Jayutmb
USA
Asked
— Edited
So with bots running around in a "free range" fashion, how has everyone approached the falling down the staircase issue or other " off a cliff" type situations ? Is it as simple a a few ping sensors angled downward to detect a drastic change coming then loop to an avoidance script as if there was something in the way?
I use these IR Detectors These are basically what roombas use as well... They are simple analog ir detectors...
As Richard said, IR is usually used for cliff detection.
Personally, I have no problems with needing cliff detection since my robots are only allowed to roam around downstairs and the floors are all level but if I did choose to put some detection in it would be IR since it's (apparently) better than sonar for this function.
One problem that kinda broke scraps was the when the ez-b disconnected and the bot was moving forwards well when it disconnected it did not stop and I did not have the time to catch it before it went over a cement wall down 6 feet onto concrete hard
So im thinking of how to do a fail safe that will be hard wired to work off the sound it makes when it disconnects and causing the battery to be disconnected
The EZ-B sets all digital ports low on disconnect so any H-Bridge should stop on disconnect as should any modified servo or PWM based motor controller. The exceptions are serial controlled motor controllers such as the Sabertooth.
Here's an example video showing the ports going low on disconnect.