The Construction of a Robotic Vehicle Metal Detector as a Tool for Searching Archaeology Sites

The research and development activities conducted to produce an affordable robotic vehicle controlled remotely by RF (Radio Frequency) technology, with the added capability to sense metallic objects along its path at shallow ground depths such as around debris, parks or lakeside habitats. The main objective of the development was for the system to be used at an existing archaeology sites to search rough terrain, hence the need for the construction of an independent and reliable robot that can operate on such terrain and can carry a sensor payload capable of detecting targets with a high level of precision and confidence. The robot vehicle consists of an automated working metal detector circuit that works with BFO (Beat Frequency Oscillator) principle to signals the user when a target is detected. The robot has two major parts, that is the transmission side and the receiver end. The transmission (operator) component has push buttons which are used to give commands to the robot controller. The commands control the robot to move either forward, backward, left or right as desired. The receiving component has two motors used for the motion of the robot vehicle. The receiver decodes and feeds the commands to a DC motor accordingly.