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Roaming BOT Help — Parallax Forums

Roaming BOT Help

NWCCTVNWCCTV Posts: 3,629
edited 2010-10-09 13:14 in BASIC Stamp
So I am considering turning my BOT I have been working on for some time now in to a "Roaming Guard" type BOT. I would like to come up with some sort of sensor to keep the BOT from traveling more than 5-10 feet outward of the building. Any ideas on how to do this without breaking the bank and too much tinkering? I was thinking of maybe some type of magnetic field type sensor, whereas I could place a metal strip along the bottom of a building and then have the BOT follow that from a distance. Make sense????

Comments

  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2010-10-09 11:52
    Sensing a magnetic field at a distance is difficult at best. You could bury a cable a few inches below the ground, run a signal through it at some specific frequency in the mid to upper audio range (not a small multiple of 60Hz), then use a pair of coils on the BOT to detect it. The Bot could follow the cable that way. The pair of coils would be used to tell which way the Bot should turn to reacquire the cable. If there's only one coil sensing the signal, it has to turn toward that coil.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,257
    edited 2010-10-09 12:28
    Wheel encoders to measure distance, or sonar may work short range in calm air and good weather.
  • NWCCTVNWCCTV Posts: 3,629
    edited 2010-10-09 13:14
    Thanks for the quick responses guys. I kind of like Mike's approach. I actually though about that also, just wanted to get a couple ideas. I thought of ping too, but am in Seattle area and our weather here is nowhere near descent!!! Thanks again.
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