D.E.A.R.2
(Digital Electronics Autonomous Robot 2)
D.E.A.R.2 was my very first fire fighting robot. He has a hand-built board with an HC811E2 with 2K EEPROM (now anyway, before and during the contest he had an HC11E9 with only 512b EEPROM, but about a month after the contest the EEPROM on the E9 failed, so I had to buy a new chip, I decided to upgrade him to an E2 [D.E.A.R.1 has the E9 now!])
D.E.A.R.2 uses a fan to blow out the candle, the base is plywood cut into an octagon shape. He is under 10" from wheel to wheel. Two standard servos are used, and Lite Flight wheels are used. There is also one caster in the front.
There are 6 micro switches, but during the contest I only had enough memory to use two of them:). There is an IRPD kit from Mondo on the front.
To detect the candle, a photo-cell was used. At the contest, I constructed a box made using the cover of a magazine (the only black paper I had). This box helped block out ambient light.
D.E.A.R.2 did qualify for the Trinity College Fire Fighting Home Robot Contest, but he didn't blow out the candle during the main event. But that doesn't matter, I was really thrilled that he qualified!!!
Here is D.E.A.R.2. You can see the fan, the hand built HC11 board, the 6 micro-switches, the IRPD, the motor battery case, the bumper board, and you can just bearly see the line tracker.