Group C: Autonomous Drones
The main objective of our project was to have drones autonomously solve a maze while being able to communicate information to each other wirelessly. We wanted to design the drones to make them cost effective and to have them function efficiently. The chassis of the drones were built off a two-wheel system with a ball bearing in the back-middle part of the chassis for balancing purposes. We went through different methods of navigation but concluded that for basic functionality we needed the following: three infared sensors and a range finder. The three infared sensors allowed the drone to be able to navigate through a maze with a black line overlaying a white surface. The overall design of the maze was to allow for the drones to solve arbitrarily large mazes without error accumluating over time. In order to do this, we decided to complicate the maze structure in order to allow us to simplify the hardware. A grid of black lines allows the drone to consistently move forward and make turns while correcting for errors before they become large. The range finder gave us the ability to identfy the locations of the walls as well as the exit.
In order to implement the drones' movements, functions were made to make the drones veer left or right. The outer infared sensors were placed so that they would straddle the black lines inside the maze. If the left infarred sensor ever sensed black, the drone would veer left, but if the right infarred sensor ever sensed black, the drone would veer right. When both infared sensors sensed black, an intersection was found. For turning, the drone would turn a short period to move the middle infared sensor of the line, then continue turning until it senses another black line. A possible future project, which would present significant challenges, would be to build drones that can solve mazes with turns that aren't restricted to 90 degrees or mazes that do not have tape outlining the allowed paths.
The algorithm used to allow the drones to solve the maze is a relatively simple depth first search. Each drone first tries to solve the maze by moving to the square in front of it. Failing that, the drone returns to its square and then tries solving the maze by moving to the left. Again failing that, the drone returns to its square and then tries to solve the maze by moving to the right. As the drones explore the maze,they keep track of where they have visited, as wll as the structure of the maze's walls. This information is shared by passing wireless signals between the drones. Each drone makes sure to not visit a square that is already visited by either itself or another drone. In this way, the maze is essentially partitioned between the drones, allowing a large maze to become a number of small mazes equal to the number of drones. When the first drone finds an exit, it informs the other drones of its location and they all continue to seek it out (after a short victory dance).
Senior Design I Documents:
Initial Project Description & Block Diagram
Senior Design II Documents:
Final Senior Design II Document
Group C Biographies:
DOMINIQUE ROSS
Dominique Ross is currently a senior at the University of Central Florida. After graduation, she will pursue a Masters in Electrical Engineering with a specialization in Signal Processing. While pursuing her Masters her research will involve 3GPP , LTE requirements, and exploring the necessary algorithms.
CHRIS BRUNSON
Chris Brunson is currently a senior at the University of Central Florida. After graduation he plans to enter the job market with a focus in Information Technology, Electrical, Software and Systems Engineering.
JAMES SEXTON
James Sexton is currently a senior as the University of Central Florida. After graduation, he plans to enter the job market with a focus on software development.
CECEILE VERNON-SENIOR
Ceceile Vernon-Senior is currently a senior as the University of Central Florida. After graduation, she plans to enter the job market with a focus on microelectronics and signal processing.