Mars Rover Base Station Group: 08 Faculty Advisor: Dr. Klink Wei-Ting Chang, Nathan Haney, Zak Hooper, James Hunsucker, Rylan Maynard, Chris Peyatt
West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Natural Resources Problem Statement The WVU Robotics team has plateaued in the last several years at 4 th place in the RASC-AL Mars Rover competition. Much of the difficulty has come with the communications network that has been used. Our goal is to improve the communications capabilities by adding a stationary base station that will perform all communication needs.
West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Natural Resources About the Competition NASA RASC-AL Exploration Robo-Ops held in Houston, TX Mars Rover Prototype – Travers & Collect “Space Rocks” Must be Piloted From Morgantown Height & Weight Constraints The Heaviest Teams Must Go First in the Competition, While Other Teams Can View the Run to Scout Out Scoring Opportunities
West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Natural Resources WVU Performance History 2012: 4 th Place Overall – Mechanical Failures 2013: 4 th Place Overall – Communication Failures
West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Natural Resources Our Base Station Stationary, Begins Beneath the Rover at Starting Location Includes 3G/4G Integrated Router, Omnidirectional Antenna, IP Network Camera Will Prevent Signal Loss Across Football Field Sized Competition Field Carbon Fiber Arm Extends 2 Meters After Rover Moves Handles All Data Compression (Lossy)
West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Natural Resources Base Station Prototype
West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Natural Resources User Interface UI to Provide All Video Feeds from Rover & Base Station Pilot has Options for Camera Functionality GPS Coordinates of Rocks Provided All Aspects & Nodes of Network Accessible through VPN
West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Natural Resources Communications Network All Files Accessible Through Remote VPN Files can be Modified Mid-Run by Pilot Three Main Nodes: Rover, Pilot, Base Station Cellular Communications Links Based on Satellite Communications
West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Natural Resources Satellite Communications Example (UAV)
West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Natural Resources Use Cases
West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Natural Resources Dataflow Diagram
West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Natural Resources Major Technologies 3G/4G to Wifi Integration Network Video Streaming Remote VPN Microcontroller (Raspberry Pi) MPEG-4 Lossy Compression
West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Natural Resources Procurement Plan
West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Natural Resources Creative Aspects Utilizing Cellular Data Plan Numerous Functions in a Small-Volume Container VPN Connectivity Microcontroller-Based
West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Natural Resources Challenges Self-Imposed Weight Restriction of 5 kg Height, Length, & Width Restriction Dependent on Verizon Carrier Must Learn new Programming Languages & Skills
West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Natural Resources Expected Outcomes Win the 2014 RASC-AL Competition Provide the Pilot with Numerous Options Stay Within 5kg limit Compress Video Feeds to Provide No-to-Minimal Lag
West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Natural Resources Questions?