Hello robotics community! I’m working on a project and I need help finalizing the specifications for a robot that can clean ventilation ducts. The basic concept is a wheeled robot (6x6 inches) with a 24V system that’s controlled via a long wired joystick. It will also feature a camera and lights for better visibility inside the ducts, as well as a rotating brush to tackle the cleaning tasks. Ideally, the robot would be powered by a direct connection to a 110V/24V power supply.
If anyone has experience with designing or building similar systems, especially in terms of choosing the right motor drivers, wiring everything correctly, and optimizing the control setup, I’d love to hear from you. Any advice, recommended components, or insights on how to refine these specifications would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
@Davdan11 Welcome to the RobotShop Community. Not sure how much prior robotics experience you have, but that would make for a fairly involved first project. 6 inches square is tiny when considering it will need to pull a long length of tether.
In terms of the motor controller, it should be chosen based on the drive motors. The following might help a bit:
You’ll likely need to send signals from the handheld controller to a microcontroller which then sends the appropriate commands to the motor controller etc. A lightweight and reliable connection is Ethernet, which would require a microcontroller at either end.
Would the main battery be on the robot itself? If so, any plans to know if the battery is drained (making your robot difficult to pull out of the duct)?
