I just built this little bot this morning! The shape (and code) seems excellent at keeping this bot from "getting stuck" and if I were to add a small sponge to the bottom I could use it to clean my bathroom after in a while! A 5 cell rechargeable AA setup provides more than enough power for flat indoor floors. (Even at relatively slow speeds, the robot runs nicely in a fairly straight line.) The green flanges in back don't drag the ground but function to keep the slightly tail-heavy robot from tipping over. It has hardware to add sound, and I do like the idea of some form of remote serial communication to the desktop pc. I am using straight-forward Arduino C/C++ code (still, one of the easiest and most efficient ways to program a small bot). A Digillent Uno32 provides the guidance and the PING))) does a obstacle alert and a search for a clear route. The pot controls the sensitivity to distance. (I am waiting on more information on technical details of my Officially (too expensive) Arduino Robot.) Hopefully, a college will "adopt" some and have a course based on more "advanced" programming of them. I LOVE building a new bot, and putting one together and getting the initial programming going in half a day is reasonable for me.
Autonomous room navigation, possible cleaning capability
- Actuators / output devices: 2 motors.
- Control method: Autonomous.
- CPU: Digilent Uno32
- Operating system: Arduino
- Power source: 5 AA rechargables
- Programming language: C/C++
- Sensors / input devices: Ping)))
- Target environment: indoor flat surfaces
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://community.robotshop.com/robots/show/long-haul
Update:
A added a simple but rather loud sound ouput. (I wish the “Official Arduino Robot” was this loud!)
tone(4,1000,500); Produces a 1000Hz tone, for 500ms on pin 4.
(If anyone is interested in my VERY basic amplifier design I will be happy to put it up here. It isn’t HiFi, but neither is the one pin output from the Arduino!)
I also added a SLCD16x2 serial LCD display so the robot can “emote” when it comes upon an obstacle and be happy when the path in front of it is clear. (I am using the standard serial output tx pin to drive the display, which works out great because the Uno32 serial output is the at a safe level for the 5V serial display.)
Still thinking about RF com of some form to/from the pc. Can anyone suggest a way that is cheap, simple and reliable???
Thank for the reply, 6677.
Yes my PC has bluetooth. (As far as I understand it, the latest bluetooth with best possible range.)
What bluetooth adapter do you recommend?
Thanks again 6677…
It sure doesn’t sound very hard. I will look for a sale on a good Arduino compatible bluetooth adapter.
I wonder if driving my serial LCD display off the Uno32 tx pin will cause any issues. It shouldn’t as tx is defined as an output.
The idea of connecting to an Android device by means of bluetooth intrigues me, as I want to try building a robot based on a cheap Android capable cellphone with a USB/serial connection to a Arduino for motor control, etc.
I have often thought one of the neatest ways to make a bot would involve a laptop or even an entire (small) desktop that could run some serious AI (maybe chatbot like, semi-conversational) software. And do I EVER have the perfect software to try with that! 
(Add some fancy Maker-Bot printed head, arms and (and even legs!) and one can only imagine the final results! Just keep the thing unplugged from Sky-Net!) Such an imagination I have… (Thanks again for all the great comments.)
Re: BT
hackaday just posted an article about setting up BT between an arduino and an android phone. I doubt there is much difference between a phone and a computer at that point.
http://hackaday.com/2013/07/08/two-way-bluetooth-communication-made-easy/
step-by-step instruction
Looks cool. Do you have step by step instructions on how to build it?
Sorry, nahidalam,
Part of the “fun” of making a bot like this is NOT having any specific instructions to follow… Its true. Double sided foam tape (and maybe a screw or two) and things just sort of go where they fit well. If you run out of “room” on the white protoboard (or the bot performs poorly) you do it different the next time. I never think of a bot as my “last” bot and the next one will surely be better! Right?
Hints: One can look at the code and one can pretty much tell where the electrical connectors go. (Remember, on a 3.3V board like the Uno32 the top of the detection range adjustment pot goes to 3.3V, NOT 5V. All other servos, sensors and the motor driver can be powered by 5V.) There are a million examples of the motor driver chip setup on the web. The PING))) setup is on the Arduino website, Any simple amplifier can drive the speaker, or a piezoelement can be directly driven off a pin. I use 1K resistors to connect to the LEDs, that makes them plenty bright for me.
Thanks again, birdmun.
I am always happy when you show up!
(Add some fancy Maker-Bot printed head, arms and (and even legs!) and one can only imagine the final results! Just keep the thing unplugged from Sky-Net!) Such an imagination I have… (Thanks again for all the great comments.)