Week Four Update

 

 The group is currently constructing the robot and programming to line track and count passengers. The group has found small issues with line tracking such as turning smoothly. In the video above, the robot displays a slow but successful turn. The current design of the robot has proven to satisfy all the necessary constraints and the group has decided to continue with it until the color sensor is integrated into the final robot. The color sensor will be integrated when the final dimensions of the passenger pick up platform is finalized. Despite this setback the passenger counter programming now allows for the taxi to display that the taxi is full after collecting four passengers.

As week 5 nears the group has started brainstorming potential travel algorithms. One potential travel algorithm would be to use the corners as reference points from which to navigate around the arena. This would be beneficial because it allows the robot to travel the shortest distance between stations. 

The following tasks are projected to be completed by the end of Week 5: line tracking (fix any bugs), successfully have the passenger counter count down, design possible attachment points for color sensor, and begin programming the travel algorithm.

Week Three Update

By Week Three the group aimed to start Line Tracking, Passenger Counting and Robot Construction. The group repositioned the light sensors on the robot so that the robot could consistently track and follow a straight black line. There were still issues when it came to following the corner edges of the arena. The team’s goal for next week is to successfully navigate around the perimeter of the arena.

During lab, the team was able to program the color sensor to recognize and display certain colors. The team was able to program the robot to display the number of passengers on its screen, however the robot is only able to display one color passenger at a time, and can only count upwards, not downwards. For next week the team hopes to resolve these issues and successfully display the entire passenger count on the display screen.  

For the following weeks the team hopes to adjust the light sensors more so that the sweep of the light sensors can be greater. This will hopefully result in the light sensors being more sensitive, making the line tracking abilities of the robot more accurate. 

Passenger Counter Progress

Line Tracking Progress

 

Week Two Update

This week the group accomplished all the deliverables from Week 1, constructing an initial vehicle design, and the constructing portion of the team began experimental programming with line tracking.

Some design flaws arose where the two light sensors were too close together and the data produced conflicting results causing the robot to veer off-course. Modifications were made. As of now, the robot is capable of following the straight lines along the highway. The team is currently programming to allow the robot to make turns. In addition, the team is brainstorming as to how to create a maneuver to realign the robot to the field should it stray away from the designated path.


The testing field created is a scaled model of the competition field. The team has yet to include the colored portions of the field as this would cause many issues with the current line tracker programming. As the program becomes more efficient the colored areas will be added. The team will then shift its focus to passenger collection/drop-off and collision avoidance maneuvers.

Pictures of the initial design, the modifications, and the testing field are located in the Picture Album tab at the top of the page.

Welcome Message

Welcome to our Engineering Freshmen Design Project!


     Over the course of the next ten weeks, the team will be working to create a simulation autonomous vehicle capable of transporting passengers in a network of vehicles. This vehicle must also be cost efficient and it must be able to obey the given traffic rules. The model vehicle will be constructed using the NXT Lego kits which the group is familiar with because of Engineering 102 last term. Further details of the project are located in the Project Overview tab at the top of this page.



Week 1 Overview

     This week the group finalized its members and distributed the work. In addition, preliminary goals were set so that the group remains on track throughout the quarter.


              Preliminary Goals:   
                    
                   1.   Begin researching and designing line tracking and passenger counters
                   2.   Construct a scaled model of the Practice Field
                   3.   Coordinate schedule with all members