Hello everyone, im pretty new to arduino.
I have a project which requires me to build a WiFi robot for 'pipe inspection purposes'.
I have all my parts (arduino uni, motor shield, wifly shield and Degu 5 Rover and IP cam), and ive been researching into the possibility of having tilt sensors to monitor the rovers position within the pipe (its incline or decline) and a compass for additional information as to its location.
To create a compass with tilt compensation i would need a digital compass and an accelerometer, but i would also need an accelerometer to monitor its angle of tilt within the pipe.
I found a link here which describes how to create a compass with tilt compensation here: https://www.loveelectronics.co.uk/Tutorials/13/tilt-compensated-compass-arduino-tutorial
I was just wandering if it would be possible to use the same tilt sensor (or accelerometer) to monitor its inclination as well as providing tilt compensation information for use in conjuction with the compass in the link above.
Or would it be better to use a different means altogether, such as a gyroscope? Ive heard however gyroscopes only work on change from the angle its set at. For this purpose, it would be more usefull to have a global bearing that doesnt need outside interaction.(like north)
I guess you know that the accelerometer would only be able to measure tilt when it was stationary. What sort of pipe are you working with? I don't suppose a magnetic compass would work too well inside a ferrous pipe. I'm also slightly puzzled that you seem to plan to use so many sensors to determine the position of the 'bot. If it's in the pipe, doesn't it basically just have one degree of freedom - moving along the axis of the pipe? In that case, 'position' would simply be a measure of distance traveled. I assume would be able to design the 'bot' to travel along the pipe and keep itself upright, for example using gravity.
Thanks for the reply.
The robot (basically a wireless tank with a camera ontop), will just be remotely controlled by a person over wifi, feeding video footage back.
The pipes inspected are most likey to be ceramic, but if ferous pipes are inspected, then it will just mean thats its one feature down.
The sensors will just provide additional information onto the computer screen of the operative.
For example, when moving through a pipe, its going to be hard to attain the slope its on visually due because its a closed enviroment. At a 45 degree angle, if you look behind the robot and then look infront, your not going to be able to tell how slanted you are.
Just trying to add a few features that might prove usefull, otherwise its just simply a slim 'tank' with a camera ontop.