3D Position System

A module like ZED-F9P cost 148.- EUR and cover all these with an accuracy of 10 cm.

The cost of thus module is currently a limitations, but cost will come down. I am more interested in the fact that it announce 10cm accuracy which open up a lot of usability options. The classic 2.5 meters are ok for many applications, but not for a lawn mover.

With two of these units you can also detect the direction of the unit. But, I am planning to add two or three “3D sensors” on my lawn mower. Satellite position is only one option here as I can add Ultra sound /LIDAR to detect surroundings, 9 DOF to detect acceleration, gyroscope and compass signals as well as temperature, humidity, pressure etc.

The last trick is to fix reference signals on house corners using ultrasound, light or rf signals. The idea is that the robot will detect these and be able to detect difference between the signals. I need to dig a bit into this, but it should be doable.

I have so far focused on using Raspberry PI Hat format on many of my modules and I believe this still is optional for a 3D module since it might be advantageous to actually add a RPI with camera and more advanced position algorithms.

3D sensors like Acceleration, gyro and compass will help tracking relative movement once they have a reference position. This is why a 2m accuracy on GPS still can be workable. To compensate for errors I can add multiple units + I plan to test multiple cameras to see if I can reference IR light positions. Cameras also have the option that we can teach the robot to actually see and recognize it’s surroundings – that said the later is complicated and require a bit of work.

I think position accuracy looks doable, but it will be some work. I also think multiple systems is a must together with the capability to detect/reject errors.

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