Looks sturdy enough to tow
Looks sturdy enough to tow your car in a pinch, nice job! Well done.
Nice idea. Makes me want to
Nice idea. Makes me want to build some big robot slave/friend too.
And master detection can be done with 38kHz IR reciver thingy(~3$ in here) with heatshrink to make it see smaller area. You, as a master, should have IR beacon (leds+ couple of 555). It can be done pretty accurately (~5 deg)and max range is like 10 meters or something like that.
Master ID sensor
I have not yet decided what I will use. I am still in the R&D stage for that part of the project. I welcome anyone with ideas on a good solution.
Camera on TOBI
My brother manufactures CCTV rigs for rent and may have just the solution for me to borrow to get some good video shots. I’ll post the video as soon as I get TOBI on the road.
LOL… That’s what Tax
LOL… That’s what Tax refunds are for - New toys.
The bigest ticket items were the Motors and HB-25’s to control them. I had to wait for my Tax refund to get them and while I had the money (and the wife was agreeable) I bought everything in one purchase except the Sharp IR Proximity sensors. I am still waiting for my heat seeking “Thermo Pile Array” from Robot City. It has been on back order for the last 3 weeks.
Video is up now
Finally I have a tested platform. It does carry my 25-30lb laptop case. It even carries it up a wheelchair ramp! I am impressed by the power of these little motors.
very nice!!!
Very creative. This is the future of airline and hotel baggage. 
looks very snazzy. keep up
looks very snazzy. keep up the good work
New video and BS2 Code posted
I posted my first draft of the BS2 wireless remote controlled TOBI along with a new video of how it works.
If anyone requests it, I’ll also draw up a schematic of the current configuration and post that.
Wow I knew someone would
<!–[if gte mso 9]> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val=“Cambria Math”/> <m:brkBin m:val=“before”/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="–"/> <m:smallFrac m:val=“off”/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val=“0”/> <m:rMargin m:val=“0”/> <m:defJc m:val=“centerGroup”/> <m:wrapIndent m:val=“1440”/> <m:intLim m:val=“subSup”/> <m:naryLim m:val=“undOvr”/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> <![endif]–> Wow I knew someone would have the same idea. I also saw Norris’s Robot Stool design and thought of making a bot that would carry my stuff around while following me. Here is what I have so far:
My goal currently is to make it follow a wall using IR and Ping sensors.
Here is one of my test runs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R00TBRMhehE
It measures the distance and calculates the amount of rotations to go. Stays roughly 50cm from the wall.
Cool robot. Are those BS2
Cool robot.
Are those BS2 based SumoBot boards running on your bot? I see that you have the motors mounted upside down. I assume that it is an indoor only robot. Have you posted your robot project here at LMR or elsewhere? I’d love to see your posting. Do you interface to the HB-25’s directly or do you use the position controllers to control them?
Cool robot. Are those BS2
Can you pose your code for me to view?
Thanks
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No I do not have any postings anywhere, yet. I just build this platform a week ago. I originally built a smaller version using servos and Ping sensors(Servo Wall Bot). I got it to follow a wall keeping appox. 20cm away. The bot in the video above is my next step using the Motor Mount Kit (which I know is backwards; didn’t have any tools to do it properly. In the future I will build a better frame.). As for the code, check your email registered to this site. I have been working on a way to incorporate my servo wall bot code (also emailed) using the position controller but I’m a little stuck on that part.
The first test version: Servo Wall Bot
More Answers
<!–[if gte mso 9]> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val=“Cambria Math”/> <m:brkBin m:val=“before”/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="–"/> <m:smallFrac m:val=“off”/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val=“0”/> <m:rMargin m:val=“0”/> <m:defJc m:val=“centerGroup”/> <m:wrapIndent m:val=“1440”/> <m:intLim m:val=“subSup”/> <m:naryLim m:val=“undOvr”/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> <![endif]–> Yes the robot in the video is controlled by one of the Parallax Sumo BS2 boards. The 2nd is for future stuff. Also to answer your HB-25 question, yes I’m working on using the position controllers but I don’t think they will work for my goal. I will give it a couple more tries but eventually I will write my final code interfacing directly with the HB-25. Those position controllers are just too cool to leave out.
Some things about the
Some things about the position controllers are cool like the whole system running from one pin, speed ramp rate, speed control going up or down slopes and automatic position holding even on a slope. Increasing the maximum speed will use the ramp rate to increse to the new speed.
The cons that I have run into are that decreasing the maximim speed DOESN’T use the ramp rate. It just jerks to the slower speed instantly. The rampt rate can also be a difficult issue if you issue too few movement tics. For autonomus action, you do not always know how far to move and you need to tell it how far. If you issue too few ticks, it will ramp up and may not reach your maximum speed. If you issue too man, it may be hard to get it to stop when you need it.
I have not decided if I will continue to use the position controllers to control the wheels or if I will chuck it and directly control the HB-25’s and use the position controllers for sensors instead.
Not tyring to hijack your
Not tyring to hijack your page, but thought I’d give you an update on my progress. See Youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO_5nwLAByk
It can follow walls at appox. 25cm min and 30cm max. It has 3 Ping sensors (Left, Front, Right) and 2 IR sensors (Corner Left, Corner Right).
Cool
I love it. It does justify my decision to run caster first as I see your robot gets very close to the wall when turning away from it. What kind of IR are you using? I haven’t got far on mine yet. Still need a first-run roll test with the Propeller chip running the show.
You should create a robot project page here to post your work in progress.
Following the master
Are you still looking for an idea for TOBI 4 so that it knows which human to follow? Have you thought about either RF ID technology or a proxy card (those wallet sized security cards used to unlock doors). You would have to carry an ID with you, but then your bot would always know exactly where you are.
Yes I am still in need of
Yes I am still in need of that solution. I do have a commercial RFID ID card that lets me into several county departments where I work. My main issues are how do I get a heading from it? How big are the directional antenna’s? Will they fit in an ever shrinking electronics compartment? How will it work in an office with six people [including me] who wear an RFID? And lastly are there RFID systems that have directional antennas?
Of course that is a moot point if I cannot conquer my current serial communications problem with the remote. To date, the Propeller microcontroller has not achieved TOBI 1. The Propeller has only done a roll test as in the first video. All of the videos used the BS2 microcontroller. I have thought about seeking out the nearest HAM Radio Club since they are RF geniuses.
More info on RF ID
My wife used to work for a company called ID Systems that makes RF IDs. They integrated the things into very small packages. They even sold some to the US Post Office, to be placed inside letters so they can track how the mail flows though their distribution centers.
I know that Walmart mandated use of RF ID for all their suppliers, so they can track where things are in their warehouses. That move alone drove up demand for RF ID quite a bit, so you may find a supplier out there for the components you need to build a small solution.