RESEARCH, INSTRUCTION, SERVICE, ENTREPRENEURSHIP – EYE IN THE SKY RESEARCHRISE STUDENT: ZACH PECK

MENTOR: JOHN WELSH

BACKGROUND

• Introduction to Engineering Design (ENES100) is a course at UMD taken by every freshman engineer

• Students split into teams and design an autonomously controlled hovercraft that can accomplish a given task

• This project has been in place for several years, and the curriculum now needs some revision

• New project will require students to construct rovers that traverse a sand arena to accomplish tasks

OBJECTIVE

• Assist in the development of the new ENES100 curriculum

• Student built rovers required to accomplish tasks

• To be implemented within the next several years

• Create an “eye in the sky” webcam-based system

• Track locations of student rovers and tasks

• Relay coordinates to student rovers A fully constructed arena, including camera (top center)

and rover.

INITIAL CONCEPT

• Webcam interfaced with Robot Operating System (ROS)

• Linux based

• Retrieved webcam images and relayed them to image processing algorithm

• Image processing algorithm: ARUCO

• Open source in C++ (found online)

• Detect coordinates of unique markers

An example marker that can be detected by the image processing algorithm

INITIAL CONCEPT CONTINUED…

• Interactive, web-based Graphical User Interface (GUI)

• Display live camera feed

• Control various camera parameters

• Display port statuses on student Arduino

• Communication Protocol

• Bluetooth link between server computer and Arduino

• Automatically packaged data

PROBLEMS

• ROS

• Sharp learning curve – difficult to modify system

• Somewhat difficult to interface with Arduino

• Single platform – can only run on Linux systems

• GUI

• Bulky and slow

• Runs only on select browsers

• Communication Protocol

• Bluetooth signal intermittent/inconsistent

REVISIONS

• Eye in the Sky became an entirely C++ based system

• Easier to modify

• GUI simpler to understand

• Cross-platform – can be run on any Windows, Mac, or Linux system

• Communication protocol shifted to Radio Frequency (RF)

• Much more consistent connection

• Ability to communicate with multiple receivers simultaneously