You have to see this robot built from a $250 wheelchair

Image via UAH

A team of pretty amazing researchers at Huntsville’s Systems Management and Production Center (SMAP) at the University of Alabama got mucho bang for their buck when they transformed a $250 wheelchair into a device with the same functionality as a $20,000 geo-positioning robot.

This robotics project saw the light of day when SMAP was placed in the Jackson County School System to shoot 360º photos of schools as per the requirements of the Alabama School Safety program. These photos are then mapped in the Virtual Alabama Visual Display System in order to analyze its safety and evacuation routes. SMAP researchers Goddard and William Sabados united their teams composed of both hardware and software aficionados to create a tripod that could hold four Go-Pro cameras. The software developed by the team created a 360º view that could be seen in the style of Google Maps.

Dr. Gary Maddux, SMAP director, went directly to this skilled team when a robot needed to be designed like an unmanned aerial vehicle to carry an assortment of cargo. This invention required the execution of camera or Light Detecting and Ranging (LIDAR) scanning technology.

Student Jessica Sisk had an idea to turn a motorized wheelchair into a robot. Goddard purchased a pre-owned wheelchair from Craigslist to execute this idea. They dissembled the wheelchair, attached the mast and pertinent software, and customized the motor controllers to operate effectively. The Ricoh panoramic camera was integrated into the design, and the robot was complete.

The remote-controlled robot successfully completed its first project when it photographed a room and interior catalog of UAH’s Charger Union building that is active for insurance and inventory purposes. The bot was fully armed with a Ricoh panoramic camera propped up on a mast as the device rolled into the rooms to take the specifically desired photos.

The robot has been officially named Johnny Five by the students. For now, the robot is remote-controlled, but the team is working on a system that places an internal onboard computer so it can autonomously operate. The autonomous mode will be able to navigate around geo-preference points around a building. The robot has been compared to a Roomba by the researchers due to its future potential in terms of mobility.

Story via Phys.org