Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
15 Antwieght Battle Bot
Carlos Carretero
Dany Rodriguez
Troy Edwards
John Li design_document1.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
grading_sheet1.pdf
presentation1.pdf
proposal1.pdf
video
3D-PRINTED BATTLE BOT

Group members:
Daniel Rodriguez (drodr25)
Carlos Carretero (ccarr27)
Troy Edwards (troyre2)


PROBLEM

Our project revolves around Professor Gruev’s Battle Bot Competition. This competition has several requirements as well as limitations which must be adhered to. These requirements include 3D printed construction with predetermined materials, weigh less than 2 pounds, have a PCB that is controlled through Bluetooth or wifi, fighting capabilities, and safety measures for shutting the robot down. Our goal for this project is to have a robot that is capable of competing in the competition meaning that it can be controlled and attack as desired.

SOLUTION

As the project entails this robot will be fighting against other robots which means that our design must revolve around having the ability to disable the opponent's threats or render their robot immobile. In order to accomplish this we will have a 3D-printed chassis made of PLA+ with an ESP32 microcontroller for motor and movement control. This Microcontroller has onboard wifi and Bluetooth allowing us to decide which is best for controlling our robot. In our design, we will use 3 motors, two for movement and one for controlling our battle element which involves a lift to try and flip our opponents over. The motors will be powered by a set of LiPo batteries as they have a high power output in comparison to their size and weight helping with the weight restrictions. The motors used for movement will also have an h bridge that allows for forward and backward movement allowing the robot to turn and have smooth movement. Voltage control circuits will also be implemented in order to account for the different voltages required for the microcontroller and the motors.

SOLUTION COMPONENTS

SUBSYSTEM: CHASSIS

The chassis of the battle bot will be 3D printed using PLA+ material to have a strong and lightweight robot. It will house all the components including the PCB, motors, and power source. Our weapon will also be incorporated into the chassis to ensure that the lifting mechanism is sturdy enough to flip over opponents as well as enclosed enough to prevent damage to the robot. The body will be horizontal with a very low center of mass to avoid others flipping it over. The wheels and all electronic components will also be enclosed to prevent any damage there.


SUBSYSTEM: COMBAT
Our lift system will be integrated into the chassis as a movable ramp that is powered with a motor for raising and lowering the ramp. The ramp will most likely be made of titanium in order to keep a lightweight setup. It is located on the front of the bot allowing us to drive into our opponents while raising the ramp to try and flip over the other bot.


SUBSYSTEM: POWER DISTRIBUTION

Since we will be using LiPO batteries which have higher voltages of either 11.1V or 14.8V we have to design a circuit to step this power down for our lower voltage components like the microcontroller and DC motors for movement. This part of the project will also need some sort of circuit to be able to safely cut power to motors in case of an emergency as required. This type of battery is commonly used in battle bot applications which is why we are using it for our design. The battery will first be connected to a kill switch before anything else to ensure that the robot can be shut down safely.

SUBSYSTEM: CONTROL

The ESP32 microcontroller is a great option for our project as it has wifi and Bluetooth built in allowing us to have a way to control our robot. We can either use the BLE protocol to talk to the microcontroller, due to low power consumption and low latency, and connect an external Xbox controller or use wifi to control them using a pc keyboard.


SUBSYSTEM: MOVEMENT

There will be 2 Brushed DC motors that control the 2 wheels in our robot and we will be looking to use something like the L298N DC motor driver to control those. This will also require voltage convertors as previously mentioned. The wheels will probably made from some high-friction material like rubber to ensure that the robot does not lose traction. The ESP32 has various GPIO ports that will allow us to control the motor drivers. For the motor for the ramp we can use a servo motor in order for precision control since we don’t need more than a 90-degree range of motion.


CRITERION FOR SUCCESS

Our project would be successful if the robot could move around using inputs given by the user externally. Also if the attack mechanisms had movement is the range that we wanted. We also want to ensure that the chassis has enough rigidity to handle the forces from the motors. It should be safe to power on and off. The robot should also be effective at immobilizing other robots.

Waste Bin Monitoring System

Benjamin Gao, Matt Rylander, Allen Steinberg

Featured Project

# Team Members:

- Matthew Rylander (mjr7)

- Allen Steinberg (allends2)

- Benjamin Gao (bgao8)

# Problem

Restaurants produce large volumes of waste every day which can lead to many problems like overflowing waste bins, smelly trash cans, and customers questioning the cleanliness of a restaurant if it is not dealt with properly. Managers of restaurants value cleanliness as one of their top priorities. Not only is the cleanliness of restaurants required by law, but it is also intrinsically linked to their reputation. Customers can easily judge the worth of a restaurant by how clean they keep their surroundings. A repulsive odor from a trash can, pests such as flies, roaches, or rodents building up from a forgotten trash can, or even just the sight of a can overflowing with refuse can easily reduce the customer base of an establishment.

With this issue in mind, there are many restaurant owners and managers that will likely purchase a device that will help them monitor the cleanliness of aspects of their restaurants. With the hassle of getting an employee to leave their station, walk to a trash can out of sight or far away, possibly even through external weather conditions, and then return to their station after washing their hands, having a way to easily monitor the status of trash cans from the kitchen or another location would be convenient and save time for restaurant staff.

Fullness of each trash can isn’t the only motivating factor to change out the trash. Maybe the trash can is mostly empty, but is extremely smelly. People are usually unable to tell if a trash can is smelly just from sight alone, and would need to get close to it, open it up, and expose themselves to possible smells in order to determine if the trash needs to be changed.

# Solution

Our project will have two components: 1. distributed sensor tags on the trash can, and 2. A central hub for collecting data and displaying the state of each trash can.

The sensor tags will be mounted to the top of a waste bin to monitor fullness of the can with an ultrasonic sensor, the odor/toxins in the trash with an air quality/gas sensor, and also the temperature of the trash can as high temperatures can lead to more potent smells. The tags will specifically be mounted on the underside of the trash can lids so the ultrasonic sensor has a direct line of sight to the trash inside and the gas sensor is directly exposed to the fumes generated by the trash, which are expected to migrate upward past the sensor and out the lid of the can.

The central hub will have an LCD display that will show all of the metrics described in the sensor tags and alert workers if one of the waste bins needs attention with a flashing LED. The hub will also need to be connected to the restaurant’s WiFi.

This system will give workers one less thing to worry about in their busy shifts and give managers peace of mind knowing that workers will be warned before a waste bin overflows. It will also improve the customer experience as they will be much less likely to encounter overflowing or smelly trash cans.

# Solution Components

## Sensor Tag Subsystem x2

Each trash can will be fitted with a sensor tag containing an ultrasonic sensor transceiver pair, a hazardous gas sensor, a temperature sensor, an ESP32 module, and additional circuitry necessary for the functionality of these components. The sensors will be powered with 3.3V or 5V DC from a wall adapter. A small hole will need to be drilled into the side of each trash can to accommodate the wall adapter output cord. They may also need to be connected to the restaurant’s WiFi.

- 2x ESP32-S3-WROOM

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/espressif-systems/ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N16R2/16162644

- 2x Air Quality Sensor (ZMOD4410)

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/renesas-electronics-corporation/ZMOD4410AI1R/8823799

- 2x Temperature/Humidity Sensor(DHT22)

https://www.amazon.com/HiLetgo-Digital-Temperature-Humidity-Replace/dp/B01DA3C452?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A30QSGOJR8LMXA#customerReviews

- 2x Ultrasonic Transmitter/Receiver

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/cui-devices/CUSA-R75-18-2400-TH/13687422

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/cui-devices/CUSA-T75-18-2400-TH/13687404

## Central Hub Subsystem

The entire system will be monitored from a central hub containing an LCD screen, an LED indicator light, and additional I/O modules as necessary. It will be based around an ESP32 module connected to the restaurant’s WiFi or ESPNOW P2P protocol that communicates with the sensor tags. The central hub will receive pings from the sensor tags at regular intervals, and if the central hub determines that one or more of the values (height of trash, air quality index, or temperature) are too high, it will notify the user. This information will be displayed on the hub’s LCD screen and the LED indicator light on the hub will flash to alert the restaurant staff of the situation.

- 1x ESP32-S3-WROOM

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/espressif-systems/ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N16R2/16162644

- 1x LCD Screen

https://www.amazon.com/Hosyond-Display-Compatible-Mega2560-Development/dp/B0BWJHK4M6/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=3.5%2Binch%2Blcd&qid=1705694403&sr=8-4&th=1

# Criteria For Success

This project will be successful if the following goals are met:

- The sensor tags can detect when a trash can is almost full (i.e. when trash is within a few inches of the lid) and activate the proper protocol in the central hub.

- The sensor tags can detect when an excess of noxious fumes are being produced in a trash can and activate the proper protocol in the central hub.

- The sensor tags can detect when the temperature in a trash can has exceeded a user-defined threshold and activate the proper protocol in the central hub.

- The central hub can receive wireless messages from all sensor tags reliably and correctly identify which trash cans are sending the messages.

Project Videos