anand-hackathon

Build catapults and possibly a drone, to shoot down a programmable Roomba.

General Idea

Create a game a random walk/RC car is targeted by competing catapults.

Components:

• 1. buy base RC (omni wheels?) with controllable/programmable motion
• 2. build catapults to shoot at target (programmable or mechanic?)
• 3. small drone with release mechanism to drop "bomb"

• fallback to manual shooting if too complex or insufficient funds

• 4. video summary of weekend or trailer of the game
• 5. OpenSource all code on GitHub

1) The current idea for the BaseTargetPlatform is this:

• use the Roomba SCI (list of commands that can be sent to the Roomba, docs, possible C++ library), programmed on -a Arduino (23.-, ARM-based microcontroller) or RasPi (14.-, ARM-based single board computer) to control
• a Roomba 780 (~50.- on tutti)

Option:

• if manual control of BaseTargetPlatform is desired
  • over WiFi with NodeRed on a droplet (too complex)
  • connect to "playstation controller" remotely with USB adapter (I have one at home) Fallback solution, if programming Roomba is too hard:
• let the roomba do its work autonomously 😂

2) The catapults could be entirely "mechanic".

The aiming and control of the catapult power (how FAR it shoots) would be entirely controlled manually. This way we'd include a more hands-on part to the hackathon, which non-coders could also find fun!

Either we find buildable small model catapults which you can buy as such, or we can come up with a concept of how this could be best achieved for this purpose!

3) Separate drone and gripper systems

The only doable option I see, is separating the drone from the gripper. A Tello drone (from DJI) is available, but it needs new batteries. After checking buying options, this used one from Galaxus is the cheapest and quickest solution for the batteries. We even would get a second drone for the 117.-, not just the needed spare parts.. This way we have a usable drone, which I think would serve the purpose. If someone wants to go through the drones available on tutti.ch (example), feel free =) I don't want to spend more time evaluating which drones might work and which ones are too flimsy.. 😬

Now we "only" need to find a remote button (IR or bluetooth switch or so?), which can trigger the open/close of the gripper to "drop the bomb" 😂

4) Video summary of weekend or trailer of the game

Someone still has to take the lead on this topic. One simple proposal is using a GoPro to create a timelapse of the hackathon.

5) OpenSource the code and documentation for the hackathon

Th present repository serves this goal.