I'm looking for a micro TIR (tactical inspection robot) either tracked or wheeled but tall about 1,7 cm , wifi controlled by pc or android tablet and with cctv camera.
It should do an inspection for 30 meters and then come back for battery recharge, transmitting video with a microcamera with some led to operate in the dark. The device should be precisely controlled and move slowly.
I've done some research for ready made devices without success: I'm new to the field and I've no knowledge or time to build one myself, so I'm looking for ready made device or custom built one.
InspectorBots makes what you’re looking for and is fairly reasonable. Any company that has US Gov/military funding however, will be priced way outside of what you see with InspectorBots.
My MB3434 is already 2.5cm tall and there are still some questions which remains. Could it be longer, say 10cm or is there also a limitation? What is the environment, the surface, gravity (it might be on the ISS). Does it have to run autonomously or remote controlled. (LOL, read twice and you will see that this - my - question is obsolete) What is the needed resolution of the camera. Let us know more details so we can help you more
This is not a sewer inspection robot, the place where the device will operate is dry but dusty.
The height constraint is about 2,5 cm: 1,7cm is just an estimate because of some debris the crawler may find as obstacles in the path, maybe 2 cm are ok.
The width is not a problem because the crawl space is about 20-25 cm wide.
The materials between the operator controlling the device and the device itself is about1 cm of brick if the first is outside the building, around 10 cm of concrete + 12 cm of perforated brick if the operator is inside the building.
There is no metal or insulating foil if the operator is outside, but between perforated brick there are steel joist if the operator is inside of the building.
The distance to be travelled is in straight line.
As for the camera resolution, any decent camera that is not too expensive is ok.
Oh, it can be done. But it would be expensive if it were built at a professional level.
Think about an under 2cm tall RC controlled device that can send video back. You’re wanting it to go through a dark, dusty, crawl way that will probably have debris in it. Most motors I’ve used are bigger than this.
I am assuming that you aren’t the first person to want to be in this business. What do the others use? There are probably inspection robots that you could buy. Have you googled “small inspection robot” or similar things?
If you are only going to need this once you should look for something to rent. No reason buying a special bit of equipment that you will need to store or try to sell after you use it.
Renting a long fiber would be more cost effective than paying for something to use it once.
My rate is expensive and not worth it if you need it now. For a guess as to the cost, since this would be a one-off that doesn’t interest me that much and hasn’t been spec’ed out…
I’d probably do it for $2,500 plus materials. And it would have to run off a wire rather than radio; also I would retain the rights to sell copies or split royalties if you sold it. I’m sure there is ‘‘somebody’’ here who would be willing to do this cheaper and could do it better. If you are actually interested at that price, I would do it.
Frankly I think that you should just run a fiber line to see what you need to see. It would be cheaper and I’m sure you can rent them somewhere.
It uses cheap components, and for my particular needs this can be adapted using small wheels an different elements arrangement to reduce the overall height.
Put a camera on a mouse, and have it drag the USB cord behind it Take a mouse, or maybe a rat, collar it and attach the camera to the collar along with a USB cable.
Of course, USB might not work for 30 meters, so maybe radio might be better. It would still be best to have it drag a wire for power behind it. The power would be used to power the camera, the radio, and the steering.
The rat would have to be trained of course, to work with the steering. I’m thinking that small electric shocks on the collar at specific places could cause the rat to turn right or left. Or perhaps a very small speaker and the proper command words. I’ve never tried to train a rat.
I might have worded it I might have worded it sardonically, but it was meant to be a serious suggestion. If you can’t afford a bot to do what you want, try something different.
If you really want a bot, the try some micro servos placed horizontally, and use legs that sort of swim on the surface.
