Tracking Rover

Team Rubber Ducky Joshua Rubin

Alexander StarickRyan RamosAlexander Chi

Main Goal

Design a robot to locate and retrieve objects placed in random locations

Useful in disaster situations to find objects in places where people can not go

The ability to add many new sensors, both analog and digital, allows this robot to be used in many situations

Primary planning stagesRobotic control system

- Motor Direction Control

- Motor Speed Control

- Separate Control for Each Motor

IR Radar

- Constant Velocity Motor

- Rotary Encoder

Power distribution to different components

- Mobile power source

- Highly regulated for SBC and other sensitive electronics

Secondary planning stages

Object avoidance using ultrasonic ranging sensorsItem RetrievalRemote control of robot (manual override)Item identificationUser interface with alphanumeric LCD and 4x4 key pad to allow item selection

General block diagram

Single Board Computer

133Mhz AMD Elan 520 (586) Processor

Compact flash booting

On board A/D, D/A and DIO converters

2 serial ports

WiFi communication via pcmcia card

Advantages of an SBC

High level programming

Extremely fast

Advanced O/S

Embedded system

Simple design

Infrared Radar

360º horizontal scanning

Fast, accurate rotational period

Rotary encoder to indicate sensor angle

Puck will emit 360º horizontally

Battery

Supplies +12.8V when 100% charged

Advantages of the ODYSSEY PC310

- Powerful- Long run time- Light (5.9 lb)- Small dimensions- Fast to charge

Power Supply

Receive power directly from batterySupply power to SBC, Motors and sensors as neededVoltage needs to be highly regulatedAccount for voltage changes due to battery discharge

Robotic Control

Two motors, two wheels and uncontrolled swivel wheel

IR sensor will operate by uncontrolled rotary motor

Cost Break downSBC - $320Power supply (batt. included) and charger - $230IR sensor - $30Ultrasonic Ranger - $30Robotic parts

- Chassis - $170

- Motor drivers - $100

- Rotary motor and driver - $100

Total cost = $980

Gantt Chart

Division of Labor

Software - Joshua, Alex C.Power - Alex S, JoshuaInstruments - Ryan, Alex SPropulsion - Ryan, Alex CAssembly - Ryan, Alex C

Possible difficulties

Line of sight issues with IR

Object avoidance algorithm

Radar accuracy

Contingency plan

Remove object avoidance H/W and S/W

Remove object capture ability

Solid mount multiple IR sensors instead of radar

Questions?