Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #05116
To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: Don Papp donp@cronus.oanet.com
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 10:04:36 -0600 (MDT)
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Task for walker?
On Thu, 8 Jul 1999, Steven Bolt wrote:
> Might perhaps be used to make the bots keep a certain distance
> between them. The work would be done during the night. In daytime,
> the `bots would recharge at a solar powered feeding station.
> The really difficult part is keeping them on the grass; I dislike
> the idea of a perimeter wire. Access restrictions may be required
> to keep human predators at bay. Systematically giving all of the
> lawn equal nibble attention is another tough one.
> The case for legs as opposed to wheels is of course not very
> strong. Any better ideas?
This reminds me of a current project of mine - a common push-style
floor/rug cleaner (the wheels on the bottom power a spinning desbris
collector that dumps debris into a pocket for removal) is given two servo
motors, some LEDS, and some touch sensors and is allowed to roam the
apartment. A challenge which I anticipate will require much tinkering is
an effective way to cover the whole home (corners will go untended in this
version) effectively.
I plan to start with a simple "seek brightest spot" that toggles
with "seek darkest spot" mixed with obstacle avoiding and see where that
takes me. Possibly the shifting of light due to the rising and setting sun
may affect the pattern enough to get good coverage. We'll see.
| Donald Papp
| don@oa.net
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