Short-Range Indoor Positional Transmitter...

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Hi all,

I'm working on a project in my spare time, and I'm hoping someone here
will be able to give me some advice...

I'm building a small robot which will be capable of travelling around
an enclosure autonomously, while simultaneously relaying its position
back to my computer. The end goal of the experiment is to have the
robot build an accurate map of its enclosure, based on where it can/
can't travel (there will be obstacles for it to manoeuvre around).
Once I have achieved this, I intend to use this positioning/mapping
capability for further tests.
At the moment, the enclosure is 2m in diameter, and I have planned for
three receiver units to be positioned in known fixed locations around
the perimeter. Ideally, I would like to know the exact position of the
centre of the robot within the enclosure at any time, and for this
position to be as accurate as possible (to the millimetre...if
possible!).

What I would like is some advice on types of transmitters... As I have
said, I require a very accurate positional device which operates over
a relatively short range (<5m), and is very accurate. And to make
things that little bit more difficult, I need the transmitter to be as
small as possible - much smaller than the small ultrasonic
transmitter's/receivers traditionally used to track robots.

I'm not sure if what I'm asking is even possible... my day job is a
mechanical engineer, so this is a little off topic for me! I've been
doing some research, and so far the most promising thing I've found is
a micro Bluetooth dongle ~ http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=37853&source=googleps
~ which I think could be modified to perform the task.

Any help will be appreciated,

Thanks
A

 

[JeffM]

[. . .]
What I would like is some advice on types of transmitters.

This group is about oscilloscopes, logic analyzers,
wave soldering equipment--that sort of thing.

A group that deals with transmitters would be listed here:
http://groups.google.com/search?q=i...ntrol+site:groups.google.com&filter=0&num=100
..
..
You should also *subscribe* to the Usenet groups
where you post using Google Groups.
Give yourself a real username
--DON'T USE AN EMAIL ADDRESS THERE:
http://groups.google.com/groups/mysubs
(You can see how Google's default turns your username into
an unrecognizable mess the way you did it.)