2 replies
Sep '10

pauljd

Hey Jax,thats pretty

Hey Jax,

thats pretty cool.   I love solar projects.    parallax.com has pretty good solar panels, looking very similar to yours but have move power, for instance, 6v @ 166ma each.   why not use a battery to store the charge?   and just rely on the bumpers to keep changing course?    are you planning on sweeping the seeds into a small tray?   like a rotary drum sweeper.   non-stop, thats going use some juice.

1 reply
Sep '10 ▶ pauljd

jax

Thanks Paul. I have an

Thanks Paul. I have an affinity for solar too whether they makes sense or not lol The solar panels I’m using are leftovers from my failed solar Crumbot project. They’re now for a QLF project  I have but they’re my highest current test panels as it stands. I just bought a handful of 6V 100mA panels late last night actually. Good bulk deal on the eBay. Nice lead though, thanks. Parallax has good stuff.

I had a plan for a solar BEAM bot (photopopper style) that would haul around a self charging vacuum. That became more realistic with my MCU-driven version I’m working on now (batteries, charging station, more traditional) but the no-battery no-fuss cleaning bot dream lived on. That’s what this project is for.

The patio the bot will operate on is elevated slightly and has a clean drop-off around ~40% of the perimeter. I plan on having the rotary actuator to be powered by a MSE which will then do an intermittent sweeping action with a small broom in the front. The broom will be far enough in front of the robot that it should (occasionally) sweep the debris off the patio before the edge detectors reverse the drivetrain. Mostly I expect it to shove stuff to the edges around the house and around in circles mostly. I don’t expect much. It’s really just a Braitenberg vehicle with a twitchy moustache.