Yes, I had assumed people were already doing so anyway. I know robotmaker is as are you.

I'm planning to test a few methods but time is against me for anything practical (short of sitting on the forums all day long...). I want to try out the wall measuring method and the additional camera method.

Rich are you able to help me on the code,looking to try working on the code from arduino to ezb like i put in my post about the pololou design most likely going to use D1 ,D2,D3,D4 for N,S,E,W There is a way to use I2C for digital inputs,very common converter chip

Ignore arduino code. Dumb it down a lot.

Use either the digital wait command

Quote:

Digital_Wait (digitalPort, on/off/true/false) Wait until the digital port status has changed Example: Digital_Wait(D12, ON)

Or the get digital command

Quote:

GetDigital( Port ) Returns the Digital value of the specified port as a 0 or 1 Example: $x = GetDigital(d0)

along with an If statement to check for high on one of the 4 digitals so it knows where to turn.

:start
$north = GetDigital(D1)
$east = GetDigital(D2)
$south = GetDigital(D3)
$west = GetDigital(D4)

If ($north = 1 or $east = 1 or $south = 1 or $west = 1)
  # Do something if beacon detected.

Endif
Goto(start)

That'll pick up when the beacon is detected. For the individual directions you can use 4 If statements like;

If ($north = 1)
  # Do something if the beacon is to the north
ElseIf ($east = 1)
  # Do something if the beacon is to the east
ElseIf
...
EndIf

You get the idea.

Then you just need to make the robot move to the beacon. I assume north is front and centre of the robot (not actual north). So the first thing to do would be to rotate the robot upon detection of the beacon so north is high and the others low.

For instance;

If ($south=1)
left()
Digital_Wait(D1, ON)
Stop()
ElseIf ($east=1)
...
EndIf

South doesn't matter for the turn direction. East & West can use Right and Left commands to minimise movement.

That should be enough to start you off I'd have thought.

OK will try this week or weekend

I see RICH answer my queston on getting PWM values using a script,and looking at the script manual can send PWM values

So making a low cost beacon circuit the same at the pololou IR beacon,can be done fairly cheap without the need of the pololu ir beacon boards using only a EZB and 5 digital ports 4 for N,S,E,W and one for the IR driver (transceiver)

Looking at about $20 or less,now can use 2 pairs of IR'S but tracking wont be as good,360 deg scan is better then -45 and +45 deg scan using only 2 pairs

I can easy make a circuit to explain it better

So I guess it would be pretty simple to make it even cheaper and only use 2 ports, 1 for N and one for the transceiver?

I realise this would reduce the effectiveness greatly but I'm thinking about say that the beacon emits a 360 degree IR signal, the robot has a receiver front and centre, if it spins on the spot in the room with the beacon, provided there are no objects in the way it'll know the general direction of the dock. That could be useful and a cheaper alternative, plus use less ports for those with nearly full EZBs and don't want to run two in the robot.

Using simple chip ,can have a lot more digital ports on EZB or onther chip that has digital in and I2C out Its called multiplexing ,ITS the easy way of getting more digital or analog ports from one output without losing speed,and cost of another EZB

Lot of the members here like to use 1 to 3 EZB'S thats up to $210 total if getting at about $70 each on the multiplex idea onle $70 plus under $2 for the chip speed stays the same because it digital its not using another EZB

ON the IR beacon since i have a scxope,plus digital counter and signal generator will do some testing on the design to pick the right PWM values and more

Will start friday and post my data,waveforms if needed is hard now,since my company made return my digital storage scope that had print outs of waveforms (rats)

ON the way the 360 deg works it spins until it finds the right beacon signal,doesnt matter if anything blocks it,can hacve the robot move a little if needed and scans again

WITH using only one or 2 RECEIVERS and transceivers IF there is a object in the way or if the robot is turned around it cant detect home base

Now there are simple other ways to use only one beacon ,one is use a SPINNING mirror to get 360 deg like the LIDAR design or A OMNICONE or parabolic mirror

HERE is a site i use alot for very good info on docking logic ,finding home base and charging it alot of different ideas

docking logic

there are over 50 pages just to let you know,i did print all of it about 2 years ago

When i was really into the finding home base designs and testing all types another edit was about 5 years ago on my date on the bottom of the pages i printed ,wow