| Title: |
Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) Search and Rescue. |
| Category: |
Industry |
| Intellectual Property: |
Student team assigns intellectual property control to company |
| Year: |
2009 |
| Semester: |
Fall |
| Sponsor Name: |
Tucson Embedded Systems |
| Sponsoring advisors: |
|
| Sponsor URL: |
http://www.tucsonembedded.com |
| Sponsor Information: |
Tucson Embedded Systems specializes in providing systems/software engineering support in the development, integration, maintenance, and testing of safety critical systems. TES has successfully worked with the Senior Capstone class to produce robotic platforms, GPS systems, and other integrated sensor technologies. Current work with UAVs and UGVs is ongoing, and the students will provide hands on development and demonstrations of these technologies, ranging from microbots to full size vehicles. |
| ITAR Restriction: |
No |
| Scope of work: |
As unmanned vehicles become more capable, they will be tasked to automatically perform roles for which human interaction was once needed. Combining the abilities of a central command center, an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will allow humans to remain out of harms way while robots perform dangerous maneuvers. By utilizing Tucson Embedded Systems, Capabilities Driven Architecture or CDA, each component of this system will be able to easily communicate with all other nodes, sensor data can be shared, and command decisions can easily be processed throughout the entire network of robotic nodes.
TES has two all-terrain 4-wheel-drive robotic platforms that the team will utilize in this project.
The team will design, build, and test a new robotic platform, while enhancing the current robots. The team will work with TES engineers to develop system requirements to meet TES goals. The ground vehicle must have:
1. Position Awareness.
2. Communicate with other vehicles and control nodes.
3. Manual and Autonomous drive capabilities.
4. Updated battery and power management.
5. Updated motors and drive capabilities.
6. Integrate TESs CDA technology.
7. A GUI based command center with basic mapping capabilities.
The current System utilizes the Gumstix and Robostix computing platform, ZigBee and WiFi communications, a custom aluminum chassis, and various environmental sensors.
Using these requirements, the team will work to design, build and modify the system to work in a predefined Command and Control Environment. The ground vehicle must work wirelessly with both a base station, and provide interfaces to communicate with an unmanned aerial vehicle to accomplish a search and rescue style mission.
The final deliverable will be a demonstration of the entire Command and Control system, traversing variable terrain, while working congruently with other TES hardware and software platforms.
|
| Project summary: |
|
| Disciplines: |
Computer Engineering (2)
Electrical Engineering (2)
Mechanical Engineering (1) |
| Skills: |
Programming - C++/Java
Circuit Design, PCB development
Basic Robitic/Mechanical Knowledge
SolidWorks/CAD development
Communications and Network knowledge
Mechanical Parts Fabrication |
| Additional resources: |
Development and expansion of existing robotic vehicles. Access to CDA software library, TES engineers, and software catalog. |
| Key Contact Name: |
Jonathan Schwab |
| Key Contact Email: |
jons@tucsonembedded.com |
| Key Contact Phone: |
520-575-7283x157 |
| Project URL: |
|
| Mentor Name: |
David Henz |
| Mentor Email: |
dhenz@edmundoptics.com |
| Mentor Phone: |
(520) 574-2572 x6310 |
|