HCR-Home care robot is an open source robot project.
It aims to develop an affordable domestic mobile robot platform which can validate various robotics technologies such as Human machine interface, navigation, localization.
At this moment, it has just finished the mechanical design. The electricity module is still under development. But I am trying to use several arduino type of MCU as the low level hardware control, and uses a normal laptop or netPC as the main control unit which can do more advance work such as voice recognition, vision, .etc.
This project is initially proposed in a chinese robotics community www.roboticfan.com. And I bought one of their platform to start with.
Figure: A Lead-acid battery is mounted
Figure: After assembly, still can not move yet, since no MCU.
This is the electrical connection diagram. Uses two arduino, one is used as a sensor interface board, another is used as a master, do some post processing of the sensor signal, package them and send them back to PC.
I agree with R2D2 roombas cant really do anything but sweep floors yet they are considered homecare robots. I think that monitoring your house remotely could be considered house care. On the other hand R2, I am curious about your design. Are the decks custom or did you purchase them from some where? They look familiar. Also what motors are you using?
I just simply purchase the kit. My interesting is the electricity and software. I am a big fan of R2D2. Really want build one of that kind of robot some day. However, due to similar robot such as whitebox 914bot which costs around $5000 is too expensive forme. I think for most of you will think it is not affordable. And those small ones are too tiny. Until I find this platform. It is cheap, only cost me $280. So just buy one and I can start my project. Actually the one I got does not have arm. Just some mechanical parts and two motors with wheels. But it is all I need.
I have no idea about the deck design, I am not the designer. But I will be the brain designer. LOL.
I don’t think there is really any difference between the PING and the SRF except for the pins (ping has only 3, which would be good)
Also, I think you should get an Arduino Mega or something with many pins because you will probably run out of pins quickly with all those sensors, plus you need to set aside at least 4 pins for the motor driver.
That’s it, and I can’t wait to see what happens! Maybe you should get a small vacuum (maybe that Dyson one that’s really powerful, but runs off a battery?) and tie it together, and have it clean your house!
I have had better result I have had better result using the SRF. Not that it should make to much of a difference. The arduino mega would probably be the best choice considering the amount of pins it provides, as well as the hardware interupts. The kit actually looks pretty good. I thought I had seen it somewhere. Are you planning on accessing the robot through the internet?
Maxbotix sonars have been Maxbotix sonars have been very effective for me. I use the analog and pulse outputs, haven’t done much with the serial. The Ping only has one way to interface, shorter range too. The SRFs would glitch on me some, giving a weird return number sometimes.
It looks like it has a very low ground clearance and wouldnt work on carpet very well. What purpose do the robots "eyes" serve or are they just for looks? Is there a way to view that site in english?
Actually, the eyes are just art design. What I got is just the base, without arm, without eyes… But it just gives you a picture what it could be modified to. I personally think it is a brilliant design.
Thanks for your guys’ recommendation. Since I need several ultrasonic sensor, I2C or RS485 is the only solution. So, I may go for SRF series. Damn it, SRF08 seems the only option, and they are not cheap…
This robot looks to me a good one. If you people can add some more functionalities and artifical intelligence, then I am interested in buying one for my comapany. We are interested in getting a fully functional prototype of this robot.
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Nice song Nice song but what does it do besides carry a screen and act pretty? Robots have a function. Why would I want my laptop to dance. Dumb question?
- How noisy are they? I mean they are noisy like cont. rotation servos? Or pretty much quiet like steppers?
- What is their torque?
- What is the resolution of the encoders (clicks per rotation)?
I am asking all these questions because I might be interested to buy a pair for my butler robot. I can build the rest of the base no problem, so the motors are the only part I need to be careful about.
I had a similar idea of a platform like BoozeBot, but I think I’ll use something like on my MiniEric robot for the arms to reach the floor and the table top.
