Accurate and Precise 2D Homing...need help

Hi guys...hoping someone out there can help me out. I'm trying to help a high school science class. The task is to put autopilot on a small RC car, which we've managed to do. The second, more challenging task is to return (at the end of the route) as close as possible to the starting point. The autopilot gets us close, but we need to hit it right on. I'm thinking once we get close to use some kind of sensor(s) to get exactly on. Any ideas? Some ideas that have been tossed around are: 1) using photoresistors to steer it towards a black dot (or vice versa using a flash light) 2) use a laser w/beacons to triangulate position. Contest will be held during the daytime on a smooth concrete surface. Appreciate all the help.Will a Lego Mindstorms NXT kit have the power to do this?Thanks

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  • You can use a precise (+-2cm) Indoor "GPS": http://marvelmind.com/.

    Here is a couple of demos:

  • How about a IR beacon? Reverse of a lighthouse. Just make sure to modulate the light so that you reduce interference.
  • Will the contest be indoor or outdoor? If outdoors I would suggest using a bluetooth GPS mouse with the NXT. Oh and YES the NXT has the "power" to do this, and much much more. I have a robot wich does pattern recognition, navigation and a bunch of other stuff with a true AI and it is based on a NXT with RobotC.
    If the contest is indoors, would you be allowed to paint on the floor? If so you could have the robot paint a line when going and follow it when returning.
  • the car could drop something that you can find... (optical target, a IR transmitter, ....)


    or you can count the turns your wheels do, and calculate the relative position you have travelled..

    some robots use the sensors of a opticla computer mouse to calculate the position....
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