Heathkit Hero
USA
Asked
— Edited
I have recently purchased a Heathkit Hero Robot and I would like to replace the light sensor with a web cam. and install the ez-robot controller. IS there any type of Webcam I need to get? It will replace the sensor in front of the robot and be tied into a small footprint PC inside the robot. Also, has anyone had any experience integrating a Polaroid Sonar into the EZ robot controller? or does it need to the PC? Thanks a ton in advance!
HI
When you buy the EZ-B kit you get a cam with it . checkout the kit on the store page.
you also get a sonar sensor
Good luck with your Robot building.
Welcome to the forum
Steve_C.
The EZ-B (the interface board) is where you would hook up any sensors and motor control (from/to your existing robot). The EZ-B does not hook directly up to any camera (the one included in the kit or otherwise), but since you have an on-board PC, then as long as it runs Windows (or possibly iOS) then you would install ARC on the PC (ARC is the software that you program the controls, sensors, etc. with... and it interfaces with the EZ-B via bluetooth).
Thus, with an on-board PC, any USB webcam will work as long as you have drivers. It is via ARC that you "see" the video intake and configure controlled responses to/from the EZ-B and any attached sensors and motors.
The included camera (in the kit) is a WiFi based camera/USB dongle combo and I think the wireless cam is best for when the PC/ARC "brains" are not physically located on the actual robot (but will work just fine even if everything on-board, if you wanted.)
Not familiar with the Heath-kit Hero, but I think you will find EZ-Robot an excellent way to add more functionality to it!
Welcome!
Gunner
Thanks for the warm welcome guys. I think I am sold on the EZ controller. I think I will also order the drive relay, as it sounds like I will need this. The robot is powered by 12 Volt automobile battery. It has a broad band Light/IR sensor, a motion sensor and Polaroid Sonar system. So I think before swapping out the guts, I may need to make a spy cable and copy protocols to the Sonar and I/R sensors to understand how they work . I think the boards and software look great, and I believe this will be the perfect combination for the robot.