Robot Convoy

Anees ElhammaliMichael MalluckJohn ParsonsNamrata Sopory

Project Overview

+ + 802.11bhardware )*3+(

+ + 4*

Aim: To simulate a remotely monitored and partially controlled convoy

Amigobot Wireless Hub, Game adapter

Olympus Board

CMUCAM Laptop

Convoy bot =

GT SMARTS

Goal: Simulate the behavior of a convoy with three robots

Wireless Link

Wireless Link

Wireless Link

Laptop to control overall application

Slave Robot1

Master Robot

Slave Robot2

Overview Contd.User Interface Front and Back end

Ethernet Communications Driver

Amigobot Driver

CMUCam Driver needed for visual feedback

Gantt ChartName Start Date Duration Task

LeaderSeptember October November Dec

07 14 21 28 05 12 19 26 02 09 16 23 30 07

Determining Design Goals 9/10/2003 4d Namrata  

Collecting Resources 9/10/2003 8d Namrata  

Amigobot Serial Driver 9/15/2003 16d Michael  

Camera Serial Driver 9/15/2003 11d John  

Ethernet Communication Driver 9/15/2003 16d Anees  

User Interface Front End 9/15/2003 20d Namrata  

Construction of First Robot 9/22/2003 16d Michael  

First Robot Algorithm 10/9/2003 19d Anees  

Second and Third Robot Algorithm

10/9/2003 19d John  

Construction of Second Robot 10/13/2003 11d Michael  

Construction of Third Robot 10/27/2003 11d Michael  

User Interface Back End 11/3/2003 20d Namrata  

Final Testing 12/1/2003 4d All  

Demo Due 12/5/2003 1d All  

User ControlsSend start and stop commands for appropriate bots

Turn buttons rotate the bot by 90 degrees

Images display in a separate window rather than in the GUI

User Controls

Tasks:– Develop a GUI for User Controls– Development of the GUI backend

• Establish wireless communication with an Amigobot• Send movement commands to the Amigobot• Get visual data from the Amigobot• Get obstacle encounter notification from Amigobot• Multithreading the GUI backend to service multiple

functions

Resolved Challenges:– Interfacing the wireless communication software with the

GUI– Rendering the visual data received

Amigobot Driver

Amigobot

High LevelAlgorithm

MyStatus InfoUpdater

PulserAmigoComm

Amigobot Driver

Tasks:– Send movement commands to the Amigobot and have it

respond– Receive and store sensor data from the Amigobot– Receive path movement data from the laptop– Store path movement data– Be able to transmit all data over a wireless Ethernet link– Enable multithreading for the different Amigobot functions

Future Improvement: – Creating an internal xy coordinate system for the

Amigobot

Ethernet Communications

Visual Client

Port 5555

CommandClient

Port 6666

VisualServer

Port 5555

CommandsServer

Port 6666

ExecutedCommands

ClientPort 4444

ExecutedCommands

ClientPort 8888

CommandsServer

Port 4444

CommandsServer

Port 8888

GUIIP Dynamic

Bot1IP 192.168.1.150

Bot2IP 192.168.1.160

Bot3IP 192.168.1.170

Ethernet Communications Tasks:

– Establish wireless “server-client” communication– Send data over the wireless link– Enable multithreading of the servers– Establish communications and data transfer between

two Olympus boards

Resolved Challenges: – Running the Server and Client on different platforms

(Java and .Net framework)– Receiving Olympus boards on time (sort of)– Determining the best manner in which to transmit visual

data

CMUCam Driver

Tasks:– Do away with unnecessary built in functionality– Build efficient code to get an image from the camera– Send frequently refreshed images to the laptop

Resolved Challenge: – Transmitting image data over the Ethernet connection

Remaining Issue: – Camera image does not display in the GUI

Movement Algorithms

Bot1

Bot2

Bot3

Bot1 receives and executes command from user

Bot1 sends command to Bot2

Bot2 stores command in a vector

When Bot2 is activated, it begins executing the commands in its vector

Bot2 sends command to Bot3

Bot3 stores and then executes the command

Movement Algorithms

Tasks– Make first robot respond to commands from user– Send commands from Bot1 to Bot2 and from Bot2 to

Bot3– Store commands in Bots 2 and 3– Make Bot1 and Bots 2 and 3 stop and start when

commanded to do so– Make Bots 2 and 3 not move until they can do so without

ramming previous bot Future Improvement

– Implement sonar sensors along with an xy coordinate system to allow bots to detect and navigate around obstacles

Robot ConstructionCom1 Ethernet Power Voltage Control CardCom2

Robot Construction

Tasks– Run battery terminals into AmigoBot– Assemble voltage control card– Mount all hardware and wire it together

Resolved Problems– Error made in PCB, fixed manually– All bots had to be made at the same time due

to late arriving parts, but no major problems resulted

DEMO TIME!

Questions ?