Project OverviewIn a Mario-Kart style race to reach DrEd's lair, robot Karts must autonomously complete 3-5 laps around an 8'x8' track. Along the way, each robot must enter a shooting zone and shoot at the lair (a bucket with an IR beacon at the front) as well as traverse an obstacle (a see-saw). The robots must be able to navigate the track, store and shoot balls, and maneuver over the steep see-saw. An LED strip and an ultrasonic emitter provide information about whether the see-saw is up or down. A strip of black tape circles the track. Position and orientation information, as well as game status information is wirelessly transmitted to each kart from the DrEd Reckoning System (DRS). The robot must fit within a 12" cube before the start of the race, and must be powered by two 7.2V NiCd batteries. Teams of four students have one month and a budget of $200 to complete the project. Challenge accepted.
KartOur Kart
To
accomplish this task, Team 17 designed a Kart with a circular footprint and a spring-loaded shooting mechanism, navigating the track using the
provided wireless information from the DRS. Named after Princess Peach's
little known brother Vincent: "Princent Peach" was controlled by a
Texas Instruments' TIVA microcontroller. Using a hierarchical state
machine, the kart autonomously raced to way points around the track,
made decisions about crossing the obstacle and entering the shooting
zone, and aligned with and shot at the IR beacon.
Navigation Princent Peach was designed with speed in mind. Although navigation information was available from the track in many different forms, we decided the best strategy was to plan our movements and decisions based entirely on position and orientation information transmitted from the DRS. For aligning with the beacon in front of the target bucket, however, we implemented an IR sensor, to make sure we have a perfect aim at the bucket. Major mechanical components The mechanical design, which is described further on the mechanical page, included the design of the chassis, drivetrain, and wheels, a spring-loaded shooting mechanism, and a rotating ball-loading mechanism. Major electrical components The electrical design, further developed on the electrical page, included circuit design and calculations for the motor drivers, IR sensing, communication with the DRS, and ball loading and shooting motors. In addition, status LEDs were used for debugging as well as to indicate the race status, and a button enabled the Kart number (depicted with LEDs) to be changed. Software Software implemented through the TIVA microcontroller provides the framework that controlled these components to create a successful Kart. |