Make My Car Roll Alone
Made by BeeAutonomous / Automotive / Sensors / Vehicles
About the project
The purpose of this project is to make an autonomous car which is able to complete a specific track without human help. We are creating this car through both our electronics and programming skills.
Project info
Difficulty: Difficult
Estimated time: 4 months
License: GNU General Public License, version 3 or later (GPL3+)
Items used in this project
Story
STORY OF THE PROJECT
Our project's purpose is to create an autonomous car which is able to complete a specific track without human help. This project was proposed by a teacher in our Engineering school, we have found this really interesting and think that it could be really enjoyable for us to participate to the NXP Cup.
How does it work ?
It is really easy, by using camera put at the top of the car, the vehicle is able to see the border of the circuit and try to stay on the road. Currently, we are working on the development of basic modules like going straight and also programming the camera to receive the right informations and make these informations useful. When this basic module will be ready, our next goal will be to adapt the speed of the car and make it able to avoid obstacle. We don't forget that our main aim is to finish the imposed track as fast as possible !
How it is now ?
We moved on ! The car is fully built, only a little element is missing. Despite few details, the result is satisfying. Only few steps are required to make the car ready : we can get images of the track either with vectors through Pixy2 or with a pixel tab (values varying with luminosity) through Parallax camera. After these data are treated, we can have the position of the car on the track through an algorithm that calculates the average of the previous data obtained. As previously mentioned, details need to be fixed. One major is the luminosity using two Parallax camera (using 2 provides the depth). As a solution, we have built a led panel (see picture below) in order to get the perfect contrast. Finally, we have developped two different algorithms that compare the quality of the two microchips (Fmuk66 or Teensy) we use. Photos of both cars and components associated were added.
Problems !
Some problems were identified during the development. In fact, we've got some problems with the contrast of the picture the camera receive. We decided to put another camera (parallax) and a led bench to increase the contrast :
The led bench is not finished yet due to a lack of components. The led and the diffuser should be solder on the bench and illuminate the track during the race to be sure to have a good picture of the circuit.
How do we assure the supply ?
During the development, the supply was made by a NiMh battery that have been change to a LiPO battery to have better performance and be sure to have a constant power supply during the race.
What need to be done next ?
Some things need to be added to the car to be really performant but we can not do it without the appropriate material. As I said before, the led bench need to be finish and a support for the camera have been imagine on a CAO software and need to be printed with a 3D printer.
Credits
BeeAutonomous
Team from ENSEIRB-MATMECA, participating at the NXP Cup. We are 3 Electronic student working on our autonomous car.
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