Whiteboard Erasing Robot

My entry for the Microcontroller contest is a whiteboard cleaning robot. The goal of this project was to create a robot which could erase written text on a whiteboard completely autonomously, i.e. no human interface. The processes involved in this project included devising a method for the robot to search a whiteboard for text, designing a way to physically move a robot to the text, and enabling a robot to erase the text.

Step 1 Parts/System Break Down

Parts Included:
Arduino Mega
Arduino Mega Protoshield, with 2 mini breadboards and jumpers
3 VEX motors
BlueSmirf Bluetooth Adapter (located in the yellow VEX case with antenna)
RoboRealm Vision Software
VEX linear sliders
VEX Rack and Pinion gears
VEX 9.6V Battery
4 VEX small wheels
Vex metal, screws, etc.

This project is made up of two main sections. The first section is the actual robot. The robot in theory is somewhat simple. It consists of a base with two wheels which rides on a whiteboard track. The base design allows the robot to cover the entire x-axis of the whiteboard. To move on the y-axis, the robot uses linear sliders to move an arm up and down. Attached to the end of the arm is a dry-eraser that does the actual erasing. 

Building the robot is not hard.  It just consists of 2 motors which each respectively drive 2 small VEX wheels.

Comments

[AyasaurusRexx]

Where's the webcam on this?

[zazenergy]

This is really cool! Next time, please take a video so we can see it in action :)

[Kiteman]

+1

[Mavamaarten]

That's pretty awesome. Is there by any change a video of this thing in action ?

[Kiteman]

+1

[belmont52]

i would deffinatly like to see a video of this

[Kiteman]

+1

[granitepenguin]

Try implementing a center of gravity below the track, similar to what you see on steady cam rigs (or tightrope walkers). You do it by placing weight on an arm that hangs under the robot. That will make it much more stable.

[TheHawkeye]

It'd be cool if you could scan and save an image of the board!

[vishalapr]

Very nice! Have a look at my ibles as well, rated 5*

[21GeeOff21]

video?

[12grahamb]

No sorry. Unfortunately I made this in school and my video camera was messed up at the time. I have already taken the robot apart because I needed the parts for another project. I am hoping to build this again and film it after summer break.
-Ben

[mischka]

I really would like to see this in action. A whiteboard erasing robot is a very good improvement for classrooms. Make the world a better place ;-)

[nufi]

hey

cool project! You could even improve if you would save the "scanned" text into a picture and transfer it by bluetooth.