Hand Gesture Controlled Robot

Gesture is a way to express our ideas using our head or body.To build a hand gesture robot we will build a system using which our robot can recognize any gesture with the help of its camera,afterwards classify this gesture with the help of some algorithm and respond accordingly. To make it simple, You can understand working of this robot in following steps:
1. Send Signals using Remote Device(Your Hand, Face, Body or remote)
2. Robot receive Signals using Cameras on-board.
3. Use Algorithm to decode signal
4. Match that signal with stored signals
5.If match found then follow instructions as specified.

WiiRobot: In this project,students of Brown University build a simple and reproducible gesture based robot controller.It consists ofWii Remote,Asus eeePC,  Ubuntu Eee(as Operating System), USB Webcam,USB Bluetooth Dongle and other components. To recognize gestures, team of wiiRobot used two algorithms:
1.K-Nearest Neighbor and
2.Sum of square differences

Wireless Gesture Controlled Toy
The objective of this project is to build a toy car that can be controlled by gesture wirelessly. User is able to control motions of the car by wearing the controller glove and performing predefined gestures.
This project provides a basic platform for many potential applications such as wireless controlled toys racing games, gesture human-machine interfacing, and etc.

How it works?



More info at Cornell University Page

How to build one ?
Complete details about Gesture Controlled Tank Toy

Useful Link :
Wireless USB Gesture Input System
Related PDF:
Real Time hand gesture Tele robotic system using Fuzzy Logic (pdf)

Related Video:

Mechanical engineering Project Ideas

Robotics 
Robotics would be a good choice for mech students because topics based on robots are very new and innovative in comparison to any other project idea.Moreover, If your robot works as expected on final day, it will definitely make you win.

Though I  have written separate post about robotics but for a starting point I have given all the important links in this section. Using these links you can strengthen your basics before designing some complex machine.

• How to build a Robot
• Robot Basics(pdf)
• Computer Controlled RC Car
• Robotic Spider
• Solar Insect Robot: You can build a insect robot powered by solar as your project. It will help you to understand the concepts of both Robotics and Solar power.
• Fire Fighting Robot
• Cleaning Robots
• Line Follower Robot
• Robotics
• Autonomous Agile flying machines

Solar Energy 
Solar energy is one of my favorite topics because though its working is easy to understand but ideas related to this topic are very useful for our future energy needs.

Concept : Generally they work on this concept:

Solar Energy --->Solar Panel---> Electricity--->Machine(Grinder, Juicer, Mobile Charger, Bag etc.) or Storage(Battery)
Solar Energy-->Heat-->Cooking, Boiling, Water Filter etc .

Important thing to consider in your assignment is that how you can improve its efficiency either for boiling purpose or for heating. For ex.  Recently discussed Spherical cell concentrate more sun light at one place and therefore generates more power similarly scientist have found out that nano solar cells are more flexible and more efficient than any other cell available.

Solar Compressor:
You can build something which gets its power from Sun Energy. For e.g., power your AC of a small room using compressor which get its power from solar panel.Such as Solar Powered Air Conditioner
In this example, it is a small room. Half ton capacity will be sufficient. You will need at least kWh/24 hours. This may require 10 to 12 square meter solar panel plus battery and inverter.

• Solar Power Air Compressor
• Uses of Solar Power Air Compressor
• Solar Water Heater
• Solar Energy Project Ideas
• Solar Energy Science Topics
• Green House Project Video
• Home based energy ppt in pdf format(239 kb file)
• Build your own Solar Powered Water Pumping Station
• Solar Powered Live Stock Watering System
• Solar Powered Automatic head light Dim/Bright Controller
• Solar Powered Boat
• Solar Powered Steam Engine
• Solar Turbine Generator : How we can use solar powered steam engine to generate electricity.
• Solar Powered Water Pumps
• Solar Powered Bicycle : Power your electrical cycle using solar energy
• Solar Powered Bag
• Solar Powered Water Purification System
• Solar Powered Remote Control Aircraft
• Solar Powered Rain operated Wiper 

Books on Solar Energy (pdf): 
Solar
Solar2
Hovercraft

Hovercraft definition by wiki : click here
It would be awesome if you design a hover car using tools of your house.

How to Build my own Hovercraft?

Engines 
Stirling Engine :

Video's and Complete Explanation of Stirling Engine Project

Stirling Engine Mini RC Car: We had discussed both Stirling Engine and Remote control cars in two separate posts. In this post we will combine these two technologies.

Solar Powered Stirling Engine Generator:

Steam engines 
These engines are powered by steam and building them will help you to understand the concept and working of steam engines.Though steam engines are most ancient engines, but it is still one of the most widely used engine.Thermal power plants are one of such use.Nowadays, due to the problem of global warming, we should find a way to produce steam using renewable sources of energy.Couple of renewable steam engines, I discussed on this blog are Solar Powered steam engine and Solar Turbine Generator.

Related:

Homemade Steam Engine
Steam engine powered bicycle

Wind Energy:

Wind Mill Water Pump :
How to build wind mill pump?

Related links :
How to make model of Wind Mill?
Wind Mill Power Generation System
Wind turbine kites

Wind Powered Drip irrigation System
Wind Mill Pump

Remote Control Cars

Building Fast Remote Control Cars
RC Control Computer Cars

Related links :
Demolition RC Car
RCC
Hydrogen cell operated remote control car
Computer controlled car

Trains
Maglev Trains
Propeller Monorail
3D Solar Cells  : Very Effective Design of solar cell. Used to enhance the efficiency of Solar Cell Significantly.

Hydraulic Car Lift : This project deals with fluid and how we can use it to lift the car.
Power Generation using Footsteps : Piezoelectric techniques used to convert energy of our footsteps in electricity.
Stair climbing Hand Cart : Handcart which would help you carry heavy materials upstairs.
Car Monitoring System
Highway Wind Turbines : Simple demonstration of how to use wind turbines at the divider of the road to generate electricity.
Power generation using Railway Tracks : See how we can use Variable capacitor for generating electricity.This is latest project in the field of renewable energy.
Stirling Engine Mini RC Car
Nitro Cars  : Cars powered by methane and nitro methane.
Fruit Picking Robot : Do you think robot should work in the garden? If yes , then this project is for you!
Soccer Playing Mini robot : Do you like robots and soccer both then you would like this idea too.
Produce fuel using solar energy : Produce synthetic gas using CO2, oxygen and water.
Pedal Powered Water Filter: Filter water throughout the year ,day or noon using the simple concept of evaporation and condensation.
Pedal Powered Juicer Grinder
Light Weight Floating Wind Turbine This simple project demonstrate the power of floating turbines.
Bio gas Powered Water Heater 
Bicycle Powered Cell Phone Charger : Have you thought about charging your cell phone using your cycle. This idea would discuss about all that.
Steam engine powered Bicycle : Whenever we thought about steam engines, the first thought comes to our mind is train engine,but have you ever thought of steam engine powered by cycle?
Mechanical Sprayer : Spray pesticides using mechanical energy instead of fossil fuel or electricity.
Mechanical Creeper for Disable Person
Waste Management Machine
Water Powered Generator
Air Exchanger Ventilation System
Fuzzy logic approach for Traffic signals control of an isolated intersection( Project Report in PDF)
Synchromesh gear

Latest Projects:

Formula One Racing Car : Students of Amity University, Noida manufactured a car which can make anyone proud. It weights around 340 kg including driver and its top speed is 105km/hr.M More Info

Protective Gloves: Another project which I have seen recently is electric gloves which can be used by girls for their protection. They are easy to wear and protect the wearer by giving electric shock.

More :
CAD Project Ideas & Catia Projects  (Design project for students)
Thermal Engineering Projects
HydroPower Project 
Aeronautical Projects 
Design and Development of Smoke flow Visualization system
Tricycle powered by pedal and electricity
Design and fabrication of Sub Marine
Car Locator Project
Generate Electricity from Dance Floor
Human Power Harvesting
Hydraulic Regenerative Braking System
Mini Bio Gas Fuel Turbine
Power generation using footsteps
mini homemade wood lathe machine
Perpetual Motion Machine 
Pedal powered refrigerator
Jaipur Foot
Automatic Car Parking 
Self Balancing Cycles and Unicycles
IE Engine Projects
Electronic Fuel Injection
Study of cooling Tower
Air Compressed Cars 
Air Bike 
Mini Scooter 
Hydrogen Powered Vehicle
Escalator Compatible Wheel Chair
Fuel Energizer
Thermal Engineering Projects
Automobile Projects 
RC Helicopter
Carbon Solar Cells
Autonomous aerial vehicle
Build Electric Two Wheeler Bike
Biogas Powered Vehicle
Non Conventional Energy Projects
Manual Pump
Cogeneration 
Kinematic Project
Bicycle Sprayer 

Solar Object Lifting Jack : It is motorized electronic lifting jack which is powered by solar energy.

Paddle powered mobile charger : It is based on dynamo chain concept.We have been using dynamo in bicycle from years. The best part about this project is, mobile charger kits are available at online stores. You can learn the whole concept by purchasing a kit online to disassemble it. 

Maze solving Robot

We have discussed many projects in Robotics before including Line Follower Robot. Maze Solving Robot is similar project but before we discuss about this project, we should know about maze and our objective.

What is Maze?

Maze is a type of puzzle with start start and end points including many dead ends.To solve this puzzle we need to find right path in a fastest possible way.

What type of maze we are going to use for our robot?

Usually, this project requires line maze which is black line on a white background.

Our Objective:

We will build a robot which can find its way in a line maze from start point to end point.

Basic Requirements:

Two Motors: Motors will move robot forward(Both motors running) and help it turns towards left(left motor slow and right fast) or right( right motor slow and left fast).

Five Infrared Sensors: Sensors helps robot to find its path and keeps it updated about the line on the floor.With five sensors their are 32 combination possible but many of them are unlikely to occur in our experiment.For ex. 11111(All indicating black) will never occur because their is only one line and this pattern is showing that line on both side of robot including line on which it is moving.


Concept:

Deciding some rules:
Before implementing this project, you should  decide some basic rules which robot must follow. For example if robot face a situation of T or Four Way , in which direction it should turn? Some students go for right hand rule where robot always give preference to right hand side and some go for left hand rule, though both rules are correct, you need to select one of them and teach robot accordingly.

Intersection:

Define intersections ( turns except only right and only left) where robot needs to take decisions.

Storing Information:

Robot should store information about Dead ends(180 degree turns where pattern is five zeroes 00000) and Bad turns.

Algorithm:

Step 1). Robot will start from first end and move straight as their is only one line.

Step 2). It will move Left because their is only left direction( no intersection so no storage) where it can move.

Step 3). Move Left again(no intersection therefore no storage)

Step 4). Move Left ( Intersection and we apply Left hand Rule) Store L

Step 5). Take U Turn ( Reached Dead End) Store value becomes LU

Step 6). Take Left Again ( Intersection and applies left hand rule) Store value becomes LUL . We move Left but because we took U turn in fifth step we now know that we should not have taken Step 4) .To avoid this mistake for future we will replace LUL to S.

Step 7). Move Straight ( Intersection again but as we are following left hand rule, we will not turn towards right,instead we will follow straight Path) and stored value becomes SS

Step 8). Turn right ( Only right available therefore no intersection)

Step 9.) Reach Target.

So SS will correctly guide robot in next run.

Useful Links:

Maze Solving Robot
Recursion Solving a Maze
Micro mouse: Intelligent autonomous maze solving robot

Related Video:

More Projects:

Robotics Projects
Mechanical Projects

Joystick control car drive mechanism for physically challenged people

We often see that, persons with disability needs to use mobility car.Mobility Car is a vehicle issued to a disabled person, to allow them to travel without burden of their disability. Mobility cars are obtained from a scheme called "Motability". But this car too not come with some preconditions and these conditions are difficult to met for severely disabled person.Moreover, driving a car is always difficult for a person with having control distributed all over.

This project is for engineering students and would be extremely useful for people who are impair the physical abilities

Our objective:
We want to build a car which can be operated by using joystick. If we can build that, it would be great help for disabled persons.

Why we need this type of system?

Existing system in the market are modified to allow the physically disabled to drive but it still needs lots of improvements.


How to build one?

The Vehicle works in two modes:
1) Joystick:- A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. We will take input from user through a joystick and then process it to produce servo commands via a Arduino Board.
2) Autonomous driving in constrained environment: Using input from Kinect sensor.Kinect is a motion sensing input device by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 video game console and Windows PCs to obtain depth image and process the frames in real-time.To perform depth based blob detection combining it with vision based blob tracking to perform a robust obstacle detection. The technique involves using a slice of depth image for detecting obstacles and then finding path taking in view the maximum steering angle, width of the vehicle, turning radius etc.

System Requirements:
Languages Used: python 2.5,autonomous module is built in c# and uses emgucv
Softwares: Aforge image processing libraries and Microsoft Kinect SDK 1.0
Hardware includes - Standard Laptop (Intel core i5-2410M @ 2.30 GHZ, 4GB RAM), Joystick, Kinect Sensor, Arduino Uno Microcontroller, Servo, UPS, Battery, servo motors, h-bridges and wireless transmitter and receiver(Fail safe) .
The vehicle also has a fail-safe mechanism that is used to control vehicle in emergency using a wireless remote.

Related PDF:
Joystick controlled Cars

Related Video:

Autonomous Agile Aerial Robots

The most effective way to build autonomous aerial vehicle is quad rotor.

A quadrotor, also called a quadrotor helicopter or quadrocopter, is a multicopter that is lifted and propelled by four rotors.

University of  Pennsylvania professor Vijay Kumar and his team developed such a quad rotor robot which can operate autonomously without the help of  remote control or GPS System.


I found this project very interesting and thought to share it with you.

Why this aerial robot different from its counterparts?

It it different because of its small size(8 inch)  and less power consumption(around 15 watts).Moreover, it is agile,autonomous and smart enough to take its own decisions while flying both indoors and outdoors.

What's the use of it?

It can be used in Biochemical leaks, Construction and Transportation.

How it works ?

As professor Vijay explained, it has four rotors. If you spin these rotors at the same speed, the robot hovers. If you increase the speed of each of these rotors, then the robot flies up, it accelerates up. To accelerate this robot horizontally it should be in tilted position.

There's two ways of doing it :

One is to rotate rotor four faster and rotor two slower. And when you do that, there's moment that causes this robot to roll. And the other way around, if you increase the speed of rotor three and decrease the speed of rotor one, then the robot pitches forward. And then finally, if you spin opposite pairs of rotors faster than the other pair, then the robot yaws about the vertical axis. So an on-board processor essentially looks at what motions need to be executed and combines these motions and figures out what commands to send to the motors 600 times a second. That's basically how this thing operates. So one of the advantages of this design is, when you scale things down, the robot naturally becomes agile.

TED Lecture by Professor Vijay(Must Watch) :

    

Autonomous Underwater Robot Vehicle

 

An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is a robot which travels underwater without requiring input from an operator.AUVs carry sensors to navigate autonomously and map features of the ocean. Typical sensors include compasses, depth sensors, side scan and other sonars, magnetometers, thermistors and conductivity probes.

University of Florida robotics engineering students developed a robot Subjugator , which can to swim through underwater tubes without a remote control.

Uses :  

These vehicles are used in underwater research because of their ability to work autonomously. They do not require guidance from humans despite having a capability to swim in dangerous underwater.They can collect data and material from deep inside the sea  which can later be used in various research activities.

Useful Link :
Lego AUV 

Related Book :
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles: Modeling, Control Design and Simulation(Buy from Amazon)
Project Report on AUR

Things required to build this project :
Lego Mindstorms Kit:   $200
Pelican Case:   $7
Propellers: $3
Waterproofing Supplies:   $2  
TOTAL     $212

Design and fabrication of Submarine:

What is Sub-marine ?
History of Submarine
Know more about first under water machine "turtle".
How Submarines works ?

Related PDF :
Some aspects of Submarine design ( 5 MB approx )
A numerical model of channel inception on submarine fans ( 2 MB Approx)


Related Video :
Homemade Submarine


Similar Posts :
Robotics Project

Talking Robots with Lego Mindstorms

From the days of "Small Wonder" TV show , I always wanted to have one robot which can talk and response just like human.To build one as Robotic Project is really interesting. This project is going to be very interesting and challenging because our robot requires not only speak capability but should have artificial intelligence to learn from its surroundings.

Architecture for talking robots consists of four main modules:

• Dialogue system
• Speech client with speech recognition and synthesis capabilities
• Module for infrared communication between the PC and the RCX and
• the program that runs on the RCX itself.

Useful PDF:

Talking Robots With LEGO MindStorms

Related Video :

Related Posts :
Mechanical engineering Projects
Physics Projects
Robotics Project
Electronics Projects
Electrical projects

Ball Sorting Mindstorms Lego Project

Ball sorting project is interesting one because it helps you to understand various important concepts of Robotics such as finding distance of objects , recognizing them , pick and drop them and things like that.

Useful Links :

Sort the Ball
NXT Sensors

Hardware Requirement :

Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 which includes :

• Ultrasonic sensor 
• Touch sensors: Lets the robot react to touch
• Servo motors: Allows the robot to interact with the environment
  NXT Brick: The programmable core that reads the sensors and controls the motors and things many more. You can buy it from any online store including amazon.com

Software Requirement :

NXT-G :  is a graphical programming environment that comes bundled with the NXT. With careful construction of MyBlocks to encapsulate complexity, NXT-G can be used for real-world programming.

Complete Instruction and Details at Robin Newman's Page

Related Video :

Related Posts :
Robotics Project
Electronics Projects
Electrical projects

Real Time Sorting Machine

It is Candy sorting machine built in LEGO. It is using Java Optimized Processor which is mounted on LRBJOP board.It is using tilt-tray sorter method.

Why Real Time Sorting used?
A tilt-tray sorter is a high-speed, continuous-loop sortation conveyor that uses a technique of tilting a tray at a chute to slide the object into the chute. It is used to expedite the process of Order fulfillment to consolidate line items of an order, and to process returned products for immediate updating of inventory in real time.

Helpful Resources : 

Java Optimized Processor :  

The unit controlling the LEGO motors and sensors is Java Optimized Processor (JOP). JOP is a Java processor, an implementation of Java Virtual Machine (JVM) in hardware.JOP executes Java Byte-code with precise timing constraints for each instruction, enabling execution time and scheduling verification.
Click here for JOP Design website

Uppaal :
Implementation has been modeled and verified using Uppaal. Uppaal is an integrated tool environment for modeling, validation and verification of real-time systems modeled as networks of timed automata, extended with data types (bounded integers, arrays etc.)

Lego PCB : 

LEGO PCB is a robotics invention system of the LEGO Group. It was intended for children, but it turned out to be a great toy for adults, too. It combines electric components like sensors and actuators with Lego bricks and Lego Technical parts, such as gears, wheels and axles, to build robots and other automated or interactive systems.

Made by: Petur Olsen, Thomas Bøgholm, and Henrik Kragh-Hansen

Related Video :

 

RC Helicopter

In the past I have discussed Project Ideas related to RC Planes and Cars, Yesterday I received a mail asking me about information related to RC Helicopters.These helicopters also known as Radio Controlled Helicopters.They are toys which can be controlled using remote control.Building them help us to understand the concepts of real helicopters and their flying.This project is for Mechanical , Aeronautical and Physics students.


These helicopters can be used for :

Spying Purposes (With Camera)
Fire Fighting ( Give us details of exact location of fire)
Traffic Details ( Fly up and record traffic information)
To spray pesticides in the field.(Chinese people using it)


Final Project RC Helicopter ( Complete Detail)

Helpful Links :

Helicopter Training

Related PDF :
Autonomous Auto rotation of an RC Helicopter

Related Video :


Related Projects :
Mechanical Projects
Physics Projects
Aeronautical Projects 

Fire Fighting Robot

Firefighting is the act of extinguishing fires. A firefighter fights fires to prevent loss of life, and destruction of property and the environment.Fire is dangerous not only for victims but also for firefighters. To make firefighter easier we need a robot which can extinguish fire in adverse circumstances.

Firefighting robot requires:
1)Water Tank: where it carries water
2)Water Pump: to pump out that water
3) Rubber Hosing and Nozzles
4) Sprinkler Head: it will increase the area of water spraying
5) Battery
6) Interface Circuitry

Below,I am sharing links collected from various trusted sources along with PDF. I hope you will find them useful.
Helpful Links :

Project from Illinois University 
Fire Fighting with MAR 
Summary of this project

Related PDF :

Firefighting Robot Oklahoma University
Pokey : A Logical Design Using Digital and Analog Circuitry

Related Presentation:
FFR Design

Related Video :


Related Projects :
Robotics projects for engineering Students

Wall Climbing Robots

Wall climbing has been done by lot of animals such as lizard, chameleon etc. Now days, robotics engineers started to develop robots which can climb walls. These robots can be used in firefighting, spying or for capturing videos.


Materials require for this robot:

1)DC servo motors
2)Suction pump motors : It helps robots to move up just as lizard do while climbing walls.
3)micro valves
4)pressure sensors
5)touch sensors and
6)limit switches.
In this post I am giving you all the details necessary to develop these robots, still if you feel I have missed something don't hesitate to comment.

Helpful Links :
Nanorobotics laboratory Robots
Micro-controller for Wall Climbing Robot
Tenzing :Rock Climbing

Related Videos :

Related:
Robotics Projects