I can’t do too much more with the dueling bot until I order some parts, and I don’t plan on ordering any parts until about the middle of next month, so I thought I would detail another project I was planning. This is another robot, but this one is completely autonomous. It is going to be controlled by an Arduino (surprised, I know) and a GPS for navigation. It will have a path loaded into it, then it will autonomously travel the path.
But the cool part is that while it is moving on its intended path, it will be taking multiple photos from a camera mounted on top of the robot. These photos will be taken at relatively small intervals (maybe every second or so) and then combined to form a movie (probably using Virtual Dub). So basically it is a Google Street View robot.
I intend to have it motor around the park trails at the parks closest to my home and posting the resulting videos on YouTube. This will allow people the ability to check out the trails in advance and see if this park is one that they want to go to. I could expand it to just about anything though, the main constraint is going to be what the robot is capable of.
Tamiya Tracked Vehicle Chassis Kit
I was given a Tamiya tracked vehicle chassis kit from Christmas, and it is a fantastic base for this project. A tank-style robot gives good mobility, and that will be key on some of the trails I’d like to map. It’s also pretty easy to modify, which is another big plus. And lastly, it’s small, so it shouldn’t get in the way of people who are using the trail while it is going.
The list of modifications required is pretty extensive. First, I have to add in some sort of suspension to aid in navigating the terrain and keeping the pictures blur-free. I don’t want the robot to have to stop to take photos (that would take forever) so the camera needs to remain still while it is taking a picture. I think that a simple RC car suspension can be adapted to this robot pretty easily.
Next, I have to upgrade the motors. I already swapped out the single gearbox for a dual gearbox, but the motors are small 3V dealies that probably can’t handle some of the steep hills I know this robot will be tasked with navigating. Fortunately this is simply a case of ordering a new pair of more powerful motors.
I also will have to integrate the Arduino into the motor control system and interface it with a GPS module to control the robot. For safety reasons I will follow behind my robot as it maps out the trails but I would rather be able to look at the scenery rather than having to directly control the robot the entire time. It is pretty easy to interface the Arduino, just the board itself and a motor shield and I’m done. The hard part will be the GPS and adding in route navigation and the like. I’ll also have to add in enough battery power to run the thing.
Finally I have to design and install a camera stand. It should be able to hold a camera of my choice (I might use an old smartphone I have laying around) and provide some stabilization of the camera as well. Some sort of damping system should be in place for that. I think that I will just start the camera before I start the robot instead of relying on the robot to control the camera. I could interface an old smartphone with the Arduino using bluetooth, but that just adds complexity and cost for minimal benefit, since I’m going to be with the robot anyways.
Does it seem worth it to bother with the bluetooth module? I’d like to learn how to use it, but I just don’t know that it fits with this project. What do you think?
PolyEngineer 