Milestone 4 Report

Milestone 4 Report (Prepared by: Joshua Burkhart)

Intended Progress: Describe the features/components you wanted to complete by this milestone.

By this point in time I had hoped to have fully constructed the vehicle and fully tested / debugged the vehicle's hardware and software.

Progress To Date: Describe what the team have been doing towards completing the tasks involved in realizing the current milestone objectives.

The team has been working toward completing the device by testing and researching the integration of the gps receiver with the rest of the vehicle components.

Projected Progress: What will you do in the next project phase in terms of code development, testing, integration and debugging. How will the team adjust its workload in order to compensate for current rates of progress in the chosen development areas, and how will work towards the next milestone be organised.

 As this is the final milestone, future reports will cease to be generated. We will continue to research arduino device integration techniques. This remains the final step in the project.

Problems Encountered: Comment on any significant problems with technical progress or group management. This is a chance to get input from the team's instructor on fruitful avenues for addressing technical problems or group management issues.

 Physical integration of the gps device posed a larger problem than initially expected.

Conclusion: Brief overview of the status of the group and project overall. 

 The project was successfully demonstrated at the GVSU project day. Project development is blocked going forward as the problem of gps receiver integration is confronted.

Testing Demonstration Code

Repository Link

Below is a link to our Github repository.

https://github.com/joshuagburkhart/Autonomous-Vehicle-GVSU

IR Scanner Working

 This video demonstrates the vehicle using its new Sharp © GP2Y0A21YK Optoelectronic Device.
 

The device (seen at right) sends a voltage to the arduino that is inversely proportional to the distance in front of it. Integer readings of '200' correlate to approximately to 12 inches. This is the threshold used in the video, but may be adjusted in later revisions. All of our code can be browsed on github.

 

This video shows the vehicle taking its first steps.

Milestone 3 Report

Milestone 3 Report (Prepared by: Joshua Burkhart)

Intended Progress: Describe the features/components you wanted to complete by this milestone. 

By this point in time, we had intended to have researched parts, order parts, receive parts, assemble the GPS shield, interface the GPS Shield with an arduino, interface the motor driver and motors with an arduino, work on a code library for the IR sensors, and begin working on navigation code.

Progress To Date: Describe what the team have been doing towards completing the tasks involved in realizing the current milestone objectives. 

Progress since the last milestone includes successful construction of mobile power source, integration of electronic compass with arduino, and initiation of navigation code. At this point in time, a separate code library for IR sensors seems premature, as navigation code remains incomplete. The writing of an IR sensor library has not begun. 

Projected Progress: What will you do in the next project phase in terms of code development, testing, integration and debugging. How will the team adjust its workload in order to compensate for current rates of progress in the chosen development areas, and how will work towards the next milestone be organised. 

The next phase of the project will include finishing the navigation code, integrating the GPS shield, motor shield, and IR sensors with an arduino, and sufficient debugging. The team will most probably need to increase its workload in order to complete these tasks.

Problems Encountered: Comment on any significant problems with technical progress or group management. This is a chance to get input from the team's instructor on fruitful avenues for addressing technical problems or group management issues. 

Both the GPS and motor shield were found to use the same pins by default. This poses a significant roadblock. Modification of the libraries may or may not resolve the issue. Underlying hardware differences in the pins may prevent nonstandard pins from use. Another possible method of avoiding this issue may be to use two arduinos (one mounted by the GPS and another mounted by the motor shield and compass) and implementing a communication protocol between them.

Conclusion: Brief overview of the status of the group and project overall. 

In conclusion, we have made significant progress since our last milestone but now face a technical issue. This issue may be resolved with additional research.

Milestone 2 Report

Milestone 2 Report (Prepared by: Joshua Burkhart)

Intended Progress: Describe the features/components you wanted to complete by this milestone.

By this point in time, we had intended to research parts, order parts, receive parts, assemble the GPS shield, interface the GPS Shield with an arduino, and begin interfacing the motor driver and motors with an arduino.

Progress To Date: Describe what the team have been doing towards completing the tasks involved in realizing the current milestone objectives.

Progress to date is 4 days ahead of schedule according to our initial gantt chart. We have successfully interfaced the motor driver / motors with an arduino. We are currently in the process of building a mobile power source and plan to begin implementing navigation logic soon.

Projected Progress: What will you do in the next project phase in terms of code development, testing, integration and debugging. How will the team adjust its workload in order to compensate for current rates of progress in the chosen development areas, and how will work towards the next milestone be organised.

According to our gantt chart, the current project phase involves interfacing the motor driver and motors with the arduino microcontroller. This has been achieved ahead of schedule and we have moved on to building a mobile power source and will soon begin implementing navigation logic. Code development will be in the C-like ‘Processing’ language with special regard payed to minimal resource use. Testing our mobile power source will consist of using a multimeter to determine correct voltage (9vDC-12vDC) and current (500mA-670mA) is delivered to the unit. Testing the gps navigation logic will include walking around campus with the device, logging print statements and errors. Debugging the mobile power source may include rearranging batteries / wiring. Debugging the navigation logic will include examining logged errors, editing the code, and retesting the device. The current rate of progress is 4 days ahead of schedule. No scheduling adjustments are required at this milestone. Work will continue as planned towards the next milestone.

Problems Encountered: Comment on any significant problems with technical progress or group management. This is a chance to get input from the team's instructor on fruitful avenues for addressing technical problems or group management issues.

The gps shield does not seem to be able to determine orientation. A digital compass was ordered and will be integrated with the vehicle as device orientation is required.

Conclusion: Brief overview of the status of the group and project overall.

In conclusion, though yet another part was required, we remain on schedule.