a friend and i plan to design and fabricate a sort of home radar/tracking system.the objective goes like this.there is a dark room and we are flying a remote controlled helicopter(a small one).it is desired that a radar/tracking system placed on the floor should track it,follow it and hit it with ping pong balls.now how to go about.we need to keeep this whole thing as simple as it could be.
we had an idea.make a hexagonal mirror drum.which rotates both in the vertical plane and the horizontal plane.360 degrees in the vertical and about 30-40 in the horizontal.rotation achieved by servo motors/stepper etc...we will position a laser beam and focus it on this rotating drum.this will scatter the laser rays in the whole room.any random ray striking the helicopter will illuminate it and a camera fitted on the rotating drum will lock the target,follow it.the rotation should stop now.and the feedback signal to a micro controller will do the analysis and fire the balls.gear trains needed..calculation of gear ratios needed.etc.what do u say?how credibile is dis?.got any other idea.please help me with an embodiment.thank u.
the objective is not to strictly do this in a room.it is aimed to b done in an open sky..think of this system places on the ground..and above it(1 km)..in a balcony we fly a toy helicopter in any direction..this rotating head makes a three dimensional or spatial region saturated with laser beams(all reflected)...when this copter enters this area...the beam or beamS strike...a spot occcurs..and a camera on the ground captures and locks this location/co ordinate and and now follows the copter where ever it goes.
hmmm ..one thing more...do u know any software/program which can make me a simulation of such a system..such dat i focus a laser beam(which is on the ground and the angle of elevation.say,30 degree) at the front face(say 6 in by 6 in) of the hexagonal head.now...i set the rotation at 1 degreee per step(using a stepper motor) ,anticlockwise(i want the laser lite to b reflected UPWARDS,skywards).so the front face rotates 1 degree anti....and so on..this software should draw/generate the whole reflected profile.ie. the region of sky illuminated by these reflected laser beams...
what do u think will b the effect if i increase the RPM,use a DC motor which rotates at a constant RPM(no steps),increase the number of faces.ie.take a decagonal drum,octagonal etc...?...
how can SOLIDworks help me?
please do c the attached file...it shows a plane mirror..v intend to use a polygon..a hexagon for dat purpose.or a decagon....
As you probably know, SolidWorks is a 3D CAD program at the core. It has Simulation features that can do FEA (freq analysis, displacements under loading, buckling, etc), Fluid Dynamics, etc. Furthermore, SolidWorks can take a 3D assembly and apply motions to the parts for display purposes. It sounds like you are looking for a lot of enginering solutions that come, not from SolidWorks, but a piece of paper and a pencil (maybe a book too). Once you have a concept of the design on paper that include relative size, gear ratios (this is a trivial calculation), drive motion...essentially a rough idea of the overall model, you can then start making the parts in SolidWorks. If you are giving a presentation and need to show the audience how the machine works, you can set up a motion study and apply acutators and motors to your parts for motion.
In summary, SolidWorks could help you: