[Dprglist] Hovercraft for RoboColumbus, sonar mapping of entire arena

[John Swindle]

Guys and gals,
 
Just to let you know I figured out my mistake:
 
I wondered whether twin-rotor caged "drones" (what a terribly mis-used term) and Batmobile-inspired quad-rotor wheeled gadgets, that reduce battery drain by rolling most of the time, would be appropriate RoboColumbus platforms.
 
Then I realized that my concern was marsh and high grass, and a simpler solution already exists: a hovercraft.
 
I can't carry much stuff on a hovercraft, and hovercrafts expend energy all the time. But a hovercraft meets Dave's definition of a robot that is be able to rotate about its center (if it is so designed).
 
I don't want to build any mechanical stuff anyway, so I don't know why I think about this stuff.
 
If I can map the trees in the arena in one or two failed passes, along with the allowed walk-around with instruments before the contest runs, and then have a race to the cones on a third pass, using omni sonar, then that would be interesting to me.
 
Mapping with sonar at 450 feet is almost impossible at high frequencies due to massive losses in the atmosphere. But mapping at, say, 100 feet may be enough to map the outdoor arena, and stitch the map together. Wobbling the mics three feet one way, and three feet the other way, staying within a four-foot envelope, would work, at least in simulation.
 
I am not sitting at an armchair right now, but I nevertheless fail ALL THREE of Steve's questions!
 
But one of the Neatos just jabbed me. So it's time for me to move out of the room. (It's fun to watch two of them jousting for position.)
 
Later,
John Swindle
 


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