Tooly

Our project makes working in a makerspace more efficient. Tooly carries various tool and test equipment while autonomously navigate a workshop, stopping when requested by a user with a web api.

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Inspiration

We were inspired after finding a Tektronix oscilloscope and cart in our school's E-waste pile. Our team saw this as an opportunity to build something that would not only serve it's original purpose, but do much more.

How it Works

Tooly is most simply described as a line following robot with IoT capabilities and the ability to carry tools and electronic test equipment. The drive train consists of 2 motors that indirectly drive the pre-existing wheels on the oscilloscope cart. This is controlled via an h-bridge motor driver and an Arduino. The Arduino is also connected to color sensors mounted underneath the front of the cart, a Bluetooth module, and a WiFi module. The oscilloscope is plugged in to an onboard inverter and can be on while the robot is operational and moving around. As a fun addition, we worked to create an Arduino based attachment that would draw/animate a face on the oscilloscope. This face will automatically display when the probes are in their storage position.

Our Vision

Here is what we envision: Imagine you are working in makerspace and suddenly need a soldering iron. Luckily, you have Tooly. You open an app on your phone and request Tooly to come to your workbench. It then leaves it docking station and begins warming up the soldering iron on it's way to you. By the time it is at your side, the soldering iron is warmed up and right where it is needed. You also grab a small screwdriver that you really needed. After pressing the button signaling you are finished with Tooly's services, Tooly leaves and drives over to the next person on the queue.

What happened

As many of you know, engineering takes time. Control systems, websites, and algorithms take longer than expected to develop. Keeping this in mind, we think what we achieved is quite good given the short amount of time we had to build. The current version of Tooly does not have any autonomous or IoT features, but does have bluetooth. At time of initial posting, Tooly can be wirelessly driven using a Bluetooth connection to a mobile phone and app. The animated face on the oscilloscope that makes it look more like a robot is also fully functional.

The Future

We look forward to continuing to make Tooly better. The code for making it drive autonomously is almost complete, and the backend server code is well on it's way to completion. Stay tuned for updates!

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