Title: Mini Grand Challenge Contest To Enhance CS Education
1Mini Grand Challenge Contest To Enhance CS
Education
ACM SIGCSE 2008 Workshop 8 Computer Vision and
Image Processing Accessible Resources for
Robotics and CS Curricula March 12, 2008
- Bob Avanzato
- Associate Professor of Engineering
- Penn State Abington1600 Woodland RoadAbington
PA 19001RLA5_at_psu.edu
2Objectives
- Design autonomous outdoor robot contest Mini
Grand Challenge (MGC) to promote interest in
robotics, vision and AI. - Partly inspired by DARPA Grand Challenge
- Include vision and HRI component.
- Contest should be accessible to advanced high
school, lower-division undergrads (CS. Engr, IST)
and beyond. - Availability of low-cost robot platform and
development environment to improve accessibility
to MGC contest.
3PSU Abington Robot Platform
4Mini Grand Challenge (MGC)
- Autonomous, outdoor, electric ground robot
- Follow 8-ft wide (unmarked) paths on college
campus - Reach 6 waypoints (GPS longitude, latitude)
- Avoid human obstacles on path
- Entertain human spectators
- Take off-road detour across field (with
obstacles) - Payload 1 gallon of water
- Robot Speed 1.5 - 5mph
- (6) Waypoints disclosed 24 hours prior to contest
event.
5Campus Paths
6Campus Paths
7Campus Paths
8Campus Paths
9Campus Paths
10Campus Paths (Field)
11Campus Paths
12Campus Paths
13Sample Path/Waypoint Layout
WP 4
WP 3
WP 5
orange cones
WP 6
Path width 8ft Waypoint (WP) diameter 20ft
14Key Equipment List (PSU robot)
- PowerWheels platform 150
- GPS (with serial cable) 100
- Speaker/amp (15-30 watt) 60
- Inverter (DC to AC) 30
- Servo (steering) 50
- Speed controller 60
- USB camera (240 x 320) 50
- Camera stand 30
- Sonar and servo 50
- USB to serial converter 20
- Servo controller 50-100
- Battery 50
- TOTAL 700 (approx.)
- NOTE Laptop, MATLAB costs not included in above
list
15Robot Block Diagram
16PSU Abington Robot
17Key Software
- MATLAB with Image Processing Toolbox
- Grab image from USB camera
- Edge detection
- Read GPS text serial output (position, velocity)
- Text-to-Speech
- Send motor and steering commands to servo
controller - Main control loop written in MATLAB
- Drivers
- MS Win32 Speech API (SAPI) (text to speech)
- VFM (Video for Windows frame grabber)
- Any Software/Hardware solution Allowed
18Vision Processing
19Vision Processing
20Pilot Study Student Solutions
- Background Sophomore-level CS/EE students with
no prior experience in vision - Students developed a heuristic, path-tracking
algorithm in MATLAB (Image Processing ToolBox
Canny edge detection non-optimal). - MATLAB environment promotes rapid prototyping and
facilitates testing.
21Results
- 2005 Mini Grand Challenge (April 2005)
- 3 participants no successful robots
- Rain limited outdoor event (rescheduled in Dec.)
- Robots on display indoors same day as FF contest
- Generated much interest for future events
- 2006 Mini Grand Challenge (April 1, 2006)
- 6 participants one robot manages 50 of course
- 2007 Mini Grand Challenge (March 31, 2007)
- 8 robots registered
- 1 high school team
- 1 winner (50 out of 100 points) no robot
completes course - 2007 Mini Grand Challenge (April 26, 2008)
- Expect 10 15 robots
22Mini Grand Challenge Event(PSU-Abington PA
April 3, 2005)
23MGC 2006
24MGC 2006 (PSU Abington robot)
25MGC 2006
26MGC 2006 (PSU University Park robot)
27MGC 2006 (Spectator Interaction)
28Results/Conclusions
- Mini Grand Challenge (MGC) contest successfully
promotes interest in robotics and vision for a
wide range of participants (freshman college to
professional) - Low-cost robot platform with MATLAB software
allows freshman/sophomore undergrads to
participate in sophisticated algorithm
development. - Contest supports wide range of educational goals.
- Outdoor contest has risks (example rain!)
- Larger robot --gt more cumbersome for classroom
integration
29Future Directions
- Develop web-based resources and tutorials.
- Develop K-12 outreach activities based on MGC
- Assess (survey) student retention and
recruitment. - Regional contests
- Develop indoor extension to contest to mitigate
weather problems. (Example follow cones in gym) - Non-CS major student involvement IST (Spr
2008) - Develop robot contest in Second Life 3D virtual
world
30References
- PSU Abington Mini Grand Challenge Website
- http//cede.psu.edu/avanzato/robots/contests/outd
oor/index.htm - YouTube video of MGC robot (2007)
- http//www.youtube.com/watch?vFVMxM7VVe8Y
31Robotics in Second Life
- Exploratorium Second Life site (Mars rover)
32Portland, Oregon in Second Life
33Portland, Oregon in Second Life