Remote Control Rover Help

[Dominator_Legen]

Hy,

[Intro]
My Name is John, From Egypt, Study Computer Scince, I need to build a rover robot for my graduate project, Please i need help to the following problems.

[1] First Problem

The rover use 4 wheels to move, Using 4 Servo, I Saw a clipe for omini3.mpeg that allow the rover to turn left and right, by directing the left(Front and Back) Wheels To Forword, And Right(Front and Back) Wheels To Back, By this method the rover turn around it self, My problem dose this method work in any surface (sand or grace or etc...)???,

(*) Please if you can give me a way to turn the rover left or right, if you have method better than this method, Thanks

[2] Second Problem

My project idea is a robot, the rover is used for military fields, So it have a camera, that return its stream to the persone control it.
Its remote control (Long Distance 1 or 2 mile) -> Please give me a tutorial for interfacing the trancever circute to the motherboard of the robot,

PLEASE HELP.
I need a complete tutorial that explain IN DEATILES the steps to build a remote control robot rover (from a long distance).

Please help me if you can.

Thanks In Advanced For Any Help.

[Mike Betts]

John,

You have caught us at a critical time. Almost everyone on this forum is involved with the FIRST robotic competition and our ship date is only 12 days away so most folks are already burning the midnight oil...

Feel free to browse these threads and white papers. As far as detailed help is concerned, you will probably not get much until 13 or 14 fays from now...

Good Luck...

Mike

[Billfred]

(initial part of message deleted--see next post for details)

When it comes to the camera, the FIRST Robotics Competition (which virtually all of us on this site compete in) uses a camera for seeing objects on the playing field, such as a yellow triangle on the floor. The software knows what these objects look like--the drivers never get to see the camera's output during a match.

I'm not familiar with the clip you have seen, but if it is like the omniwheel setup commonly used in the FIRST Robotics Competition, then no, it would likely not function well in grass or sand without extensive modifications to the setup. There is another form of omnidirectional drive, known as swerve drive, that -may- be able to handle the task, but I'm not able to say with certainty (as I am not familiar with the setup of that drivetrain).

For outdoors applications, the best setup may be a skid-steer arrangement. One motor (or combination of them) powers the left-hand side, while another one powers the right side. (If you need a visual image, imagine a tank.)

Hope this helps!

<Edit>Innovation First does sell chassis and transmission kits that many teams use to build their FIRST robots, which weigh in around 130 pounds (right at 59 kilograms). Their website is www.innovationfirst.com. Good luck with your project!</edit>

[Alexander McGee]

Originally Posted by Billfred

Honestly, in order to get the range you'd want from your project, you'd have to use hardware that most of us are unfamiliar with. The Innovation First robot controllers work great, but their range is only so far (certainly below your one-mile requirement)

Actually, i spoke with an engineer form Innovation FIRST about this very issue. He stated that the hardware is capable of much greater distance, and can be easilly modified to accomodate a greater distance. However, they "dumb down" the technology for the FIRST and other competitions.

Call up IF, and ask for a wiring diagram. I am sure they will help!

[Dominator_Legen]

I'm sorry if i choosing the wrong time, but please help me if you can,

I'm beginner in robotics and electronics, but i have a lot of experience in programming, so i need to direct my programming to control a hardware,

I need just a little of complete tutorial URLs that tell me how to start, i almost know little information about the components used in robot like sensors and motors, motherboard, but there a problem in how to control this robot remotely and the hardware needed for this, Please if you know any tutorial that contain information like this, please tell me about it, and i will continue reading them,

I'm Just Beginner that collect little information about robotics that want to know how to build a robot like i said before,

Thanks In Advanced For Any Help

[DarMagi]

hey there, one quick thing, we will b glad to help u out on this design, but as the first reply went, its about 12 days from shipping for our competition. for that reason, we will all b busy wit the last minute cram commin up to do really anything but help sumone, sorry man, but im sure we can help as soon as our bots get shipped, so if u stay still for about 2 weeks im sure we could help ya out alot, until than good luck and take care.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Dominator_Legen

I'm sorry if i choosing the wrong time, but please help me if you can,

I'm beginner in robotics and electronics, but i have a lot of experience in programming, so i need to direct my programming to control a hardware,

I need just a little of complete tutorial URLs that tell me how to start, i almost know little information about the components used in robot like sensors and motors, motherboard, but there a problem in how to control this robot remotely and the hardware needed for this, Please if you know any tutorial that contain information like this, please tell me about it, and i will continue reading them,

I'm Just Beginner that collect little information about robotics that want to know how to build a robot like i said before,

Thanks In Advanced For Any Help

I'll put some links out here. With a bit of mechanical know-how, you could probably assemble the "kitbot" that was included in the FRC kit of parts:

http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/2005...s.htm#Section5 -- This is the robot section. It includes rules for the FIRST Robotics Competition which, obviously, are not applicable to you, but it also includes the knowledge of people who have done a lot of work with robots. Also included in that section is the wiring diagram for such a robot. I'd recommend looking at that for an idea of the robots we're dealing with.

If you decide to build your robot using the chassis and transmissions from Innovation First, then check out http://robotics.nasa.gov/first/2005/kickoff.htm for the basic instructions on how to build a working, driving robot.

Of course, there are plenty of sources for parts. The beautiful thing about robotics is that you can get creative with your items and part sources. (The FIRST kit of parts tends to reflect that--our kit includes motors from power windows in a car, a van door, and a motor from a child's ride-on car, among others.) So above all, build with what you have at hand. For some more parts that are a little wider in their use than just FIRST, try http://www.robotcombat.com/store.html.

Ultimately, however, how you build your robot is up to you.

[russell]

If you are trying to make it all terain, then what you might want to consider is getting four large high quality servos (metal gears, bearings and such), and four slightly smaller ones. Modify the large ones to rotate continuously (this is reasonably easy to do. Do a google search for "continuous rotation servo modification" or something along those lines), then mount wheels to them. Then use the smaller ones to steer the larger ones. This way if you want to turn you can set all your wheels to be in a circular pattern and turn "on a dime", much the way the mars rovers do. As far as the wireless connection, if you are good at programming consider using a high power wireless network, which will be able to handle all your data including video over a single link. The controllers we use operate on RS-422 and thus are quite slow, so this probably isnt the best source for information on communications. Oh, and if you are from Egypt (or other places too) your robot will probably be operating in the desert, so make sure that all your gear boxes and such are well sealed so they dont get sand in them. Good luck with your project!