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[on:]

Hello everyone,

I'm trying to start one of my first real Arduino robot project, but need some help.
It will be a unmanned ground vehicle, which I can control with a controller, and with an onboard camera that streams the video to a monitor.

Now this are my questions:

- Which is the best way to control the robot wireless? Radio Controlled? I think wifi isn't a good solution, because I'm going to use it in the woods with Airsoft games(there is no internet)

- Is streaming video signals from the camera to a monitor possible? Also, wifi isnt a good solution?

This is the very very first part of this project, I'm justing thinking how I should do it all.

Any help, advice and tips are welcome!

greets,
Tibo

[Reply #1 on:]

Hi for controlling a robot I would use RC. You could just  mount a RC car on the front of your Robot and build your arduino circuit seperatly.
 I don`t know how much money you want spend but an Rc car like this should be ok:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/RC-Auto-Amphibienfahrzeug-Land-Wasser-ferngesteuert-/330701815670?pt=DE_Allesf%C3%BCrKind_Spielzeug_FerngesteuertesSpielzeug&var=&hash=item4cff5d3f76#ht_7449wt_1072

Take the hood of the car tight it zip ties to your robot.

[Reply #2 on:]

Thank you for the advice.

But, how do I make my arduino interact with it, so I can control the rc car with the transmitter?
And what about video streaming?

[Reply #3 on:]

Do you want arduino to interact with the RC car or with the Remote control of the RC car?

[Reply #4 on:]

I assume Arduino with the rc car, because I want the possibility to turn the camera.
I don't know what the best solution.

The most important is that I need the possibility to control the rc car, and stream a video to a monitor.

[Reply #5 on:]

Well you can control the RC with the remote of the RC car and mount the Camera on a Servo to turn it. With the Video streaming im not so sure but maybe you can use a WiFly shield or an Xbee to communicate between two arduinos.

[Reply #6 on:]

You can already buy RC Cars with video streaming built included. Get one of those, and look at interfacing the Arduino with it.

[Reply #7 on:]

Okay, but for wifly shield i need wifi, and that is impossible in the woods?
And xbee has probably to less range i think(I need atleast 100m range).

I'll take a look for it tomorrow.
Thanks guys!

[Reply #8 on:]

The xbee looks interesting, the only limit is the range of 100m...
For the wifly shield, do I need internet for it?

About buying a ready made rc car with camera: I searched for some cars, but the transmit range is not enough.

Maybe it is a good idea to buy a FPV camera that they use with RC aircraft.
It has much more range...

I'll search more now.

EDIT: one more question: if I buy a robot chassis, is it possible to install a receiver on it, and control it with a transmitter?
The same way as RC aircrafts work.

[Reply #9 on:]

I think this is what I want:

http://www.robotshop.com/dagu-wild-thumper-6wd-all-terrain-chassis-aluminum-34-1.html

Now I don't know which controller to take:

http://www.sparkfun.com/products/11057

or

http://www.dimensionengineering.com/products/sabertooth2x12rc

Can the sabretooth handel the motors?
Is it possible to let a led go on by pushing a button on a transmitter, because I don't see digital pins, but only pins for servo's?
Also, what does 75:1 or 34:1 gearbox mean?

[Reply #10 on:]

I'm probably going to buy this robot chassis:
http://www.robotshop.com/dagu-wild-thumper-6wd-all-terrain-chassis-aluminum-34-1.html

There is a 75:1 and 34:1 gear ratio version, which one will be the best? Speed is not very important, but strength and carrying capacity is.
Can someone explain it?

[Reply #11 on:]

I'd suggest the Sparkfun controller given the minor increase in cost and much larger quantities of features (battery charging, programmable Arduino). Also, the pins aren't really "pins for servos" but rather just handily arranged with a +, -, and signal for each output.

75:1 means that the motor rotates 75 times for each 1 rotation of the output shaft. This would of course be slower but stronger than the 34:1 ratio version.

[Reply #12 on:]

I'd suggest the Sparkfun controller given the minor increase in cost and much larger quantities of features (battery charging, programmable Arduino). Also, the pins aren't really "pins for servos" but rather just handily arranged with a +, -, and signal for each output.

75:1 means that the motor rotates 75 times for each 1 rotation of the output shaft. This would of course be slower but stronger than the 34:1 ratio version.

Thanks for clearing that up!

I'll go for the sparkfun controller then, and a 75:1 ratio version.

[Reply #13 on:]

If I want to control a pan/tilt camera on the UGV, will that be possible with a normal 6 channel transmitter like this?:



It will be something like this:

-The right joystick is for going left or right with the UGV(horizontal control)
-The left joystick is for going forward or backward(vertical control)

Now I have only the following left to use:

-The right joystick(vertical control)
-The left joystick(horizontal control)
-Left switch
-Right switch

-So, would it be possible that when I put the left or right switch, the left joystick controls the camera, but doesn't control going left or right anymore?
 I assume that the Arduino is the best way to do something like this, but then there is another problem: The Arduino should be able to remote control things on the UGV when the UGV is 500 meters away from me.
                   
 I don't want to use the right switch to turn the camera right, and the left switch to turn the camera to the left, because I'll lose the switches for something else then.

Maybe am I thinking to difficult, and is there a much more easy way to control a pan/tilt system?
Or, maybe I should get a transmitter with more channels?

[Reply #14 on:]

Yes, it would be possible to utilize a switch to tell your Rover that the joysticks (speed and turn signals) control the camera. This would require additional programming on your part; you should look at the example code for the Wild Thumper Controller and make sure you understand it. in the RCMode() function you'll see it reading the speed/turn channels and here is where you'd have it read an additional channel to determine if those readings are for the camera or the wheel motors.

I'd suggest you also set the Rover's speed to zero whenever it detects you've flipped your switch to camera control.