Advanced Remote Monitoring and Operated Recon Device

Andrew LichensteinKevin Jadunandan

Thomas Kehr

Motivation

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Dragon Runner surveillance robot Extremely Durable Fast and lightweight platform ≈$32,000 per unit

Objectives: Fraction of the Price(< $2000) Withstand drop of two stories Maneuverability on all terrains Wireless Control/Video

iPhone Control

Hardware Block Diagram

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Specifications

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Low High Units

Length 1 2 Feet

Width 1 2 Feet

Height ¼ ¾ Feet

Weight 5 15 Lbs

Low High Units

Motor Battery 12 24 Volts

Control Battery 9 12 Volts

Low High Units

Peak Speed 3 5 MPH

Wheel Size 5 10 Inches

Motor RPM 200 340 RPM

Turn Radius 0 5 Degrees

Locomotion

Battery Life

Low High Units

Video Frame Rate 20 30 FPS

Operating Distance 15 100 Feet

Communication

Body

Operating VoltageLow High Units

High Usage ½ 1 Hours

Low Usage 1 4 Hours

Chassis

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Raw Material Selection

Suspension

Body Design

Polyurea

Component Mounting

Camera

Chassis: Raw Material Selection

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Aluminum Low-cost Light weight High cost of manipulation

Fiberglass Composite Extremely low cost Easily manipulated High Strength Experienced with fabrication Permeable to Radio frequencies

Fiberglass Carbon Fiber AluminumUltimate Strength (MPa) 3,450 5,650 40-50

Yield Strength (MPa) N/A N/A 15-20

Density (g/cm3) 2.57 1.75 2.7

Average Price ($/ft) 0.91 13.80 7.50

Carbon Fiber High cost High Strength Complex manipulation

Chassis: Suspension

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Aluminum Frame – 1/8” Aluminum Sheet Provide mounting for components No metal on metal; rubber washers

Spring Suspension System 32 Springs 8 Motor Clamps

Chassis: Body Design

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Fiberglass-Composite Construction

Clam-Shell Design

Plug and Mold Fabrication

Accommodate Peripherals

20”

7”

17”

Chassis: Body Design

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Ventilation and Cooling 4 12V Micro CPU Fans 2 Intake; 2 Outtake

Component Mounting Spring Suspension No Metal Contact

Chassis: Polyurea

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Truck Bed Liner Rhino Liner, etc.

Extreme Durability 41 MPa Tensile Strength

Quick Reaction Time Build up Multiple Layers

Explosive and Ballistic resistance

Drive Train

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Geared Motor

Wheels and Locomotion

Drive Train: Motor Selection

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IG42 Geared Motor 24:1 Gear Ratio 24V DC 252 rpm 2300mA 10 kgf-cm Torque

4.8”

1.75”

Drive Train: Wheels and Locomotion

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Wheels Wheel + Tire 10” Diameter Custom Mounting Hardware

Wheel Speed Speed (fpm) = (Diameter of wheel (in) x π x rpm of

motor) /12 = (10” x π x 252) /12 = 659.7 ft/m = 7.59 mph

Power System

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Batteries

Control Battery

Drive Battery

Power System: Batteries

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NiMH Rechargeable Packs 24V 4500 mAHr

Drive Battery 12V 4000 mAHr

Control Battery

5" x 2" x 2"

10" x 2" x 2"

Power System: Control Battery

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Capacity = 4000mAHr

Current Drain of system = 795mA

Estimated battery life ≈ 5 hrs

Regulators of 3.3V, 5V, and 9V are used to power the main logic and peripheral devices of ARMORD

Component Current Draw

Operating Voltage

Power Consumption

XBee Pro 55ma 3.3V 0.18 Watts

Falcom FSA03 40ma 3.3V 0.132 Watts

PIC18F4520 200ma 5V 1 Watt

Wireless Camera

500ma 9V 4.5 Watts

Total 795ma 5.812 Watts

Power System: Drive Battery

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Battery Capacity= 4.5 A Hr

Current Draw= 2300mA x 4 = 9.2 A

Battery Life = 29.3 minutes

Component Current Draw Operating Voltage

Power Consumption

IG42 Geared Motor 2300mA 24V 55.2Watts

Video System: Camera

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380-lines resolution

150-foot range (no obstacles)

2.4 GHz output frequency

Built-in microphone

Internal Hardware

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MCU

GPS

Communication

Motor Controller

Internal Hardware: MCU

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Features our group looked for in MCU: CPU Speed >= 4MIPS (10 MIPS)

Program Memory >= 16KB (32KB)

Internal Oscillator >= 4MHz (16MHz)

IO Pins >= 15 (30)

ADC >= 2 (15)

Program in C/C++ using MPLAB IDE

Temperature Range (-40 to 125 C)

PDIP

*PIC18F4520 Max Spec’s in ()

PIC18F4520

Internal Hardware: MCU

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Communication is the most essential part of our robot, we will need to be sending and receiving data from our Gateway to be able to control our robot. We will be using the USART pins on the MCU, which allows us to send serial data.

Our MCU will need to be data parsing when it receives GPS updates which come in the form of a string of data. We will be emulating the hardware by using software USART, which is also know as bit-banging.

Motor Control will be done by having two variables set , one for the left motors and one for the right motors. We will be sending a value of 0 to 255, which will tell which motor to move and how which direction it should spin the motor. This also will be using software USART.

Battery life testing will be done using AD Converters, so we will know when the battery is running low.

Communication: Options

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XBee vs. XBee Pro vs. Bluetooth Class 1

XBee XBee Pro Bluetooth Class 1

Indoor Range Up to 100ft

Up to 300ft

Up to 330 ft

Outdoor/LOS Up to 300ft

Up to 1 Mile

Up to 330 ft

Data Rate 250Kbps 250Kbps Up to 3 Mb/s

Unit Price $22.95 $37.95 $59.95

The Bluetooth was a bit to expensive and the regular XBee distance was a bit to small. This is why we chose the XBee Pro which was a good combination of both data rate and distance. We really only need 300 to 400 ft max for our application.

Internal Hardware: GPS

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We originally were looking at the Copernicus GPS Module that was sold on Sparkfun, but after talking with other sources they pointed out to me the Falcom FSA03 unit. Here are the details of the unit:

Copernicus FalcomCold Start 39 sec 29 sec

Hot Start 9 sec <1 sec

Antenna Not Included Attached

Update Rate 1Hz 4Hz

Channel 12 32

One of the best features of this chips is that it has a Sarantel helical antenna which lets you orient this GPS any way you would like , so you don’t have to make it point towards the sky.

Communication: GPS Purpose

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The GPS’s main purpose was to be sending latitude and longitude to our microcontroller so that we could use this data with our iPhone application. The GPS sends NMEA(National Marine Electronics Association) data to our MCU; here is an example of what it looks like:

$GPGLL,4916.45,N,12311.12,W,225444,A,*1D

As you can see the data that is sent is not an easy to read format so our MCU will parse the data needed and send to a variable that will be sent out via XBee.

Geographic Lat & Lon

49o16.45

123o11.12

Time(UTC)

Data Active

Checksum

Motor Controller: Selection

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Originally we were thinking of creating our own motor controller using PNP BJTs but due to the fact we wanted stability and more features we decided to buy the Sabertooth 10A Dual Motor Controllers. One of the key features that we really liked as a group was that it is a regenerative motor driver, so when the robot stops or reverses it recharges the batteries with the wasted energy. It also has over current and thermal protection which means we won’t have to worry about damaging the motor controllers.

Motor Controller: Setup

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In our setup we will be using two motor controllers in parallel. So we will be using one pin on our MCU a Tx line that uses software USART that connects to the S1 ports on the motor controllers.

The Tx line on the MCU will transmit to both of the motor controllers S1 lines at the same time. We will be sending values of 0 to 255 to the motor controllers .

A value of 1 to 127 controls the left motors and a value of 128 to 255 controls the right motors

MCU Software Diagram

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RECEIVE THREAD SEND THREAD

DATA STRUCTURES

-Left Motor-Right Motor

-GPSLat-GPSLon

-BatteryLife

Board Design Prototype

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Created in EagleCAD

Jumpers make it easy to connect peripherals

Custom PCB

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Using a flatbed plotter we make our own single sided PCBs for testing purposes. We can create 15 PCBs for less than $25.

Gateway / iPhone Interface

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Software applications

iPhone Application

Gateway Application

Software Communication

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Software

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iPhone Application Primary controlling device

Touch based interface

Displays map with location of user and ARMORD

Software

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iPhone Application Written in Objective C

Apple’s object oriented version of C Runs all C code natively

Xcode IDE and Interface Builder Provides drag and drop UI design

Software: iPhone GUI

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Software: iPhone GUI

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Software: iPhone GUI

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Software: iPhone

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Software: iPhone

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Distance Calculation Uses latitude and longitude

Distance in miles = 3963.0 * arccos[sin(lat1) *  sin(lat2) +

cos(lat1) * cos(lat2) * cos(lon2 - lon1)]

Software: Gateway Application

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Purpose Wireless bridge between the iPhone and the ARMORD

Necessary because iPhone cannot easily connect to the XBee module

Communication Wi-Fi – iPhone XBee – Robot

Software: Gateway Application

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Requirements Wi-Fi connection COM port access

Options C# Java

Decision – Java More robust XBee API and support Cross platform development

Software: Gateway Application

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Software

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Packet Structure From iPhone To ARMORD

From ARMORD To iPhone

$ LEFT_MOTOR , RIGHT_MOTOR ;

$ LATITUDE , LONGITUDE , MOTOR_BAT , MCU_BAT ;

Video Transmission – Original Design

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Video is received by video capture card Computer broadcasts live stream over Wi-Fi iPhone plays live stream

Video Transmission – Original Design

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Problems For live video, iPhone only plays H264 video, with AAC

audio, encapsulated in an MPEG2-TS

Capture card software could not output proper video format

10 second video lag from camera to a computer watching the stream

Video Transmission – New Design

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Solution – External LCD Display Allows direct video feed from camera to display No processing on a computer to reduce video delay iPhone can now display more information on the

screenMapsGPS locationsDistanceBattery Life

Controller

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•Components 7” Standalone Monitor Ruggedized Grip and Frame AV Receiver 9.6V NiMH Battery

Video and Control up to 100 feet

Components attached to controller via aluminum bracket

Power supplied to AV Receiver and Monitor through 9.6V NiMH battery

Swivel mount to account for inversing camera orientation

AV Receiver

Administrative Information

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Project Status

Budget

Timeline

Additional Time

Project Status

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Budget

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Part Name Quantity Price Total Cost12V 2200mAHr NIMH 1 $23.90 $23.90 24V 4500mAHr NIMH 2 $124.80 $249.60 Falcom FSA03 GPS 1 $59.95 $59.95 24V 252 RPM Geared Motor 4 $44.90 $179.60 IPhone Grip 1 $25.50 $25.50 Sabertooth 10A Motor Controller 2 $79.99 $159.98 7 in. LCD 1 $79.99 $79.99 2.4GHz Mini Wireless Camera 2 $42.50 $85.00 Truck Bed Liner 2 $9.95 $19.90 XBee Pro 3 $37.95 $113.85 XBee USB Explorer 2 $24.95 $49.90 XBee Breakout Board 1 $9.95 $9.95 PIC18F4520 3 $4.50 $13.50 Misc(Body, Copper Clad, Etc.) NA $150.00 $150.00

Developmental Tools NA $150.00 $150.00

Shipping/Handling NA $150.00 $150.00

Total 25 $1,018.83 $1520.62

Timeline

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Additional Time..

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Hardware Add-ons: Accelerometer to determine speed and orientation IR Sensors for Motion Detecting Night Vision Camera

Software Add-ons: Zero Configuration using Bonjour Protocol UDP Broadcast instead of TCP Connection Eliminate Gateway

Questions

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