SuckMaster 2000
Vacuum Robot
This was my entry in the Atlanta
Hobby Robot Club robot rally held at SciTrek on February 5th,
2000. This entry won the second place
plaque by sucking up 1.99 ounces of rice and returning to the
starting point in 4 minutes. Unfortunately a minor software bug caused
the robot to repeatedly bang against the wall for 2 minutes. If this
had not happened the score would have been much higher. Visit the
AHRC
home page for details on the contest rules.
Hardware
I started with a Eureka
Boss Lite battery operated vacuum cleaner and added
sensors
, motor driven wheels and a computer
"brain" . The stock vacuum has a powerful 4 amp motor
which runs on 6 volts. It also has a rotary brush to enhance dirt
pickup. I used two PIC micro controller chips, a 16C73 and
a 16C74. One controls the infrared sensor array and the other does
the motion control. The drive motors are 24 volt surplus gear
motors rated at 50 rpm. The wheels are 3 inch model aircraft
tires. I machined custom hubs to permit mounting on the motor shafts.
I attached left and right bump switches to the front of the vacuum head.
The robot is powered by a custom 24 volt NICAD battery
pack. The vacuum motor is powered by the stock 6 volt battery that
was sold with the vacuum.
Basic Operation
This robot was designed to randomly travel around a room
while vacuuming and avoiding objects in its way. It works much like
an automatic pool cleaner. It also has sensors to locate an infrared
homing
beacon . The contest arena
is an 8x8 foot carpeted area bounded by white walls. Inside the area
are three objects; a chair, a lamp and a speaker box. Eight ounces
of rice is scattered evenly over the area. The goal is to collect
as much rice as possible in 6 minutes or less and score bonus points by
returning to the starting box. My strategy was to randomly vacuum
for 4 minutes before attempting to return to the homing beacon.
This allowed two minutes to return to the starting box where the homing
beacon was located. The robot was programed to stop when the
homing beacon was reached or 6 minutes had elapsed.
Links
Homing Beacon
The End
