AFT Autonomous Follower Transport Robot Trip

[nashasboy]

Ok I think THINK it is an rc car with no top but I am not totally shure

[TheDireAvenger]

That's fantastic! I'd love to know how the electronics element of something like this works. Is it a full miniature PC running Linux at the centre taking data and giving instructions or is it possible to make a complex robot like this using just a few pre-programmed PICs on their own custom PCB?

[luckyuniversal]

He looks hungry.

[XANDERXXZ]

Terminator!!!!!!

(well somone had to say it)

[JoshyNapalm]

Great, just what we need, robotic stalkers.

[DILLIGAFFUM]

we should free the enslaved robot servants so as not to suffer their wrath when they fuck up our shit like in terminator...

[charcoal777]

wow this is cool

[Masamuneblade7]

Cool, Ive messed with RC things but not automatic ones. Theoratically youve got a tracker in your pocket that it can pick up from a short distance and it will follow it using programming that was in the RC chip to turn left and right and go forwards and backwards? So if you started running it would speed up, but it would stop if you stop and it would back up if you approached it quickly?

Ive seen similar things with toy aircraft so they wont kamikazi. is this correct?

[skwerley1]

sooo what does an "autonomous transport robot" need an antenna for?

looks/sounds to me like an RC car with no cosmetic casing.

[jdrisch]

Originally the chassis was RC controlled, built and designed to carry my engineering gear (see my website for more details) There was redundant RC communication, but there is a transmitter on the front of the car with no human interfacing(its wired to an FPGA) the ambitious goal was to be able to remove the whole control module (whole front box) and be able to place it on another car, only needing to match RC crystals, rather than needing to rewire to operated a completely different vehicle.

[botanikox]

U got some nice shoes dude :p

[roidroid]

with this technology you could eventually create trucks that self-assemble into roadtrains.

[jrortega]

can you show me the code for its steering.. i would like try it using Pic16f84

[jrortega]

can you show me the code for its steering.. i would like try it using Pic16f84

[drsounds]

Wow! great proof of concept. That is what a robot is supposed to do!

[jdrisch]

Autonomous Follower Transport, job: autonomously follow while trasporting, this robot can carry 30 lbs payload, chassis was about 9 lbs. total wait about 40 lbs, scaled up it could simply multiple viehicle convoys, heck one day similar systems could switch on for freeway driving and clear up trafic, this system is a basic idea of throttle and steering control by simple logic.

[Iamnotaparakeet]

What if the lead vehicle, say, falls off of a cliff?

Is this simply a follow-the-leader robot or does it have some intelligence?

[bakoako]

im amazed!!!!..... your aft almost resembles our project may i ask what battery or motor you used thanks.....

[jdrisch]

Titan 550 i beleive 23 turn, stock motor for a traxxas monster truck, 12.8 Ah worth of sub-C 7.2 volt Ni-MH packs (4 packs of 3200 mAh)

[hiomo]

Please Which FPGA are you using ?? Virtex ??

[jdrisch]

Xilinx Spartan 3 XC3S200

[DrDell]

that would be a sick transport truck that follows you but then again you would have to make the cover for it

[desxbo]

its like a dog that dose not crap ever were

[Legendation]

This is what i call the future, sooner or later, machanice dogs will follow us instead of real ones.Quite cool though, the trouble is needing to carry it all the way back to your house when it runs out of battery.

[TeddyLeper]

You should make a golf cart.

[jdrisch]

The entire control system is contained within the "cab" portion of the car, and used an FM tramsitter in teh rely of informtation, the ambitious plan was actually to complete the system on the smaller car, then be able to hot swap it onto an interfaced full size veihicle, where the power steering was intefaced and servos attached to the accelerator, etc

[dandruffmike]

I like :)

[xXprojectt2501Xx]

I LOVE IT!! It is the most creative and useful use of an autonomous robot. Good job, keep up the good work.

[dude486]

cool but do somthing about the noise its kinda

irritating.

[Redshift21]

No way I love the noise, it sounds just like the little robots that run around the floor in star wars films :)

[reincarN8ed]

omg, ur right!!!  freakin sweet!!!

[jdrisch]

There are always two sides to this, its electic and if its drive train was trully designed for this duty load, then it could be silent, but then people won't hear it coming, and might trip over it, suprisingly all of its days at Cal Poly Pomona no teacher ever complained, in fact a teacher of another disapline(possibly maketing or economy) actualy pulled me in to his class to explain what it was

[JohnnyThunderzzz]

this would be great as a trolly for and after being at the supermarket!

[PetrFM]

I think robot follows that little box in rear pocket of his masters shorts. Maybe its infrared transmitter or something like that

[jdrisch]

Bingo, doesn't anybody read the descriptions? -John (guy who designed this project)

[PetrFM]

After several robots built by me I would solve following robot just by infrared beacon. Your method of IR detection is simple and elegant but in my opinion not very robust (sensitive to reflections indoor).

[jdrisch]

actualy the direction descision is made by intensity and any reflection will never be as intense as the shortest path to the beacon so reflection never seemed to be an issue, the biggest issue was the overbearing IR intensity from the sun, the need for tighter bandpass IR filters can be used to overcome that issue.

[PetrFM]

Thigter OPTICAL bandpass filter is not a solution because sun light is very intense in near IR region on all wavelengths.

I do not know if you are using integrated IR receivers like SFH506, but using IR photodiode in current generating mode (not so prone to saturation) on higher frequency (400kHz) and realy narrow filtering of that 400 kHZ carrier can work (IR filter is a must ofcourse).

[roidroid]

Why not just track the sun seperately. Compare this to the GPS location (could be pre-set), time and season - and you can calculate the orientation of the vehicle via the sun. Much like star trackers used by NASA vehicles in space.

The sun could be a useful source of extra orientation information for you.

[liamrevenge]

This is a next generation dog :)))

[jzygula]

Didn't someone do that with a shoping cart?

[mrxgonza]

I would say the person that is filming is driving the rc innit?

[hyperkinetic]

Are you denying that this is automated?

[mrxgonza]

dunno, well then that guy has something on him that makes the robot follow him

[hyperkinetic]

Yes. They make golf bags carriers that do the same thing.

[mrxgonza]

Haha! OMG i think golf is one of those sports that are not really involved in doing much exercise (just like chess XD) even more if they invent things like that innit!?

[adisharr]

Great stuff man :)

[acalthu]

that is a nice piece of kit