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Educational Rover Project

Posted by Scott Fitzgerald on June 11, 2014 at 2:30pm

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I would like to thank the rover developers and the entire diy drones community for producing an outstanding hardware, software and support package. I recently completed an educational project that was designed around apm hardware running rover firmware. The project was a complete success.

I documented the project for Servocity. It appeared in two separate blog entries. Here are the links to those blogs. 

 

http://www.servocity.com/blog/?p=137

http://www.servocity.com/blog/?p=311

 

Information on all of our educational programs can be found on www.stemplusc.com.   Enjoy!

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Comments

  • Scott Fitzgerald June 13, 2014 at 1:13pm
    Thank you for your kind words!
  • John Githens June 13, 2014 at 12:30pm

    I like everything about this project (including the sub-title on the whiteboard sketch: "What could go wrong?"!). What a great way to introduce students to key concepts and potential careers as a step toward exploring applications for systems that include aerial, water or hybrid vehicles. I hope that other DIYD members take the time (why not now?) to read the two linked posts and consider helping their local schools. (A link to this blog post has been cataloged here and here.)

  • Julien Dubois June 12, 2014 at 12:31pm

    Very nice project!

    A 100% autonomous rover is possible, there are disciplines related to solar car racing, 100% solar powered.

    They use very thin wheels to limit ground friction (just like bike wheel).

    And remove the trailer, put the solar panels directly on the rover (less wheels, less energy loss)

    That would be nice to couple a gps navigation system (like we use in our cars, eg :tomtom) with an APM controller and try an autonomous driving between 2 map points! and, of course, 100% solar :)

  • Muhammad Al-Rawi June 11, 2014 at 4:37pm

    I always wanted to have a radio controlled Power Wheels. 

  • Scott Fitzgerald June 11, 2014 at 4:18pm
    That is why we used a football field for our driving contest!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZg6qCQSUF4&list=UU1cbwdCWhweAS...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrD-HdnWR_Q&list=UU1cbwdCWhweAS...
  • Admin
    Thomas J Coyle III June 11, 2014 at 3:45pm

    @Chris,

    I do not know if the solar cell array/wagon could make it through the hoop. It is not that wide:-).

    Regards,

    TCIII ArduRover2 Developer/Sparkfun AVC competitior

  • Scott Fitzgerald June 11, 2014 at 3:08pm

    The project as it was designed is complete.  That being said, if the school would be receptive, the timing were to work out and the design would be competitive without a ton of additional modification it might be possible.  Another possibility would be to build another rover, more specific to the task at a higher grade level with the intent of this contest.  I have been lobbying the district to engage these types of engineering challenges.  Who knows? 

  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson June 11, 2014 at 2:57pm

    Love it! Any chance you're going to be competing in the SparkFun AVC?

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