Idea For My New Bot

Question

Back to community after a long time due to my graduation final exams. I'm excited to start building robots again...

I want to make a new robot that can move in the defined path on a floor. How can that be done?

I would even want the robot to click photos and automatically upload it to facebook page when I give the voice command "Upload to facebook!" Can that be done?

Kindly give me suggestions about how to proceed...

Dunning-Kruger · Answer

Not sure about Facebook, but there is Twitter functionality... As far as getting your robot moving in a defined path... at this point wheel encoders is your best bet... However, wheel encoders as far as I know are still not supported by EZ-Robot... Another option is the combination of a sabertooth motor controller and This

pranav · Answer

What is the Floormap functionality in ARC. Is it any way useful for my requirement? Can the kangaroo x2 be used with EZ-B? Just like the Record Video option, can we have a click photo option with ARC? Can the wireless camera that comes with EZ-B developers kit click HD pictures or are there any other wireless cameras that can do it? Sorry for too many questions...

Dunning-Kruger · Answer

With an EZB3, you'll need extra circuitry... For the EZB4, no one has it working yet (but some are working on it). Since the EZB4 can now receive serial data through it's UART ports you should be able to use it with the Kangaroo/sabertooth combo.... I have not had a detailed look at the floor map control in ARC, so I will really leave it for someone else to comment... However, my feeling is it won't get you what you need...

Rich · Answer

Encoders aren't natively supported, that doesn't mean they aren't supported though. You just need to do more work than usual to use them. While you can't upload to facebook through ARC you can use HTTPGet() or Exec() which could be used in conjunction with another application/web page to do that. You could possibly link facebook and twitter together so the post to twitter command in ARC would be copied to Facebook too, you would need to look in to that though, I'm not sure if it's that straight forward. Yes the Kangaroo X2 can be used with the EZ-B however the V3 cannot receive serial data so the EZ-B V3/ARC is unaware of the Kangaroo data. The V4 can receive serial data so it's not a problem. This is quite a hot topic at the moment. Floormap isn't really going to help much unless I've missed something with the control. What do you mean by click photo option? You can have ARC take a photo, that's no problem. ControlCommand("Camera", CameraSnapshot) for instance is one way of doing that. Which camera? The old one or the new one? Both are capable to taking photos however neither are HD. Any HD camera that Windows can see would be suitable though.

Antron007 · Answer

You may be able to abuse the Glyph Recognition system. Just make arrows and assign commands such as (These are very paraphrased btw): Glyph1 = up arrow, Glyph2 = down arrow, Glyph3 = right arrow, Glyph4 = left arrow. On Recognize Glyph1 move forward. On Recognize Glyph3 turn right then move forward. You could put arrows on the ground and have your camera looking at the floor. You can even make glyphs that symbolize rooms. You might be able to make a script like (once again not real code) GoTo(MyRoom) ControlCommand (Start glyph tracking) #This will start him moving On Glyph Detect (Living room) Stop I'm sure there is an example project that will show how to assign values to recognize the glyphs. I haven't messed with them at all so I'm going off of theory on this. These are just core ideas and need a little more code to them than I have eluded too but I think it's very doable. I have been know to make mistakes. From time to time. And just so you don't have to go digging for the Glyph Video. In this video the glyphs are triggering a speak command. i don't see why you can't change it to any command you want.  And all of the camera info can be found here Camera Device Manual

pranav · Answer

Thanks a lot guys... All the information was really helpful... @Rich All that I'm speaking is only in reference to v4. I can't imagine the potential of the v4 controller. I shall now start my R&D about wireless HD cameras. @Antron007 I really liked the idea of using Glyphs. That can be my last resort if I cant use encoders or Kangaroo x2. I will keep updating the work status in this thread.

Nomad 6R · Answer

just an idea,can you connect a facebook account to a twitter account?

Toymaker · Answer

For a robot to accurately follow a defied or pre-learned path, one of the simplest methods is to use odometry, for this you need high resolution encoders and anti-slip wheels. The Kangaroo is perfect for this application as can be seen in the video.

Rich · Answer

Tony, what encoders do you use? I know they are quite expensive but look well worth it.

I don't know enough about encoders (since, until now I've pretty much dismissed them) but would they work with the Omnibot/Hearoid motors and drive train? My thinking is, if I can upgrade Melvin's drive train then I can justify the purchase of a Kangaroo/Sabertooth/Encoder setup.

Toymaker · Answer

Rich, I like the HEDS-5545 encoder it works well with the Kangaroo here is the datasheet www.zagrosrobotics.com/files/heds55xx.pdf With 64000 ticks per revolution its very accurate!

pranav · Answer

Looks like Kangaroo x2 is the perfect solution... But how can it be used with EZ-B v4?

pranav · Answer

This thread has a lot of information related to Kangaroo. Thanks a lot @Toymaker

Toymaker · Answer

@pranav, thanks best of luck with your project.

pranav

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