice communication feature (which I have to admit doesn’t entirely suck, at least conceptually).
Word of warning about those wireless video cameras: they generally have a really pathetic range compared to their stated specs. I have one that claims 300 feet and I am lucky to get 50 feet. I have a friend with a much more expensive “baby monitor” which claims something ridiculous like 1000 feet and it is lucky to go 100 feet. Of course, since the RAD itself has such a miserable range (as I mention in my write-up) this may all be totally moot. ;)
Thanks for the comment!
Don Stratton () (link) - 11 22 08 - 15:57
I already own the camera. The biggest problem I have with it is the low light sensitivity is not good. I have a tiny patch antenna on the receiver, which helps a lot with the video range.
Right now I just need to get more RC range. I’ve stretched out the antenna from his head, and I think I have enough range to cover the house now. (Just need to remount the antenna somehow)
I havnt even checked yet how the video transmitter/quality and the RC receiver get along next to each other. 27mhz and 2.4Ghz you would think they would be OK, but who knows.
gernith () - 11 25 08 - 07:09
I was also thinking I could remove the red lenses from the lights on the chest of the bot to help with the low light areas. I think they’re white light behind the lenses… havnt checked to be honest!
gernith () - 11 25 08 - 07:12
how do I change bad bulbs in RAD’s eyes?
dave () - 10 13 09 - 19:23
Good question! I have long since given up on my RAD modding project, and I never got as far as opening the eyes to see what the bulbs look like. A quick look at one of my bots would seem to indicate a lot of disassembly will be required to get the head free of the neck, and it looks like you can’t get the bottom plate off the head until you do so. Once the head is free it looks like it would be pretty simple to access the bulbs, which appear to be well recessed inside the “eye socket”, deep in the head.
If you decide to give it a shot, may I suggest you convert the eyes over to white LEDs? It should last a lot longer than a burning strand of tungsten and it will consume a LOT less power. Good luck!
Don Stratton () (link) - 10 13 09 - 21:12
Hello,
Hi I really enjoyed reading your article on the RAD 2.0. I currently own a RAD 1.0 myself, which I received as a christmas gift the same year they toy debuted. I’m 21 years old now, an engineering student, and it just so happens after years of having my RAD as a mere decoration. I began to feel nostalgic and wanted to play around with it a bit. Unfortunally for me, I cannot seem to be able to find a power pack for the robot as the original (with the years) no longer holds a charge. I also found that the antenna on the controller had become detached and I had to resoder that back in place. As far as the operation of the robot goes.. im still unsure if its in working condition.
I was wondering if you would know the type of battery (model number) needed for the robot so that I may search for it online. An alternative I have tested but not quite put into action is using two 9 volt batteries to power RAD. During the test the robot lit up and initiated the “loading” sequence. Ofcouse the batteries drained fairly quickly. I don’t want to damage the toy so im afraid of using any other powersupply until I can verify it won’t damage the toy.
I plan on putting this bot back on duty once i get it fully functional. Doing what exactly I don’t know.. yet..
FINCH () - 01 05 10 - 10:33
Hi Finch,
The battery and battery charger are actually fairly easy to deal with; the RAD uses standard 6v NiCd batteries used by various other remote control devices like R/C cars. I have a “Tyco 4-hour quick charger” and “Tyco 6.0v Jet Turbo” battery, which is relatively easy to find online (or even at your local Toys-R-Us).
If you plan to adapt the RAD to accept conventional batteries I would suggest using C or D cells, not AA and certainly not AAA. Simple logic would suggest that 4 1.5v batteries would be enough, but I would suggest using 5 since so-called 1.5v batteries slump down to 1.3v quite quickly, and with 5 of them you should be able to get a little extra runtime when they really get drained. The Amp-hours of D batteries should give it a reasonable runtime, and the weight is modest enough that it should hardly affect the drive system. Of course you may wish to use AA batteries if you have a cheap charging system, but be advised you will drain them quite quickly.
—Don
Don Stratton () (link) - 01 26 10 - 14:03
I got a few of these things .. I took one apart and started modding it .. mounted two web cams in the head for stereo vision .. hooked them up to a pc (usb) ports to try them out and they work great .. some free software is available to run them .. course I have the head off the base playing around with this .. plan on mounting an old laptop cpu card internal to the unit .. and sep batteries in the base .. thinking that if you fill the drive units with some white lithium grease it might kill some of the noise .. don’t have a lot of time to mess with them so modding them is slow .. have 3 rad 2.0 a 3.0 and a 4.0
john dodd () - 06 19 10 - 13:21
Hi John, thanks for the comments! It sounds like you have your own droid army of RADs! I guess for me the reason I haven’t updated my RAD project is because I started to realize that the cost of all the cool upgrades would far exceed the value of the base and body. Put another way, there are now several nice options for track-based R/C or robotic platforms that are considerably more capable than the most excessively modded RAD you could imagine. Still, the RAD is pretty, well, rad because it does have that classic movie robot look, so maybe one day in the future when I have a lot more money and a bit more time I may get back to them. For now they are just conversation pieces showcased in my home, but I still look upon them with fondness and hope.
—Don
Don Stratton () (link) - 06 21 10 - 12:22