Update (Poster Information)

This is an archive site. Current senoir design projects are at https://projects.eng.uci.edu.

Submitted by ayounis on Wed, 11/09/2016 - 16:53

Forums:

Introduction and Background:

In recent years the topic of robotics has gained a lot of popularity within the research community and large companies such as Google, Qualcomm and Tesla.  A particular focus area in robotics is the area of autonomous driving.  Tesla and many other car manufacturers have been developing driverless technology for many years and are now starting to deploy their technology.  This senior design project has the specific goal of helping its team members gain knowledge and expertise in the field of robots, using the same principles of control, estimation and planning that many of the industry leaders are using in their approaches.  Specifically this project is designed with the goal of learning state estimation and ground based robot control.  The stretch goals of this project are present to allow the team to expand into different aspects of driverless technology.

Our team has extensive experience in robotics.  Our team has held many internships working in the field at places like Honeywell Aerospace, Nasa and Qualcomm.  We also have extensive software and hardware experience from projects within the classroom and outside the classroom.

 

 Approach:

 Our approach is as follows:

  • Use off the shelf hardware as much as possible.
  • Focus less on writing low lever drivers and more on high level software and algorithms.
  • Incrementally add functionality to ensure success of the robot as a whole.

 We would like people to notice:

  • Simplicity in our minimalistic robotic design.
  • Capability of the robot.
  • Complexity of algorithms that make a simple robot function in a complex way.
  • Real world applications of the algorithms developed and used.

 

Progress and Current Status

Progress:

  • Researching SLAM and VIO algorithms.
  • Researching ground based robot control.
  • Researched and picked MCU (Raspberry Pi 3).
  • Researched and picked robot chassis.
  • Currently looking into specific sensors:
    • Looking into GPS, rotary encoders.
    • Selected MPU9x50 IMU sensor.
  • Looking into if we need IO expanders/peripheral expanders (PWM driver chips) in order to control the chassis actuators.
  • Planning out the order in which tasks should be completed.
  • Looked into programming language
    • C++ chosen for its object oriented nature and its ease of use with low level driver code.

Raspberry Pi 3 Chosen for:

  • Powerful 1.2Ghz Quad Core ARM Processor
  • Built in Wifi
  • GPIO/Peripheral Support
  • Camera Port
  • Easy to use
  • Can be a USB Host
  • Runs Linux (Can use SSH)
  • Cheap ($35)

Traxxis Chassis Chosen for:

  • Heavy duty off-road chassis
  • Already owned by team
  • Has actuators (comes with frame)

MPU9x50 Chosen for:

  • i2c interface (3.3V)
  • Drivers already exist for it
  • Owned by team
  • Fast Sample rate
  • Low noise Gyro, Accelerometer and Magnetometer

Approximate Schedule

(with localization stretch goal)

Major Tasks 

and Milestones

Week of Completion

Notes

Robot Hardware Assembled and Functional.

End of Week 1

Assembled robot but with no control yet.

Drivers for Sensors and Actuators Complete

Middle of Week 2

 

Full Robot Drivability using GPS, IMU and encoders

 

(Milestone 1)

End of Week 3

The control algorithm for robot movement (turning, moving forward and back) so robot can navigate a path.

Path Planning and Map Navigation

 

(Milestone 2)

End of Week 4

Finding a path through  a map)

GPS Denied Localization Algorithm Working (SLAM or VIO)

End of Week 7

This task will be very difficult.

Path Planning and Map Navigation with GPS Denied Localization

 

(Milestone 3)

Middle of Week 9

 

Demo Video Filming and Project Writeup

 

(Milestone 4)

End of Week 10