Mozart!

TEAM MOZARTAlex Bostandjiev - Computer Engineer

Ivan Dryanovski - Electrical Engineer

Bob Lynch - Project Manager

Dr. Ken Krebs - Faculty Advisor

Steve Spadafore - Technical Consultant

Team MOZART ...where are Krebs and Steve?

Team MOZART

The 12th Annual

Trinity CollegeFirefighting

Robot Contest

April 9 - 10, 2005Hartford, CT

Contest Objective:The main challenge of this contest is to build an

autonomous computer-controlled robot that can find its way through an arena that represents a model house, find a lit candle that represents a fire in the house, and extinguish the fire in the shortest time. This task simulates the real-world operation of an autonomous robot performing a fire protection function in a real house. The goal of the contest is to advance robot technology and knowledge while using robotics as an educational tool.

CONTEST RULES

• Robot Operation

Once turned on, the robot must be autonomous--self-controlled without any human intervention.

The robot must have found the candle before it attempts to put it out.

A robot may bump into or touch the walls of the arena as it travels, but it cannot mark, dislodge or damage the walls in doing so.

CONTEST RULES

• Putting out the Candle

The robot must not use any destructive or dangerous methods to put out the candle. It may use such substances as water, air, CO2, etc., but any method or material that is dangerous or will damage the arena is prohibited.

The robot must come within 30 cm of the candle before it attempts to extinguish the flame.

CONTEST RULES

• Robot Size

The robot must be able to fit in a box 31 cm long by 31 cm wide by 27 cm high. The robot cannot separate into multiple parts and must never extend itself beyond the 31 cm allowed.

CONTEST RULES

• The Candle

The candle flame will be from 15 cm to 20 cm above the floor level. The exact height and size of the flame will change throughout the contest depending upon the condition of candle and its surroundings. The robot is required to find the candle no matter what the size of the flame is at that particular moment.

The candle will be placed at random in one of the rooms in the arena.

CONTEST RULES

• Time Limits

In order to achieve the contest objective of building a robot that can find and extinguish a fire in a house, finding the fire within a reasonable period of time is very important. The maximum time limit for a robot to find the candle will be 5 minutes.

CONTEST SCORING

• Operating Modes

Standard Mode (1.0 MF)

X Sound Activation Mode (0.95 MF)

Return Trip Mode (0.8 MF)

Extinguisher Mode (0.85 MF)

X Furniture Mode (0.75 MF)

X Uneven Floor Mode (0.8 MF)

X Clutter Mode (0.8 MF)

CONTEST SCORING

• Penalties

Continuous Contact With a Wall

(1 second for every 2 cm)

Touching the Candle

(50 seconds)

CONTEST SCORING

• Room Factor

If the candle is in the 1st room searched, the Room Factor will be 1.0

If the candle is in the 2nd room searched, the Room Factor will be 0.85

If the candle is in the 3rd room searched, the Room Factor will be 0.50

If the candle is in the 4th room searched, the Room Factor will be 0.35

CONTEST SCORING

• Scoring Procedure

For any run the judges measure the actual time of the run and they record the operating modes and penalties.

Robots with three successful runs (candle extinguished) will form the highest group.

MOZARTProcessor - HandyboardOperating System - Interactive CLocomotion - 4 Drive MotorsPower - External Battery Pack (NiMH)Structure - K’NEXExtinguishing Device - WaterSensors - IR, Ultrasonic, Gyro, UV Detection, Heat Detection

Design of

The HandyBoard

Description:

• Commercially available microcontroller system

• Based on a Motorola 6811 chip

• Battery-powered

• 32K of memory

• Two-line LCD display

• 4 outputs to DC motors

• Analog & Digital inputs

• Digital outputs

• Servo outputs

Quantity: 1

The HandyBoard

The Digital Inputs

• Take ~0V or ~5V as input• Convert to FALSE or TRUE

The Analog Inputs

• Take anywhere from 0V to 5V as input• Convert to a number from 0 to 255• ( 1 byte of memory space)Quantity: 1

The HandyBoard

Advantages

• Easy to use & interface with computer• Well documented• “Plug-and-play” sensor & motor support

Disadvantages

• Low power output• Unreliable at times• Odd sensor input behavior

Quantity: 1

Sharp GP2D12: Infrared Detector Package

Description

• Operates with infrared light• Detects proximity of objects

Advantages

• Very narrow field of sight• Very fast update rate• Reliable• Little dependence on surface color / shape

Disadvantages

• Low distance accuracy (to within 3-4 cm)• Cannot detect objects closer than 10cm

Quantity: 6

Devantech SRF04: Ultrasonic Range Sensor

Description

• Operates with high-frequency sound• Detects proximity of objects

Advantages

• Wide field of “sight”• Good distance accuracy (to within 1cm)• Good minimum range (2 – 3 cm)

Disadvantages

• Slow update rate• Occasional erroneous readings

Quantity: 1

Hamamatsu C3704/R2868: UV Flame Detector Package

Description

Detects UV radiation

Advantages

• 360-degree field of sight• High sensitivity• Reliable

Disadvantages

• Positioning difficulties

Quantity: 1

Eltec 442-3: Pyroelectric Sensor Package

Description

Detects heat (infrared) radiationCan detect candle flame or body heat

Advantages

• Very high angular precision

Disadvantages

• Very slow update rate• Unreliable

Quantity: 2

ADXRS150: Angular Rate Sensor

Description

Detects rate of turning (angular velocity about the vertical axis)

Advantages

• Very light and small• Fast update• Very accurate for small intervals• Reliable

Disadvantages

• Error builds up for longer intervals of time

Quantity: 1

Standard 180º Servo

Description

Rotates to a specified angle

Advantages

• Accurate• Fast

Disadvantages

• High power consumption

Quantity: 2

Water Pump Controller

Description

• Water pump: 12 V motor

• Send low-power signal from HandyBoard to external circuit

• External circuit amplifies power

Quantity: 1

A Regular Week of the Programmer…

Week of the Competition…

What does this:

involve?

Inputs -> Black Box -> Outputs

?

Can you find an analogywith something else?

An analogy..

Remember:Inputs -> Black Box -> Outputs

Functions…

F (input1, input2,… ,input3) = output

?

Examples from our functions:

• Navigate the maze :: Remember where you are• Movement:

– Turn left– Turn right– Go forward– Go backward

• Follow the wall (left or right)• Transform input data into something that makes sense• Speak :: Sing• When found fire:

– Scan for fire– Approach candle– Extinguish– Swivel !

• Go home

+ many, many others…

Example: Transforming IR input

Forward Left

y = -0.00663x2 + 1.45076x - 66.83807

y = 0.00301x2 - 0.75340x + 58.61371

y = -0.79422x + 70.79260

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

• Input :: number between 0 and 255 ???

• Transform into distance (centimeters)

• Split the curve into different parts

• Fit a polynomial

What is Interactive C

• a C language designed for programming robots using the RCX, XBC or Handyboard robot controller

Connections

IC consists of:

• compiler (with interactive command-line compilation and debugging)

• run-time machine language module

• context sensitive editor

• built in documentation

• ability to upload data from the robot controller back to the host pc

Processes: allow multi-sensing!

IC implements a subset of C including:• control structures (for, while, if, else)

• local and global variables

• arrays

• pointers

• structures

• 16-bit and 32-bit integers

• 32-bit floating point numbers

Built in libraries support a variety of sensors and actuators including: • servo and DC motors

• sonars

• encoders

• touch and light sensors

• the CMUcam color tracker

• the XBC camera multi-color tracking system

Strategy!

MOVIES…

• Testing– 3rd person– 1st person– 2nd person?!?

• Competition

Mozart placed 7th out of 60 robots

Competition Troubleshooting

• Aligning the robot with the candle

• Blind Spot

• Too Many Processes

• Return to Home

Improvements for Next Year

• Fabricated Design

• Nozzle

• Water Reservoir

• External Battery Pack Placement

• Placement of Handyboard

• Staircase - Track Drive

• Sound Activation

If you like what we’ve done

(Or think it’s crap and you can do better)

Join the F&M Robotics Club

Next Semester

And work on a competitive project

For more info, email idryanov@fandm.edu

Or ken.krebs@fandm.edu