Control Commands (via Ethernet)
Video Feed, Sensing Data (via Ethernet)
Jay Brasch
Kirk Nichols
Daniel Kopelove
Katrina Bossert

• Create a vehicle to assist emergency responders in identifying hazardous materials.
– Low Cost
– Remotely Operable
– Intuitive interface

• Create a sensing vehicle with the following functionality
– Natural gas sensor
– Geiger counter
– Streaming video
• Control various aspects of the vehicle
– Orientation and position of vehicle
– Yaw/Pitch control of camera (two-axis control)

• On-Vehicle Control Board
• ARM-7 LPC2214 Processor
– 2 UART ports
– 2 I 2 C ports
– SPI ports
– PWM ports
– Multiple external interrupt pins
– Multiple A/D converters
• Offers Ethernet, servo, DC motor control

• Deliverable
– GCK-05 Geiger Counter
– Micropel75 combustible gas sensor
• %lel
– Ethernet camera
• Extensions
– MaxSonar range detector
– HMC6352 2-axis compass
– Vex Robotics optical shaft encoder

• Linksys router configured as access point.
– DD-WRT
• ENC28J60
– Integrated Ethernet Controller and Drive
Magnetics with RJ-45 connector (CAT5 cabling)
– SPI I/F to ARM microcontroller running at 25MHz
– 64kB ram for tx/rx buffers
– Link status LEDs and link connectivity
• User-end is implemented in LabVIEW
– May require POSIX TCP server

• Deliverable
– LabVIEW GUI
– Keyboard input
• Extensions
– Vuzix iwear VR920 HUD
– Joystick control

• SCAB
– UART Control
– JTAG Support
– Various Debugging Ports
– Battery Charge Profiling
• Network Reliability/ Dynamic IP Handling
• Black box/white box approach

Kirk
LabVIEW
SCAB
Vehicle
HUD
Ethernet
Communication
Router
Katrina
Jay
Dan

• Ethernet driver doesn’t work, unable to port TCP/IP stack to
ARM7 score: 25
– RS232 to IEEE 802.3 converter
– Really long cable
• LabVIEW network connectivity score: 16
– Embedded C program
– Stand alone C program populating flat-file
• DC Motor Control (currently intermittent reliability) score: 8
– Off-the-shelf solution integration
• VR goggles low fidelity score: 4
– Fall back to keyboard and monitor based control

• Kirk – VR Goggles
• Jay – USB Joystick
• Katrina – ChemFET
• Dan – Audio

• Deliverables
– Geiger counter fully functional
– SCAB rev c populated and under testing
– LabVIEW GUI menu control
• Roadblocks
– Appropriate LabVIEW modules

• Deliverables
– SCAB rev c installed on vehicle
• Controlling motors
• Controlling camera
– Embed video stream in LabVIEW
– Router configured as access point
• Roadblocks
– How well can LabVIEW interface with Ethernet?
– Is video feed sufficiently fast to steer remotely?
– Network Latency

• Deliverables
– SCAB rev c has Ethernet enabled interface
• Transmits telemetry data to LabVIEW interface
– LabVIEW has complementary Ethernet interface
• Transmits control commands to SCAB
– Vehicle can run 1 hour from battery
• Roadblocks
– TBD

In Ownership
SCAB rev b
Vuzix iwear VR920
Geiger Counter
Traxxas Chassis
In Ownership
SCAB rev b
Vuzix iwear VR920
Geiger Counter
Traxxas Chassis
HMC6352 Digital Compass
Additional Materials
SCAB rev c
SCAB rev d
Misc. Parts
Webcam
Used Laptop
USB Joystick
Chassis Modification
Micropel75 Gas Sensor
Battery
Total
60
60
50
50
400
30
35
125
30
840

Base Station
Linux
Laptop
LabVIEW
USB
Joystick
Vuzix
HUD
(Peripherals)
System Information
Battery
Level
Debug
Port
Ethernet
Olimex
Port? NXP 2214
Servo
(3)
DC
Motor
Vehicle Control
Sensing Ports
Pulse
(2)
ADC
(2)
Geiger
(Velocity)
Gas
Sensor
UART
(5)
+
ATF750
CPLD
I 2 C
(3)
(Range
Sensors)
(Compass)

Definitions: vehicle: an RC car mechanical platform
The vehicle must have a wireless communication link utilizing
802.11a/b/g.
The vehicle must have a video source (802.3 webcam)
The vehicle must have a controller capable of manipulating:
1. a motor attached to the drive shaft of the vehicle.
2. a steering servo motor.
3. a server motor for the webcam orientation 1 dof
4. capturing at least 5 serial (rs-232) ports
5. capturing at least 3 I2C ports
6. capturing at least 2 A/D ports
7. capturing at least 2 interrupt driven ports
8. debug/program interface (JTAG) port
9. a sensor for battery capacity
The vehicle must be able to sense it's velocity within 1 kph (give the operator general feedback not exact position data)
A possible addition a custom design mold-fungus chemical sensor.
The vehicle must support the tilt orientation as a second dof for the webcam.
Definition: operator base station: a set of hardware and software able to communicate with the vehicle
The operator base station must be able to transmit control data to the vehicle
The operator base stations must be able to receive video and sensory data from the vehicle
The vehicle must have an independent power source (battery) that can power the vehicle under "normal operation" for one hour.
The vehicle velocity must not exceed 19.3 kph.
The vehicle minimum velocity must not exceed 4.82 kph.
The vehicle must be able to sense combustible gases within
10% of the LEL
The vehicle must be able to sense relative radioactivity.
The vehicle is capable of traversing any terrain found in a commercial building (carpet, tile, etc)
The obs must be capable of receiving 320x240 15 frames/s
(subject to the link quality and bandwidth of the Wi-Fi network)
Sensory data must be superimposed on the video stream by the obs.
Keyboard control of the vehicle will be guaranteed by the obs.
Keyboard control of the webcam orientation
Usb joystick control of the vehicle will be guaranteed by the obs.
vga goggles will visually present the video feed
Goggle pan data will be used to control the 1 dof of the webcam via the obs.
To insure portability the obs will be developed for a laptop.
The vehicle must have a magnetometer capable of detecting magnetic bearing within 2 degrees.
The vehicle must be able to sense proximity of walls (at 5m) in cardinality (NESW)