At work someone (ok it was me) mentioned using a robot to distribute the Friday afternoon sweeties and I accepted the challenge. Already having a tank remotely controlled with a PS3 Controller I decided it would need a camera to see where it's going. Having recently upgraded my phone I was able to use the old one with IP Webcam to share the camera feed over wifi.
When I read about deejayspinz' IPCamBot, a LEGO robot with a wifi camera controlled by a custom Android App, I thought I'd give it a go. I followed the instructions on his website and had the proof of concept up and running with the free version of the app. Upon buying the Pro version of the app I was able to drive the tank around via bluetooth and simultaneously see the camera footage from the old phone over WiFi.
My configuration takes a Heng Long 1:16th scale Bulldog Tank base (chassis, motors, gearbox and treads) driven by a Dagu 4-channel motor controller (over the top in this instance but a common item now found in three of my robots) and controlled by an Arduino Mega ADK (also over the top but I was using this for the USB Host aspect when the tank was operated by PS3 controller via bluetooth dongle). The bluetooth dongle has been replaced with a Bluetooth module for a simple serial link.
A 3d printed battery cover to replace the missing one.
Sweet distribution
- Actuators / output devices: Heng Long Tank Chassis, servo camera tilt
- Control method: Android over Bluetooth
- CPU: Arduino Mega ADK
- Power source: 7.2V NiMH
- Sensors / input devices: WiFi camera (care of Android phone)
- Target environment: office, home, Some outdoor environments
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://community.robotshop.com/robots/show/android-controlled-tank