Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition 2006

Intelligent Ground Vehicle
Competition 2006

Brigham Young University

The Challenge:

To design and build
a fully autonomous
robot capable of
traversing an
obstacle course
while staying within
the white
boundaries. The
fastest robot wins!

The 14th Annual Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition


Selfridge Air National Guard Base

Harrison Township, Michigan

June 10
-

12, 2006


www.igvc.org

Pledge Your Support



The logos of our sponsors of the project will
be prominently displayed on our robot and
website. We are committed to the success of
this project and to helping our sponsors receive
recognition for their essential role.




As the following slide explains, it will cost
roughly $16,000 to build the robot and $12,000
to attend the competition. Any contribution you
can make will help us implement our powerful
algorithms with the latest technology.


Major Expenses

•

Sensors:



$10,000

–
Color cameras, Three Axis Compass, GPS, Laser range finder


•

Electrical System:


$3,000

–

Laptop or Small PC, Microcontroller boards, Frame capture boards



•

Mechanical System:


$3,000

–

Replacement motors, Fiberglass exterior, Treads, Wheel Encoders,
Bearings


•

Team Expenses:


$12,000

–

Transportation of Team and Robot to the Competition

Senior Project Teams 2005

2005 Success

Last year’s entry from
BYU took 5
th

place
among 37 teams
from across the
world! This was also
BYU’s first year to
ever participate in the
competition.

Design Features

A single camera
guided the robot
around obstacles
and navigated
within the
boundaries.

Design Features

Image processing took
place on a Pentium III
system which
translated the real
-
time
visual input into
steering commands.

The laptop shown was
used for testing the
various subsystems.

Design Features

A motorized wheelchair
chassis with
independently
controlled wheels
allowed the robot to
turn on a dime. The
robust motors and
gearboxes performed
extremely well on the
terrain of the course.

Looking Ahead…

Inspired by the extraordinary success of last
year’s team, a new group of 12 electrical and
computer engineering students is determined to
win this year’s competition.

BYU’s 2005 team faced difficult time and budget
constraints, but we will improve on their design:



-

Unpowered front wheels swerved on slopes



New tread design provides excellent stability


-

Wheels did not include feedback about distance traveled



Wheel encoders will record distances within inches


-

Unoptimized frame buffering slowed image processing



New capture boards and frame processing


-

Limited funds only allowed for a single camera



Sponsors will make stereo vision and distance sensing

feasible

Challenges

We are confident that we can win by:


•

Intelligent computing
: path planning
including short
-
term memory of the robot’s
immediate surroundings and learned
reflexes built on familiar situations

•

Sensory Input
: More advanced sensors
will allow us to recognize obstacles quickly
and accurately and navigate without
sacrificing speed

Concept Drawings of Y
-
clops

Design Decisions
:

•

Tank tracks on our wheels will decrease
slippage, ensuring the robot will not veer off
course on slopes and inclines. They will
also make sure our wheel encoders
accurately measure distance traveled

•

A fiberglass or polymer shell will give
our robot a sleek look as we compete in the
design competition, and allow us to
prominently display logos of our sponsors

Conclusion:

•

Last year, on a shoestring budget and with
only six months to prepare, our team came
in 5th out of 37 teams.




This year, with more time to




prepare and more resources,



we’re confident we can win
this



competition!

Intelligent Ground Vehicle
Competition 2006

Brigham Young University

http://yclops.ece.byu.edu