Im new to arduino, but not to programming and electronics.
Im want to rebuild my motordriven golfbag to automaticly follow me around.
Do you have any ideas on how to do that?
My first idea was IR and an IR camera (maybe the wiimote ?)
But wouldnt the sun interfear ? (i dont want my golfbag to chase the sun ) Maybe the ir sender could send a "code" that the reciever must recognise !?
If you took the heavy battery, motor and wheels off the device, you could sling it over your shoulder, and it is hard to imagine it following any closer than that.
I'm halfway through a golfbag project of my own. I'm using a wii made wireless to control the speed of the cart, and one of the buttons as cruise control.
so the robot/bag knows to stop before running down the user
Oh Richard you have spoilt the surprise.
Yes the sun will be an issue with IR detectors. You could try modulated IR. The best solution could be a GPS receiver on your belt transmitting your position to the bag robot. Then the bag robot has a GPS so it knows where it is and then it can plot a course to you.
P.S. In the UK the term Bag Lady is used to describe a female tramp or bum. So the term Bag Robot might have different meanings in some parts of the world.
Yes i known that i can carry the bag, i can also walk to work and walk to the TV to change the channels! This is not a project i want to do because i am lazy (cough: i guess i am, but innovation is made by lazy people!)
This is a project i want to do because it is fun and challenging -> everybody can make a led blink........
And it has been done: GoGo "follow me" golf trolley. http.//www.omgsrl.it - YouTube
Problems with different sensors:
IR -> can be disturbed by the sun
Maybe some kind op blinking IR transmitter and the receiver should detect that "code" - and the direction could be 2 (or more) receivers separated by a plate parallel to the straight forward direction -> so that if the left receiver sees the signal, but not the right one the bag has to go left!
But my "worry" is that the IR receiver cant see the blinking IR transmitter, but only "sees" the sun!
ultra sound -> maybe not so good in rain and wind !
Gps -> expensive! and is it accurate enough? i meen what is best case 2,5 meters ?
But my "worry" is that the IR receiver cant see the blinking IR transmitter, but only "sees" the sun!
By blinking do you mean modulated?
The ides is that the amplifier of the incoming IR signal is tuned and only amplifies the modulation. Of course that doesn't help you if the receiving sensor is saturated.
Gps -> expensive
Yes
i meen what is best case 2,5 meters ?
No much more accurate than that. You can get accuracy down to about 1cm. Then you trade off price for accuracy.
You need to notify the general area that you have an autonomous golf bag with a mind of it's own... maybe you need to have it wear a T-SHIRT when it moves on its own.
The major causes of error in a GPS system is the difference in propagation through atmospheric cells. WSS compensates for this locally. I would disagree with what Richard said
I would love to see a practical, real-world example.
Well, WAAS has already been mentioned.
Differential GPS does the same thing, on a smaller scale. It uses a fixed station at a known point which calculates errors and send them to the mobile unit for corrections.
An obvious example would be one of those spiffy military GPS units, like those used on JDAMs, cruise missiles, etc, that use the second (still encrypted) GPS frequency that's far enough away from the ~1.5Gz signal we mere mortals use that the atmospheric distortion can be compensated for onboard.
Ok i wasn't totally awake when i wrote this.
I was still focused on "ir tracking" but using gps the cart off course need to know where i am
This is an expensive solution, i need to know if it is stable enough.