Project
# | Title | Team Members | TA | Documents | Sponsor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
40 | Remote Area Clearance Device (RACE) |
Bjorn Oberg Rahul Sachdeva |
Nicholas Ratajczyk | appendix0.docx final_paper0.pdf presentation0.pdf proposal0.pdf |
|
People drop small items such as earrings, needles etc. These can sometimes be hard to find for the naked eye, or can be in a hard to reach position. We want to build upon the ECE 110 project, and build a car that can detect metal, and pick the object up. The car will have an autonomous mode and a manual mode. In the manual mode, it will be controlled remotely by the user, through Bluetooth protocol. This car, with the metal detection circuit, has additional applications outside the home as well. It can be used as a low cost alternative to look for landmines in war torn regions. Despite the United States having the world’s largest army, IEDs and mines still pose significant difficulties for the Army with regard to engineering operations and maneuver support. A department of defense lab as shown a strong interest in this project and have offered to provide support to our team in the form of robots, processors, sensors, etc. They have offered to allow us to use one of their “mini-bots” which we may use instead of the ECE 110 car. We will use the chassis and the motor drivers from the ECE 110 class. We will build a metal detection circuit, and the detecting coil will be mounted in front of the car, facing downwards. When metal is detected, the car will take a step back, and use TTL logic to swipe the possible area with a small vacuum to pick up the object. We will use TTL chips to implement navigation logic, and integrate Bluetooth so that the car can receive and send signals. We will build the software that will allow the user to move the car using a laptop, and control the vacuum. In the autonomous mode, the car will be able to navigate itself (only in a fixed, chosen room). We will fill prior information such as the dimensions of the room, and the location of the door of the ECE 445 lab. There will be a fixed base position of the car, and we will have Bluetooth beacons around the room to act as markers for recalibrating the position. The car will be equipped with wheel encoders, compass, and accelerometers. We want to give the user the ability to pick a spot where he has dropped an object (such as desk 5), and the car will go there from the base and look for the metal object near that desk. Our base goal is to implement the metal detection circuit along with the manual operation mode of the car. Our reach goal is to implement the autonomous mode of operation. |