RamuDroid

RamuDroid is an open-source autonomous outdoor garbage-picking robot that combines robotics, IoT connectivity, and computer vision to detect and collect litter from roadsides and public outdoor spaces.

Project links:

• GitHub Pages: https://altanai.github.io/Ramudroid/
• Original innovation page: https://altanai.github.io/Ramudroid/original-innovation
• Repository: https://github.com/altanai/Ramudroid

What RamuDroid Does

• Drives through roads, lanes, alleys, and narrow pathways
• Uses camera-based sensing to detect litter
• Triggers cleaning operation based on detection
• Supports remote monitoring and control through web services

Hardware Overview

Processing and control

• Raspberry Pi 3B+/4 as central processor
  • Runs web services for remote navigation and control
  • Runs streaming stack (UV4L/WebRTC setups by version)
  • Runs computer vision processing
• Arduino Uno as microcontroller
  • Receives control commands from Raspberry Pi over serial
  • Controls motors and sensor-level operations

Driving unit

• Pi NoIR Camera V2 (Sony IMX219 8MP)
• L298 motor driver
• 11.1V LiPo battery or 12V solar panel input

Cleaning unit

• 3 x 5V DC gear motors for brush assembly
• 5V single-channel relay
• 11.1V LiPo battery or 12V solar panel input
• IR sensor to detect collection bin/tray fullness

Software Architecture

Key communication model:

• External: WiFi, BLE
• Inter-component: GPIO, UART, I2C
• Application control: REST APIs

Main modules in this repository

• gps_navigation/ - GPS and path navigation related notes/code
• robot_controller_rpi_setup/ - Raspberry Pi setup and control scripts
• robot_mcu_arduino_uno_setup/ - Motor controller and Arduino-side firmware
• self_driving_rpi_robot/ - Self-driving model training/inference resources
• sensors/ - Sensor integrations (including ultrasonic)
• webrtc_stream_objectdetection/ - WebRTC streaming and object detection stacks
• webservices_rpi_arduino_comm/ - Service layer for RPi-Arduino communication

Getting Started

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/altanai/Ramudroid.git
cd Ramudroid

2. Install Python dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Explore module-specific setup guides

• robot_controller_rpi_setup/README.md
• webrtc_stream_objectdetection/README.md
• webservices_rpi_arduino_comm/README.md
• self_driving_rpi_robot/README.md

4. Optional: install wiringPi for low-level GPIO utilities

git clone git://git.drogon.net/wiringPi
cd wiringPi
git pull origin
./build
gpio -v
gpio readall

Version Highlights

• v5
  • Autonomous navigation with GPS
  • https://altanaitelecom.wordpress.com/?s=Bot+to+clean+roads+and+outdoors
• v6
  • Enhanced autonomous navigation
  • Sensor additions (rain, ultrasonic)
  • Improved web console
• v6.5
  • Reduced heavy AR/map dependencies
  • Better obstacle handling and route recalculation
  • Edge analytics improvements
• v7 (Surajdroid)
  • Solar-powered focus
  • https://telecom.altanai.com/2018/12/09/surajdroid-ramudroid-v7-solar-powered/
• v7.5+
  • Continued optimization of autonomy and CV pipelines

External References

• Telecom tag archive: https://telecom.altanai.com/tag/ramudroid/
• Devpost: https://devpost.com/software/ramudroid-g37oar
• Medium publication: https://medium.com/ramudroid
• Hackaday project: https://hackaday.io/project/11201-ramudroid
• Surajdroid (Hackaday): https://hackaday.io/project/173801-surajdroid
• Demo video: https://youtu.be/O7b6NlOpLso

Contributing

• Contributing guidelines: https://github.com/altanai/Ramudroid/wiki/Contributing-Guidelines

Author

• Altanai: https://www.linkedin.com/in/altanai

License

MIT