Challenge
Create a turret-bearing autonomous rover that can target heat-intensive objects and fire a foam missile at them.
Primary Components
- PIC Microcontroller
- Temperature sensor
- Servo-controlled turret
Tread takes the “autonomous robotic car” concept in a slightly more aggressive direction. A single sensor takes a snapshot of the variation in temperature in an arc in front of the device. This data is sent to the microcontroller, which locates the area of highest temperature and instructs the turret to aim and fire the missile there. If an object passes too close to Tread for the temperature sensor to read its heat signature, short-range infrared sensors can also trigger the missile. Finally, Tread, like Mapper, can be operated remotely via PC through its onboard XBee wireless modules.