MapBot : An experiment in robotic mapping :: Robotics

Includes Source formulaMapBot An experiment in golemic mappingAbstractToday Robots are lots used to explore dangerousplaces w here(predicate) humans cannot go. However, what if there was a much easily available robot that could be used to exploreplaces here on earth? This project is an attempt to build a genuinely simple version of such a robot a robot that follows aline, then creates a graph of the line on a computer.Exercises I did early in COSMOS gave me thebacking I necessitate to attempt such an undertaking. I usedbasic line-following programs as the base, with a recordingelement thrown in. A C program was scripted to run on thecomputer and turn the data the robot collects into a graph.It took a lot of tweaking, but eventu completelyy I got a mighty accurate representation of the line. Sadly,MapBot 2though, I well-educated that if I involve to graph another line, Iwould move over to change the program all e veryplace again.With a little more than work, I hope I could f ix that,and the other problems plaguing this program as it stands.Also, I still believe that a personal MapBot is a viableidea, though I learned that it would require a lot of work.MapBot 3Background/Purpose there has always been a human drive to explore, to find outmore about the world. Columbus sailed to America, and Cook toAustralia, each driven by the tell of new unchartedterritory. Recently this task of exploring new frontiers hasbeen turned over to robots, as robots can explore locales thathumans cannot. Robots have explored volcanoes, the planets inour solar system, and the deep sealocations no person couldsurvive. So far robots have been limited to exploring just suchlocations, those available exclusively to them, but I believethat there are earthly applications for exploring robots.Imagine, if you will, an inexpensive mapping robot. Itoperates very simply simply set it down somewhere in the want area, give it a set of bounds, and leave. The robot willsend snappy data from the terrain to the user, creating a realtimemap of the area. This map will be establish on whatever datathe robots sensors have collected with add-ons, this could beanything from blemish composition to topographic data. And whenmapping is complete, the user simply returns to the robot andpicks it up. much(prenominal) a robot would be useful to many professions.Cartographers could create online maps that changed as theplanet did. Field scientists could use them to take readingsover a astronomic swathe of terrain without taking any of their owntime. With a camera attached, they could dedicate a 3-dimensional