This robots sees all…
Until I assemble the
IRPD
Kit, I wanted to attempt
a IR Radar system using standard
Lego parts that would let the
RCX know if there was an obstruction
to the left, right or straight
ahead. This is my attempt.
This is a very simple
design that uses A-B steering
and a pivot wheel for balance. Notice
the three light sensors for the program
to use. The NQC program sends
out IR flashes and samples
from each light
sensors. The
left and right sensors are doing
simple IR radar which measures each
pulse and looks for large variances
indicating a nearby object. If
the left is triggered, then the
bot turns right. If the right is triggered,
then the bot turns left. The
middle light sensor uses the DEFCON code
(see credits below) to measure how close
the bot is to an object. If a DEFCON
level greater than 3 is measured, the
bot will back up and try to
get left and right readings again.
A side view of the
bot.
The top view shows
a piece I am testing. It is a bump
sensor that lights up. I scavenged
it from a hackey sack (?)
ball that glows when you kick
it. I made it more sensitive
by adjusting the spring
that it uses to detect a disturbance
(any motion). It is
not connected to the RCX (yet).
The bottom. Notice
I have used some parts from the
Star Wars sets. They have a
good collection of useful
parts.
Here
is the NQC code that runs the robot. It leans
heavily on the DEFCON code from
Mark R. David
and John
Cooper. And from the NQC tutorial found
on the RXCC
site.
A quicktime
movie of the bot is located here.
