Intelligent Machines Design Lab
EEL5666 Spring 08
Chris Kleinknecht
John Paul Jones
/ ~ck0 / IMDL
John Paul Jones will be a fully autonomous robot capable of detecting and evading multiple moving objects simultaneously. He will be equipped with a three-wheel holonomic drive system, allowing him to translate and rotate independently.
Predator Evasion
JPJ will use 3 Devantech SRF05 rangers, located along the perimiter of the robot between each set of wheels, to detect obstacles and moving enemies. Each rangefinder provides 45° of coverage. JPJ will emulate 360° of detection by rotating about his central axis and recording sensor outputs at some fixed interval, in effect making 3 full 360° sensor sweeps each rotation. By compensating for acceleration along the x and y axes, and for angular rate of the sensors, the robot will be able to discern whether an object is stationary or moving towards him. In the event that one or more objects are moving towards the robot, he will plot an escape vector and flee. JPJ will also be equipped with multiple passive infrared detectors in order to differentiate biological (i.e., warm) threats from non-biological threats.
Holonomic Drive System
The robot will include a full holonomic drive system, with an inertial navigation system and three transwheels. The inertial navigation system will include one 2-axis (or two 1-axis) accelerometer and a gyroscope. These sensors will allow for independent control of (simultaneous) rotation and movement by continouously adjusting speed to each wheel based on the robot's direction and speed of movement, and direction and speed of rotation. This drive system closely resembles that of Carnegie Mellon's Palm Pilot Robot Kit (see “Physics”) and, to a lesser extent UF MIL's Gnuman.
