Edubot Accelerometer Suite

1
Edubot Accelerometer Suite

• Abstract
• Researchers in legged robotic applications
  increasingly desire real time body pose knowledge
  about the robots they program.  Body pose
  knowledge enables more efficient and extensive
  repertoires of behavior.  A variety of methods
  have been developed for rigid body pose
  estimation, yet none are suited to legged
  machines such as the educational robot Edubot. 
  The implemented approach is a method of
  extracting body pose information from multiple
  acceleration readings.One accelerometer
  measuring acceleration in 3 degrees of freedom
  (DOF) enables static body pose estimation. With
  this information the Edubot is able to
  autonomously maneuver through a channel with
  inclined walls. Additional software using the
  developed accelerometer suite can yield dynamic
  body pose estimation.
• Group 8
• Authors
• Elisa Downey-Zayas EE 08
• Hal Paver EE 08
• Advisors
• Dr. Haldun Komsuoglu
• Demo Times
• Thursday, April 24, 2008
• 1030, 1100, 1130 AM
• 130, 230 PM

Module Hardware/Firmware Each hardware unit
consists of an accelerometer and a
microprocessor. The accelerometer measures the
forces acting on it over its three Cartesian
axes.  The accelerometer produces a continuous
analog voltage signal in which the output voltage
is proportional to the experienced acceleration. 
The signals corresponding to x, y, and z forces
are input to the microcontroller. At this point
they are converted to digital values. The
microcontroller packages this information to be
transmitted to the Edubot computer via the
RiSEBus.
Edubot Software The Edubot software is
divided into self-contained modules and organized
by functionality. The hardware carrier unit
allows communication between the Edubot and
peripheral devices through the RiSEBus. The
handler module controls the timing of the
Edubots actions. The hardware object creates an
interface for the accelerometer sensor suite and
the Apps file contains instructions for the
desired behaviors.
Edubot Channel Maneuver
Using static acceleration knowledge, the Edubot
acts as an inclinometer and maneuvers through
this channel autonomously. It achieves this by
attempting to return the x and y components of
acceleration to a value of zero.