How to proceed? Mini-magellan robot...

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) Hardware Interfacing
1

Hi all,

Need advice on how to proceed with my mini-magellan GPS robot.

I have the robot essentially done except for the coding. Chassis, motors, motor drivers, GPS unit, etc. are all in place and functioning.

The mini-magellan competition I hope to enter requires that the robot navigate as close as possible to 4 or 5 cones that are in known positions. Ideally, when the robot gets close to a cone it uses vision or some other method to approach and then lightly touch the cone for extra points. My goal for this robot is to just get close.

My problem is the GPS code. I'm pretty much a newb, and have been struggling with how to make the GPS end of it work. I have been looking at the Ardupilot code, and the TinyGPS library as possible solutions.

The Ardupilot does way more than I need (altitude, gyros, etc.). There is some talk on the Arudpilot forums about using it for ground based vehicles but I can't find any examples.

My handheld GPS outputs standard NEMA info at 4800bps. I have been able to connect the GPS to the 9pin serial on my Arduino and display the raw data on an LCD screen.

This robot will be going up against some potentially very complex and expensive bots, so I don't expect to win. I just want to successfully complete the course.

Any advice would be welcomed.

Thanks!

2

Maybe you could post your code?
Either here using the (#) [in the forum 'editor'] or on www.arduino.pastebin.com.

I would also love some pictures :slight_smile:

Sounds like a cool project!

3

Ive been trying to get something similar to this going for a long time modifying an rc hummer to navigate waypoints. If you want something thats pretty much already coded, look into the ardupilot 1.0 code. It should be purely navigation with no stabilization, and uses nmea gps-some later versions dont. If thats even too much for what you need (I know you only need 2D waypoints), there should be some navigation theory over at diydrones that would be really helpful. Either jordi or chris have posted the basis for what you need your code to do to navigate from one point to another as well as some basic pid info. (btw, there is a pid library you might be able to integrate into your nav routine for ease of code) In my opinion, ardupilot 1.0 should do exactly what i understand you want