Team Ocho Cinco

Raymond Chen Zhuo Jing

Brian Pentz Kjell Peterson

Steven Pham

• Minimum: Design a vehicle controlled remotely by drawing a path on a handheld touch-screen computer.

• Target: Include obstacle avoidance feature with minimal path deviation. Utilize Bluetooth to provide real-time stats to touch-screen

• Optimal: Implement terrain and obstacle mapping capabilities updating the map in real-time.

Updated Objectives

Project Status

• Completed– Basic chassis assembly– Hardware design

• In Progress– RPS Pixel Tracking Software– FPGA/Picoblaze Firmware– Touchpad Software

Vehicle Chassis

• Tracked– 180 degree turns

• Runs on 7.2V Ni-Cd Batteries– 10 minute full throttle battery life

Servo Control

• Throttle and Steering Servos• Takes a pulse every 20ms• Linear time to angle relationship

Servo Control

• Level Shifters from TTL to Logic– FPGA outputs 3.3V TTL– Servos take 5V logic– CD4504 TI LS

Buffered Heading

s

Buffered Distance

Servo Controller

SteeringServo

Pulse Length

Number of

Pulses

Digilent FPGADevelopment Board

- Spartan-3 XC3S200: 200k gates- 3x32 open 3.3V I/O ports- Pre-configured power sequence- RS232 serial output- On-board SSDs for testing

• 256 Inputs, 256 Outputs– Supports numerous combinational sub-

routines

• Low Deployment Cost– Occupies only 96 slices, ~3% of XC3S200

• Processor Behavior– Simplifies control and state-machine

applications

Digital Compass

- I2C Interface- Continuous

Measurement to 1/10th of a degree

IR Sensors• Interfaces with

FPGA via A/D converter

• 8 bit A/D conversion gives 1cm resolution at 50-60cm (worst case)

Bluetooth DIP Module

• Connects directly to the FPGA (3.3V logic)

• Uses the RS232 protocol– Instantiate a UART on the FPGA

Connector Schematic

BT, Servo, and Compass Sch.

IR Sensor Array Schematic

• Nothing Works Without Communication• Necessary Communication Lines:

• RPS to TSC: Location• TSC to OCM: Path Data• TSC to OCM: Location• OCM to TSC: Obstacle Information• OCM to TSC: Heading• OCM to TSC: Battery Voltage

Communication

Communication Protocol

B Returns one 8-bit digital voltage reading

Request Battery voltage

Command (ASCII) Ensuing Data Description

C -- Clear Path

S # of instructions (0 – FF)16-bit instructions

Send Path

L 16-bit location (in inches) Send Location

O Returns six 8-bit distances (in inches), one for each sensor

Request Obstacle data

H Returns one 9-bit number (in two bytes) with heading (0o – 359o)

Request Heading

• Takes Input of an array of Touch-Screen Coordinates– Simple Algorithm to Determine Heading (H)

and Distance (D) to Reach Next Point

Path Calculation Code Block (FPGA)

Start End

Input Stylus Coordinate

s

Compare Consecutive

Points

Determine Heading and

Distance

Buffer Instructions

Send to

Servo

P1

P0

D)

H

• Takes Input of Socket Name, Address, obtained through IOCTL_BLUETOOTH_GET_PEER_DEVICE – Connects to Socket, sends all Path Coordinates– While still connected, makes sure that the data was

received, then returns.

Path Transmission via Bluetooth

Start End

Input Socket and Path

Data

Connect to Socket

Listen for Confirmation

of Transmission

Send Path Data

Return True

Return

False

Confirmation Received

Confirmation Not Received

• Uses same Socket for the Vehicle Transceiver as used in Transmission– Connects to Socket, receives Data, according to Communication

Protocol– Sends Confirmation back to the Vehicle.– After each piece of data has been successfully received, program will

return a structure containing all data to be processed and displayed.

Obtaining Data from the Vehicle

Start End

Input Socket and Path

Data

Connect to Socket

Send Confirmatio

n

Receive Data

Generate OCM_Data Structure

StartWebcam Capture

Send Coords to TSC

Center Pixel Pt

Map AbsCoords

@Dest?

EndYes

No

• Determine OCM Location– Take live pictures of field– Color pixel tracking (OCM color coded)– Map field coordinates– Send to TSC

Regional Positioning System

RPS Field of Vision

22 ft

19 ft

55°

• Capstone lab open space– Maximum depth: 22 ft

• iPaq Bluetooth range: 30 ft• Webcam viewing angle: 55°

Top-Down View

7 ft

6 ft22 ft

Side View

Dead-zoneActive-Zone

• Microsoft Lifecam VX-3000– 1.3 MP capture (1280 x 1024)– USB connectivity

Webcam Capture

OCM

• OCM in the Field– Specially color coded– Unique color for detection– Shaped spherically

• Image/Pixel Detection– Scan for specified color– Calculate average pixel location– Unique color → Center of OCM (pixelwise)

Color Pixel Tracking

• OCM Location– Algorithm: Pixel → Field Coordinates

Battery

Li-Ion Battery• 7V, 2AH• Weight: 3.5 oz• Dimension: W1.35x H0.6 x L2.5 (inch)

Battery Tracker

Li-Ion Battery Tracker

• 5 Bars(represents battery’s life at 100%, 80%, 60%, 40%...etc)

• Experiment– 1. Charge up battery to max capacity – 2. Discharge battery with light bulb, measure the

battery voltage every 5min till the battery is empty.

Power Distribution

Parts List

• Spartan-3 FPGA• HMC6352 Digital Compass• Kyosho Blizzard EV, Futaba S3003 Servos• MS Lifecam VX-3000 • 7.2V, 2Ah Battery • Bluetooth transceiver and Dongle• Regulators, capacitors

Responsibilities

• Kjell Peterson– Touchscreen Controller, Microcontroller

• Brian Pentz– FPGA, Picoblaze, Bluetooth

• Steven Pham– RPS, Bluetooth, CDS

• Zhuo Jing– Power Distribution, Servo Control

• Raymond Chen– Servo Control, CDS, FPGA

Project Timeline

Goals for Milestone 1

• Power/Battery interfacing• Simple RPS tracking capabilities• GUI complete• Basic Bluetooth interfacing complete• PCB layout, ready for fabrication• FPGA layout (completed)

Goals for Milestone 2

• PCB complete and fabricated• Servo controller and path calculation complete• Car follows given path• RPS Fully Functional• FPGA subsystem logic completed

Goals for Expo

• Subsystems fully integrated via FPGA• Obstacle avoidance capable• Obstacle mapping capable• Time permitting: Inclinometer/terrain mapping

Questions?