The use of an existing remote control car/truck base is pretty obvious - I have been thinking about this for a while. Start with a 2-channel remote control car. Remove the shell, document and remove the receiver board. Solder a DB9 to the motors and power (you get the battery holder and power switch built-in). Make a kit to interface the motors with an arduino and add sensors to the body. Result is a robust robot for under $100.

Also, there is a follow-on project with the remote control boards.

... bandit

Subject: [New post] Arduino rover doubles up on obstacle avoidance
From: "Hack a Day" <donotreply@wordpress.com>
Date: Wed, 6 June, 2012 5:05 am

Post : Arduino rover doubles up on obstacle avoidance
URL : http://hackaday.com/2012/06/06/arduino-rover-doubles-up-on-obstacle-avoidance/
Posted : June 6, 2012 at 4:01 am
Author : Mike Szczys
Tags : autonomous, rangefinder, rc, rover
Categories : arduino hacks

http://hackadaycom.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/arduino-rover-with-dual-rangefinders-e1338913307547.jpg

[Eduard Ros] wrote in show off his first attempt at building an autonomous rover (http://www.entremaqueros.com/bitacoras/roshardware/archives/vehiculo-autonomo-con-arduino/) (translated (http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.entremaqueros.com%2Fbitacoras%2Froshardware%2Farchives%2Fvehiculo-autonomo-con-arduino%2F) ). As with many of these projects, he started with the base of a remote control toy truck. This solves so many mechanical issues, like steering, locomotion, and power source.

He just needed a way to control the vehicle. The recent LayerOne badge hacks (http://hackaday.com/2012/05/31/layerone-badge-hacking-twofer/) either did this through the wireless controller protocol or by adding an Arduino directly to the vehicle. [Eduard] chose the latter, and also included obstacle avoidance sensors in the process. We've seen quite a few that use these ultrasonic rangefinders. He decided to go a different route by adding two of them rather than scanning by mounting one on a servo motor.

The video after the break shows the vehicle successfully navigating through a tight space. This makes us wonder how much data can be processed from the stationary sensors? We're not familiar with how wide the horizontal sensitivity is on the devices. If you have some insight, please share you knowledge in the comments section.

Read more of this post (http://hackaday.com/2012/06/06/arduino-rover-doubles-up-on-obstacle-avoidance/#more-76275)

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