Task: Design a robotic system that mimics a biological system and has a relevant use case.
Using biology and nature as a guide, the question is – how can we learn and develop relevant technology that has an impact? Here, I created a robot system, which attempted to mimic the biological tracking activities of ants. I decided to use VOCs to set up this system. The lead robot would deposit a trail of VOCs as it traversed, and the follower robot would scan the area using a VOC sensor to move towards the highest concentration of VOCs. This mimics the pheromone deposit that ants use to lay trails for finding food or route back to the colony.
My Role:
As a product designer on the team, I was focused on designing the following mechanism: I integrated the VOC sensor and created a sensing algorithm that would sweep over a 160o area, finding the location of strongest VOC concentration and move the robot in that direction.
Implementation:
The VOC sensor arm was designed using SolidWorks and 3D printed. The arm integrated with a servo motor to allow for the swinging motion. The sensing algorithm was developed using Arduino.
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