Autonomous robot project
Hi everyone,
I am a student mechanical engineering and I've been assigned a very cool mechatronics project. The simple idea is that an autonomous vehicle must be able to bring a load (approx. 4 kg) from point A to point B with obstacles along the way. The vehicle will have to avoid the obstacles and drive over a ramp at a certain point, so it is important to keep the load balanced so it doesn't tip over.
Now I've got a good idea about how I'm going to make a balancing rig for the load, however I have no experience yet with programming whatsoever. So programming a robot to be autonomous will be a challenge for me. Doing some searching on the web I found this magnificent little thing called the Boe-Bot and it's Basic Stamp micro controller. I'm very keen on using the electronic components of the Boe-Bot to upscale it to a level where it can actually carry a load of 4 kg.
Now for that to work I can imagine that I'll have to fit bigger electric motors, power supply and probably bigger sensors. I have some concerns that the electronic components might not be able to handle the increased amount of current going through the micro controller.
So my question would be; Is it at all possible to upscale the Boe-Bot while keeping the electronics so I can still program it using the software? Any suggestions are welcome!
Thanks in advance!
Note: I haven't actually bought the Boe-Bot yet, so please don't refer me to any manuals, because I don't have them.
I am a student mechanical engineering and I've been assigned a very cool mechatronics project. The simple idea is that an autonomous vehicle must be able to bring a load (approx. 4 kg) from point A to point B with obstacles along the way. The vehicle will have to avoid the obstacles and drive over a ramp at a certain point, so it is important to keep the load balanced so it doesn't tip over.
Now I've got a good idea about how I'm going to make a balancing rig for the load, however I have no experience yet with programming whatsoever. So programming a robot to be autonomous will be a challenge for me. Doing some searching on the web I found this magnificent little thing called the Boe-Bot and it's Basic Stamp micro controller. I'm very keen on using the electronic components of the Boe-Bot to upscale it to a level where it can actually carry a load of 4 kg.
Now for that to work I can imagine that I'll have to fit bigger electric motors, power supply and probably bigger sensors. I have some concerns that the electronic components might not be able to handle the increased amount of current going through the micro controller.
So my question would be; Is it at all possible to upscale the Boe-Bot while keeping the electronics so I can still program it using the software? Any suggestions are welcome!
Thanks in advance!
Note: I haven't actually bought the Boe-Bot yet, so please don't refer me to any manuals, because I don't have them.
Comments
Larger motors wont usally have the electronics in them, so you would need something like this: http://www.parallax.com/StoreSearchResults/tabid/768/txtSearch/hb25/List/0/SortField/4/ProductID/64/Default.aspx . These will accept the same signals servos do and can control up to 50 amp motors, which is fine for your size bot.
Sensor wise, GPS will be good for something outdoors, with a large area for moving around. The parallax Ultrasonic sensors work directly with the BOE, and are just fine for large scale things. Otherwise, look around the forums and see what other people have done, and search around parallax.com at their sensors and motors. They have some really nice motors with 6" wheels, I have a pair, along with the motor controllers and they work great. http://www.parallax.com/StoreSearchResults/tabid/768/txtSearch/motor/List/0/SortField/4/ProductID/507/Default.aspx
You also might want to move this to the robotics forum.
As I said, I haven't got the "Robots with the Boe Bot" manual yet. I do plan on buying it if my plan to scale up the Boe Bot using the same electronic components is possible. I see that there's also a PDF version on the website, but for some reason I can't access it. I think the website might be down for a bit, I'll try again later and read up a little.
But from what you're saying, I understand that it is possible to do an upscale of the robot? I can use the same basic stamp micro controller and upscale the robot, use bigger motors using the HB-25 Motor Controller you linked to me? Could you confirm this for me, have I understood what you were saying correctly?
The robot won't need to be doing any outdoor activities, it'll have to be able to operate indoors. The navigation from point A to point B could be done in several ways; using beacons, line following, light following, etc. I haven't researched the ups and downs of those options yet so I haven't decided yet what I will use.
Last question for now; How do I move this thread to the robotics section of the forum?
Thanks!
Learning code on the boe bot should be very useful, because all of the hardware in the manual is the same as in the kit.
I don't have much experience upscaling things, but for the most part yes, much of the same code should work on the larger robot as it did on the boe-bot. You might have to change some of it, but the structure will be generally the same. The motors I linked have built in position controllers, so you can dead reckon the position of your bot easily. As for the electronics, that will be easy. You will not have to get another microcontroller of BOE.
As for sensors, I don't really know what you should use, but line following is very easy, in both code and hardware.
I'm in experimental stage too! Have a look at the Thread "Nikos 4WD Rover".
Despite of the enormous size of this robot it is very similar to the BoeBot.
I use the same electronics except the motors!
I've taken a look at your project, this is indeed something I'm looking for. Very nice project by the way! I need to get approval from my mentor to buy the kit, but from all the information I gathered I don't think that'll be a problem. All I have to do now is make a report on how I plan to realize the project and as soon as I get approval, I can get to the actual building and programming.
I've noticed the manuals on the Parallax website erco, thanks for mentioning it
More updates will follow soon