Facebook Robotic Football Game
The purpose of the project is to build a robotic football game controllable over the Internet and specifically through a Facebook application.
In details, I wanted to build for a friend of mine (Kim), a system with a robotic player which users should be able to control over the internet, via a Facebook application with an automatic goalkeeper. The users will be able to control the angle and the power of the kick, but they have no control over the goalkeeper, who is moving randomly from left to right, after the player executes the command to kick the ball. I programmed a 4-5 sec. delay after the player makes the angle and power selection and the goalkeeper starts to move.
The user of the application should be able to control the position (angle) and the power of the kick of the ball from a FB application.
My first thought was to use Arduino as my primary microcontroller.
Here are some photos of the building proccess.
Now the game is online and you can play it on the following address or even "Like" it ... https://www.facebook.com/Str8myway/app_316992568367853
Just select "Play the game" after that select "ΠΑΙΞΕ ΤΩΡΑ" It's in Greek and it means "Play Now"
Then you are into a que, when is your turn, select Power of the kick, then the angle (over the ball) and push the Hit button.
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The main hardware is:
Arduino Mega, with Ethernet shield
Custom PCB to drive higher voltages with Arduino
Hardware for the goalkeeper (rails to move on, switches to recognize the edges and the center, power supply)
Hardware for the player (Pneumatic system for kicking the ball, different pressure electronic valves, servo to turn the player, air compressor)
Power supply and DC-DC converter
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Big Challenges:
Communication over the internet, video and data delay problems,
Synchronization problems with the real world player and the robot,
the continues movement of the goalkeeper
air pressure, and the kicking speed was not enough even the power on the piston was huge
In details, I wanted to build for a friend of mine (Kim), a system with a robotic player which users should be able to control over the internet, via a Facebook application with an automatic goalkeeper. The users will be able to control the angle and the power of the kick, but they have no control over the goalkeeper, who is moving randomly from left to right, after the player executes the command to kick the ball. I programmed a 4-5 sec. delay after the player makes the angle and power selection and the goalkeeper starts to move.
The user of the application should be able to control the position (angle) and the power of the kick of the ball from a FB application.
My first thought was to use Arduino as my primary microcontroller.
Here are some photos of the building proccess.
Now the game is online and you can play it on the following address or even "Like" it ... https://www.facebook.com/Str8myway/app_316992568367853
Just select "Play the game" after that select "ΠΑΙΞΕ ΤΩΡΑ" It's in Greek and it means "Play Now"
Then you are into a que, when is your turn, select Power of the kick, then the angle (over the ball) and push the Hit button.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The main hardware is:
Arduino Mega, with Ethernet shield
Custom PCB to drive higher voltages with Arduino
Hardware for the goalkeeper (rails to move on, switches to recognize the edges and the center, power supply)
Hardware for the player (Pneumatic system for kicking the ball, different pressure electronic valves, servo to turn the player, air compressor)
Power supply and DC-DC converter
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Big Challenges:
Communication over the internet, video and data delay problems,
Synchronization problems with the real world player and the robot,
the continues movement of the goalkeeper
air pressure, and the kicking speed was not enough even the power on the piston was huge