Cbot currently looks like this, in a photo I took this shot this morning, here the wheels are attached to the 58 rpm motors I have been waiting for from the "Robotshop.com" on line store. The rear caster wheel is attached and spaced for a level set, and I have the plates connected with 3 threaded rods spaced to put the water tank (tupperware) on the bottom deck. And yes - that is the acryllic dome that I got from the Home Depot on line store to form the essential robot dome head. The PCB which is the green board inside the dome is the controller board I designed myself for a 40 pin PIC processor.
A lot has to be still done, the navigation sensors, water tank and pump, filler arm, and bottom skirt with bumpers.
Here is the 12v fountain pumps I got from Amazon.com. They were reviewed very highly and were - $6 each. I got 4 of them!
Fountain pump in action! It will pump about a 7 inch tall stream at 4v, or a 16 inch at 12v. Here Im running it on the robots 12 battery. Ill alter the flow rate with a bleed off tube at the pump to reduce the pressure to the desired level. Cool, ay?
Introduction:
Here is the start of another longer term projects, with what will become a large number of spin-off sub projects to develop before a fully autonomous robot can be fully built. I am staring from ground zero on my robot programming now, all the routines, sensor aqusition software I developed in years past are now being re written in CCS - C to be far more efficent and more sophisticated. Cbot 1 is the result of this work, and will become a show case of my mastery of my most advanced robot to date.
Purpose:
The "Plant watering robot" concept is not new, and has been around for decades. But it is a worthwhile project in that you must use reliable navigation methods, localized identification of the target plant and its watering schedules and be able to dock to recharge, and finally to fill its mobile tanks with a source of water. It will also require me to learn how to grow plants!
Concept:
This robot will spend most of its time at the docking station recharging its batteries. At a series of prescribed times it will top off its water tank at the fill station, separate from the docking station and proceed to the plant staging area to do its task. Each plant will have a moisture sensor and a encoded optical target which informs the robot how much to water each plant each time. Then after watering all plants in all locations, it returns to the dock, where it waits for the next cycle. All of this initially will be in a large robot arena I have previously built and will prove the concepts listed above. A very challenging project indeed!
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