Society of Robots - Robot Forum
Mechanics and Construction => Mechanics and Construction => Topic started by: Ziga on January 01, 2008, 01:02:05 PM
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Hello!
I wanna make a wall avoiding robot. It would be my first robot, and i want it to avoid walls offcourse.
I need to know :
1. what materials i need to make it
2. how much it costs
3. a little bit help by how to make it.
If it isn't too hard (because it's my first robot) i would like to give a drill on it
But that isn't important. Important is that it would avoid walls.
Thanks to anyone who will help me ;D
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Its not so hard
You first need to decide whether you want noncontact wall avoidance or contact avoidance
noncontact is harder and more expensive but you'll reuse the concepts learned from building that robot later on
search around the forum for wall avoiding and obstacle avoidance
ill have a better reply tomorow when i go back on the forum, im tired now :P
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Thank you
Anyway, i was thinking more about noncontact
it's much better that way
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the $50 robot uses photocells and when pointing at the right angle will double as wall avoidence pecause of the shadows
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Well, i was thinking more about somathing what would be designed by me and things like that.
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Well there are 2 of these non-contact robots on this forum that i know of. The first one is ultra low budget. The second cost a bit.
http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=1304.0 (http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=1304.0)
http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=1173.0 (http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=1173.0)
Maybe these will give you an idea.
Hazzer
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Yeah i was watching Walbot alredy. It's cool, but it costs around 150 $.
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Well there are 2 of these non-contact robots on this forum that i know of. The first one is ultra low budget. The second cost a bit.
http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=1173.0 (http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=1173.0)
http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=1173.0 (http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=1173.0)
Maybe these will give you an idea.
Hazzer
Those are two identical links ;)
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haha :D Oops
here is the real second link - http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=1304.0 (http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=1304.0)
i edited the original post aswell.
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Nice :)
How much does it cost for you to make one? and what materials you need?
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No answers?
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make a photovore ($50 robot) and aim the photosensors at teh wall
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It cost me about £20.
All i bought were the servos (£7 each HS-311), IR LEDs(20p each), phototransistors(20p each), resistors (10 for 40p), quartz crystal oscillator(80p), prototyping board (£4) and capacitors(~£1).
The robot body was made using the case from an old floppy drive, the microcontoller was ordered from microchips sample site, i allready had a programmer (but these are really cheap to make), the wheels were made from cut out cardboard, battery from an old RC car... i think thats it.
Yeah its really cheap. I reckon its harder than the $50 robot though, since the microcontroller is just a chip. There is no board that it comes with so you have to sort out the oscillator, power, possibly UART all by yourself. I programmed mine in assembly which was an experience :) but i recommend using a c compiler (PICC Lite or C18).
Ermmm yeah i think thats it :D
Hazzer123
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Well, anyway - i also wonder how to program a robot :P
You need to write code or what?
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I used this tutorial to learn how to write in assembly http://www.mstracey.btinternet.co.uk/pictutorial/picmain.htm (http://www.mstracey.btinternet.co.uk/pictutorial/picmain.htm)
I used this to learn c http://www.amazon.co.uk/C-Programming-Language-2nd/dp/0131103628/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199387474&sr=8-1 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/C-Programming-Language-2nd/dp/0131103628/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199387474&sr=8-1)
Hazzer
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Thanks
Oh and which program you use by design?
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For writing in assembly i used Vim Text Editor (http://www.vim.org/download.php)
Although i could have used Microchip MPLAB IDE (http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=1406&dDocName=en019469&part=SW007002).
I didn't design the robot on the computer or anything, just used a bit of cellotape :).
If i wanted to design a robot on the computer I personally would use Pro/Desktop or Pro/Engineer, since i allready have a good grasp of these programs.
But many on these forums seem to like google sketch up and solidworks. Ive never tried them so i dont know much about them.
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great :D now i just need to know which parts i need so i can order them ;D and than it's time to build!
Anyway, which parts would be the best?
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The Best IR sensor would be a Sharp IR (http://www.active-robots.com/products/sensors/sensors-sharp.shtml). But i used an IR LED and an IR phototransistor.
If you go with the LED/phototransistor approach, make sure that the wavelengths are matched for the two items.
The Hitec HS311 is ideal for a small robot - Link (http://www.servocity.com/html/hs-311_standard.html)
You can get a PIC16F876A from Microchip Samples (http://sample.microchip.com/Default.aspx?testCookies=true). You will need some oscillators, capacitors, resistors etc for the actual circuit, so research and order these, they'll only cost a small amount.
You can buy a programmer or make one. This is a classic home-made programmer - http://www.ic-prog.com/cpp.gif (http://www.ic-prog.com/cpp.gif)
For power, you can use an AA battery holder which are cheap and found in lots of places.
For the chassis of the robot, im sure you will be able to find something in the house to use as one.
.. I think thats about it.
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Thanx. I will buy it ^^
Only the probably last question - when you write the program for the robot in C, how do you load it on the robot?
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you need to find a compiler program my sujestion read the $50 robot to learn about the circut and how to program
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Well, i was thinking more about somathing what would be designed by me and things like that.
Don't worry, the $50 robot offers a lot of flexibility. Its designed to teach you all the basics so that you can design your second robot all by yourself. If you don't want to make it, I still suggest reading it to get an idea of what parts you need and whats expected to program it.
Your first bot should always be about learning how to make a robot, then after that you can try out your ideas :)