Internet Piloted Blimp Alfredo Guevara, Jr. Advisor: Professor Spinelli March 1, 2008

Goals Create a control system to remotely pilot an RC blimp over the internet Show real time video images to the ‘pilot’. Maneuverability: Internet control as close as possible to remote control

Control System Wireless Camera Images to Host Motor ControlsPPM Signals Host PC sends video image to the pilot Pilot sends Motor Control Data to the host

Web Interface

System Components Physical System PC (Host and Pilot) Microcontroller RC Transmitter Wireless Camera

Design Criteria The blimp max payload capacity was 7 oz. The blimp can be controlled from anywhere using the Internet. The blimp should be in operation for at least 30 minutes.

Communication to Blimp

Host The host was a laptop due to its easy mobility. The host computer contains the web server. It captured the video image from the blimp and streamed it to the Web page. It has a stand alone program that read the desired motor control from a Socket and sent it through the Serial Port

Microcontroller A Basic Stamp 2sx was used to send motor control signals to the transmitter. A Voltage conversion circuit was created to produce the appropriate voltage for the motor control signal. Each signal sent had information for 3 channels. Ch1: The speed and direction of the tail motor Ch2: The direction of the rotation of the motors attached to the gondola Ch3: The position of the motors attached to the gondola.

Pulse Position Modulation CH1: Left/Right CH2: Up/Down/Front/Back CH3: Motor Position

Interface Circuit Pulse into R/C Pulse from BS 10V from Control

Buddy Cord This cord is used when a student is learning how to control RC devices. The cord will send the signal produced by the BASIC STAMP to the Transmitter

Wireless Camera Communication

Video Capture The wireless camera was used as a webcam. Frame Rate: 297 Kbps Image 320 X 240 Color Camera It sent real time images to the Host.

Software System Microcontroller: PBASIC Host PC: JAVA Stand alone program Microsoft Encoder. Web Interface: HTML JAVA Applet

Software Design PBASIC: Basic Stamp sent pulses to the Remote Control Web Interface: sent motor control to the host by the click of a button. Host: The host received information from the web interface and sent it to the Serial Port

PBASIC This code was used to send time pulses ranging from 1ms to 2 ms to the interface circuit. The PPM signal has to have a 20 ms duration The PBASIC received information from the Host’s Serial Port.

Sample Code Vertical Direction PULSOUT 2, ' Sync send a clean slate. OUT2=POL2 ' return for.3 milliseconds OUT2=POL2 PULSOUT 2, 1500 ' Ch1 The direction and speed of the tail fin OUT2=POL2 PULSOUT 2, 1013 ' Ch2 The direction of the spin and its speed OUT2=POL2 PULSOUT 2, 1100 'Ch3 The position of the motors OUT2=POL2 PULSOUT 2, 1475 ' Ch 4 Unused OUT2=POL2

Microsoft Windows Encoder Microsoft Encoder was used to capture the image for the camera’s receiver This program streams the video image to the Web interface.

Web Interface The basic user friendly Interface was designed in HTML. Buttons for the direction were placed in the Interface using a Java Applet Up, Down, Front, Back, Left, Right The interface also shows the image from the wireless camera.

Java within the Host The Host had a Stand Alone Java program that read the Motor Control data in from a socket Socket After the data is read, the program sends the information to the Serial Port in form of numbers with the use of the RXTX library.

Results The payload is 6.7 oz. Motor Control data was successfully sent from ‘pilot’ PC to Host PC Host PC successfully sent information to the Microcontroller The Microcontroller sent PPM signals to the Remote Control. Maneuverability: The Blimp was controlled over the Internet but with a delay due to the camera.

Future Work With a larger payload capacity Blimp more features can be added: Tilt camera or sensors to collect any type of data such as height and speed A different device can be controlled such as a helicopter, an RC plane or even a micro device. Different type of transmitters can be added to allow for use anywhere on campus by using relay stations.

THANK YOU Professor Spinelli Professor Burns Professor Hedrick Professor Spallholz Chemistry Department