suggestions solicited.

[booker]

I have to do a mini-project and I thought of doing something that I believe , is not done by so many people. So I thought of a signal source locator. The basic idea is to have a bot with a signal intensity meter such that the bot moves in the direction of increasing signal strength till a nominal value is read. Signal will be transmitted from a transmitter in the same room.

I would really appreciate your suggestions on the following


1) Is this project feasible?
I mean , I have some experience in basic robotics but absolutely none in transmission/reception/communication. Would the comm part of this be tough??Because many places I searched says communication is never easy as it sounds to implement.

2) Is this a good enough topic?

In short I would like to know if I shud ditch this topic...My teammates arent too confident with this. I have a little more than one month to complete.


My teachers arent providing any suggestions
thanks in advance.

 

[Vizier87]

well it's not impossible. it just depends on how much you're willing to give to make it happen. Signal detectors? What kind? We'll start with that, and I'll leave it to the rest of the gung-ho members to answer.

 

[booker]

Well, I am ready to do any amount of hardwork provided it would give a working model

I was thinking of any suitable frequency,say RF range. I saw that there are signal intensity meters which are used for measuring aerial signal intensity...

I am not sure, its just in its very crude stage.
Thanks a lot for replying.

 

[canadaelk]

wat's a bot?

 

[MRCecil]

I was thinking of any suitable frequency,say RF range.

Given your time constraints, you might consider a less aggresive, simpler starting point. An ultrasonic source and receiver (40KHz) would save much design, construction and testing time, perhaps along with some cash.

 

[Boncuk]

Hi booker,

you won't require to use an RF transmitter and receiver for your project.

Additionally the field strenght won't vary much in a room even if the distance beteen transmitter and receiver is 50feet.

A "transmitter" could be a simple cable connected to mains (live only).

The "receiver" would consist of a piece of wire (antenna) connected to an instrumentation amplifier with an amplification ratio of ~10,000:1 (input 1µV, output 10mV) sensing the electric field around the cable.

Set the trip point of a comparator to a level which the amplifier puts out when the bot is in close vicinity of the mains connected cable triggering a beeper.

Boncuk

 

[booker]

Thank you all for paying attention


@boncuk

If the field strength doesnt vary much in a room ,wouldnt locating be really tough? I mean the bot would come to a point which can only mean that within the 50 feet perimeter m somewhere the source could be present. What would we do?


@canadelk

bot is the abbreviation for robot;

 

[Vizier87]

I think the concept's similar to your cellphone signal. The signal may still be very strong even if you're 50 feet from a signal station.

 

[Boncuk]

Thank you all for paying attention


@boncuk

If the field strength doesnt vary much in a room ,wouldnt locating be really tough? I mean the bot would come to a point which can only mean that within the 50 feet perimeter m somewhere the source could be present. What would we do?

Hi booker,

to determine the location of a signal source two antennas are required, a non-directional and a directional one (loop).

There are still non-directional beacons in service for air navigation. The receiving device is also called "ADF" (automatic direction finding).

Hams (radio amateurs) do so called "fox hunting". It's a kind of contest where one car is equipped with a transmitter and the "hunters" use the above described antenna system to locate the transmitter.

May be my friend in Germany owns "fox hunting" equipment and can help with a schematic.

Regards

Boncuk

 

[booker]

@ boncuk
Thats a really good and new knowledge to me. Thank you.
Let me look into it.


Schematic would be of great help, if its not a trouble for you .
I would so truly appreciate it .


Measuring the intensity variation wouldnt be difficult ,right?

 

[audioguru]

Direction finding circuits for "bots" use sound, microphones and a circuit that detects the "first arrival" of the sound by one mic.