Environmental Robotics Challenge

ENVIROBOT

Remote-controlled survey robot driving a 1500 mm square arena for measuring water turbidity and soil moisture across four terrain sectors.

View Live Data →Read the Docs Arduino Code

// system.architecture

From arena to insight

Drive the Arena

An operator drives the robot over its own WiFi access point across a 1500 mm square arena, split by two centrelines into four 750 mm terrain quadrants — Urban, Field, Desert, and Stone. An HC-SR04 collision guard cuts the motors and refuses forward drive when an obstacle is too close, while reverse and turns stay available to back out.

Deploy Sensors

A single MG996R servo controls two arms. Rotating to 0° deploys the SEN0189 turbidity probe into a recessed water slot. Rotating to 180° presses the capacitive soil sensor onto a soil sample disc. 90° is the neutral travel position.

{ "run_id": "run_001",

"total_duration_s": 427,

"sectors_completed": 4,

"samples": [

{ "type": "WATER", "value_ntu": 42.3 },

{ "type": "SOIL", "value_pct": 68.5 }

]

}

Map ReplayNTU ChartHeatmap

Data to Dashboard

All 12 measurements log to SPIFFS in structured JSON — run_id, timestamp, sector, terrain, NTU or moisture %. Tap ⬇ Download JSON on the RC page to pull results.json off the robot, then drop that file into the visualiser for instant arena replay, charts, and sector analysis.

System Architecture

From arena to insight

Drive the Arena

Deploy Sensors

{ "run_id": "run_001",

"total_duration_s": 427,

"sectors_completed": 4,

"samples": [

{ "type": "WATER", "value_ntu": 42.3 },

{ "type": "SOIL", "value_pct": 68.5 }

]

}

Map ReplayNTU ChartHeatmap

Data to Dashboard

[ sample output ]

Four sectors. 12 measurements.

Each sector logged independently — compare turbidity and moisture across terrain types.

S1Urban

Water Turbidity

42.3 NTU

Moderate

Soil 1

68.5%

Soil 2

71.2%

S2Field

Water Turbidity

89.1 NTU

Moderate

Soil 1

82.3%

Soil 2

79.8%

S3Desert

Water Turbidity

31.2 NTU

Clean

Soil 1

45.6%

Soil 2

48.9%

S4Stone

Water Turbidity

55.7 NTU

Moderate

Soil 1

22.1%

Soil 2

19.8%

Open full visualiser →

ENVIROBOT · Environmental Robotics Challenge · ToTheTrashcue