here is an autonomous robot that has a plc as brain and an IR sensor with relay output.When the sensor detects an object, it will turn away from the object.
I have been very inspired by Frits robot with the yellow wheels.
I use a speed controller from velleman electronics to control the speed of the 2 gearmotors, and the servomotor is without electronics I control it with af relay and the potentiometer in the servo goes to an input on the plc, so the robot knows where the sensor is and which way it must turn.
The sensor turns from side to side and stops when it detects an object and starts again when there is no object
Update 10/4/2009
finaly Easter and more freetime to play with my robot. I added a new video and some
Pictures.
I added a motorcontrol to the pwm motorcontroller so that the robot starts slowly and stops slowly ( the 3 last pictures) watch video
Update: 12/4 2009
Found this inside a old computermouse 3 encoders and some switches
johny number 5 that’s funny. the very first thing that came into my mind was “those treads look exactly like number johny five” (said with a horribly bad indian accent)
yes they are expensive, but it was just right for my project, and its a strong kit its able to carry approx.2,2kg. you can buy it from Lynxmotion for 221 usd or Search the Web. Active robots was the cheapest for me.
I have actually thought about the speed of the scanning head,but i will test it an then speed it up if necesary.
The scantime is right now 4 sek. and the motor runs at the slowest possible at 1,2V from an regulator (LM317) similar to an 7805 regulator but it can be adjusted from 1,2V - 35V and 1,5A (nice littel fellow)