1. Bluetooth Controlled Robot with Obstacle Avoidance
Elvis De Abreu, Jared Wood, Nathan Hotchkiss, Edgar Castro, Hai Le, Daniel Macha, David Morgan
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sun
University of Central Arkansas
Department of Computer Science
ABSTRACT
AVOIDANCE (Improved)
OBJECT TRACKING
STUDENT OUTREACH
Add two ultrasonic sensors, one to each side of the robot.
With two additional sensors, the robot is able to make decisions in real time without waiting for the rover to look both ways and decide which direction to take.
One aspect of this project is to use the robot to build interest in computer science and robotics with elementary through high school students.
Robotics has been an awe-inspiring field for decades. Using a robot as a guide and helper is a thought that has been explored by many fields throughout the years. In this project, we investigate the use of an Arduino microprocessor system as a viable tool in a setting for guidance in large buildings such as a mall or other large, but localized, situations such as street block. The kit which has been used for experimentation is a “Rover” which is a large format Arduino Uno board with a motor and tank-style track system. Other sensors have been added to increase the functionalities.
Inferred Compound Eye Camera tracks objects based on reading light bounced off of object
Works similar to insect eyes
The original eye sensor has been removed because it was not fully functional and it is not imperative to the current functionality of the robot. Attempt to reconnect object tracking functionality by adding two more sonar sensors.
Test if the problems still exist between the Obstacle Avoidance and the Object Tracking
OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE
Robot uses ultrasonic “sonar” sensor to detect obstructions and finds the best path for travel. It sends out a defined pulse or “ping” and receives the echo to determine how far away an object is and how clear the path is.
Robot can maneuver through mazes and rooms and avoid obstacles.
Using a servo, when confronting an object, robot would stop and turn the sensor to right, left, and right again to send a ping in those directions.
BLUETOOTH CONTROL
Add the bluetooth module
Control by PC or by cell phone
Initial objective was only to control the robot from the laptop or from Bluetooth to Bluetooth.
Extensive coding and research resulted in a successful control directly from a laptop.
Research on android software lead to discovery of ArduinoRC app, resulting in “remote controlled” rover.
SUMMARY AND FUTURE WORK
In this project, we have done:
Bluetooth control of the rover
Make an autonomous rover that can avoid obstacles
Our future work includes:
make rover follow a path get from one place to another
make the rover more independent
COMPASS AND RFID SCANNER
The compass will allow the rover to readjust its course making it go as straight as possible without turning into any direction
With the RFID scanner we can use autonomous navigations and let the rover navigate through a path knowing where it is when the tags have been scanned.
Project Website:
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This project was partially supported by NASA
EPSCoR 2012 Award # NNX13AD32A