boe-bot navigation using sonar to follow person

tcorson

for a school project i am trying to use sonar to get a device such as the boe-bot to follow a person. We however want to use the boe-bot's capabilities to follow an object using the ping sonar sensors.· Is there any way that we can make this possible?· Please send us any information regarding this topic.· We would greatly appreciate it.
P.S. and if anyone has any code to do this please send it to us.· we aren't experienced and frankly don't know what we are doing totally so any extra help will be greatly appreciated.

Franklin

The ping))) will calculate the distance to an object. If you write code to figure out which object is the person the ping will tell you (within limits how far away the person is. I don't think this is the best sensor for your application. As this is a school project you should ask your teacher for help or pick a project you know more about. For help learning about stamps I would you read some of the information here. www.parallax.com/html_pages/edu/index.asp

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
- Stephen

Mike Green

People generally won't produce a nice, clean ultrasonic echo. They tend to wear clothing which absorbs sound and they are kind of squishy underneath the clothing which also doesn't help produce sharp echos. Still, if they're standing in an empty room and there's nothing else that will return an echo at a close range, it might work. I assume you have the BOE-BOT with the PING bracket. You could try the PING sonar display program (PING)))Dar) with a person standing in front and experiment with different distances and different clothing to see what echos you actually get. You might also want to angle the PING a little upwards to reduce echos from the floor.

Andy Lindsay (Parallax)

On the other hand, I think the Ping))) sensor can work well for following a person; however, you've got to get the basics under your belt first.

Step 1: Go through the activities in Robotics with the Boe-Bot. Each one is just a few pages. You can kick out Chapter 6 if you want. The example code in Chapter 8, Activity #2 (you'll have to start in Chapter 7 and work through) will work for person following so long as the person is moving very slowly.

Step 2: There's also a posted application in the Stamps in Class "Mini Projects" thread that shows how to scan for, detect, and go to the closest object. All this can be done on the fly for person following provided you have carefully studied Robotics with the Boe-Bot.

Robotics with the Boe-Bot PDF:
http://www.parallax.com/dl/docs/books/edu/Roboticsv2_2.pdf

Stamps in Class Mini Projects:
http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=6&m=98784

On the Stamps in Class "Mini Projects" page, there are two links with pictures, and a video clip of the Boe-Bot using the Ping))) ultrasonic sensor to scan for and go to the closest object. The links are in the Boe-Bot + Ping))) Ultrasonic Rangefinder section.

Now, a better way to do it might be to attach an infrared beacon to a person's ankle or shoe. That way, you can use the concepts in Robotics with the Boe-Bot chapter 7.· The detection range will probably be better too.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Andy Lindsay

Education Department
Parallax, Inc.