OK. I have settled on the trike design. Low center of gravity will make it nice and stable. One powered wheel that will also steer. Two wheels coast and support mass.
There will be two fixed cameras associated with the steering. One will be attached to the column that the steerable wheel is on, so it will always be pointed where the rover is steering. The second will be fixed to the frame, always pointing where the rover is pointing. In the field of view of each camera is a protractor that is attached to the opposite part of the rover (steering camera sees frame mounted protractor, frame camera sees steering protractor). In this way we can see the in either camera the angle that the steering is currently set to without having to use telemetry on a sensor. We can also derive the location of objects in the common field of view in fairly accurate 3D. If either camera fails we still have the navigational control that we want, but we lose some of the extras we get from having both working.
The steering will be set with a lever to fix it at an angle and then drive for so long to execute an arcing turn of so many degrees. We then set the angle again and make the next maneuver. Every move will be well calculated and deliberate. I am going to start with the basic frame, steering, motive power, and the cameras as I have described and build from there.
My partner on Team Tuttle Park is my son John. Maybe we will have something he can enter in the school science fair this year.
Bill
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aka
TheBigDog - Hypography Full Freaking Moderator
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The Science of Success - Charles G. Koch
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