Presentation
Within the program of the
Mechatronics class, four MA1
students: Yuri, Youness, Jeremy
and Massimo from the Bruface (VUB-
ULB) program worked hard to
present you their project, The Dart
Vader. A target locating and
shooting robot combinating image
analysis, mechanics and
programmation.
Goals of the project
Starting from an image analysis to perform a detection of targets and to shoot
mouse darts at them within a range of 3 meters. To create interraction, a pressure
sensor is placed on the robot in order to detect whether a "player" shoots at the
robot which will react accordingly.
Latest news
01/09/2014: Due to a lack of torke
in the shooting mechanism, the
gear system has been upgraded. We
can now shoot at full power.
01/03/2013: The first design of the
project is now fully built. Though,
some problems still remain. The full
code of the project is also now
complete and operational, not
taking into account the mechanical
problems.
12/20/2013: After a bunch of hours
spent at the lab, all the pieces are
finally ready and the construction
can start.
12/05/2013: The complete CAD
model of the system is ready. The
next step is going to the lab and gt
the pieces done either by 3D
printing or by lazer cut.
Ideal outcomes of the project
In a commercial frame, this robot would ideally be used as an
entertainment for kids. Those would be wearing jackets which color is
detected by the robot and they would "fight" against it. If the child shoot
at the robot before the robot shoot at him, this latter would understand
that it's over and surrender to the child. Many of such goals would be
achievable with some imagination.