Show HN: Snap Circuits Telepresence Robot
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Show HN: Snap Circuits Telepresence Robot
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Re: Show HN: Snap Circuits Telepresence Robot
#2Holidays in 2020 are a little different. My family is spread out around the country, and due to the pandemic we're unable to gather together. To include other family members in our holiday celebrations, I built a telepresence robot from a Raspberry Pi, a Snap Circuits rover, and an iPad.
Re: Show HN: Snap Circuits Telepresence Robot
#3Holidays in 2020 are a little different. My family is spread out around the country, and due to the pandemic we're unable to gather together. To include other family members in our holiday celebrations, I built a telepresence robot from a Raspberry Pi, a Snap Circuits rover, and an iPad.
Love it! Due to a back condition, a friend had to work remotely for a year, and her office got her one of those commercial ipad based telepresence robots - she loved it and really helped her feel in the office.
Great you've been able to get the vast majority of the benefits so cheaply!
Re: Show HN: Snap Circuits Telepresence Robot
#4Neat project. I'm a big fan of Snap Circuits so this was a cool project to see. I'm thinking of doing something similar with Sphero RVR. My biggest worry is charging the base. The ideal solution seems like a roomba (with charging base).
Re: Show HN: Snap Circuits Telepresence Robot
#5Neat project. I'm a big fan of Snap Circuits so this was a cool project to see. I'm thinking of doing something similar with Sphero RVR. My biggest worry is charging the base. The ideal solution seems like a roomba (with charging base).
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Re: Show HN: Snap Circuits Telepresence Robot
#6iRobot actually makes a dev platform that would work great for this: https://store.irobot.com/default/create-programmable-program...
Its not much more at $200 and gets you all the sensors on a roomba (bump, cliff, etc), return to dock, charging, virtual walls, etc.
Re: Show HN: Snap Circuits Telepresence Robot
#7iRobot actually makes a dev platform that would work great for this: https://store.irobot.com/default/create-programmable-program... Its not much more at $200 and gets you all the sensors on a roomba (bump, cliff, etc), return to dock, charging, virtual walls, etc.
Oh my cow that is awesome. I must investigate.
Re: Show HN: Snap Circuits Telepresence Robot
#8iRobot actually makes a dev platform that would work great for this: https://store.irobot.com/default/create-programmable-program... Its not much more at $200 and gets you all the sensors on a roomba (bump, cliff, etc), return to dock, charging, virtual walls, etc.
Great suggestion. The extra sensors in particular would be a welcome improvement. I had the Snap Circuits rover on hand already, so my total outlay was about $20.
A big question when building the base is whether it's heavy/wide enough to be stable. Mounting the tablet up high is great for interaction, but results in a high center of gravity and a long moment arm conspiring to cause instability. From the specs it looks like the iRobot might be both heavier and wider than the Snap Circuits rover, so it might be a great choice.
Re: Show HN: Snap Circuits Telepresence Robot
#9Neat project. I'm a big fan of Snap Circuits so this was a cool project to see. I'm thinking of doing something similar with Sphero RVR. My biggest worry is charging the base. The ideal solution seems like a roomba (with charging base).
Another commenter referenced a programmable roomba from iRobot - see above. I agree that might be ideal. The RVR might not be stable enough to haul around a tablet sitting atop what amounts to a big lever, but a camera mounted (low) on an RVR could be a lot of fun.
Re: Show HN: Snap Circuits Telepresence Robot
#10IMHO I feel like adding a periscope would keep your pricey phone or tablet closer to the ground and less likely to be destroyed if the platform tips over.