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Sketch Drive Car

Made by ashokr

About the project

This project aims at controlling a car through a trajectory traced by the user on a screen running windows or android

Project info

Difficulty: Difficult

Platforms: Android, NXP, ROS, Windows, AIY

Estimated time: 1 hour

License: GNU General Public License, version 3 or later (GPL3+)

Items used in this project

Hardware components

	L293DNE	x 1
	3.6x2.6" Black, For Freescale FRDM-KL25Z	x 1
	RC Car	x 1

Software apps and online services

CodeWarrior IDE

Story

Sketch Drive Car: This is an unique project i have done for Freescale Design Challenge in 2014.I used Freedom Development Board (FRDM-KL25Z) from kinetis Family. Basically there are many ways to control the RC Car but here, we look at the new approach for controlling the car by sketching the route on screen.

I purchased one RC Car from the local store. It has the controls of Right, Left, Forward and Backward. I replaced the existing circuits with Freedom Board(FRDM-KL25Z). Along with Freedom Board i added Bluetooth module (HC-05)and DC motor driver chip LP293DE. Car front lights are connected to the KL25Z port directly. Bluetooth module is connected to KL25Z via UART interface. KL25Z board also has accelerometer which i used to measure the speed of Car. Tri color led's used for status notifications.KL25Z board, LP293DE and HC-05 is powered from 4.5V battery. Battery level is monitor through ADC.The software for this KL25Z is developed using CodeWarrior IDE. I used FreeMASTER for debugging my software.

In the UI side, i developed the windows application and it can run in windows PC/Tablet. It has the controls and draw panels to sketch the route. Also the UI has many features like speedometer , Indicators and battery level etc.

Algorithm:

I designed my own algorithm to convert the 2d drawings into X,Y coordinates with path directions.

Xd= X (i) – X (i-1)

Yd= Y (i) – Y (i-1)

Xd > Xth -> X Direction & Xd < Xth -> -X Direction

Yd > Yth -> Y Direction & Yd < Yth -> -Y Direction

Xth – X Threshold (Sensing value)

How it works? :

Drawing a line on the screen and the car will move forward in the desired direction. The line has two points “Starting” and “Destination” point it decides to where to start and where to end. The distance to travel by the car is decided by scale factor.

This process has 3 stages

1. Routing

2. Decoding

3. Execution

In routing stage, the user is allowed to draw the path on the screen with preferred scale value. Once routing is done the route values are decoded into the X & Y pixel values, which are send to the MCU wirelessly (Bluetooth/ZigBee). In execution stage, the MCU converts the X, Y values into respective a PWM value which drives the DC Motor. The Accelerometer is attached to the car to calculate the acceleration and position of the car thereby helping to track the position of car in GUI screen.

The principle of Sketch Drive Car is conversion of 2D graphics into the form of PWM signals. The Windows application is designed based on Microsoft Paint, with the help of paint the path is drawn into the screen and the X & Y coordinates are stored into the 2D arrays. These values are used to calculate the path direction and motion of the vehicle. The path information is send into the micro controller through Bluetooth. The Micro understands the path information and it drives the Motor according to the changes in path direction in the form of PWM signals.

Error Detection:

The current design does not recognize the curve paths, so Error detection technique is used here to identify the drawn path is valid or not.

Speed Measuring:

The speed of the Car is measured through accelerometer (Approximates values).It detects the motion of vehicle. 8bit fast accessing mode is used in the accelerometer.

Battery Monitoring:

Internal ADC is used to detect the voltage level of battery. Low voltage level can be indicated through LED.

Sketch Drive Car Application:

This application is developed using visual studio along with Measurement Studio tools. In the main tab the large white screen is used for sketching the root/path. Gauges are used to display the speed/motion. Rotatory Knob is used to setup the steering wheel power. Vertical Slide bar is used to setup the engine speed. Push buttons are used to control the lights and drive path of the car. The Setting tab contains Mode and supportive controls.

Easy mode:

Using Easy mode user can drive the car as like normal remote control system. Drift and circuit (circular) options are included in this mode. When easy mode is enabled the Sketch driving will be disabled.

Merits:

1. It would be another way to test cars in automotive industries.

2. Sketch Drive Cars can be used in gaming for entertainment (RC car Racing/ Line Follower)

3. Parking the Car in park slots

The working Demo is here

Schematics, diagrams and documents

Sketch Drive Car Schematic

not updated , iwill update it soon

Windows App Source

Code

Sketch Drive Car WinApp.7z

Download

Sketch Drive Car Source

/*
 * AppMain.c
 *
 *  Created on: Mar 9, 2014
 *      Author: sony
 */


#include "AppMain.h"
#include "I2C1.h"
#include "AS1.h"
#include "AD1.h"
#include "MMA8451.h"
#include "Routing.h"


#define DEBUG

byte bv[4];
byte DELAY[]= "<DLY00000>";
byte RUN[] = "<RUN00000>";
byte DATA[] = "DAT";
byte TDATA[10] = "<NOP00000>";


void App_Run(void)
{

Bat_Voltage = ReadADC();
if(Bat_Voltage < 1.8)
	RLED_ON();
else
	RLED_OFF();

// Charging Mode Check

#ifndef DEBUG
while(ReadBits_GetBit(0)){
	Bat_Voltage = ReadADC();
	
	PackData(DATA,Bat_Voltage,CarAcc.Speed);

	GLED_ON();
}
GLED_OFF();
//BLED_ON();
#endif


while(1){
	
Calibrate();	
	
ParseData();
AccRead();

CarAcc.Speed = GetSpeed();
//preX = AccelX;

Bat_Voltage = ReadADC();
PackData(DATA,Bat_Voltage,CarAcc.Speed);

//WAIT1_Waitms(1000);

if(Car.start && Car.mode){
	
	TestDrive();

}


	if(Car.start && !Car.mode){	
		
	   if(istart){
		   prevDirection = Car.Direction;
		   istart = false;
	   }
	   SetSpeed();	
	
	   
	   
		if (prevDirection != Car.Direction){
			Car.isTurning = true;
			SendString(DELAY);
			if(Car.Reverse)
			RunReverse();
			else
			RunDrive();		
			SendString(RUN);
			Car.isTurning = false;
		}
		

	}
	else{
		istart= true;
		SetOff();
	}


	
	
	if(Car.lightON){
		
		LLIGHT_ON();
		RLIGHT_ON();
		
	}
	else
	{
		LLIGHT_OFF();
		RLIGHT_OFF();
	}
	
	

}


}
	



void App_Init()
{

	BLED_OFF();	
	LLIGHT_ON();
	RLIGHT_ON();
	
Car.Reverse = 0;
istart = true;
Car.isTurning = false;
Car.isMoving = false;
Car.Speed = 0;
Car.moveBkd = 0;
Car.moveFwd = 0;
Car.moveLeft = 0;
Car.moveRight = 0;
Car.mode = 0;
WAIT1_Waitms(1000);

TurnDly[0] = 1100;
TurnDly[1] = 1200;
TurnDly[2] = 1300;
TurnDly[3] = 1400;
TurnDly[4] = 1500;
TurnDly[5] = 1600;
TurnDly[6] = 1700;
TurnDly[7] = 1800;
TurnDly[8] = 1900;
TurnDly[9] = 2000;

EngSpeed[0] = 40;
EngSpeed[1] = 45;
EngSpeed[2] = 50;
EngSpeed[3] = 55;
EngSpeed[4] = 60;
EngSpeed[5] = 65;
EngSpeed[6] = 70;
EngSpeed[7] = 75;
EngSpeed[8] = 80;
EngSpeed[9] = 85;

CarSpeed[0] = 0;
CarSpeed[1] = 40;
CarSpeed[2] = 44;
CarSpeed[3] = 48;
CarSpeed[4] = 52;
CarSpeed[5] = 56;
CarSpeed[6] = 60;
CarSpeed[7] = 64;
CarSpeed[8] = 68;
CarSpeed[9] = 72;
CarSpeed[10] = 76;
CarSpeed[11] = 80;
CarSpeed[12] = 84;
CarSpeed[13] = 88;
CarSpeed[14] = 92;

LLIGHT_OFF();
RLIGHT_OFF();
	


}


void SendChar(byte data){
	
AS1_SendChar(data);
	
}

void SendString(byte *str) {
  while(*str!='\0') {
	  AS1_SendChar(*str);
    str++;
  }
}

void SetOff()
{
	
	
	PWM1_SetDutyMS(0);
	PWM2_SetDutyMS(0);
	
	
}


float ReadADC()
{
	
	float voltage;

	 AD_finished = FALSE; /* reset flag */
	(void)AD1_Measure(FALSE); /* AD_finished will be set to TRUE once */
	while(!AD_finished) {
	/* do something else here... */
	}
	/* AD_finished set to TRUE by the interrupt to indicate the result is ready */
	(void)AD1_GetValue16(&adc_val); /* get the result into value variable */


	voltage = (float) ((3.0f * adc_val) / 0xffff);
	
	return voltage;
}

void SetSpeed()
{
		
		if(!Car.Reverse){
		
			PWM1_SetDutyMS(0);	
			PWM2_SetDutyMS(EngSpeed[Car.EngineSpeed]);
		}
		else
		{
			
			PWM2_SetDutyMS(0);	
			PWM1_SetDutyMS(EngSpeed[Car.EngineSpeed]);
	
		}
	
	
	
}

void TestDrive(){
	

			if(!Car.Reverse){
				
				PWM1_SetDutyMS(0);		
				PWM2_SetDutyMS(CarSpeed[Car.Speed/10]);
			}
			else{
				PWM2_SetDutyMS(0);		
				PWM1_SetDutyMS(CarSpeed[Car.Speed/10]);
			}

				
		
		if(Car.moveLeft && !Car.moveRight ){
			
			TurnLeft();
		}
		
		if(!Car.moveLeft && Car.moveRight ){
			
			TurnRight();
		}
		if(!Car.moveLeft && !Car.moveRight ){
			
			TurnOff();
		}

	
	
	
	
	
}

void PackData(byte *cmd,float voltage,uint8_t speed)
{
	byte volt;
	
	TDATA[0] = '<';
	TDATA[1] = cmd[0];
	TDATA[2] = cmd[1];
	TDATA[3] = cmd[2];
	
	volt = voltage*10;
	
	TDATA[4] = (byte) (volt/10) + '0';
	TDATA[5] = (byte) (volt%10) + '0';
	TDATA[6] = (byte) (speed/100) + '0';
	TDATA[7] = (byte) ((speed/10)%10) + '0';
	TDATA[8] = (byte) (speed%10) + '0';
	TDATA[9] = '>';
	
	
}

void ParseData()
{
	
	//Stream Data Format
	
	//>>>  1010	 32   x 	x	 000000    x       x	        x	    	 x		0	   x	  x	   x    x     x      xxx    x   1010   <<<
	//	   ID	 Len  Mode  Dir  Data	   ReEN    EngineSpeed  TurnDelay    start  pause  Light  FWD  BKD  Left  Right  Speed  NA  EID
	
	
	Car.mode = RxBuf[6]-'0';
	Car.Direction = RxBuf[7]-'0';
	//Car.Xval = (RxBuf[8]-'0')*100 + (RxBuf[9]-'0')*10 +(RxBuf[10]-'0')*1;
	//Car.Yval = (RxBuf[11]-'0')*100 + (RxBuf[12]-'0')*10 +(RxBuf[13]-'0')*1;
	Car.Reverse = (bool) (RxBuf[14]-'0') & 0x01; 
	Car.EngineSpeed = (RxBuf[15]-'0')*1;
	Car.TurnDelay = (RxBuf[16]-'0')*1;	
	Car.start = (bool)(RxBuf[17]-'0') & 0x01;
	//Car.stop = (bool)~(RxBuf[17]-'0') & 0x01;
	//Car.pause = (bool)(RxBuf[18]-'0') & 0x01;
	Car.lightON = (bool)(RxBuf[19]-'0') & 0x01;
	Car.moveFwd = (bool)(RxBuf[20]-'0') & 0x01;
	Car.moveBkd = (bool)(RxBuf[21]-'0') & 0x01;
	Car.moveLeft = (bool)(RxBuf[22]-'0') & 0x01;
	Car.moveRight = (bool)(RxBuf[23]-'0') & 0x01;
	Car.Speed = (RxBuf[24]-'0')*100 + (RxBuf[25]-'0')*10 +(RxBuf[26]-'0')*1;
	
	
	

}


void Calibrate (void)
{

	unsigned int count1 = 0;


	
	do{
	
		AccRead();
	CarAcc.sstatex = CarAcc.sstatex + AccelX;  //Accumulate Samples
	CarAcc.sstatey = CarAcc.sstatey + AccelY;
	count1++;
	}while(count1!=0x0400); 	//1024 times
	
	CarAcc.sstatex = CarAcc.sstatex>>10;    //Divide by 1024
	CarAcc.sstatey = CarAcc.sstatey>>10;
		
	
}



uint8_t GetSpeed(void)
{
	
	unsigned char count2=0;

	
	do{
		
	
		CarAcc.accelerationx[1]=CarAcc.accelerationx[1]+ AccelX;
		CarAcc.accelerationy[1]=CarAcc.accelerationy[1]+ AccelY;
		count2++;
		
	}while(count2!=0x40);     
		
		
	CarAcc.accelerationx[1]=CarAcc.accelerationx[1]>>6;  //division by 64	
	CarAcc.accelerationy[1]=CarAcc.accelerationy[1]>>6;
	
	CarAcc.accelerationx[1] = CarAcc.accelerationx[1] - CarAcc.sstatex; //eliminate zero reference
	CarAcc.accelerationy[1] = CarAcc.accelerationy[1] - CarAcc.sstatey; // to obtain positive and negative acceleration
	

	
	
	//First X Integeration
	
	CarAcc.velocityx[1] = CarAcc.velocityx[0] + CarAcc.accelerationx[0] + ((CarAcc.accelerationx[1]-CarAcc.accelerationx[0])>>1);
	
	
	//First Y Integeration
	
	CarAcc.velocityy[1] = CarAcc.velocityy[0] + CarAcc.accelerationy[0] + ((CarAcc.accelerationy[1]-CarAcc.accelerationy[0])>>1);
	
	
	CarAcc.accelerationx[0] = CarAcc.accelerationx[1];  // The current acceleration value must be sent to previous acceleration
	
	CarAcc.accelerationy[0] = CarAcc.accelerationy[1];
	
	
	CarAcc.VX=CarAcc.velocityx[1]-CarAcc.velocityx[0];
	CarAcc.VY=CarAcc.velocityy[1]-CarAcc.velocityy[0];
	

	CarAcc.velocityx[0] = CarAcc.velocityx[1];  // The current velocity value must be sent to previous velocity
	
	CarAcc.velocityy[0] = CarAcc.velocityy[1];
	
	

return CarAcc.VX;
	
	
	
}

Credits

ashokr

Hello! I’m Ashok. I’m currently working as software engineer. passionate about doing Hobbies Projects and Animations works.

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