I am completely new to robot building and, in turn, new to this forum. I am currently studying Computer Science so I may be able to use some of what I know already to help.
Anyway, I have a basic idea in my head but I am asking for a little help on, how you think, it could work. It seems relatively easy in my head - for those that are used to robot building;
I would want a robot that is programmed to move straight and turn to cover a specified area. For example, if I was to program it to cover 10' x 10' it would move forward for 10ft, then turn 90°, move forward about a foot or a half, turn 90° again(so it is now facing down, towards where it started) and carry on for another 10ft before turning again, blah blah blah.. until it has reached the end of the 10x10 area. I'd like it be able to support about 20lb though so it might have to be relatively large.
So basically, my question is - Have you any tips, links, ideas etc. in order to take my idea and create the finished product?
I'm eagerly awaiting any suggestions as I do more of my own research.
electric wheelchair can be use, you just need a good strong motor driver.
What is in your mind about the controllng system ? arduino ?
What is the reel final surface where the robot going to be ? concrete, dirt, grass, the plastic of patio, or may be wood ? by determining that you going to choose the traction, the wheels and the odometry system.
…this is going to me more trouble than doing it manually.
You should probably look into beacon based localization systems. This way your father can just place some beacons in the corners of the surface to clean and the robot can make sure it doesn’t miss any spots.
Searching on google for “beacon robot localization” turns up a wealth of resources, most of them research papers.
Here is a paper that covers a basic infrared based system:
