WALL-E
Remotely Controlled Wall-E
I decided to do a research during my last semester at Tufts. My project was to build a remotely controlled Wall-E only using a Raspberry Pi and Lego EV3 kits. I have found an enthusiastic team member to help me with this project as well.
We worked on this project in person between February to Mid March 2020. Our school was shutdown after that because of the Covid-19 pandemic. We managed to work well beside the 7 hours time difference. We were able to build a functional prototype and you can watch our presentation by clicking the link on the bottom of the page.
To overcome the obstacles in this project we used the following hardware and software:
Lego EV3 kit
Raspberry Pi 4
Raspberry Pi Camera
VNC
There are 3 main parts in this project:
Movement of Wall-E
Video-stream
Camera Movement
1) Movement of Wall-E
The most important part of this project is to control the motor remotely. To accomplish that we decided to have 2 separate EV3s and connect them. The first idea was to connect them via internet but we decided to use a Bluetooth connection. It was a lot faster and secure. Also, we made it in a way you can easily adjust the with and the height of it that suits your body the best.
The chest piece has a gyroscope and a button for each hand. Those are used to control the motors that makes Wall-E move. Right hand controls the right motor and left hand controls the left motor. This way the user can easily turn to the left or the right. Buttons are used to calibrate the gyroscope. We wanted to make it as simple as we could.
2) Video Streaming
This part allows the user to see through Wall-E's eyes from anywhere in the world. We had the chance to test it during the pandemic and I was able to see my partner's apartment which is in Connecticut,USA from my apartment which is located in Istanbul,Turkey.
The idea is to attach a Raspberry Pi camera to Wall-E and download the app called VNC to your phone. We decided to use it because, it is free and very easy to navigate. This way the user can just access the Raspberry Pi and run the code that streams the video that splits the feed into two, one for each eye.
3) Camera Movement
This is the only part we could not successfully finish because of the pandemic. I still wanted to explain the idea. If we had enough Lego pieces with us we would build a headset. It would have a slot for you to place your phone so you can see the video feed.
Also, we would attach an Arduino Micro to collect gyroscope data from your head's orientation. This way by turning your head around, you would be able to move Wall-E's head as well. The gyroscope data would be used to control the highlighted motor. This way you do not need to move Wall-E to look around.
You can watch this video to see Wall-E in action!
