Senior Project Design Review

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Senior Project Design Review

• Remote Visual Surveillance Vehicle (RVSV)
• Manoj Bhambwani
• Tameka Thomas

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Project Description

• Remote controlled vehicle with mounted Internet
  camera
• Both the vehicle and camera motion is controlled
  by user via an Internet interface which sends the
  signal through the serial port to a transceiver
• Real-time video from the Internet camera is
  received through the same interface via the
  Ethernet connection to a wireless router

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Project Design Introduction

• The project design is split into the following
  modules
• Radio Signal Processing
• Transmission this includes the Java Applet and
  the serial port transceiver
• Receiving this includes the microcontroller and
  the transceiver circuit which it controls
• Vehicle Control
• Camera Control
• Obstacle Detection

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Project Design Transmission

• The transceiver circuit includes a transceiver IC
  which modulates and controls transmission of the
  desired signal, a Max232 which converts the
  RS-232 signal to TTL logic and a RS-232 connector
• This unit uses an AC wall adapter for the power
  supply in order to minimize circuit and need for
  batteries
• The Internet interface uses two java applets, one
  to display the video and one to control the
  camera and vehicle movement
• The video display applet is a feature of the
  Internet camera and is not controlled by the user
  in any way
• The motion control applet consists of a read-only
  text box and 8 buttons total, each button sends a
  separate control signal to the serial port and
  the text box is to alert the user of any
  obstacles or causes of an incomplete transaction

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Project Design Transmission,Rough Draft GUI
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Project Design Transmission,Final Draft GUI
Concept
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Project Design Transmission,Current Transmitter
Module
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Project Design Receiving

• The transceiver circuit consists of the
  transceiver module and a microcontroller which
  processes the signal
• The microcontroller will determine what movement
  is to be made and will take info from the
  obstacle detection circuit to determine what
  moves can be made
• The microcontroller will also be in charge of
  signaling back to the user via the transceiver if
  a close obstacle has caused the vehicle not to
  move

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Project Design Receiving, Current Receiver Module
Power Supply
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Project Design Receiving, Microcontroller Design

• Microcontroller will process the data received
  and will also decide if the vehicle movement can
  continue to be made
• For camera movement, the microcontroller will
  pass on information to another microcontroller

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Project Design Vehicle Control

• Microcontroller used to control the vehicle is
  the same as the one discussed in the previous
  module
• There are two motors being controlled
• Drive motor handles forward and backward motion
• Steering motor handles left and right motion
• Both motors are controlled using H-bridges
• Power design used is same as the one discussed in
  the previous module

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Project Design Vehicle Control, Work in Progress
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Project DesignCamera Control

• Microcontroller will control the servo motor
  which will handle the camera movement
• The camera will be mounted on top of the servo,
  allowing it a 180º viewing range
• The servo and microcontroller use the main
  vehicle power supply and the camera has its own
• The power supply for the camera is completed and
  is still being tested

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Project Design Camera Control, Power Supply
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Project Design Obstacle Detection

• The obstacle detection circuit uses the Sharp
  Distance Measurement Sensor (GP2D120) which
  outputs a higher voltage based on the closeness
  of the obstacle
• The sensor connects the base of a transistor
  which will alert the microcontroller of an
  obstacle by feeding it a logic 0

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Restrictions due to Design NOT SET IN STONE

• The decision to use a servo motor for the camera
  movement restricts our viewing angle to only 180º
• Operating range by specs will be approximately
  150 ft
• Battery life so far, according to our testing
  results, is 2 hours

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Implementation Test

• Flow of implementation
• Serial Port Transceiver prototype
• Vehicle Transceiver prototype
• Interface vehicle transceiver with motion control
• Interface all with camera motion control
• Implement Obstacle detection and error encoding
• Each step will include several levels of testing,
  where applicable
• Functional Does it work?
• Life How long do I have the power?
• Stress How do I handle rough-housing?
• Range How far can I go?

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Current Status

• Summer Completion
• Camera Power Supply prototype built and currently
  finishing testing
• Functional testing for transceivers, serial
  communication (write only), obstacle detection,
  steering motor camera motion motor
• First draft of Java Applet for serial
  communication
• Currently working on
• Signal Encoding
• Serial Communication, read write
• Microcontroller for receiver, vehicle camera
  control
• Drive Steering motor
• Vehicle power supply

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Possible Showstoppers

• Vehicle modification due to the fact that
  mechanics are our weakest point and that this is
  a redesign of an existing vehicle frame, this
  could possible cause us the most headache
• Solution ability to backtrack, purchased two
  vehicles so that if one modification doesnt work
  there is room for redesign
• Power, power, power not really a showstopper,
  as much as it is a showpauser
• Solution were currently working on various
  ideas on how to minimize the amount of batteries
  needed

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Questions, Comments, Concerns