This robot will save you from shoveling this winter

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When was the last time you had to shovel snow from your driveway? What if you never had to again? 

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It’s January, which for many of you means winter is well underway. Whether you simply hate the freezing cold or always seem to throw your back out while shoveling, what if there was a machine that could take care the tedious task for you without ever having to step foot outside? This is exactly what Vittorio Loschiavo decided to do by devising his own open source, remote-controlled Snow Plow Robot.

This piece of equipment is based on an Arduino Uno (ATmega328) and can be wirelessly maneuvered using a PlayStation 2 controller. The bot consists of an ordinary snowplow frame, which supports a motorized blade along with electric motors, wheels and caterpillar tracks.

If you absolutely hate shoveling, head over to Open Electronics’ exhaustive project page where you’ll find everything you need to get started.

A DIY quadruped that waves and walks

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Maker builds a 3D-printed, Arduino-based social quadruped that can wander freely or be controlled via Bluetooth.

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The Makecourse at the University of South Florida teaches the basic skills for engineering design projects, and, unlike most classes of this type, is open to all USF students with no prerequisites. For his part in it, Chomba Waihenya decided to build a quadruped robot. The bot can be controlled via a Bluetooth connection (including a phone app that he wrote), or it can be set free to wander about, avoiding obstacles using an ultrasonic range finder.

The first design for the quadruped involved three servos, or three degrees of freedom (DOF), per leg, but after initial testing he decided to go with a simpler two servo/DOF design. The robot takes advantage of a sliding gait to move, as shown in the videos below. The outer servo makes the leg either stretch out or contract, affecting the amount that it grips the smooth floor. Depending on how these two servos are positioned and moved, this allows the ‘bot to move forward, backward, left, or right. Additionally, it can lie down on command, as well as do a friendly wave with either of its front appendages, making it a “social” quadruped.

Control is accomplished via an Arduino Uno (ATmega328) with a Bluetooth module, with an Arduino V5 sensor shield for simplified wiring. As eight servos plug into the shield in this application, the term “sensor shield” probably doesn’t give its abilities enough credit!

Thimble delivers monthly DIY electronic kits to your door

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Birchbox is to beauty as Thimble is to DIY electronics. Build a new device every month! 

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The Maker Movement has taken off and diversified the past few years, igniting creativity and innovation in a community of people. For those new to it and interested in getting involved, it can be a bit daunting at first. There’s so much you can build, hack and tinker with, so where do you even start? Makers David Brenner and Oscar Pedroso saw this need, and created a solution to help guide and engage future makers without them feeling intimidated.

After meeting on Hacker News in December 2014, David and Oscar wanted to share their passion for the DIY crowd by finding a way to engage kids and adults in electronics. A year later, Thimble was conceived.

Thimble is a DIY kit accompanied by a learning app, which allows you to build a new electronic device each month. The team has developed a series of monthly kits that teaches users the fundamentals of electronics and how hardware and software come together, so they can innovate and invent from the comfort of their own home.

The first kit is a Wi-Fi-enabled robot, controlled by phone, tablet or laptop. The robot arrives with all the components needed to build the project and step-by-step tutorials on the learning app to guide you through the construction process. Additionally, the app provides a community of other Makers to share knowledge and best practices. By the time you finish making your Wi-Fi bot, you will have learned how to create an Android/iOS app that can move things, understand how electricity, motors and microcontrollers work, and have enough knowledge to try out your own ideas to improve the robot. You can achieve this regardless of your age or background knowledge.

At the heart of the robot is an Arduino. You can program its firmware to talk to the Wi-Fi module that comes with the kit. With it, the robot can receive commands over your wireless network and control the motors. Additional parts included in the kit are a printed circuit board, breadboard, wheels, battery holder, cable, terminal blocks, jumpers and more.

Looking ahead, other projects you could receive range from drones, to alarm clocks, to LED cubes, to light control devices for your home. If monthly shipments are too frequent, or you just want to try the first kit out, Thimble can deliver kits whenever you’d like them instead.

Ready to jumpstart your future as a Maker? Head over to the Thimble Kickstarter page, where David, Oscar and the team are seeking $25,000. You can expect to start building and tinkering when the first batch of units goes out for delivery on April 2016.

This 3D-printed robot can navigate inside confined spaces

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OctaWorm is a 3D-printed, Arduino-based robot that may be the future of search-and-rescue missions. 

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When disaster strikes, one of the biggest problems challenges that rescue teams encounter is locating and reaching survivors amid the rubble. Unfortunately, there are times even with today’s advanced technologies where humans are unable to slip into a tight space and extract an individual. But what if there was a robotic device that could? That is the idea behind a recent project by Juan Cristóbal Zagal.

Developed in collaboration with researchers from the University of Chile and University of Akron, OctaWorm is a 3D-printed octahedral robot that is capable of morphing its body to squeeze through holes, gaps and debris. The latest version, now the third prototype, is comprised mostly of 3D-printed parts and some aluminum rods for enhanced durability. It employs pneumatic-driven servo motors for movement and is operated via a wired controller, though the team hopes to make this wireless in the near future.

Aside from that, the robot is equipped with an Arduino board, an Arduino-compatible shield to controls the relays and three pneumatic solenoid valves. Since the OctaWorm is pneumatically driven, Zagal used high-quality rapid pneumatic connectors and plastic tubing to attach it to the controller.

The robot also features 3D-printed ball joints, which enable it to grip onto and traverse through any type of terrain. These rubbery balls are tasked with handling the deformation motion, and allow it to assume a variety of shapes and configurations as it slips into a crack or crevice.

“The current version of the robot is capable of traveling inside a pipe. It is also capable of dealing with changes on the internal diameter of the pipe. The functional symmetry of the robot allows it to travel along T, L and Y joints in pipelines. Traditional in-pipe robots have many problems for dealing with these types of junctions. In contrast the deformable octahedral robotcan simply squeeze into junctions,” Zagal tells 3DPrint.com. 

The goal of the project was to develop a new way to use robotic motion to access and navigate confined spaces typically found in disaster situations, as well as pipes and air ducts. In the future, Zagal envisions an even tinier version that could be used for medical applications, such as going through blood vessels.

Until then, you can watch the OctaWorm in action below!

[h/t 3DPrint.com]

This adorable robot is hitchhiking its way across the U.S.

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Thumbs up! hitchBOT is making its way from Massachusetts to California this summer.

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After enjoying its previous adventures through both Canada and Europe relying solely on the kindness and curiosity of strangers to help get from place to place, the friendly hitchhiking robot known as hitchBOT is back. This time it will be making its way across the United States — starting in Salem, Massachusetts and finishing at the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

Though hitchBOT has no set route or idea as to how long it will take to reach California, its creators David Harris Smith and Frauke Zeller hope that Americans will take it to see some of its most memorable landmarks and attractions. Among the places on the humanoid’s bucket list are Times Square in New York, Disney World in Florida, Millennium Park in Illinois, Mount Rushmore in South Dakota and the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

The child-sized bot features a bucket for a torso, blue swimming pool noodles for its limbs, yellow rubber gloves for its hitchhiking hands (with one thumb permanently pointed upwards, of course), an LED face housed inside an acrylic cake saver with a “San Francisco or bust” sign wrapped around its head, along with speech recognition software and even its own 3G/Wi-Fi network that it uses to offer tidbits of local information it picks up along the way. This allows it to engage in limited conversation, send tweets and engage in a game or two of trivia. In fact, the Atmel based device is programmed to explain itself to those who decide to pick it up, and can ask to be plugged in to a car’s cigarette lighter to keep its battery charged.

hitchBOT is embedded with a simple tablet, an Arduino board and GPS tasked with tracking its location. Aside from that, a camera randomly snaps photos about every 20 minutes to document its travels, which it wirelessly sends to its creators and its social media accounts. Together, all the parts cost about $1,000; however, the experience of picking up this friendly robot… priceless.

With more than 38,000 people following the robot on Twitter and hundreds of others already having posted their own selfies with it, hitchBOT is quite popular. Throughout its journey, researchers are collecting data from social media to study how people interact with a robot that require their help, the opposite of more conventional robots that are designed to assist them.

If you’re lucky enough to come across the friendly fellow this summer, don’t hesitate in picking it up and asking a few questions. Otherwise, for the rest of us, head over to its official page to stay updated with its cross-country trip.

This Arduino-powered robot will open your beers for you

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Having trouble opening your bottle? Let this robotic device do it for you.

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We’ve all been there: The big game is about to start, you head over to the fridge to grab a cold brewski, only to find out it isn’t a twist-off cap and there’s no bottle opener in sight. Luckily, thanks to a group of Makers, you won’t even need to get up from the couch let alone have to open your own beer.

Led by Maker Sasha Schrandt, the team successfully modded a non-functioning robot to successfully open a beer bottle using some DC motors, a relay shelf, some resistors and an Arduino Duemilanove (ATmega328), among several other electronic components.

After stumbling across the old robotic device, the Makers decided that it would be a good idea to bring this piece of technology back to life and to give it a new purpose, one in which would come in handy for a party, a big game, or just any lazy Sunday. That purpose? To become an automated beer opener.

“The task of controlling a robot to have it interact with specifically shaped objects and operate heavy loads is challenging and required significant prototyping and modelling. After many tests and many failures, we were very excited to watch our robot successfully maneuver through arm movements to open a beer bottle,” Schandt writes.

The robot is controlled by the ATmega328, which is attached to a relay shield. Connected to those are three recycled DC motors, switches, wires, and a couple resistors. Additionally, the Makers employed a couple zip ties, nuts, bolts, washers and short screws, along with a MDF board to mount everything on, and eight empty soup cans plus various scrap pieces of metal and rods.

Schandt reveals that there were four primary tasks to prepare the hardware for the robot. These included weight reduction of the robot arm to allow maximum torque / force from the arm; bottle holders for the beers (which were created using the empty soup cans); mount the bottle opener and limit switches to the robot; and, mount the robot parts to a sheet of MDF to maintain alignment.

To reduce the weight of the arm, the team simply took off the last two motors of the robot arm to make the carriage head lighter. This left them with an arm that was much easier to control and to get the necessary torque to open the bottle caps. From there, all that was left was a bit of coding and connecting the electronics. After some programming magic and electrical know-how, the robotic contraption was ready.

So, did it work? The robot was able to open seven out of the eight bottles successfully. Not too shabby, if you ask us! Interested in crafting your own bottle bot? Head over to the project’s official page here for a step-by-step breakdown of the build.

Build a walking robot with credit cards and an ATmega328

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Unlike some POS terminals, this robot takes Visa, Mastercard and Discover.

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Writing for MAKE: Magazine, Jeremy Cook has revealed another way that your credit card may wander off other than pickpocketing, of course. The brainchild of Maker “Roger’s Home,” Monster Chan is a wallet-sized, AVR based robot that is actually capable of walking away on its own.

The body of the DIY device is comprised of two expired credit cards along with a set of electronic components. An ultrasonic sensor attached to a servo is employed as its head and tasked with navigating the terrain with its paperclip legs.

Between the pair of plastic pieces lie an Arduino-compatible VISduino Uno board (ATmega328) and a sensor shield serving as its brains, a battery box for its power supply, an IR sensor for remote commands and six servos.

A set of middle servos seem to handle the movement and turning of the budget-friendly robot, as it makes its way left and right and propels itself forward with the aid of its other legs.

If somehow your credit cards vanish, not to worry. Cook jokes, “It looks like it would be very hard to use in a reader.” You can see it in action below!

This Arduino-based robot responds to simple voice commands

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After being disappointed with a robotic arm he received for the holidays, one Maker decided to build his own bot instead.

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With Maker Faire season in full swing, we just can’t seem to get enough of robotic creations. Recently, we came across a pretty sweet project from John Fin, who devised a voice-controlled, Arduino-based bot of his own.

The idea was initially conceived after the Maker received a robotic arm for Christmas and was displeased with its quality. Three months later, he had a fully-functioning bot navigating through his garage. The robot, which goes by the name of S.P.A.R.C., is powered by an Arduino Uno (ATmega328) with an EasyVR voice control shield connected to an Arduino Duemilanove (ATmega328) with a motor shield.

S.P.A.R.C. works by accepting simple commands, generally formatted by naming the object to be manipulated, then a desired action, followed by a number. For instance, “Forward 1… Turn right 1…. Arm up 7…. Wrist down 6.” In true robotic fashion, it even emits a friendly beep between each segment of the command. As Fin explains, the reason for saying a number is to give the operator incremental control.

So what exactly can S.P.A.R.C. do? For starters, the bot can move its arm up and down, grasp and release items, follow and stop on a dime, among many other things. Not only can it be controlled by voice, an operator can use a remote as well. Beyond that, S.P.A.R.C. can respond to inquiries in Siri-like fashion, ranging from a simple “What’s my name?” to the weather forecast — which is all made possible through an on-board Galaxy S2 smartphone running the Dragon Assistant app. This gives the robot Internet access and “a little extra personality,” too.

Aside from its embedded Arduino boards and smartphone, S.P.A.R.C. is equipped with an extendable mast to bring items up and down, a sonar for measuring distance and detecting obstructions, movable lights, an arm with changeable grippers, a toolbox for whatever, a built-in Bluetooth-enabed speaker, a power inverter, and of course, two wheels for ultimate 360-degree mobility.

Pretty cool, right? Watch S.P.A.R.C. in action below!

Which Arduino board is right for you?

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Picking an Arduino is as easy as Uno, Due, Tre! 

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Thinking about starting a project? See which Arduino board is right for the job.

Arduino Uno

This popular board — based on the ATmega328 MCU — features 14 digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz ceramic resonator, USB connection, power jack, an ICSP header and a reset button.

The Uno does not use the FTDI USB-to-serial driver chip. Instead, it features the ATmega16U2 (ATmega8U2 up to version R2) programmed as a USB-to-serial converter.

In addition, Revision 3 of the Uno offers the following new features:

• 
1.0 pinout: added SDA and SCL pins that are near to the AREF pin and two other new pins placed near to the RESET pin, the IOREF that allow the shields to adapt to the voltage provided from the board. Note: The second is not a connected pin.
• 
Stronger RESET circuit.
• ATmega16U2 replace the 8U2.

Arduino Leonardo

The Arduino Leonardo is built around the versatile ATmega32U4. This board offers 20 digital input/output pins (of which 7 can be used as PWM outputs and 12 as analog inputs), a 16 MHz crystal oscillator, microUSB connection, power jack, an ICSP header and a reset button.

The Leonardo contains everything needed to support the microcontroller; simply connect it to a computer with a USB cable or power it with a AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get started. Plus, the ATmega32U4 offers built-in USB communication, eliminating the need for a secondary processor. This allows it to appear as a mouse and keyboard, in addition to being recognized as a virtual (CDC) serial / COM port.

Arduino Due

The Arduino Due is an MCU board based on the Atmel | SMART SAM3X8E ARM Cortex-M3 CPU.

As the first Arduino built on a 32-bit ARM core microcontroller, Due boasts 54 digital input/output pins (of which 12 can be used as PWM outputs), 12 analog inputs, 4 UARTs (hardware serial ports), an 84 MHz clock, USB OTG capable connection, 2 DAC (digital to analog), 2 TWI, a power jack, an SPI header, a JTAG header, a reset button and an erase button.

Unlike other Arduino boards, the Due runs at 3.3V. The maximum voltage that the I/O pins can tolerate is 3.3V. Providing higher voltages, like 5V to an I/O pin, could damage the board.

Arduino Yún

The Arduino Yún features an ATmega32U4, along with an Atheros AR9331 that supports a Linux distribution based on OpenWRT known as Linino.

The Yún has built-in Ethernet and Wi-Fi support, a USB-A port, a microSD card slot, 20 digital input/output pins (of which 7 can be used as PWM outputs and 12 as analog inputs), a 16 MHz crystal oscillator, microUSB connection, an ICSP header and 3 reset buttons. The Yún is also capable of communicating with the Linux distribution onboard, offering a powerful networked computer with the ease of Arduino.

In addition to Linux commands like cURL, Makers and engineers can write their own shell and python scripts for robust interactions. The Yún is similar to the Leonardo in that the ATmega32U4 offers USB communication, eliminating the need for a secondary processor. This enables the Yún to appear as a mouse and keyboard, in addition to being recognized as a virtual (CDC) serial?COM port.

Arduino Micro

Developed in conjunction with Adafruit, the Arduino Micro is powered by ATmega32U4.

The board is equipped 20 digital input/output pins (of which 7 can be used as PWM outputs and 12 as analog inputs), a 16 MHz crystal oscillator, microUSB connection, a ICSP header and a reset button. The Micro includes everything needed to support the microcontroller; simply connect it to a computer with a microUSB cable to get started. The Micro even has a form factor that lets the device be easily placed on a breadboard.

Arduino Robot

The Arduino Robot is the very first official Arduino on wheels. The robot is equipped with two processors — one for each of its two boards.

The motor board drives the motors, while the control board is tasked with reading sensors and determining how to operate. Each of the ATmega32u4 based units are fully-programmable using the Arduino IDE. More specifically, configuring the robot is similar to the process with the Arduino Leonardo, as both MCUs offer built-in USB communication, effectively eliminating the need for a secondary processor. This enables the Robot to appear to a connected computer as a virtual (CDC) serial?COM port.

Arduino Esplora

The Arduino Esplora is an ATmega32u4 powered microcontroller board derived from the Arduino Leonardo. It’s designed for Makers and DIY hobbyists who want to get up and running with Arduino without having to learn about the electronics first.

The Esplora features onboard sound and light outputs, along with several input sensors, including a joystick, slider, temperature sensor, accelerometer, microphone and a light sensor. It also has the potential to expand its capabilities with two Tinkerkit input and output connectors, along with a socket for a color TFT LCD screen.

Arduino Mega (2560)

The Arduino Mega features an ATmega2560 at its heart.

It is packed with 54 digital input/output pins (of which 15 can be used as PWM outputs), 16 analog inputs, 4 UARTs (hardware serial ports), a 16 MHz crystal oscillator, USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header and a reset button. Simply connect it to a computer with a USB cable or power it with a AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get started. The Mega is compatible with most shields designed for the Arduino Duemilanove or Diecimila.

Arduino Mini

Originally based on the ATmega168, and now equipped with the ATmega328, the Arduino Mini is intended for use on breadboards and projects where space is at a premium.

The board is loaded with 14 digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs), 8 analog inputs and a 16 MHz crystal oscillator. It can be programmed with the USB Serial adapter, the other USB, or the RS232 to TTL serial adapter.

Arduino LilyPad

The LilyPad Arduino is designed specifically for wearables and e-textiles. It can be sewn to fabric and similarly mounted power supplies, sensors and actuators with conductive thread.

The board is based on the ATmega168V (the low-power version of the ATmega168) or the ATmega328V. The LilyPad Arduino was designed and developed by Leah Buechley and SparkFun Electronics. Readers may also want to check out the LilyPad Simple, LilyPad USB and the LilyPad SimpleSnap.

Arduino Nano

The Arduino Nano is a tiny, complete and breadboard-friendly board based on the ATmega328 (Arduino Nano 3.x) or ATmega168 (Arduino Nano 2.x).

The Nano has more or less the same functionality of the Arduino Duemilanove, but in a different package. It lacks only a DC power jack and works with a Mini-B USB cable instead of a standard one. The board is designed and produced by Gravitech.

Arduino Pro Mini

Powered by an ATmega328, the Arduino Pro Mini is equipped with 14 digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs), 8 analog inputs, an on-board resonator, a reset button and some holes for mounting pin headers.

A 6-pin header can be connected to an FTDI cable or Sparkfun breakout board to provide USB power and communication to the board. Note: See also Arduino Pro.

Arduino Fio

The Arduino Fio (V3) is a microcontroller board based on Atmel’s ATmega32U4. It has 14 digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs), 8 analog inputs, an on-board resonator, a reset button and holes for mounting pin headers. It also offers connections for a lithium polymer battery and includes a charge circuit over USB. An XBee socket is available on the bottom of the board.

The Arduino Fio is intended for wireless applications. The user can upload sketches with an a FTDI cable or Sparkfun breakout board. Additionally, by using a modified USB-to-XBee adaptor such as XBee Explorer USB, the user can upload sketches wirelessly. The board comes without pre-mounted headers, facilitating the use of various types of connectors or direct soldering of wires. The Arduino Fio was designed by Shigeru Kobayashi and SparkFun Electronics.

Arduino Zero

Last year, the tandem of Atmel and Arduino debuted the Zero development board – a simple, elegant and powerful 32-bit extension of the platform. The Arduino Zero board packs an Atmel | SMART SAM D21 MCU, which features an ARM Cortex M0+ core. Additional key hardware specs include 256KB of Flash, 32KB SRAM in a TQFP package and compatibility with 3.3V shields that conform to the Arduino R3 layout.

The Arduino Zero boasts flexible peripherals along with Atmel’s Embedded Debugger (EDBG) – facilitating a full debug interface on the SAMD21 without the need for supplemental hardware. Beyond that, EDBG supports a virtual COM port that can be used for device programming and traditional Arduino bootloader functionality. This highly-anticipated board will be available for purchase from the Arduino Store in the U.S. on Monday June 15th.

Arduino AtHeart

The Arduino AtHeart program was specifically launched for Makers and companies with products based on the open-source board that would like to be clearly identified as supporters of the versatile platform. The program is available for any device that includes a processor that is currently supported by the Arduino IDE, including the following Atmel MCUs:

• ATMega328 clocked at 8 or 16 MHz
• ATMega1280 clocked at 16 MHz
• ATMega2560 clocked at 16 MHz
• ATMega32U4 clocked at 16MHz
• Atmel | SMART SAM3X

Participants in the program include startups like:

EarthMake – ArLCD

The touchscreen ArLCD combines the ezLCD SmartLCD GPU with the Arduino Uno.

Bare Conductive Touch Board

The ATmega32U4 based Touch Board can turn nearly any material or surface into a sensor by connecting it to one of its 12 electrodes, using conductive paint or anything conductive.

Blend Micro

The RedBearLab integrated dev platform “blends” the powers of Arduino with Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy into a single board. It is targeted for Makers looking to develop low-power IoT projects in a quick, easy and efficient manner. The MCU is driven by an ATmega32U4 and a Nordic nRF8001 BLE chip.

littleBits Arduino Module

The fan-favorite Arduino module, which happens to also be based on an ATmega32U4, lets users easily write programs in the Arduino IDE to read sensors and control lights and motors within the littleBits system.

Smart Citizen Kit

An Arduino-compatible motherboard with sensors that measure air composition (CO and NO2), temperature, light intensity, sound levels, and humidity. Once configured, the Smart Citizen Kit is capable of streaming data collected by the sensors over Wi-Fi.

Nellie is a 3D-printed weed-picking robot

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This Arduino-powered bot may one day help farmers stay weed-free. 

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Other than shoveling several inches of snow, there’s one outdoor chore that anyone would surely welcome robotic assistance: weeding. While there are already a number of plowing bots out in existence today, thanks to one Maker, the daunting lawn care task may soon be taken care of as well.

A recent entry in MAKE: Magazine and Cornell University’s Pitch Your Prototype competition, Maker Mike Rigsby has developed a 3D-printed robot capable of, you guessed it, pulling out weeds! While at first this may sound like yet another mechanism to increase laziness, weeds are actually a serious problem for farmers all around the world — and it’s only getting worse. Take for instance Pigweed, which grows up to three inches per day and has become resistant to the dominant weed killers, threatening the nation’s soybean and corn crops.

“This is a serious attempt to address an agricultural problem,” Rigsby told the magazine. “I suspected that robots could handle the weeds and that the time to start working on such a solution is now, before the weeds develop further resistance to chemicals.”

And so Nellie was born. The robot spots and plucks them the old-fashioned way, one at a time. The current proof-of-concept is powered by a trio of Arduino Unos (ATmega328), a pair of Arduino motor shields, a Pixy camera, a Ping ultrasonic sensor, eleven AA NiMh batteries, a servo motor, a four-wheel drive base, along with some custom 3D-printed parts that were constructed using two AVR powered MakerBot Replicator 2.

How it works is relatively simple. The Pixy camera spots a weed, then feeds the data over to the Arduino processors which relay the commands to the motor controller module to activate the grabber and close the pincer. Meanwhile, the Arduino-controlled motor shield enables the robot to move about the land in the right direction. At the moment, the device is only designed to roll over carpet.

Should the Maker win the contest’s grand prize, however, Rigsby hopes to use the winnings to devise another working prototype with a little more oomph, which can navigate a farm’s terrain. And who knows, perhaps in the coming months, everyday gardeners will be able to take advantage of Nellie, too.

“To advance the project requires money for parts. Nellie’s daughters and sons will need a heavy duty chassis that will run between rows of plants, reaching to the side to eliminate offensive weeds. They need multiple cameras and better vision to pinpoint the target. Weeds will be eliminated by pulling, burning, cutting, digging, electrocuting or some combination of methods,” Rigsby adds.

Until then, you can watch it in action below. Now this would make for a great Hackay Prize entry as well. Just sayin’.