Hello there. So i'm working on an autonomous hexapod and

>>926842
what size and what kind of distance are we talking about? i would think a raspberry pi is more suited in your case

>>926853
The robot is small you can fit it in a box of 10X10X10 cm
for the distance I would say about 70 to 80 meters.

>>926842
What kind of communication? Telemetry? Video? Commands? What interface are you using to connect to Arduino and laptop currently? Also what terrain? You could achieve everything with a simple 2.4GHz WIFI or RF link.

>>926961
All of those

>>926976
>All of those
OK anon, how many bottlecaps do you have? Because that ain't gonna be cheap.

>>926981
Or, I should clarify, it could be cheap if you would allow your hands to get a bit dirty. And I seriously doubt Arduino has that kind of computing power to pull that off.

>>926981
Well I have about 100$ but I'm not spending all of it on that because I still have other parts to purchase.
I'm wondering can I make the robot navigate an unknown terrain using ultrasound only ? or do I need a camera too.
My first thought was about specifying the end point using a GPS and then the robot has to find a way to get there.

>>926984
Well the arduino won't do the computing at all. I think I'll use that module to transfer raw data to the computer where everything will be processed.

>>926988
Well then that's a no-go, because you either process the data to transmit through a single, bi-directional interface (I'd suggest 2.4GHz wifi for this purpose), or you have to use several independent pre-made interfaces.
You could transmit the video separately and bother with the data only, which could actually work.
For that you would need all the sensors and a GPS unit for the Arduino, either a wireless camera (a small one could be had for some $30) or a normal camera and wireless transmitter modules. Then you'd need a wifi module for Arduino and a fair bit of programming to get it all working.
If you managed to tote around an actual wifi access point, you could have both the video and telemetry/commands transmitted via WIFI.

>>926990
wifi will get a lot of interferences. I'm not sure it's a good idea.

>>926991
There's that, but you wouldn't have to get any special HW on the laptop side. And in open terrain, with a reasonable antenna, wifi's gonna give you close to 100m.
You could also use something like 433MHz transceivers, but then you'd need to get the corresponding laptop-compatible part as well, and you still wouldn't be able to skip any of the programming.

>>926992
True.
Another question.
would an ultrasound be enough to navigate an unknown terrain or should I also get a camera. and what's your recommendation on a cheap gps and camera modules.

>>926993
Ultrasound is much, much, much simpler and cheaper. But it won't be 100% reliable in open terrain (it won't see smaller obstacles or wood/vegetation). Try to come up with a backup sensor (motor input? accelerometer? GPS) to sense your hexapod getting stuck.
If you aren't experienced in video processing and/or don't have a good library handy, don't even think of using a camera for autonomous navigation. It's only good for manual driving.

>>926996
I'd backup the ultrasound with LIDAR, accelerometer and GPS input.

>>926996
I'll include a gps because that's the only way to give the starting and end points to the robot.
For video processing I've never tried it but I don't mind getting my hands dirty

>>927000
Steps to autonomous video navigation:
1) use google
2) get really, really scared
3) ???
4) fuggedaboutit

>>926999
LIDAR is too expensive

>>927003
Yes, a single unit is your whole budget, sorry. Ok then you have to get by with ultrasound (bats don't seem to mind at all:-))

>>927006
any affordable cameras?

>>927008
Try sourcing from China - http://www.dx.com/c/electrical-tools-499/arduino-scm-supplies-436/boards-shields-472
Either get a cheap Arduino-compatible one, and do the interface programming yourself (easy, you'll just be sending pics over wifi very quickly), or get a wifi camera for drones - like this one:
http://www.banggood.com/Syma-X5SW-X5SC-WiFi-2MP-Camera-p-987145.html There are probably some cheaper ones as well...

>>927010
http://www.dx.com/s/arduino+camera

>>927011
>>927010
thanks a lot :)