Subject:
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platform choices...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics.handyboard
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Date:
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Mon, 19 Oct 1998 04:22:58 GMT
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Original-From:
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Clem Taylor <ctaylor@srtc^AntiSpam^.com>
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Viewed:
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1228 times
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Hi:
When I was in school, we built an autonomous mobile robot based on a six
wheeled, 'electric ride-on toy' from Toys-R-Us. It had a sturdy metal
frame, two nicely geared motors, a decent battery. It worked fairly well
and could carry a large payload (IR, ultrasound, bump sensors,
micro-controller, laptop, etc.).
Lately, I've become interested in building a new one, this time with a
better budget. I'm planning on using a HandyBoard and PIC processor(s)
for the low level control and remote the high level control (video based)
to my O2.
Right now I'm trying to decide on a platform. At this point, I'd prefer
to avoid building the platform from scratch, so I was hoping to use a RC
truck or another kiddie car with differential steering.
I've been playing around with a 'Tamiya King Blackfoot', because it was
fairly cheap, but I'm not happy with the results. The turning radius is
huge, so large that I have a hard time turning it around in the halls at
work, so I how can I expect to do it in software. The suspension was not
designed for a payload and with a high res B&W camera, WaveCom Jr. 2.4GHz
video transmitter, 16 AA batteries, and an electronic power controller,
the front end toes in making it hard to steer. Also, it is geared for
speed and has a hard time starting at low speeds. It's great fun to drive
around at work, but I think it's a bad choice for an autonomous robot.
As a result, I'm in search for another platform.
One thing that looked really interesting was the platform used by USC's
1997 RoboCup entry.
Check out:
http://www.isi.edu/isd/dreamteam/
http://www.isi.edu/isd/dreamteam/pictures2.html
> From the paper, the platform is based on a RC truck that has some form of
differential steering. However, I haven't been able to find out who made
the truck. I tried asking on comp.robotics.misc and one of the team
members, but no luck so far. Does anyone know what they used?
Does anyone have other suggestions? To simplify the control, I'd prefer
something with differential steering or a fairly small turning radius. In
a recent trip to Toys R Us, I didn't have any luck finding a kiddie car
with differential steering. I may have to give up using something off the
shelf and build the entire thing from scratch, but if possible, I'd like
to avoid that. Any ideas?
Many thanks,
Clem
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