CajunBot: Tech Challenges Arun Lakhotia University of Louisiana at Lafayette Arun@Louisiana.Edu

Race Track

Terrain

Recap: Route Definition

Quiz: Challenges?

Challenges Electro-Mechanical Control Electronic Controller Steering Geo-Location Sensors Detecting obstacles Navigating around obstacles Distributing computation Integrating multiple expertise Testing…. Testing … Testing

Control Loop Path Planning. Obstacle Detection. Robot Controller. Hardware Drivers.

Data Flow Architecture Obstacle detection Laser PosMV Path Planning Robot Controller Steering module Drivers Formatted sensor data 3-D terrain of obstacles Path to follow Commands controlling device Raw

CajunBot

Motion controls of CajunBot Left brake Right brake Gear

Issue: Computer Control? Left brake Right brake Gear Actuator Computer

Issue: Where am I? GPS

Issue: Where am I facing? Electronic Compass

Issue: Eyes? Laser

Issue: Seeing ditches? Point Laser

Path Planning Represent the world in grid form. Assign to each node of grid world with a reward, that specifies its distance from target point. Starting from robot’s current node(position) select the adjacent node with highest reward and set it has node on path(i.e which is more close to target).

Field Testing Exhausting Expensive Non-decomposable Run behind the vehicle Expensive Each iteration make take half hour Non-decomposable Cannot test components in isolation

Virtual Testing Simulate robot and environment Same input output data Transparent to software

Lets look at simulation

Next Challenge October 2005 Looking for partners Differentiating rocks and bushes Improving simulator Improving analysis of test results Managing test results Better front end for managing processes

Questions ? Thank you, The CajunBot Team