Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
6 Quadpod transform vehicle
Area Award: Robotics
 Jiwon Park
Keewoong Haan
Zenon Son
 Rajarshi Roy design_document0.pdf
final_paper0.document
presentation0.pdf
proposal0.pdf
Our main purpose in this project is transformation. The idea we had was to build a scaled model of a vehicle, which would transform into a quadpod when the vehicle encounters obstacle. The obstacle could be any place difficult to move by vehicle but we're mainly focusing on rough unpaved road or hill. Since we already have certain design schematic in our mind, we wonâ??t be using an already built car; we will build both car and the leg parts of the project from the scratch. There will be 2 legs on each side, which will be hidden inside the vehicle while in car mode. We will be using minimum of 5 motors (1 motor for vehicle motor and at least 4 motors for the legs). The 4 legs will be fixed at certain position and will follow a circular motion similar to that of train. We are also thinking of installing a touch sensor inside the front bumper of the vehicle, so that it can detect the obstacle whenever the vehicle hits it for a few sec. The project will be fully controllable by the user with a wired controller. We believe this project is important because this scaled version of vehicle can access places (mountain and bumpy roads) that the vehicle cannot get through with typical wheels. This project merely shows the basic concept of the transformable vehicle but it may help the vehicle to be used in more various situations in the future.

Autonomous Sailboat

Riley Baker, Arthur Liang, Lorenzo Rodriguez Perez

Autonomous Sailboat

Featured Project

# Autonomous Sailboat

Team Members:

- Riley Baker (rileymb3)

- Lorenzo PĂ©rez (lr12)

- Arthur Liang (chianl2)

# Problem

WRSC (World Robotic Sailing Championship) is an autonomous sailing competition that aims at stimulating the development of autonomous marine robotics. In order to make autonomous sailing more accessible, some scholars have created a generic educational design. However, these models utilize expensive and scarce autopilot systems such as the Pixhawk Flight controller.

# Solution

The goal of this project is to make an affordable, user- friendly RC sailboat that can be used as a means of learning autonomous sailing on a smaller scale. The Autonomous Sailboat will have dual mode capability, allowing the operator to switch from manual to autonomous mode where the boat will maintain its current compass heading. The boat will transmit its sensor data back to base where the operator can use it to better the autonomous mode capability and keep track of the boat’s position in the water. Amateur sailors will benefit from the “return to base” functionality provided by the autonomous system.

# Solution Components

## On-board

### Sensors

Pixhawk - Connect GPS and compass sensors to microcontroller that allows for a stable state system within the autonomous mode. A shaft decoder that serves as a wind vane sensor that we plan to attach to the head of the mast to detect wind direction and speed. A compass/accelerometer sensor and GPS to detect the position of the boat and direction of travel.

### Actuators

2 servos - one winch servo that controls the orientation of the mainsail and one that controls that orientation of the rudder

### Communication devices

5 channel 2.4 GHz receiver - A receiver that will be used to select autonomous or manual mode and will trigger orders when in manual mode.

5 channel 2.4 GHz transmitter - A transmitter that will have the ability to switch between autonomous and manual mode. It will also transfer servos movements when in manual mode.

### Power

LiPo battery

## Ground control

Microcontroller - A microcontroller that records sensor output and servo settings for radio control and autonomous modes. Software on microcontroller processes the sensor input and determines the optimum rudder and sail winch servo settings needed to maintain a prescribed course for the given wind direction.

# Criterion For Success

1. Implement dual mode capability

2. Boat can maintain a given compass heading after being switched to autonomous mode and incorporates a “return to base” feature that returns the sailboat back to its starting position

3. Boat can record and transmit servo, sensor, and position data back to base

Project Videos