How often did you have to pick up the things thrown around your living room? If you were worrying that this problem could not find a solution in robotics, you would never forget the Seek N’ Sneak robot.
Robots are wonderful machines designed for a wide range of social or industrial tasks. The Seek N’ Sneak robot can be easily included in the social category as a toy for kids, and as a household robot for anyone.
The name of the robot revealed two main tasks where the robot exceeded all expectations: seek and sneak. More than that, the robot is fast and strong, can run in autonomous mode, it is fearless and never gives up in battle with other robots, and it could be used for entertainment.
A word about Seek N’ Sneak
The robot is special engineered to find and collect objects on the ground. An apple or a small ball, a sock or a crumpled paper ball, any of these can be grasped by the Seek N’ Sneak and placed back in place where the things should be.
Design Is How It Works
An Arduino Mega 2560 microcontroller board powers the self-controlled robot and the Arduino sketch is completely open-source. What is more wonderful than an open-source hardware and software kit? Yes, the robot has a modular body and can be modified to meet the needs of everyone.
What do you need for a custom robot? You need some tools, sensor, servos, 3D printed parts …and finally some electronics and programming skills.
On the robot body are attached two IR sensors that provide two-dimensional information for orientation, while a third IR proximity sensor detects the objects ensure the robot position. The sensor for object detection can be replaced by a PING))) Ultrasonic Distance Sensor. This is a task for any hobbyists and hacker who love the Arduino microcontroller.
How the IR sensors are placed in front of the robot (image credit)
For a precise control, two independently controlled stepper motors power the two driving wheels of the robot.
The arm is the main tool of the robot and is has attached three servomotors. The arm is strong enough to push up to 3 pounds, throw objects or even lift the robot itself.
The robot is smart enough to work autonomously. Since its body and software are open-source, these are the best resources ready for use by any maker to develop a new way of work.
Who is this for?
The Seek N’ Sneak robot impresses me with three features: it has a strong structure, a versatile grasping tool, and a platform that can be upgraded with a plenty of extra sensors, or shields for communication such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.