Set paths/routes activated by pushbuttons on remote

ArduRover Rover 3.2
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For my senior project I am making an automated tackle dummy that will run preset paths/routes activated by buttons on a hand held remote. I do not want to use GPS, I want to be able to turn on my system remote and have my tackle dummy run the selected route (ex: 5 yards forward then turn and go 5 yards right) anywhere. Would the rover be capable of doing this? Would getting the marvelmind indoor navigation system help?

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  1. Cool!
  2. ArduPilot doesn’t yet support walking or balance bots (although we hope to eventually), but if you can use a normal rover underneath, definitely achievable.
  3. I’d suggest visual odometry and/or optical flow.The gitter channel here: https://gitter.im/ArduPilot/VisionProjects?source=orgpage
    Is a good place to ask questions
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Sorry I did not clarify but this will be driven with two tires

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Ok. Not yet implemented, but have a read here: https://github.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot/issues/7625

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I am going to have four casters on the bottom of my bot with my two driver tires like the picture from this link https://goo.gl/images/Tn9cxv. The biggest thing I’m concerned about is running these paths by non-gps and with a remote. Because every video I see of the rover it is used with a laptop and mission planning software. I want the paths to already be stored so I am able to just take it anywhere and have it run without setting the paths and having a laptop with me every time. Would an IMU be better to use with gyro and accelerometer? Or the Marvelmind indoor navigation with the rover? This is my first time doing something like this so I’m struggling to find what will be the best fit for my application

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Driving this kind of vehicle around manually is no problem of course (it’s a skid-steering vehicle). Autonomous modes in general can work without a GPS if there are wheel encoders on the vehicle and I would recommend trying these first before moving to something more complex like the marlvemind.

… but as you suspect, we don’t support missions using relative positions. If you don’t require lots of flexibility in how the moves are setup you could try writing new drive modes for each pattern. Another alternative would be to connect a companion computer and then use dronekit to send commands to make the vehicle move and turn.

Later on this year we will add support for Lua scripting on the flight controller which will be a good way to add this kind of custom feature relatively easily. Until then though, personally I woudl do it with a new drive mode but the dronekit method should also work.

I would first try what you’re doing with a GPS even if you eventually want it to work without a GPS.

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