The robots that are controlled by interfacing with a personal computer are called as computer controlled robots. A computer is an integral part of every robot system that contains a control program and a task program. The control program is provided by the manufacturer and the controls of each joint of the robot manipulator. The task program is provided by the user and specifies the manipulating motions that are required to complete a specific job.

When a programming language is used, the robot computer also contains a language processor that interprets the task programs and provides the data required by the control program to direct the Robot’s motions. Nowadays robots are used to perform a variety of tasks due to increasing demand and production as they can work 24/7 relentlessly without breaking down, but such robots are very expensive.

Computer controlled robots can be used in different fields such as medical, military operations, industrial, agricultural, and so on. This article contains some projects related to computer controlled robots for the readers to gain some practical insights and knowledge about such robots like the following ones.

1. PC Controlled Temperature and Obstacle Sensing Robot

The main objective of this project is to design a robot that should be controlled with a Personal Computer. Such a robot is made with some sensors to sense and measure temperature and also to detect an obstacle in its path. The RF technology is used for remote operation of this robot and ultrasonic technology for detecting temperature and obstacles.

This PC controlled wireless robot concept is applied to the places where robot can be placed in an enclosure or any confinement where it is not possible for anyone to enter. This unit consists of components such as a microcontroller, a PC, an RF encoder and a decoder, an RF transmitter and a receiver.

In the control unit, a regulated power supply is given as an input to the microcontroller, and it is initialized by using a PC. The microcontroller is a programmable device having internal CPU, RAM, ROM, INPUT PORTS and a TIMER embedded on a single chip. RF technology is a frequency or rate of oscillation within the range of about 3Hz to 300GHz and this range corresponds to the frequency of alternating current’s electrical signals use to produce and detect the radio waves.

The RF communication consists of an RF transmitter, a receiver, an RF encoder and a decoder. The microcontroller sends the data to the transmitter wherein the encoder, as an immediate device, accepts the data from the microcontroller, and sets that into the range of the radio frequency, and then sends the data to the transmitter.

The transmitter passes the data to the antenna pin so that the data should be received on the RF receiver of the robot unit. The data from the receiver of this control unit fed into the decoder decodes the received information, and then sends that to the microcontroller.

Robot Unit

The robot unit also consists of a microcontroller, an RF receiver and a transmitter, an ultrasonic sensor, a crystal oscillator, a temperature sensor, an RF decoder and an encoder and other robotic arrangement. An ultra sonic sensor is used for sensing & detecting obstacle and the temperature sensor is used for sensing & detecting the change in temperature.

These sensing values, through ADC, send the data to the microcontroller so that the motor driver drives the robot to perform these operations: movement in forward, backward, left and right directions, respectively.

At the controlling side, the microcontroller is first initialized with the PC; after that, the controller continuously reads the data from the PC. Users continuously monitor the data with the PC, and therefore, can change the control parameters.

2. Touch Screen based Remote Controlled Robot Vehicle for Store Management

This project is designed to control a robotic vehicle with a touch screen display unit for remote areas. The hardware components used in this project include a micro controller, a touch screen panel, an encoder, a decoder, an RF transmitter and a receiver, a robotic body, a voltage regulator, a resistor, a capacitor and DC motors. It consists of a soft catching arm that is designed to avoid extra pressure that needs to be applied on the object to be picked up.

Touch screen remote controller is placed at the transmitter section which is used to transmit RF control signals. A pick-n-place robotic vehicle at the receiver end responds to the transmitted signals and performs the desired task. A hand-held-touch screen based device commands the robot to move forward, backward, up and down and for other picking operations.

In this system, the microcontroller is programmed using keil software to design the PC controlled wireless robot. A PC is used to display a particular motion of the robot, to send control signals and also to change the program based on the application requirement.

In this section, four motors are interfaced with the microcontroller wherein two of them are used for the arm and gripper movement and the remaining ones for the body movement. A motor driver drives all these motors by receiving the command signals from the microcontroller. An antenna is placed at both the ends of the transmitter and the receiver for transmitting and receiving signals.

3. PC Monitoring War Field Spying Robot with a Night Vision Wireless Camera

This project is intended to develop a remote control robot attached with a wireless camera monitored by using a PC and Android application for remote operation. The robot along with the camera can wirelessly transmit real-time video with the night vision capabilities.

In this system, a wireless camera is mounted on the robot body for spying purpose in complete darkness by using IR lighting. This monitoring can be possible with a PC or TV and with additional receiver circuit. A Bluetooth modem is attached to the robot vehicle to allow it to interact continuously with the android mobile.

Therefore, by sending the control signals from the mobile phone, the direction of the vehicle’s movement can be changed. Here, the night vision camera continuously sends the signals to the PC receiver to show the objects in it.

These are some of the computer controlled robot types used for different applications wherein a computer is used for programming the controller, acquiring and analyzing data, sending control signals and also for monitoring purposes.

Hope you got some exceptional insights on this topic from the examples and explanation given here. However, for further doubts on how to implement projects, you can write to us by commenting in the comment section.

Photo Credits:

• Computer controlled Robot by geeky-gadgets
• PC Controlled Temperature and Obstacle Sensing Robot (control unit)by eceprojects