Development of a mobile robot for the 1995 AUVS competition

Bradley O. Matthews; Michael A. Ruthemeyer; David Perdue; Ernest L. Hall

doi:10.1117/12.228975

27 December 1995 Development of a mobile robot for the 1995 AUVS competition

Bradley O. Matthews, Michael A. Ruthemeyer, David Perdue, Ernest L. Hall

Proceedings Volume 2591, Mobile Robots X; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.228975
Event: Photonics East '95, 1995, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Abstract

Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) have many potential applications in manufacturing, medicine, space and defense. The purpose of this paper is to describe exploratory research on the design of a modular autonomous mobile robot controller. The advantages of a modular system are related to portability and the fact that any vehicle can become autonomous with minimal modifications. A mobile robot test-bed has been constructed using a golf cart base. This cart has full speed control with guidance provided by a vision system and obstacle avoidance using ultrasonic sensors systems. The speed and steering control are supervised by a 486 computer through a 3-axis motion controller. The obstacle avoidance system is based on a micro-controller interfaced with six ultrasonic transducers. The is micro-controller independently handles all timing and distance calculations and sends a steering angle correction back to the computer via the serial line. This design yields a portable independent system, where even computer communication is not necessary. Vision guidance is accomplished with a CCD camera with a zoom lens. The data is collected through a commercial tracking device, communicating with the computer the X,Y coordinates of the lane marker. Testing of these systems yielded positive results by showing that at five mph the vehicle can follow a line and at the same time avoid obstacles. This design, in its modularity, creates a portable autonomous controller applicable for any mobile vehicle with only minor adaptations.

Citation Download Citation

Bradley O. Matthews, Michael A. Ruthemeyer, David Perdue, and Ernest L. Hall "Development of a mobile robot for the 1995 AUVS competition", Proc. SPIE 2591, Mobile Robots X, (27 December 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.228975

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