Autonomous Vehicles Derek Smith EKU Dept. of Technology Computer Electronic Networking

2 OUTLINE Motivation: DARPA Grand Challenge and NAIT Introduction: The purpose of autonomous vehicles and future roles Problem Statement: NAIT’s settings for the new competition Proposed Solutions: Possible answers Results: Video and Explanations Conclusion: New understanding and Learning Future Work: Possible extensions to my work Questions Thanks

3 MOTIVATION The DARPA Grand Challenge was a great inspiration to me. Along with a 2 million dollar prize. NAIT played a big role in my motivation as well. 03_220.wmv

4 INTRODUCTION The issue with producing an autonomous vehicle is that everything that can, always will go wrong. Argo was a major part of my research. The DARPA Grand Challenge How autonomous vehicles work properly The direction in which they are headed in the near future.

5 ARGO – A Linux based autonomous vehicle

6 William “Red” Whittaker Carnegie Mellon University's William "Red" Whittaker and the Red Team's Sandstorm vehicle

7 PROBLEM STATEMENT The National Association of Industrial Technology Added an autonomous component to the annual robotics competition The robot must be able to follow a 1 ½ inch strip of reflective aluminum tape Creating a need for understanding autonomous vehicles

8 PROPOSED SOLUTION To Solve this I went through many possibilities: Calibrating and adjusting the infrared detectors I have. Purchasing close proximately infrared detectors. Creating a light sensitive circuit that reflects light off the tape Creating a circuit sending voltage through the tape and receiving the information

9 Proposed Solution My solution was to create the circuit that ran voltage through the tape. Other methods need constant revision The circuit method is simplistic It only deals with one main variable Less things to go wrong

10 RESULTS It worked, not quit to where I wanted it, but it still works. Problems that resulted: At higher speeds handling has problems. The directional decisions are entirely too slow The bot does all the tasks that are required at this point.

11 Results To the right is my code Below is the main circuit ' {$STAMP BS2} ' {$PBASIC 2.5} DEBUG "Program Running!" voltdetector1 VAR Bit voltdetector2 VAR Bit voltdetector3 VAR Bit voltdetector4 VAR Bit DO DEBUG CLS voltdetector1 = IN0 voltdetector2 = IN1 voltdetector3 = IN2 voltdetector4 = IN3 IF (voltdetector2 = 0) AND (voltdetector3 = 0) THEN DEBUG "Moving Forward" PULSOUT 13, 850 PULSOUT 12, 650 ELSEIF (voltdetector2 = 1) THEN DEBUG "Front Left is off track" PULSOUT 13, 850 PULSOUT 12, 850 ELSEIF (voltdetector3 = 1) THEN DEBUG "Front Right is off track" PULSOUT 13, 650 PULSOUT 12, 650 ENDIF LOOP

12 CONCLUSIONS Not yet ready for the DARPA Grand Challenge We have made head way for NAIT next year That is, if my predecessors don’t squander their time and resources. Understanding an autonomous vehicle was the goal of this project I have obtained that goal I’m still in awe of the capabilities out there, but I at least know the basics of how they work.

13 FUTURE WORK Possible extensions Add vision analyses, nothing big Create infrared mapping And possibly add GPS Any suggestions will be very welcome, me at m m

14 Questions Does anyone have any Questions?

15 THANK YOU Thank you for your time and attention!