1. Roboat Final Presentation
Jonathan Friedman
Dave Maccaferri
Josh McKenna
Chris Wieczorek

2. Roboat Project Goals
The Roboat platform is intended to be an autonomous robotic system for marine application in both the government and commercial sectors.
Features
1 PIC18F452, 2 PIC18F252 Embedded Microcontrollers
50x50 pixel, 4 bit color Digital Camera
Onboard Digital Compass and GPS Unit
19,200 baud Serial Data link
Windows GUI Interface
Percent Completed
86%
100%
95%

3. Embedded Systems-Overview

4. Embedded Systems-Schematic
PNI Vector 2x Digital Compass
Maxstream XStream Modem
PIC18F252 GPS & Camera
Gameboy Camera and Maxim 114 A/D
GPS
LM2940 Voltage Regulator
Mast Headers
PIC18F252 Modem
PIC18F452 Navigation and Host
DIP Switches
RS-232 Breakout

5. Embedded Systems-PC Board
PC Board-Top
PC Board-Bottom
Layout from OrCAD schematic
Routing preformed by OrCAD and by hand due to density of board
537 holes, 60 feet of trace, 67 parts in a minuscule 27 square inches
PCBoard fabricated by PCBExpress- $100, 24 Hour completion

6. Embedded Systems-MicroControllers
Navigation & host Controller PIC18F452
Camera & GPS Controller PIC18F252
Modem Controller PIC18F252
2.5 Mhz (6.25Mbps)
interrupt driven,
random initiation,
single-point arbitrated,
Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI)
on-boat data bus among 4 devices (PIC’s + Compass).

7. Embedded Systems-On Boat Data Flow
GPS
GPS & camera data stream limited to once per second (~5ms bus transfer time) by PIC#2
PIC#2: SLAVE
CAMERA
Termination point for navigation data.
Telemetry generation point.
PIC#1: MASTER
Fully asynchronous communication
Command
Console
MODEM
PIC#3: SLAVE
Data packing and processing.
Scheduled (generation limited)
Unscheduled (random arrival)

8. Embedded Systems-Mechanisms of Bus Arbitration
Scheduled production of output (Compass)
Bandwidth limited production of output (GPS, Camera)
Feedback-based flow control (buffer overflow interconnects among PIC’s)
Panic data loss (Ability to give up on this data and just look for the next)
Hardware flow-control and buffering (Modem, PIC#2, PIC#3)

9. Physical Boat

10. Physical Boat-Under the Cabin
Push Button Toggle Switch (hidden)
27MHz / Microcontroller Switch (hidden)
LED Mast
Gameboy Camera

11. Physical Boat-Under the Deck

12. Video

13. Video Specifications Functionality Analog Output
8-bit (256 Colors) Capable
4-bit depth used
Works with A/D converter to interface with PIC
Functionality
Image Acquisition
Streaming Video (1 fps)
On-the-fly adjustable Gain and Exposure Settings

14. Video Initial Images Stages Improved 32x32 Resolution Pictures

15. Video
Camera Mounting and Cabling

16. Navigation

17. Navigation Properties: Functionality: SPI
Calibrates for constant magnetic fields
Binary Output
Fast settle time (5 Hz)
Functionality:
Heading changes
Check GPS heading data

18. Navigation MACRO driven 3 major turns and 1 corrective turn per side
(continued)
Waypoint Heading
MACRO driven
3 major turns and 1 corrective turn per side
Heading relayed from GPS every second
This guarantees accurate comparisons between the waypoint heading and current heading
Averages 3 heading readings when running straight
Counters the boat rocking
Straight -5 +5
Corrective Right
Corrective Left
Light Right
-15
+15
Light Left
-45
+45
Med Right
Med Left
-90
+90
Hard Right
Hard Left
180

19. SPI/RF Protocol Example packet: Panic Stop FF 21 00 FF 00 Byte 0
Byte n-1
Byte n FF
01FE
XX* 00
Data Esc
Opcode
Data
Stop TX
Example packet: Panic Stop
FF FF 00

20. GUI Multithreaded Windows Application Ability to command Roboat.
Display Roboat telemetry data.
Calculate the heading to a waypoint and then transmit it to the Roboat
Display images from the onboard camera.
Provide a waypoints list.

21. Project Management A Yahoo group was used for group collaboration
Tasks where segmented according to core competencies.
Hardware/software was codeveloped.
More than 150 s were sent among group members
The team found that the Lab space was lacking in basic engineering tools such as millimeters, DC Power supplies, and oscilloscope probes, solder stations, and mechanical tools. An entire 3042 lab setup would have been useful.

22. Updated Gantt Chart