Autonomous Surface Navigation Platform

Michael BaxterAngel BerrocalBrandon Groff

Project Overview

• General platform capable of autonomous navigation and adaptable to land and sea surface environments.

• Apply sensor technology for a basic navigation software foundation on which to build more complex autonomous algorithms for homeland security. Primary client is multiple branches of the US Military.

 • Estimate development costs at $41,000; initial cost of a

prototype system, including instrumentation and wiring, should be less than $10,000.

Technical Objectives

Basic Autonomous Navigation • Collision Avoidance • Path Planning and Following• Propulsion System Control

 Recognition of Objective• Object Color & Shape Recognition

 Built Using LabVIEW & CompactRIO Platforms• Readily available• LabVIEW Vision Module is easier to use than other

solutions

Demonstration of Objectives

Navigation System Design

Actual Design Implementation

Overall Program Flow

Path Planning

Requirements• Enable vehicle to drive toward target object by determining

direction in which it should proceed• Requires a devices to determine the current position and

angle of the robot.o GPS Device - Determination of absolute positiono Inertial Motion Unit (IMU) - Information about robot yaw

• Software & Interface Requirementso LabVIEW 2009o CompactRIO Serial Module for GPS Interface

• Caveatso GPS Module has accuracy of 3 meters or less using Wide

Area Augmentation System (WAAS)

Path Planning Algorithm

Path Following

Requirements• Must allow robot to follow a planned path• May initiate object avoidance while following path• Needs sensors to track current heading, and watch for

potential obstacleso IMU - Track heading can be reused from Path Planningo Vex Sonar - obstacle detection & avoidance

• Trade offso Shaft Encoder - Less expensive, require more

programming, propulsion-system dependent

Path Following Algorithm

Collision Avoidance

Requirements• Autonomous navigation without collisions which may stop,

damage or otherwise hinder the vehicle's movement• Requires sensor for detection of distances to objects

o Laser Range Finders - very expensiveo Vex Ultrasonic Sonar - very cheap and available

• Software Requirementso LabVIEW 2009o LabVIEW FPGA Module (sonar interface)

• Caveatso Cheaper sensors require better software

Collision Avoidance Algorithm

Object Search & RecognitionRequirements• 360-degree view to scan for possible object color and shape

recognition• One camera facing forward and one facing backward for

improved search time• Requires two cameras that are compatible with micro-

controller CompactRIOo Axis M1011 Ethernet cameras can be used

simultaneously with CompactRIOo Wireless-G Linksys Router 2.4 GHz 

• Software Requirementso LabVIEW 2009 & LabVIEW Vision Development Module

• Caveatso Better cameras with higher resolution are costlyo Low resolution requires better image processing 

Object Search

Object Recognition Algorithm

LabVIEW Vision Assistant Block Diagram:

LabVIEW Vision Module allows high-level development of vision algorithms in a block-diagram fashion

Propulsion System Control

 Requirements• Must be able to control Thrusters for marine vehicles as well

as Vex motors for land demonstration• Both use 1-2 ms Pulse-Width Modulation signals• Requires hardware interface between LabVIEW and

propulsion systemo CompactRIO Digital I/O Module

• Software Requirementso LabVIEW 2009o LabVIEW FPGA Module

Schedule of Future Work 

Task Name Finish ResponsiblePower and Wiring Completion Mon 4/5/10 Team

GPS Interface with CompactRIO Mon 4/5/10 Team

Collision Avoidance Programming Fri 4/9/10 Team

Object Recognition Programming Fri 4/9/10 A. Berrocal

Object Search Programming Wed 4/14/10 B. Groff

Path Planning Programming Mon 4/19/10 M. Baxter

Program Integration Fri 4/23/10 Team

Optimization and Testing Mon 4/26/10 Team

Final Software test Wed 4/28/10 Team

Design Issues

GPS Device• Payment issues purchasing first GPS CompactRIO module• Received a pledge for a donated GPS CompactRIO module

from Marine Innovations, however their driver appeared to be for an old version of LabVIEW

• Package from Marine Innovations showed up empty• Just purchased a Garmin stand-alone unit with serial

interface

Vex sonar inaccuracies• Sonars are relatively cheap and often provide inaccurate

readings - requires averaging and filtering of data

Summary of current status of project

Vehicle Status• Test platform assembled• Motors, Cameras, Router, IMU, Sonars, and cRIO mounted• Garmin GPS has not arrived, driver available from National

Instruments• Power Plan designed - 24V & 7.2V batteries with 2 DC-DC

converters

Algorithm Status• Able to gather usable data from sonars, cameras, and IMU • Object recognition algorithm successfully differentiates

between similar objects indoors and determines distance to object

• Successful propulsion system control with cRIO

LabVIEW Test Program Example