Newsgroups: comp.robotics
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From: ajm9230@hertz.njit.edu (Anthony J. Messina)
Subject: Senior Project - comments, suggestions?
Message-ID: <1995Mar1.025153.17833@njitgw.njit.edu>
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Organization: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 1995 02:51:53 GMT
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Hello everyone,

I just thought I'd post a message to see what people's opinions are for
my senior project idea and if there are any things I need to look out
for, etc.

The project idea is this: Build a robot that will find a wall, mark it's
starting point, and then proceed to measure the perimeter (actually
floor space) of the room. After it does all this I'd like it to send
data back to a PC to display a floor plan. I was thinking of using the
68HC11 chip or the Z80 as I have some experience with the Z80. I've
never built a robot before, so this is a pretty demanding project on my
part, but I think I can handle it. My proposal is due by the end of
March so that I can work on the project for the fall. I'm figuring on
building a couple prototypes over the summer and finishing up in the
fall. Does this seem realistic? 

As for sensors, I will most likely use either IR and/or bumper
switches/feelers. To mark the start point on the perimeter I have a
bunch of ideas, but not sure which would be the best. The most complex
being to have the robot send feedback to the pc and have the pc monitor
what region of the room it is in, but this will only be accurate if the
regions are small. A cheap way would be to use a magnet (i.e. drop it at
the starting point, picks it up when it returns to that point) or
reflective tape.

The only restrictions for the project is that it be at least 50%
hardware and the committee of reviewer tend to like mostly digital
components since I am in Computer Engineering.

Well, that's about it I guess.
Any feedback is very much appreciated.

Anthony
ajm9230@hertz.njit.edu
