Created by Flores, Erick, last modified on Feb 20, 2020

Erick Flores-ECE 110 (erickf3), Nathan Marchosky-ECE 120 (nathan7) , Ifesi Onubogu-ECE 120 (onubogu2) , Yashvi Choudhari-ECE 120 (yashvic2)

Project Proposal

  1. INTRODUCTION

  1. Statement of Purpose:

Our project will be a remote control car that can be controlled wirelessly through Bluetooth and navigate toward sound throught the use of sensors (that would override commands via BlueTooth). Through our project we hope to accomplish the following objectives:

  1. Build a motor-driven car that can successfully move in all four directions.

  2. Use an ultrasonic sensor to detect an obstacle and avoid crashing the car.

  3. Control the remote control car wirelessly using BlueTooth.

This project is useful in understanding some of the various components that make an autonomous vehicle. This will be applicable to better understanding the foundations and challenges that engineers designing commercial, autonomous vehicles have to work with. What will make this project unique is combining (depending on time and how events unfold) different elements that enhance a vehicle's independent functionality. For example, we are planning to add either depth or color receptors that will affect the movement of the car if we see it manageable with the time we are working with.  

  1. Background Research: 

Some important information we researched is how it would be possible to link the car to Bluetooth. After researching, we saw one way to connect the car to Bluetooth that would allow us to interact with a phone app that would be using an Arduino Bluetooth module [1]. In [1] we also saw that the person managed to use coded interactions to the hardware, which in [1] was very simple and can be expanded upon, by making the Arduino outputs interact with the hardware more sophisticated ways. 

We are driven to work on this project due to the relevancy it has to current day news involving life-threatening accidents. This topic is very important because if autonomously is achieved, society will have the opportunity to be more efficient by utilizing the time that would be consumed behind the wheel. Without having to be said, the most important idea behind self-driving vehicles is public safety. Although our car will not be as sophisticated as an autonomous one, we plan on implementing at least one self-relying feature.

As stated previously, the foundation of this project will be similar to ones done before in terms of controlling maneuverability through control but we hope to add on to this base with independent characteristics. We have also looked into how to control a Zigbee with light. All in all, we are getting two simple templates for projects and interconnecting the variables so one affects the other's output. 







2.  DESIGN DETAILS

      B. System Overview:

Our system comprises of the following:

  1. Motors controlled a H-bridge

  2. H- bridge that is controlled by Arduino outputs

  3. Arduino that is controlled by the outputs of the Bluetooth chip

  4. Bluetooth chip controlled by man via an app on a phone

We intend to also make the car voice-controlled but this is the basic idea



Division of Labor: 

Ifesi and Yashvi will be focusing on the software components of the project. They will set up the Bluetooth connection, program, and debug the Arduino. Erick and Nathan will physically implement the circuitry and concentrate on the hardware of the project. They will build the car, map pins to their appropriate components and test-run the car when it is finished.


3. Parts: 

Arduino board Uno (Quantity 1, obtained through Laboratory Inventory)

Sparkfun Dual H-bridge motor drivers L298 (Quantity 1, ≈$7 263711564442 )

Pimoroni Maker Essentials - Micro-motors and Grippy Wheels (Quantity 1, ≈$30 maker-essentials-micro-motors-grippy-wheels )

Generic jumper Wires (roughly 10, obtained through Laboratory Inventory)

Li- Ion Battery 1100mAh (Quantity 1, Amazon link ≈$8 ref=sr_1_52_sspa) 

Generic LED (roughly 4, obtained through Laboratory Inventory)

Ultrasonic Sensors (Laboratory Inventory)

Total Price: ≈$45


4. Challenges: 

Some challenges that we predict will come our way in the completion of the project are making the code regarding our autonomous feature incorporate all possible scenarios and perform successfully every single time. For example, the sound sensor might not record the data we expected and thus the vehicle will perform in an unintended manner. If we implement color detectors to make the car move within cones and not crash, we will have to take shades from different lighting and get the range of values for this code to be specific enough to not include other objects. 

5. References:

Comments:

I'm sure Finn has already mentioned this, but your project is very similar to the one done in ECE 110. I would prioritize building the bluetooth functionality and seeing if you can add any other additional functionality past just using ultrasonic sensors.


Some small things to note:

  • Please add prices, quantity, and an order link for each part in your parts list
  • Your proposal isn't clear how your sensors and bluetooth remote control integrate. If you're controlling the car with bluetooth, what purpose do the sensors serve? Will they prevent the car from colliding even while under remote control?
  • Your only list four motors. Usually, you need to attach motors to a gear box to reduce the speed and increase your torque. Are your motors already geared or is this something additional you need to add?
Posted by jamesw10 at Feb 20, 2020 18:33

As James said, this is dangerously close to being identical to the 110 project, and would be declined. Please emphasize the Bluetooth component. If you only complete the part of the project without the Bluetooth, this will not qualify. Please think of perhaps adding some more functionality, to make sure the project qualifies as an honors project.
Posted by fns2 at Feb 20, 2020 19:25