would it be possible to make a laser flicker at 38khz?
I was thinking; if I had a modified laser that gave me a red dot that pulsed at 38Khz. If a robot was made to go towards a 38Khz beacon...
I thought this might function as a intuitive remote control.
The robot is programmed to do whatever, map its surrounding, search for metal or filming the girls gymn locker room. But when the laser is pointed anywhere in its vicinity it'll start following the red dot until the laser is switched of again. then it will continioue its original task.
Think of a custom officer and his K9 drug sniffing robot. the robot is rummaging through some suitcase when the office spots a suspicios looking fellow. The officer could guide the robot to the suspect simply by pointing, and when the robot arrives, he just turns of his pointer and the robot starts sniffing for drugs again at the new location.
Is i doable? Not the drug sniffing part, but the laser ray as a IR 38Khz beacon that a robot follows part?
I think your best option would be to use a laser to “paint” the target. This is a technique the military uses for guiding missles, but you can probably adapt it for your uses.
You want to detect the reflection of the laser? You want your bot to "see" the laser dot in its environment. That would require a very sensitive detector (array). Perhaps a camera.
Why the 38 kHz? You also want to encode some commands in the beam? Or simply to avoid the very sensitive detector from following just any laser dot in the area? Or anything bright for that matter.
The only reason I suggested a laser was because it gives the operator a visual feedback, so he knows when the remote control is on, and where he’s pointing it. The laser might just as well be an extra indicator while the robot acually focuses on anather invisible beam sent along the same path…
But yes, I was hoping that the bot would follow the reflection, and not the actual light source in the controllers hand. this would require the operator to point the control device slightly besides the bot, and not directly at it.
