Group 3

Mechatronics

Spring 2013

Erich Korosec

Jason McDonald

Kristi Windels

Our robot implemented a Bug 2 obstacle avoidance algorithm using the LADAR as its input. In Bug 2 the robot will enter wall following until it has reached a point that is closer to the destination than it was when it entered and also at the same angle to the destination. This was implemented when the obstacle was directly in front of the robot. The decision for which direction to wall follow was based the angle that the robot approached the obstacle. If obstacles were detected to the left or right that would interfere with the robot’s movement it would move accordingly to avoid the obstacle.

To collect the golf balls the robot used the onboard camera to identify them. Ball collecting took precedence over destination movement and wall following. The robot prioritized the object with the most number of pixels to identify which object/golf ball to collect first. Depending on the color of the ball the corresponding servo opened a gripper door to collect the ball. The gripper would only open if the number of pixels was over a certain value. It did this to avoid opening the collection bay too early. The collection bay was separated into two chambers; these chambers corresponded to the location of drop zones.

VIDEO LINK: ONE TWO THREE FOUR! SOURCE CODE!

Jason McDonald

Erich Korosec

Kristi Windels