1. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 2009 Southeastern Conference (SECON) Hardware Competition The Recycling Robot [2]

2. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Outline Competition Overview Problem Specifications Timeline/Goals Project Planning Approach and Trade-offs Project Concerns Prototype Specifications/Demo

3. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Competition Overview IEEE Atlanta Section & Georgia Tech March 5-8, 2009 Atlanta, GA SECON Hardware Competition “Real world” problems Build an autonomous robot that must locate, obtain, sort, and store used beverage products. Unofficial theme of “expansion”

4. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Outline Competition Overview Problem Specifications Timeline/Goals Project Planning Approach and Trade-offs Project Concerns Prototype Specifications/Demo

5. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Problem How long? 4 minutes How big? Maximum robot dimensions: 12 “ x 12 “ x 18 “ Astroturf field dimensions: 10 ‘ x 10 ‘ How many? 1 to 3 labeled plastic bags 5 aluminum cans 10 recyclables 3 plastic bottles 2 glass bottles How much? Correctly sorted can or plastic bottle = 15 points Correctly sorted glass bottle = 30 points Incorrectly sorted recyclable = 5 points [1] {

6. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department The Field 10 ‘ x 10 ‘ Astroturf 8 ‘ x 8 ‘ electric dog fence 1 ‘ grid for recyclable placement Unknown “hard” boundary [1]

7. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department The Recyclables Coca-Cola products Placed on side Any orientation Potential damage Total 1.1 lbs 16% available volume [1]

8. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Our Solution 12 ‘ x 18 ‘ x 12 ‘ (L x W x H) 3 labeled plastic bags No expansion Internal storage Mechanical focus Elevator 2 sweeping arms

9. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Outline Competition Overview Problem Specifications Timeline/Goals Project Planning Approach and Trade-offs Project Concerns Prototype Specifications/Demo

10. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Timeline Boundary Detection Acquisition Locomotion Object Detection Test/Debug/Assembly AugSeptOctNovDec

11. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Outline Competition Overview Problem Specifications Timeline/Goals Project Planning Approach and Trade-offs Project Concerns Prototype Specifications/Demo

12. Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Project Planning Logical separation of tasks Logical separation of groups Obtaining objects Technology used More specific: Wheels/Casters vs. Tracks Arms vs. Brushes SECON TEAM A

13. Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Outline Competition Overview Problem Specifications Timeline/Goals Project Planning Approach and Trade-offs Project Concerns Prototype Specifications/Demo

14. Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Wheels/Casters Pros Wheels are customizable Casters are easy Commonly available Cons Casters cannot be controlled Wheels must be customized SECON TEAM A

15. Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Pros Easy All-terrain Used by previous SECON team Cons Not widely available Width Tracks SECON TEAM A

16. Electrical & Computer Engineering Department The winner? Quick, easy, and as Dr. Jones says: “It just works” SECON TEAM A

17. Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Brush versus Arms

18. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Brush vs. Arms Looking for something effective and simple Not simple

19. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Brush vs. Arms Items are guaranteed to be lying on their side A sweeping motion could collect these items This solution was not effective: Poor job of retrieving items Requires rotating motion and forward/backward movement

20. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Brush vs. Arms What about sweeping arms? Easy implementation Crossing action of arms helps push items flush against back wall

21. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Brush vs. Arms Design issues with sweeping arms: Could knock other items out of the way Could bump physical boundary

22. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Outline Competition Overview Problem Specifications Timeline/Goals Project Planning Approach and Trade-offs Project Concerns Prototype Specifications/Demo

23. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Environmental Robot can not damage items Cans/bottles may only suffer structural dents Glass may not be shattered Robot can not damage the field or other robots

24. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Health & Safety Gas canisterPower sourceHandling of recyclables

25. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Outline Competition Overview Problem Specifications Timeline/Goals Project Planning Approach and Trade-offs Project Concerns Prototype Specifications/Demo

26. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Prototype spec. Measurements within +/- 0.2 lbs Weight Robot --- 4.2 lbs EEE Pc --- 3.2 lbs * Total --- 7.4 lbs Dimensions L x W x H 12in 18in 12in Vex motor kit Max speed: 1.71 ft/sec Supply: 4.4V – 15V PWM: Forward: 1.5ms – 2.0ms Reverse: 1.0 ms – 1.5ms Neutral: 1.5ms

27. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Prototype spec. Acquisition Arms Placement Operation

28. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Prototype spec. Locomotion Demo Speed: 9.82 in/sec (0.818 ft/sec) Voltage supply: 8.96V Current draw: 0.78A Acquisition Demo

29. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department References [1] Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Southeastcon 2009 Hardware Competition: The Recycling Robot, 2008 August 28, http://hardware.gtieee.org/southeastcon2009/SoutheastCon-2009-Hardware- Rules.pdf. Accessed September 26, 2008. [2] S. Austin, T. Donaldson, P. Duckworth, G. Grier. Product Specification: The Recycling Robot, http://www.ece.msstate.edu/courses/design/2008/secon/ProductSpecA- Final.pdf. Accessed September 26, 2008

30. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department Questions?

31. SECON TEAM A Electrical & Computer Engineering Department