A remote controlled mobile mini robot

The recent development in the field of microelectronics resulted not only in small microcomputers with high performance, but also in highly integrated sensors and actuators. Designing very small intelligent devices such as miniaturized intelligent autonomous systems is thus becoming possible. The Institute of Robotics of ETH recently started exploring the field of mobile mini robots with on board intelligence and power supply. The latest version is a remote controlled mobile mini robot (21x21x19 mm) developed in a final year student project. It has been designed to take part in the International Micro Robot Maze Contest (cat 2, autonomous robots) in Nagoya. The robot's intelligence is based on a PIC16C84 microcontroller, It is actuated by two SWATCH-Motors and powered by two small watch batteries. The control-loop for the maze is based on a global and a local feedback. The global feedback is realized ba a human operator piloting the robot with an infrared-based unidirectional remote control. The operator is able to drive the robot through some control points in the maze. A local feedback based on two small distance sensors is used to drive the robot automatically in between the walls of the maze. The combination of both control-loops allows the robot to fulfill the goal of the contest with very good performance. The technical data of the mobile robot are: - dimensions 21mm x 21mm x 19mm - velocity: 20 mm/s - power consumption : < 10 mW This low power consumption allows autonomy of about 10 hours