Camera guided object tracking robot mobile platform

• Main Author: Yap, Hong Ping.
• Other Authors: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/53952
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This report concluded the final year Project of A009 – Camera Guided Object Tracking Mobile Platform. An object tracking robot is developed by a group of four final year students. The team has been divided into 4 different specifications: a) Object Tracking b) Mobile Platform c) Remote Control d) Algorithm on autonomous In this project, the robot chassis used is Dagu Wild Trumper 4WD All Terrain Chassis. With the high gear ratio of motor, the chassis is designed to excel on every terrain with the speed of 3km/h which enable it to be one of the best selections for outdoor applications. With the unique design of the wheel and suspension system of the chassis, the performances of the chassis are enhanced further. As the main processor of the chassis, Raspberry Pi is selected. Raspberry Pi is a credit-cardsized single-board computer developed in the UK by Raspberry Pi Foundation. Raspberry Pi is served as the minicomputer to receive all the data from sensors and data receivers then transmit the command to the actuator to generate the require motions The small size and the low required power to boot up of the Raspberry Pi have been the reason of selecting Raspberry Pi as the central processing computer. Furthermore, the function of wireless control of the Raspberry Pi is also an addition to the remote control of the platform. Next, the Arduino Leonardo, the microcontroller of the robot served as the signal processing unit before transmitting back to Raspberry Pi. Able to power up via micro-USB cable by the Raspberry Pi, Arduino Leonardo provided an easier setup compare to others microcontroller. Furthermore, the ArduinoLeanardo is connected to Raspberry Pi to overcome the limited GPIO port of Raspberry Pi and also the difficulty of connecting and programming of the GPS module. III As a navigation purpose, a 3DR-GPS-uBlox-LEA-6 is selected as the GPS module to provide the required data such as latitude and longitude. A GPS will enable the robot to recognize the home position, as the result, the robot will have a direction to return when it lost track of the assigned target. The GPS module is connected to ArduinoLeonado and the require data will transmit back to Raspberry Pi via Soft Serial Commnunication. In order to achieve obstacles avoidance, Sharp IR Sensor GP2Y0A21YK is used to detect the obstacles. The sensor is also able to serve as a distance measuring device for the robot to investigate the distance of the objects before any motions is performed.