I need to make a motorized wheelchair go from point A to point B on it's own.
I'm thinking of making it follow a wire under the carpet, or triangulating it's position, or even radio control. Kind of like a robot.
I'm not sure, what would be the easiest. Any and all information would be appreciated.
The chair is a Quickie P100 and schematics are unobtainable thus far.
Heh then I'd need mecho-tech-online.com. No someone close is paraplegic and her husband, unthinking, moves her chair and leaves. She needs away to fetch the chair. I want her to be able to hit a remote, activate the chair, it searches for the wire, finds it and follows it. Can you get me started?
if it's doing this indoors you would want to make sure you have a real bullet proof system as it can easily decide to crash its self into a wall otherwise. line following robots i've done tend to go crazy whenever they go too far off the track and have to go back to it. then again i've only used a Sumobot using a BS2
Deal with the husband! A motion sensor and voice chip on the chair shouting "STEP AWAY FROM THE WHEELCHAIR!" Seriously, solve the real problem. Maybe one of those wireless "loss of proximity" alarms they sell for suitcases and laptop cases...if it's moved away from you it goes into alarm.
Or, make the chair RC controlled. Is she visually impaired? An RC control could probably be built for very little, if the chair has steering. Adding steering would cost more, but using differential power, probably still in budget.
John
Edit: RC means remote control. It could be radio, but more likely IR from the TV selector, etc.