okay, a friend put me on to this.........

[mr. mister]

.....is this sensible for a final year project??

designing a computer remote controlled toy using mainly lego's RCX programming interface and some java (maybe) with a camera unit that sends back real time visual data to the computer

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

.....is this sensible for a final year project??

designing a computer remote controlled toy using mainly lego's RCX programming interface and some java (maybe) with a camera unit that sends back real time visual data to the computer

'Final year' of what?, school or university? - it 'might' be suitable for a school project at age 16 or so, but such a simple ready made design isn't likely to impress at university.

 

[mr. mister]

it was just an idea

i thought building circuitry that sent visual data back to the computer would be abit complex

the RCX programming part would only involve motion control for the car

What do you reckon about building an actual remote controlled car from scratch which is controlled via a computer (windows app. based on visual information it receives)?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

it was just an idea

i thought building circuitry that sent visual data back to the computer would be abit complex

It depends how much of it you wanted to build, but video cameras and senders are freely available at low cost - I doubt duplicating existing systems would give you good marks. Licence free video transmitters are quite common, if you built it yourself you would have problems with licencing - presumably an illegal project wouldn't impress either?.

the RCX programming part would only involve motion control for the car

What do you reckon about building an actual remote controlled car from scratch which is controlled via a computer (windows app. based on visual information it receives)?

That sounds more like a suitable project, so the car sends back images from a camera and the PC tells it what to do based on the images received - the difficult part is likely to be interpreting the images. But at least you can do that without ever building the car, just a camera linked to the PC, develop and prove the software before moving on to the car.

And, I hardly need mention it, document everything!.

 

[mr. mister]

That sounds more like a suitable project, so the car sends back images from a camera and the PC tells it what to do based on the images received - the difficult part is likely to be interpreting the images. But at least you can do that without ever building the car, just a camera linked to the PC, develop and prove the software before moving on to the car.

i was thinking more along the lines of actually being able to control the car from the PC. An RF remote control circuit for the car with a serial interface to a computer. Using some programming (java) to control the comms port sending control information via the RF circuit to the car, which would be layed out in a GUI for easy usage. Visual information could be sent back simply via a wireless webcam attached to the car (maybe).

does this make any sense??

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

i was thinking more along the lines of actually being able to control the car from the PC. An RF remote control circuit for the car with a serial interface to a computer. Using some programming (java) to control the comms port sending control information via the RF circuit to the car, which would be layed out in a GUI for easy usage. Visual information could be sent back simply via a wireless webcam attached to the car (maybe).

does this make any sense??

Yes, it makes sense, but it's a pretty unimpressive project - you've never actually said if you're at school or university - as a 15 year old school project it wouldn't be bad. But for a university project it's very weak, apart from the car hardware it could be easily done in a single day, two days at the outside.

 

[samcheetah]

i agree with Nigel. and what is the use of the PC in all this. u can just directly interface a joystick to control the car without the need for the PC.

but if u have studied digital image processing then it would be great if u used your skills. then there will be the need for a PC. the images from the car would be processed and the car would be steered accordingly. suppose an atmosphere that is very harsh, like mars. and the car has to move in that enviroment based on digital image processing algorithms. that might impress your teachers

 

[mr. mister]

it is for a university final project

product design actually, looking to do something that involves a good deal of electronics

i assumed the serial comms aspect of interfacing the transmitter with the PC wold be solid enough?

the project has to be product oriented, very sellable an not just research worthy

 

[mr. mister]

i agree with Nigel. and what is the use of the PC in all this. u can just directly interface a joystick to control the car without the need for the PC.

but if u have studied digital image processing then it would be great if u used your skills. then there will be the need for a PC. the images from the car would be processed and the car would be steered accordingly. suppose an atmosphere that is very harsh, like mars. and the car has to move in that enviroment based on digital image processing algorithms. that might impress your teachers

kind of like a spy vehicle you might have downstairs at night while controlling it on a PC screen upstairs, many more applications

kids would love it i think

 

[samcheetah]

yes thats a good idea. u see there wasnt any need for the PC for the idea u had in mind. i mean all it had to do was control the left, right, and forward controls of the car. that would have been dumb. adding a little bit of digital image processing makes it look kool 8)

i hope that helps

 

[Someone Electro]

Making a car drive thru smal gates that have a bright dot on the top cod be posible.Making the software wod tacke 1-2 Days and a nother 1-2 days to fine tune the setings.

I can give you some Visual Basic 6 surcecode that proceses images.But i wil not make you the program sine you need to set it so that it works the best whith your camera

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

it is for a university final project

product design actually, looking to do something that involves a good deal of electronics

i assumed the serial comms aspect of interfacing the transmitter with the PC wold be solid enough?

Just a simple MAX232 - extremely simple, barely a project at all - have a look at my RS232 board in my tutorials, that's all it needs - building time, ten minutes or so?.

the project has to be product oriented, very sellable an not just research worthy

It doesn't look to meet any of those criteria to me!.

 

[mr. mister]

nigel what do you reckon would be a good idea for a project??

i am really short of ideas

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

nigel what do you reckon would be a good idea for a project??

i am really short of ideas

If you look back through older threads you will notice lots of people asking for inspiration - it's very difficult to pick a project that will impress yet be easy enough to do.

Your requirement for 'the project has to be product oriented' probably makes it even more difficult - most ideas that are commercially viable will probably already have been done. Perhaps a different way of doing an existing job would be a good project?, showing your inventiveness and a different way of solving the same problem.

 

[pike]

Haha...remote control car for final year project...i'm 15 and i'm building one right now. (sorry, i'm drinking red cordial @ the moment)

On the serious side though, how about a USB based network link for computers.

This would include:

microcontrollers
USB data handling (nasty stuff for a hobbyist)
producing your own driver for the device itself to run under windows

You may even decide to make it a wireless version through license free radio modules, if your insane enough you may even decide to try and build these yourself!!

Now THAT is a final year project!!

when you say "final year project" how much time do you have to work with???