Project
# | Title | Team Members | TA | Documents | Sponsor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
9 | Robot Vacuum |
Kailong Jin Long Chang Tianyu Zhang Zheyi Hang |
Tielong Cai | design_document2.pdf final_paper2.pdf other11.pdf proposal1.pdf |
Meng Zhang |
**Team Members** Tianyu Zhang tianyu7 Long Chang longc2 Zheyi Hang zheyih2 Kailong Jin kailong3 **Project Title** Robot Vacuum **Problem Description** As technology evolves, robot vacuums are gradually evolving from having only a single sweeping function to having a certain level of intelligence, including laser navigation as well as home map building. But the fact is, in the daily use of robot vacuums, there are still problems such as easy to fall, cannot completely sweep all space. Many large companies are working hard to develop new robot vacuums, which are expected to greatly reduce the work that workers need to do personally, freeing people's hands for a long time and meeting people's expectations of the value of "robots". **Solution Overview** The idea is to solve four problems with existing robot vacuums. Automatically steer the robot at the edge of the stairs by adding a mechanical structure. Improve the suspension structure of the robot vacuum to give it better pass ability. By designing a linkage system with the elevator, the robot vacuum can perform multi-floor sweeping operations. In addition, we will optimize the 3D vision of today's robot vacuums and optimize the pathfinding algorithm. This will allow the robot to become powerful enough to really free people's hands. **Solution Components** *Anti-fall steering subsystem* - It allows the robot to automatically turn when it approaches the edge of stairs to avoid falling and this function is completely mechanical and does not require software. - The robot has a four-wheel structure and is driven by the rear wheels. The front wheels are set to a cone shape. - An extra steering wheel is installed on the chassis, with a rough rubber surface to provide sufficient friction. The direction of steering wheel is perpendicular to the forward direction and is linked to the rear wheel, which provides power. The steering wheel is slightly higher than the four wheels and does not contact the ground during normal progress. - As the robot approaches the edge of the stairs, the conical front wheels will be the first to detangle from the platform, causing the chassis to lower. The steering wheel contacts the ground of the platform and turns quickly to avoid falling. *Low obstacles passing subsystem* - The system allows the robot to pass low thresholds or obstacles to avoid getting stuck during the cleaning process. - This function requires the use of infrared sensor, steering gear and mechanical structure coordination. - We will redesign the structure of the connection between the wheel and the main body of the robot. The connector will be set as a folding telescopic structure, which can be powered by the steering engine to temporarily raise the main body of the robot. - Infrared sensors will be used to detect the height of obstacles in front of the robot to determine whether to turn or pass. *Elevator Interaction Subsystem* - Signal sender and receiver to interact with the elevator. - State machine inside the robot to control the robot's behavior. - Simple elevator (for demo only) with signal sender and receiver to interact with the robot. *Effective Path Finding Subsystem* - Laser sensor to capture and store the 3D/2D surrounding information. - Path decision algorithm inside programmable chip based on archived 3D/2D surrounding information that can make wise decisions on low obstacles. **Criterion for Success** - When approaching the edge of stairs, the robot automatically turns to avoid falling. - The robot can pass 1-2cm high thresholds or obstacles smoothly without getting stuck. - When finishing the cleaning work of one floor, the robot can call for the elevator to send itself to the next floor to continue its cleaning work. - The robot adopts an algorithm developed by us to find the most effective route considering the existence of low obstacles. **Intra-group Division of Labor** - Long is in charge of the implementation of the Anti-fall steering subsystem and the mechanical structure of the elevator. - Zheyi is in charge of the implementation of the Low obstacles passing subsystem and the overall mechanical structure of our robot. - Kailong is in charge of the implementation of the Elevator Interaction Subsystem. - Tianyu is in charge of the implementation of the Effective Path Finding Subsystem and the overall software component of our robot. |