“Personally, I really love shopping and when I go to supermarkets and super malls , I can see people carrying their own belongings and bags, while using one of these shopping carts. and that’s very inconvenient, especially for the elders. I discovered that maybe I should solve this problem, so I went online and search, so I found that using self-following shopping carts would actually solve this problem. I also found there are some self-following luggages and some other things that exist. So I thought maybe I could apply those technologies into my own self-following shopping cart. So that’s how this project began.”
就我个人而言，我真的很喜欢购物，当我去超市和超级商场时，我可以看到人们在使用这些购物车的时候，带着自己的东西和袋子，这很不方便，尤其是对长辈们来说。也许我应该解决这个问题，所以我上网搜索，并发现使用自我跟踪购物车实际上可以解决这个问题，我还发现了一些自我跟踪的行李和其他一些东西存在。所以我想也许我可以把这些技术应用到我自己的购物车上。所以这个项目就是这样开始的。
“This self-following shopping cart uses ultrasonic sensors. Those are mainly these two sensors, like here. And then these two are the receivers. And there’s also a transmitter that the person will carry which will point toward this. And then the transmitter will send signal to each of these and the senors will determine which one is closer to the transmitter. The closer one will be the direction that the cart will turn towards. For example, if there’s a person is holding the transmitter here then the cart will turn left because this sensors is closer to the transmitter. And also, I use an infrared sensor, which is this thing which is used to detect obstacles in front of it. If I put my hand over it, it will beep signaling that it has sensed an obstacle. I also have a bluetooth module inside this cart which means I can wirelessly connect to this cart and control it however I want using an app.”
这种自动跟踪购物车使用超声波传感器。主要是这两个传感器，就像这里。然后这两个就是接收器。还有一个发射器，这个人会带着它指向这个方向。然后发射器将向每个传感器发送信号，传感器将确定哪个更接近发射器。离我们越近的那辆车将朝哪个方向转弯。例如，如果有人拿着发射器，那么推车会左转，因为传感器离发射器更近。而且，我还使用了红外传感器，就是用来探测前方障碍物的东西。如果我把手放在它上面，它会发出哔哔声，表示它感觉到了障碍物。我也在这个购物车里安装了一个蓝牙模块，这意味着我可以用App无线控制这个购物车。
“In this project, I also learned aboutArduino hardware and also the motor drivers the bluetooth module, and also someGPS module, a little bit. Software-wise, I explore Arduino IDE coding and also App Inventor to make my own app. There’s also the Adobe Illustrator whichallows me to design. And finally, there is a cutting machine that I use to makeand fabricate materials.”
在这个项目中，我还学习了Arduino的硬件和电机驱动蓝牙模块，以及一些GPS模块。软件方面，我探索了Arduino IDE编码和App Inventor，使我自己的应用程序。还有Adobe Illustrator，它让我用来设计。最后，我用一台激光切割机来制造材料。
“The most challenging part would be finding the best solution for this self-following cart. There are a lot technologies that I can use today. For example, bluetooth, ultrasonic which is what I use infrared, UWB, and GPS. I discovered that first, GPS is not very suitable because it is not meant for indoors; and also for infrared sensors they tend to be easily affected by natural light, like any light, or lamp; and also, for example, UWB, which is not a very old technology; t is very new. So, finally, I decided to use the ultrasonic sensors. While making this cart come true there are also some other difficulties like testing this robot. When I finished coding, I also had to adjust constant that I installed into the sensors to make sure they are correct. That’s a very complicated part.”
最具挑战性的部分将是为这个自我跟踪的购物车找到最佳解决方案。今天我可以使用很多技术。例如蓝牙，超声波，这是我使用的红外线，超宽带和全球定位系统。我发现首先，GPS不太适合，因为它不适合室内使用；而且对于红外传感器，它们也容易受到自然光的影响，就像任何光或灯一样；还有，例如UWB，这不是一项非常古老的技术，是非常新的。所以，最后，我决定使用超声波传感器。在实现这个手推车的同时，还有一些其他的困难，比如测试这个机器人。当我完成编码时，我还必须调整安装在传感器中的常数，以确保它们是正确的。这是一个非常复杂的部分。
“I used aluminum alloy so that I can make this cart more stable. and also, this makes it looks more like a finished product a shopping cart instead of a prototype. Also, I increased the battery capacity, and also changed the motor driver so that it’s more powerful to carry even heavier things.”
我用上了密度低但强度比较高的铝合金，这样我可以使这辆车更稳定。并且，这个让它看起来更像一个成品购物车而不是一个原型。另外，我增加了电池容量，还更换了马达驱动器，所以它更能承载更重的东西。
“First, I would like to make this (to be a) life-sized shopping cart. So maybe like this big that I could really use in the supermarket. And also, about these sensors, I can maybe put some more around the shopping cart, so that it can be more intelligent. I’m also considering upgrading these sensors. so that it can be more sensitive and more accurate.”
首先，我想做成真人大小的购物车，像是真正可以在超市里用的那种。然后，关于这些传感器，我可以在购物车周围再放一些这样它才能更智能。我也在考虑升级这些传感器，这样才能更灵敏更准确。
