Astro Robot Accessories

I've added a can dispenser to Astro's arsenal.

Here's the internal operation in action:

For more details, go to instructables.

Astro, after docking on the charger and sitting for a couple of minutes, may decide that the charge connection is not ideal. When that occurs, Astro will leave the charger and dock again. This takes less than a minute, but devices such as "Snacky" cannot depend upon Astro leaving the charger for 45 seconds as proof that a snack has been delivered.

If Astro loses the WiFi connection it can still navigate, find the charger or just "hang out."

Astro has to locate the charger and back in with reasonable precision. I wondered about other locations.

I sent Astro from the charger to a spot that I named "speaker," then marked the arrival location with painter's tape.

Next, from three random locations I sent Astro to "speaker."

These arrivals are in the vicinity, but not too predictable.  Next, I placed obstacles near (but not obstructing) the arrival zone.

This (very limited) test seems to indicate that a reliable landing spot can be defined for auxiliary devices to operate on Astro's load bay.