Hello! I'm new to this forum and I'd like to ask for your opinion regarding my project.
So, I'm a third year electronics engineering student right now and I have an upcoming project in Control Systems Design in which we are only allowed to use an Arduino and MATLAB Simulink to create our own Control System.
I have proposed that I make an Autonomous Shopping Cart that will follow you and only you. I'm having trouble deciding on what sensor or input should I use in order for the Arduino to decide how to follow you (Using an Ultrasonic is one, but it might run the risk of accidentally following someone else). I was thinking of using some sort of a transmitter and a receiver so that it will instead have something to follow that is consistent.
But the problem now is that, I only know how to receive, send, and analyze signals. I've never tried using it as directional input ever. Any suggestions or materials I could use to further my knowledge in this area?
it's not a trivial endeavour... You not only need to follow the person but also not hit anything or anyone in the store and a shopping cart is not a small device... unless you have multiple cameras and real time scene analysis, that won't do...
As you are working on a prototype, may be you can take some hypothesis about the environment that will make this more achievable.
For the sending. / following at a close range - in a relatively uncontrolled environment, I’d probably start with an ‘encoded’ IR ‘beacon’ emitter on the person, and a suite of 3 or 4 IR sensors on the follower - covering 360 degrees.
Ignore all the wrong ‘emitters’ that are received, and then determine the direction from the correct beacon signatures.
This becomes multiple ‘dogs’ and ‘masters’ to be ‘paired’ with minimal effort.
The rest is a fancy line-follower.
Maybe read how Roomba vacuums can locate their charging base stations.
, but I actually stumbled upon this forums because of his post.