Time for Coding

After a marathon session yesterday, the firefighting robot hardware is almost complete! (Yes, I am going to paint the rest of it)

• Lowered the servo and ranger array for clearance with upper deck
• Added a second Infrared LED to the flame sensor
• Reworked the LED installation in the reflector housing
• Soldered up an amplifier for its signal and mounted on flame sensor
• Attached the top deck and flame sensor
• Replaced the plastic roller casters with a single skid for straighter tracking
• Hacked on wall following and forward obstacle detection
• Experimented with irrigation syringes for fire suppression
  

Things came together really well -- it was kind of freaky, actually! :) Making progress is nice, though, with less than two weeks left. Reliable fire suppression with water remains a little bit of a challenge. (Using a fan or air to blow out the candle results in a time penalty)

Meanwhile, the contest organizer, Joe Strout, announced a huge prize for the winner:

Kim Wheeler with Road Narrows LLC has generously offered to donate a POB-Eye vision system (a $245 value) as a prize for the robot fire-fighting contest. Read more about it here:

http://roadnarrowsrobotics.com/acatalog/POB_Eye.html

Thanks Kim and Road Narrows for your sponsorship!! In addition, the first twelve entrants receive a year subscription to Robot magazine --- thanks to George Mitsuoka and Robot!