Chambers Tour Robot
Format
SOECS Senior Project Demonstration
Faculty Mentor Name
Rahim Khoie
Faculty Mentor Department
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Abstract/Artist Statement
The Chambers tour guide robot project is a multidisciplinary engineering project that incorporates electrical and computer engineering skills to design an autonomous robot that is capable of providing a physical and verbal tour of the Chambers Technology Center (CTC) building at the University of the Pacific with minimal human oversight. This robot can autonomously adjust its position to navigate around static and mobile obstacles while traveling to and introducing points of interest within the structure. Mobility is achieved by utilizing two wheels rotated by independent stepper motors and a third "free" wheel for stability. Obstacle avoidance is achieved through the use of ultrasonic sensors positioned at 8 points around the robot, a compass sensor and the Bug0 algorithm. Localization is achieved through the use of an additional ultrasonic sensor pointed toward the ceiling which takes advantage or the unique physical structure of the building. Obstacle avoidance and localization sensor data is processed and interpreted by Arduino Mega 2560 microcontroller which sends instructions to an Arduino Pro Mini 328 that controls the stepper motors and propels the robot. Tour participants can interact with the robot by issuing voice commands and hear verbal descriptions of each tour destination. Voice command and verbal descriptions will be handled by a Raspberry Pi running Voice command software that will interpret spoken commands and play tour audio based on location information received from the Arduino Mega 2560.
Location
School of Engineering & Computer Science
Start Date
2-5-2015 2:30 PM
End Date
2-5-2015 4:30 PM
Chambers Tour Robot
School of Engineering & Computer Science
The Chambers tour guide robot project is a multidisciplinary engineering project that incorporates electrical and computer engineering skills to design an autonomous robot that is capable of providing a physical and verbal tour of the Chambers Technology Center (CTC) building at the University of the Pacific with minimal human oversight. This robot can autonomously adjust its position to navigate around static and mobile obstacles while traveling to and introducing points of interest within the structure. Mobility is achieved by utilizing two wheels rotated by independent stepper motors and a third "free" wheel for stability. Obstacle avoidance is achieved through the use of ultrasonic sensors positioned at 8 points around the robot, a compass sensor and the Bug0 algorithm. Localization is achieved through the use of an additional ultrasonic sensor pointed toward the ceiling which takes advantage or the unique physical structure of the building. Obstacle avoidance and localization sensor data is processed and interpreted by Arduino Mega 2560 microcontroller which sends instructions to an Arduino Pro Mini 328 that controls the stepper motors and propels the robot. Tour participants can interact with the robot by issuing voice commands and hear verbal descriptions of each tour destination. Voice command and verbal descriptions will be handled by a Raspberry Pi running Voice command software that will interpret spoken commands and play tour audio based on location information received from the Arduino Mega 2560.