Tour Guide Robot (V.I.R.A)
Format
SOECS Senior Project Demonstration
Faculty Mentor Name
Rahim Khoie
Faculty Mentor Department
Electrical & Computer Engineering and Engineering Physics
Abstract/Artist Statement
V.I.R.A. (Very Informative Robotic Ambassador) is an autonomous robot tasked with giving a brief tour of the first floor of the John T. Chambers Technology Center. Structural design considerations for V.I.R.A. focused on user interaction, stability and cost efficiency: a three foot height for user viewing, conical shell with three equidistant wheels provides low center of gravity f or stability and plywood deemed suitable for cost and weight constraints. An iPad Air acts as the GUI, incorporating developed voice commands, text-to-speech and facial recognition software. Additionally, the iPad wirelessly transmits location-based data serially to and from an Arduino Uno microcontroller, which is equipped with a Bluetooth Low Energy shield. This information is then processed to determine necessary action, such as optimal obstacle avoidance. V.I.R.A utilizes two unipolar 4.5V 2.5A stepper motors separately driven by 3A stepper motor driver boards, paired with a Toshiba TB6560AHQ chip, to control its motion. The stepper motors provide movement precision of 1.8 degrees, allowing pinpoint control. Navigation is centered around a discrete map that defines the edges of V.I.R.A.’s environment, obstacles discovered by sensors, and waypoints for the tour. A 12V 10Aâ^Th battery is necessary to satisfy the power budget for all systems given a one hour run time.
Location
School of Engineering & Computer Science
Start Date
3-5-2014 2:00 PM
End Date
3-5-2014 3:30 PM
Tour Guide Robot (V.I.R.A)
School of Engineering & Computer Science
V.I.R.A. (Very Informative Robotic Ambassador) is an autonomous robot tasked with giving a brief tour of the first floor of the John T. Chambers Technology Center. Structural design considerations for V.I.R.A. focused on user interaction, stability and cost efficiency: a three foot height for user viewing, conical shell with three equidistant wheels provides low center of gravity f or stability and plywood deemed suitable for cost and weight constraints. An iPad Air acts as the GUI, incorporating developed voice commands, text-to-speech and facial recognition software. Additionally, the iPad wirelessly transmits location-based data serially to and from an Arduino Uno microcontroller, which is equipped with a Bluetooth Low Energy shield. This information is then processed to determine necessary action, such as optimal obstacle avoidance. V.I.R.A utilizes two unipolar 4.5V 2.5A stepper motors separately driven by 3A stepper motor driver boards, paired with a Toshiba TB6560AHQ chip, to control its motion. The stepper motors provide movement precision of 1.8 degrees, allowing pinpoint control. Navigation is centered around a discrete map that defines the edges of V.I.R.A.’s environment, obstacles discovered by sensors, and waypoints for the tour. A 12V 10Aâ^Th battery is necessary to satisfy the power budget for all systems given a one hour run time.