help: air duct cleaner robot

[nevermine]

Hi all,
first of all, i'd liketo said that im new to Robots, but im going to build a air duct cleaner robot for my project.
the robot is similar to the robot in the video shown below but without any cables.
[youtube]

Air Duct Cleaning

[/youtube]

now i have a question. what kind of vacuum that i can use? where can i get that?
my first idea is to modified those portable car's vacuum.but is there any other way to do that?so that can make my robot looks more customized.

thanks in advance

[Joker94]

i would think that the most effective, quickest and cheapest way would to be to go with a off the shelf solution.A product that already vacuums.

All you would have to do is hack the vacuum and find a suitable way to power and plumb every thing.

The biggest problem if you go with this method is powering the system. if you go with a battery powered cleaner you should be fine.

I am not sure where you can get a vacuum unit alone?

[nevermine]

Hi Joker94,thanks for your reply

thats the vacuum that im going to modified.
oh yea,power supply problem. maybe use a 9V++ or above battery.thats my idea currently.

then,i've go through the forum,and to make the robot able to turn left/right,i need some sonar sensor and omni-wheel.
but i found that the sonar sensor i found are $20++usd!is there any other cheaper sonar sensor?
by the way,im from Malaysia.nice to meet ya^^

[Joker94]

nice to meet you to

that vacum looks fine. you should be able to use the battery that is in the vacuum to power the vacuum on your bot.

Well to be honest around $20 for a sonar is a pretty good price. if you can give a link it would be good. Have you considered Sharp infrared snesors, they may work for your application and they can be got for around 10 each.

do you know what controller you are going to use on your robot?

sounds like a good project

Joker94

[SmAsH]

Don't rule out cables for power. A 240v(or whatever it is where you live) lead might work fine and could certainly be lighter than a battery for a vacuum.

[nevermine]

that vacum looks fine. you should be able to use the battery that is in the vacuum to power the vacuum on your bot.

Well to be honest around $20 for a sonar is a pretty good price. if you can give a link it would be good. Have you considered Sharp infrared snesors, they may work for your application and they can be got for around 10 each.

do you know what controller you are going to use on your robot?

sounds like a good project

Joker94

im going to use PIC16F/18F,depends on my needs.well,previously what i done with PIC chip is a simple+stupid lighting LEDs for christmas tree only @@. so lots homework to be gone through later^^
for the sonar,i got the link that provided from Societyofrobots and search.the cheaper among them is 20USD++
>> http://www.pololu.com/search?query=sonar&x=0&y=0
is it the correct sonar that i gonna use?
Sharp infrared sensor? hmm i'll try to google it.thanks for suggestion

[nevermine]

Don't rule out cables for power. A 240v(or whatever it is where you live) lead might work fine and could certainly be lighter than a battery for a vacuum.

thanks SmAsH for the info. yea i almost forgot about the weight of batteries @@
but i went shopping just now and i found some RC car's battery,but quite expensive. it is around $30USD++ after converted

[Soeren]

Hi,

then,i've go through the forum,and to make the robot able to turn left/right,i need some sonar sensor and omni-wheel.
but i found that the sonar sensor i found are $20++usd!is there any other cheaper sonar sensor?

If the ducts you wanna clean are simple tubes, you don't need sensors - it should follow the tubes bends (if not too sharp) when just let loose.
If you feel you need sensors, whiskers is a very cheap solution and could be made to work well in a closed duct.

A (rotating?) brush in the front could loosen the dirt and grime, so the vacuum will just have to pick it up.

But it's a bummer of a project: If you cannot get it to work it sucks... And when it works, it sucks even more 

[nevermine]

Hi Soeren,thanks for your reply

initially thats my draft for my robot (as what you described): brushes+vacuum+moving robot itself

then for the moving part, the basic requirement  is it should be able to stop when it reach a corner(maybe T-junction?) and stop. then furthermore, it should be able to turn left/right (if i'm able to manage this@@)

Soeren, the 'whiskers' you meant is something like tactile sensor?wow then it could be even more tough for me(i'm really newbie for micro-controller). but it is a great idea!thanks so much. i will google+do somehomework about it.

[SmAsH]

Whiskers generally refer to a tact switch with an extended piece of something to act as well... "whiskers". Mount one on each side and when one is tripped tell the robot to turn the other way, away from the wall it hit. Or maybe an idea for you, have it so the whiskers are always touching the walls then when one or both are not touching the wall, the robot will know there is an opening... What kind of ducts are we talking about here?

[nevermine]

Whiskers generally refer to a tact switch with an extended piece of something to act as well... "whiskers". Mount one on each side and when one is tripped tell the robot to turn the other way, away from the wall it hit. Or maybe an idea for you, have it so the whiskers are always touching the walls then when one or both are not touching the wall, the robot will know there is an opening... What kind of ducts are we talking about here?

hi SmAsH,for the picture below which i get from google,is it the "whiskers" that you are talking about?which modifying a tact switch

my robot is going to clean the dust in those air duct like aircond-system's duct....err hope it make sense to you
btw, i still doing my research homework.

[MechHead]

Some air ducts have screws sticking through on the inside.  Just something to be aware of.

[SmAsH]

Yes, that's the idea behind the whiskers. What shape is the duct? Square?

[nevermine]

Some air ducts have screws sticking through on the inside.  Just something to be aware of.

yea MechHead,thanks for your remind^^

Yes, that's the idea behind the whiskers. What shape is the duct? Square?

for easier one then round duct will do.but if im able to use the distance sensor like sonar,then i will choose a rectangular duct, and make my robot able to adjust itself to the middle of the duct, then start it's job.
Then im wondering what range of the sonar sensor more suitable for me. currently im looking at LV-MaxSonar-EZ1, but it is kinda expensive for me @@
is it ok if i choose LV-MaxSonar-EZ1?
thanks in advance