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R esearch, I nstruction, S ervice, E ntrepreneurship – Eye in the Sky Research. RISE Student: Zach Peck Mentor: John Welsh. Background. Introduction to Engineering Design (ENES100) is a course at UMD taken by every freshman engineer
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Research, Instruction, Service, Entrepreneurship – Eye in the Sky Research RISE Student: Zach Peck Mentor: John Welsh
Background • Introduction to Engineering Design (ENES100) is a course at UMD taken by every freshman engineer • Students split into teams and design an autonomously controlled hovercraft that can accomplish a given task • This project has been in place for several years, and the curriculum now needs some revision • New project will require students to construct rovers that traverse a sand arena to accomplish tasks
Objective • Assist in the development of the new ENES100 curriculum • Student built rovers required to accomplish tasks • To be implemented within the next several years • Create an “eye in the sky” webcam-based system • Track locations of student rovers and tasks • Relay coordinates to student rovers A fully constructed arena, including camera (top center) and rover.
Initial Concept • Webcam interfaced with Robot Operating System (ROS) • Linux based • Retrieved webcam images and relayed them to image processing algorithm • Image processing algorithm: ARUCO • Open source in C++ (found online) • Detect coordinates of unique markers An example marker that can be detected by the image processing algorithm
Initial Concept Continued… • Interactive, web-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) • Display live camera feed • Control various camera parameters • Display port statuses on student Arduino • Communication Protocol • Bluetooth link between server computer and Arduino • Automatically packaged data
Problems • ROS • Sharp learning curve – difficult to modify system • Somewhat difficult to interface with Arduino • Single platform – can only run on Linux systems • GUI • Bulky and slow • Runs only on select browsers • Communication Protocol • Bluetooth signal intermittent/inconsistent
Revisions • Eye in the Sky became an entirely C++ based system • Easier to modify • GUI simpler to understand • Cross-platform – can be run on any Windows, Mac, or Linux system • Communication protocol shifted to Radio Frequency (RF) • Much more consistent connection • Ability to communicate with multiple receivers simultaneously