This bot, has been a kinda "I'm bored" project. It has taken several iterations over the last few years. Mostly made from scraps and donated material, there is very little that has been "bought". Typically, when I have a new idea, I will implement it into the design. Originally, the designs evolved as follows; Gen 1: Mini ITX pc 4 Motors, no PID / Problems: Battery required too big, pc and hardware expensive and bulky / Gen 2: Chumby SBC 2 motors, PID via FPGA Vision / Problems: Chumby doesn't have the power to handle vision, FPGA code highly complex / Gen 3: Raspberry PI / Problems: DIY Motor controller died (PIC 16F677??)
Very hard to access components due to tier desin / Gen 4: Raspberry PI B+ OpenElectronics Motor control with PID Arduino for Sensor interface and data gathering Raspberry Camera for vision Ability to use python for code 2 tier design, better access to components, and more room for expansion
At the moment, I have other projects that require my attention; so the hardware is ready and I just need to take the time to write the code. Also, an arm is in the works. Initial design of the arm is proving to be difficult, low cost, usable attributes, and simplicity. More to come soon. (probably when winter comes again)
Autonomy, vision, sonar, PID control
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://community.robotshop.com/robots/show/ongoing-pi-bot