Mindboards

Hey folks,

I finally just put the finishing touches on my latest build. This one is called Pulito - basically a floor sweeping robot that works much like a swiffer-roomba. It also has the ability to seek a beacon to recharge itself when the Li-Ion battery runs low. Details> http://www.plastibots.com/?p=1594

Awesome robot Dave. I am glad you took my advice, and posted here. Thanks for all the details about the project.

That's very cool... It's great having all of the details too. I'm looking forward to spending some time studying all of the details...

Andy

Wow,

That is a very cool robot. It is the one my wife always asks for.

I really like the front antenna and how they have a second function in recharging. Nice implementation of the dflex sensor too.

Very cool! I actually made something like this to sweep a wooden floor as well but it wasn't as "smart" as yours and I didn't have an IRSeeker so I didn't make it auto-dock and charge. It also got stuck in corners quite easily . I do have a couple questions though. On the robots main page (http://www.plastibots.com/?p=1594) you said that the old version of the charging station used a BS module to generate a 129 Hz IR signal. Did you mean to say 1200 Hz?

I'm planning to make a little "house security bot" and I will probably use a setup like yours with the IR Beacon. Thanks for posting this!

Thanks for the positive comments everyone.

@nxtreme, you are correct. I have fixed the page now. It should be 1200Hz. I have a wireless keyboard and sometimes it seems to miss a few keystrokes (can't keep up with me). Let me know if you need help with the beacon in the future. It took me a long time to get it right - the oscilloscope was a huge help as it confirmed the readings. I plan on updating the details a little more to provide more info on how to verify the signals. I had to do some guessing to get the 1200Hz check right.

deejayspinz wrote:...It took me a long time to get it right - the oscilloscope was a huge help as it confirmed the readings. I plan on updating the details a little more to provide more info on how to verify the signals. I had to do some guessing to get the 1200Hz check right.

Go to http://wolfstone.halloweenhost.com/Tech ... rCalc.html and build your 555 (or 556) circuit the same as the BOTTOM schematic. That one has a diode, so it allows for a 50% duty cycle. Type in the values 6000, 6000, and 0.1, and you get 1200 Hz, at 50% duty. Also, there is no reason to use a 38 kHz carrier. According to HT, the IR Seeker still works fine without the carrier, and their beacon doesn't have it. In other words, you can use just a single 555.

deejayspinz wrote:@nxtreme, you are correct. I have fixed the page now. It should be 1200Hz. I have a wireless keyboard and sometimes it seems to miss a few keystrokes (can't keep up with me). Let me know if you need help with the beacon in the future. It took me a long time to get it right - the oscilloscope was a huge help as it confirmed the readings. I plan on updating the details a little more to provide more info on how to verify the signals. I had to do some guessing to get the 1200Hz check right.

No problem, just checking . Thanks for fixing your page.

I bought a tube of ten 555s and 20 IR LEDs a while back and have been thinking about getting the IR Seeker. I also tinker around with Picaxe micros so I could create each beacon with a unique ID and have a Picaxe on the robot to read those IDs and report the robots position using triangulation. All just ideas.

I also came up with an idea to record TV remote signals and check the frequency of IR devices. I soldered a photodiode to a 3.5mm headphone jack and use recording software to record the IR "sound". It works pretty well and using the time-stamp I can figure out the frequency of whatever I'm receiving signals from. It's not perfect but it works. I probably will have to have some help along the way though . Thanks!

Well, I take a look at Engadget now and then to see whats new. Imagine my surprise when I saw Pulito up there along with the Galaxy Tab and Windows 7! Congrats to Mr. Astolfo and Pulito!

Thx! It was a real treat to see Engadget pick up Pulito. Hits are off the chart.