NXT System for Dog Flower Girl

[sgamos]

OK, I bet you guys have never seen anything like this asked in your forum.

I am getting married next spring (2011) and I am a huge dog lover. I want my Springer Spaniel - "Nestle" to be the flower girl. No, not ring bearer, thats lame.

So, I am looking at how to get a dog to spread petals and thought the Lego NXT kit might do the job.

I dont want a tall gravity fed hopper to go on Nestle's back, so I was thinking the petals could be fed from a small supply box 4x6x6 inches with a floor that is actually a conveyor belt. This conveyor would feed the petals out a chute, then a fan at the end of the chute would spread the petals. I would like to use the NXT's bluetooth function to allow control of the system from my blackberry, but I have not been able to find this software yet.

Can anyone comment on if my idea will work? Any better ideas than mine? Will the bluetooth function work?

Things to consider:
- System will be strapped to a dog's back.
- Rose petals tend to stick together, are almost damp and not as easy to move around as lego blocks or lego balls.
- Need to control the system remotely

[mightor]

Well, that is an unusual project, to say the least!

I am sure you could make a hopper system and bluetooth should work fairly reliably within a 10m range. As far as I know there are no BB apps to remotely control an NXT, but they do exist for Android and iPhone. Maybe you can borrow someone's phone. How skilled are you in programming and building robots? Are you just starting out?

Oh, there is the issue of having the contraption staying up straight on your dog. Springer Spaniels aren't *that* wide. Have you thought about how you were going to attach this? I would not recommend using pop rivets, the dog might not agree. It also needs to be sufficiently robust to be able to handle being swayed from side to side and back and forth while the dog walks. Also, check if your dog is not afraid of the mechanical noise and vibrations as your hopper, well, eh, hops on its back. Some dogs don't like that thing. I am pretty sure neither of my dogs would enjoy this very much and I am not sure Cesar Milan would approve, hehe.

So build a prototype of a hopper that is -not- remote controlled, it doesn't even have to really work properly, as long as it vibrated and makes noise and see how your dog responds. If it's ok with the dog then you can continue development or otherwise it's a waste of your effort and you may need to start thinking about a plan-B that involves training cats (bwaha, good luck with that).

- Xander

[snipey]

if you want to control the nxt from a pc you can use this program Bluetooth Vehicle Remote. But if you have a phone that can do that would probably be easier.

[doc222]

Well, that is an unusual project, to say the least!

Oh, there is the issue of having the contraption staying up straight on your dog. Springer Spaniels aren't *that* wide. Have you thought about how you were going to attach this? I would not recommend using pop rivets, the dog might not agree.

Also, check if your dog is not afraid of the mechanical noise and vibrations as your hopper, well, eh, hops on its back. Some dogs don't like that thing. I am pretty sure neither of my dogs would enjoy this very much and I am not sure Cesar Milan would approve, hehe.

So build a prototype of a hopper that is -not- remote controlled, it doesn't even have to really work properly, as long as it vibrated and makes noise and see how your dog responds. If it's ok with the dog then you can continue development or otherwise it's a waste of your effort and you may need to start thinking about a plan-B that involves training cats (bwaha, good luck with that).

- Xander

Pop rivets My dog would attack the BOt ! I use our Dog many times to test some bots to see how well they are built.

Getting the dog to do what he needs too, will be much more work than building the bot. Pluss It (the Dog) is an unknown. Will he walk were needed? will he go to fast or slow? Since you can not control the Dog even with a BB. The dog will need extensive training to preform even 20%of what the Bot can do.

I think you would be better off making a Dog bot that has the Hopper built in. It dont have to be a "walking bot dog", it could have wheels at the feet to make this simple. Or if you are into hard projects a Quaddra-ped would be very cool made up like a hound, I have an idea for where the petals could come out.... but I digress.

Doc

[sgamos]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I appreciate your input.

My experience with programming and building robots is very minimal. I did have a Lego RCX kit a few years back and built a few things. I also took a C++ class 10+ years ago in college. But I am confident I can figure it out, it will just take a lot of trial and error for this Mech Engineer to figure out all this electronics and computer stuff

As for the dog, I am pretty confident she can do it. I already have her very well trained with hand signals to walk and stop and sit. Additionally, she has a backpack with a harness that she uses when we go backpacking, so my idea was to strap a flat plate to the harness to use as the base of the robot.

I agree the noises and vibrations of the system could spook poor Nestle, so I will use your idea of creating a "dummy" project that tests this and get her used to it.

I just bought 1000 silk "fake" rose petals on ebay and I am going to get started on a prototype. This is going to be a long trial and error type project while I try not only to build a project, but also get Nestle to cooperate.

Thanks Again!
Scott & Nestle

[doc222]

Keep us updated, maybe some pictures and videos of how you work this out.

Doc

[markcrosbie]

How about mounting the NXT on a small trailer and have the dog pull that along? Sort of like a horse pulling a cart, but on a smaller scale? That way you avoid having to rivet anything to the dog, the NXT is on a stable base, and the dog isn't freaked out by having something on its back.

Mark

[bazmati]

5* for a fantastic project, I sure hope the dog goes for it, make sure this is well documented, even start filming the making of followed by the wedding.
This could be a great video hit in the Mindstorms community.

I really like the idea of DOG & NXT (i could put 4 NXT on my dog !o!)

oh and maybe now that they are silk a spinning tire could propel them in the wanted direction ?