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A.M.P.S.Automated Material Positioning System

A system designed for automated remote layout of objects specified by a user.

Design ReviewDecember 12, 2006

Presented By: Matt Serbinski

Ryan Shon

Joe Weist

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Agenda

• Overview of System

• Review of Major Component Design– Movement Grid– Placement Robot– Base Station

• Discussion

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Overview

• 3 Major Components– Movement Grid – Area of “authorized movement” for

robot. Also stores blocks for layout.– Placement Robot – Robot responsible for physical

replication of input block layout – Base Station – Human-Machine Interface for a user to

command/monitor the remote robot.

Rows

Block Storage Tower

Base Station

Movement GridRobot

Columns

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Performance SpecificationsSystem

Operating Temperature

40F - 85F

Dimensions (DxWxH) 2 m X 2 m X 1 m

Weight < 50 kg

MTBF 10 hours

Placement Robot

Dimensions (DxW) 0.3 m X 0.3 m

Weight < 5 kg

Average Placement Speed

1 Block every 2.5 minutes

Locomotion Subsystem

Max Straight Line Speed 7 cm/s

Min Straight Line Speed 2 cm/s

Min Turning Radius 0

Navigation Subsystem

Positional Accuracy (Relative to intersection center point)

± 3 cm

Adjustment Resolution < 3 cm

Error Rate (Blocks places outside of Tolerance)

5%

Gripping Subsystem

Max Grasp/Release Speed 10 mm/s

Max Object Weight 100 g

Placement Accuracy (Relative to intersection center point)

± 4 cm

Communication Subsystem

Max Transmission/Receiving Distance

12 m

Wireless Transmission Frequency

2.4 GHz Range

Wireless Interface RS-232

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Performance SpecificationsPower Subsystem

Operating Voltage 5 V

Max Sustained Current Draw 1.5 A

Estimated Battery Life at Full Draw

30 minutes

Control Subsystem

Max Instruction Storage

200 Instructions per layout

Base Station

Cold Start Up Time 5 minutes

Shut Down Time 3 minutes

Max Simultaneous Robots Controlled

1

Min Layout Size 1 Block

Max Layout Size 10 Blocks

Wireless Transmission Frequency 2.4 GHz Range

Wireless Interface USB

Status Update Rate 1 Update per Instruction Encountered

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Movement Grid

• 6 Rows x 6 Columns

• Border is considered out of bounds for blocks

• Only grid intersections are valid locations for block placement

• Masonite base

• Lines made of reflective tape

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Block / Block Storage

• Provides storage of 10 blocks for robot to layout

• Made of wood

• Elevated so robot does not have to “pick up” blocks

• Blocks are 2-inch square and are made of rigid foam

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Placement Robot

• 6 Major Subsystems– Locomotion– Navigation– Communication– Power– Control– Gripper

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Placement Robot

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Robot – 2

Motor Control / Wireless / Power Circuitry

68HC12 Controller

Opto-Reflector Sensors

Casters

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Robot – 3 line following

polling

are bothforward

sensors online?

is left forwardsensor off line

and right forwardsensor on line?

is left forwardsensor on line and

right forwardsensor off line?

is the left horizontalsensor on a line and

the right not on aline?

set both wheelsto normal

forward speed

set left wheel tonormal forwardspeed and right

wheel to reducedforward speed

set right wheel tonormal forwardspeed and left

wheel to reducedforward speed

move left wheelback one angular

unit and moveright wheelforward oneangular unit

set both wheelsto move forward

move left wheelforward one

angular unit andmove right wheelback one angular

unit

set both wheelsto move forward

straightening

is either horizontalsensor detecting a

line?

is the left horizontalsensor not on a lineand the right on a

line?

are bothhorizontal

sensors on aline?

straighteningYes

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

return fromsubroutine

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

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Gripper

• Made of Erector set components

• Originally powered by RC servo with threaded rod adjustment.

• Required feedback control to grip block

Linear Actuator

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Gripper – 2

• New design uses miniature linear actuator

• No external feedback necessary (has a built-in encoder)

• Provides Simple Control

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Front End

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Back End Message Format

Parameter Format*

* $20 will be added to the parameter to ensure printable ASCII characters

Message Type Message

Bit Number 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Parameter

Bit Number 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Example of Message Traffic

01010111 Close Gripper

01010010

00100010

Backward n tiles

(Parameter of 2)

01000001

00110110

Current Position

4,2 (Parameter of 22)

0,0 : 0 0,1 : 1 0,2 : 2 0,3 : 3 0,4 : 4

Block Storage Tower

1,0 : 5 1,1 : 6 1,2 : 7 1,3 : 8 1,4 : 9

2,0 : 10 2,1 : 11 2,2 : 12 2,3 : 13 2,4 : 14

3,0 : 15 3,1 : 16 3,2 : 17 3,3 : 18 3,4 : 19

4,0 : 20 4,1 : 21 4,2 : 22 4,3 : 23 4,4 : 24

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Transmission CommandsName Binary Code ASCII

characterParameter

(n)Description

Current Position 0100 0001 A 0 to 24 Sent every time the robot crosses an intersection to verify the robot is on the right path.

Acknowledge 0100 0010 B none Sent after each recipe command or override is successfully received by the robot.

RTS 0100 0011 C none Request to send which is sent prior to transmitting data.

CTS 0100 0100 D none Clear to send which is sent after an RTS when the receiving system is ready for data.

Finish 0100 0101 E none Determines when the design that was specified by the user was completed. No further recipe commands will be executed, but override commands may still be carried out.

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Recipe CommandsName Binary Code ASCII

characterParameter

(n)Description

Forward 0101 0001 Q 1 to 6 Advance n tiles forward to the next intersection.

Backward 0101 0010 R 1 to 6 Advance n tiles backward to the previous intersection.

Right Turn 0101 0011 S 1 to 4 Rotate n90° clockwise.

Left Turn 0101 0100 T 1 to 4 Rotate n90° counterclockwise.

Open Gripper 0101 0101 U none Robot will open claw to a pre-defined width, wide enough to accommodate a block.

Close Gripper 0101 0111 W none Robot will close claw to a pre-defined width, determined such that blocks are firmly gripped but not damaged.

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Override CommandsName Binary Code ASCII

characterParameter

(n)Description

Forward Step 0111 0001 q none Pause the robot and have it move 1 tile forward to the next intersection.

Backward Step 0111 0010 r none Pause the robot and have it move 1 tile backward to the previous intersection.

Clockwise Step 0111 0011 s none Pause the robot and rotate it 90° clockwise.

Counterclockwise Step

0111 0100 t none Pause the robot and rotate it 90° counterclockwise.

Open Grippers 0111 0101 u none Instructs the robot to open its grippers and drop a block if it was carrying one. If the robots grippers were already open, this would act as a NOP.

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Override CommandsName Binary Code ASCII

characterParameter

(n)Description

Close Grippers 0111 0111 w none Instructs the robot to close its grippers and pick up a block if it did not have one. If it was carrying a block, this would act as a NOP.

Stop Immediately 0111 1000 x none Robot will immediately stop moving. Upon resume it will finish any instruction in progress.

Resume 0111 1001 y none Resume the robots instruction that it was paused on. If the robot was not paused, then this override acts as a NOP.

Stop at end of current instruction

0111 1010 z none Robot will stop moving after completing the current instruction.

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Back End: Block Placement Algorithm

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Back End: Block Placement Algorithm

1. Procedure begins with robot at block supply tower with the gripper open.2.  Close the grippers on the block.3.  Back robot away from block tower to first row.4.  Turn robot 90 degrees so that it is pointed along the row line according to placement priority.5.  Move robot along row line to the appropriate column.6.  At the column, turn robot toward the far end of the board, to follow the column line.7.  Move robot along the column line to the appropriate row and stop so that the block will be over the intersection where it is to be dropped.8.  Open gripper, dropping block at desired intersection.9.  Back robot away from placed block.10. Turn robot 180 degrees.11. Move robot along column line back to the first row.12. Turn robot 90 degrees to follow the row line.13. Move robot to follow row line to column along which the block tower is located.14. Turn robot 90 degrees to face block tower.15. Move robot forward to block tower.16. Go to step 1 if there are more blocks to be placed.

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Communication Hardware

• Aircable USB– Creates a virtual serial port

• Aircable Serial OS– Inherits the settings of the

virtual COM port– Rechargeable Lithium Poly

Battery– Intelligent Bluetooth

microcontroller

• Cable Mode– Only paired Aircable

products can communicate (information is stored in flash memory)

• 30 – 50 foot range

• 1200 – 231400 bps baud rate, 8 data bits, none, even or odd parity, one or two stop bits

• 160 kb/sec data transfer

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Testing

Physical, positional and velocity specification compliance as well as majorsubsystem compliance will be performed at this stage as follows:

Robot will be weighed and dimensions measured for compliance. Using measured straight lengths the straight-line speed will be tested. At an intersection, the robot will be made to continuously turn to test turning radius. At an intersection, the robot will be instructed to move forward by the smallest increment

possible to test adjustment resolution. The robot will be instructed to traverse an entire row then column to test positional accuracy.

The positional accuracy of the robot will be measured at each intersection. At the block storage tower, the time taken to grasp the block will be measured to test grasp

speed. The block mass will be measured to ensure specification compliance. A full layout will be input and the blocks placed to determine the error rate as well block

placement accuracy. The completed robot will be probed to test maximum current draw while being instructed to

run continuously to test battery life.

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Testing

Once the robot has been successfully integrated into the system the base stationtesting will proceed as follows:

The base station will be timed while being started and stopped to test start up and shutdown timing compliance.

The completed robot will be fed a (possibly invalid) layout involving the maximum number of instructions to test instruction storage.

The distance between the movement grid and base station will be increased until reliable communication is no longer possible.

Layouts of various sizes will be setup and fed to the robot to test proper layout size boundaries.

The base station control software will be monitored during the layout process to test the status update rate.

Upon successful integration of the base station into the system, several formalverification runs will be conducted to ensure proper system functionality.

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Cost Estimates

Item Market Price Out of Pocket Price Vendor

Erector set for claw $50.00 $50.00 Walmart

Masonite for grid $80.00 $80.00 Home Depot

Black spray paint $6.00 $6.00 Home Depot

Aluminum foil tape $15.00 $15.00 Home Depot

Plywood for block tower $10.00 $10.00 Home Depot

Brackets, bolts, etc for tower $10.00 $10.00 Home Depot

Material for blocks $10.00 $10.00 Home Depot

RF hardware $205.00 $205.00 Aircable

Linear actuator $70.00 $70.00 Firgelli

RC servos $10.00 $10.00 Goldcrest

Wheels $5.00 $5.00 Goldcrest

Rechargeable battery and charger

$50.00 $50.00 Goldcrest

Misc. electrical hardware $25.00 $25.00 Goldcrest

IR sensors $50.00 $50.00 Goldcrest

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Cost Estimates

Item Market Price Out of Pocket Price Vendor

Solderable breadboard $20.00 $20.00 Goldcrest

Solder $10.00 $10.00 Goldcrest

HCS12 evaluation board $200.00 $0.00 Can buy from Technological arts, or borrow from CE department

Robot chassis material $20.00 $20.00 Home Depot

Laptop computer $1,000.00 $0.00 Dell (we have a laptop available already)

Totals $1,846.00 $646.00

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Discussion

• Questions/Comments