Networking Cars

Overview

The goal of this project is to build a remote controlled car which can be toggled to home to a stationary base. This project is a first step in to creating a network of remote controlled vehicles which can also autonomously move and do specific work. The base car of this project is a PiCar, an open source remote controlled car project developed by Prof. Xuan Zhang and her lab. On the base PiCar platform, which is essentially a remote controlled car which can be connected to an Arduino/Raspberry Pi, we installed an Arduino Uno and an IR beacon to, and wrote code to enable the homing functionality. Near the end of the project, we decided to add an additional feature of having the car be able to follow black lines on the floor using IR obstacle sensors.

Weekly Log

Team Members

Curtis Hoffman
Deep Jyoti
Andrew O'Sullivan (TA)

Objectives

• Design sensor system to communicate relative location between two objects.
  
• Integrate sensors in order to allow Pi Car to interpret signals into usable commands.
  
• Assemble Pi Car Chassis with Arduino and all required sensors mounted.
  
• Build install killswitch mechanisms for safety.
  
• Add code to enable the car to toggle back and forth from being remote controlled to autonomously run.

Challenges

Safety
DC Motor accelerates and drives too quickly
Solution:

• Program the ESC to artificially limit the speed and acceleration of the DC motor
• Create a manual override killswitch, so a human operator can stop the car remotely with the RC Controller

• Getting the car to reliably find, move to and stop near an IR beacon
  
• Writing Arduino code to toggle between remote control and autonomous driving
  
• Mounting all sensors securely on the car
  
• Ensuring transition between driving modes are quick and reliable
  
• Learning how the PiCar ESC and remote functions

Budget

• Pi Car Hardware - Provided by Dpt.
  
  • 3D Printed Chassis
  • Wheel Assemblies and Axels
  • Trackstar 1/18th Scale 12T Brushless power System (5050kv) - $43.77
    
  • HOBBYMATE 180Pcs Assorted Nylon Standoff Spacers - $7.90
    
• Pololu IR Beacon Transceiver - $27.95
  
• Osoyoo IR Infrared Obstacle Avoidance Module - $9.99
  
• Arduino Uno - $29.95
  
• Adafruit Proto Shield for Arduino Kit - Stackable Version R3 - $10.45
  

Total Cost: $130.01

Gantt Chart

Gantt Chart For Networking Pi Cars