Abstract
This paper describes a student project that involved the design and construction of a ground robotic system guided by a vision system. The project has been carried out by students in Engineering Technology, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Computer Science. The project has served to meet the senior project requirement of several of the students in the division. The construction of this experimental robotic system is based on a golf cart. A 3.5 horsepower DC motor powers the movement of the vehicle. A CCD camera mounted at the front part of the vehicle captures the road image and this image data is sent to a PC. Then this PC processes the acquired image and transmits a command signal to a stepper motor system controlling the vehicle’s steering wheel for direction control. Through this project, students experience building of a mechatronics system and implementing a software system that commands the functions of various components in an orchestrated manner. This system building experience will be a great asset to these students who will work in the extremely high-tech multi-disciplinary industrial environment of today and in the future. The project is also aimed at the international student competition event for this type of robotic vehicle. By setting a goal like this, students learn how to work in a team, which is another essential skill required in the real world. The paper will describe this project’s coordination, management and cooperation that were handled by the students under the guidance of the professors. The technical part of this paper focuses on the development of the vision guidance navigation algorithm. This algorithm is designed to navigate the vehicle along a course prescribed by the left and right boundary lines. The CCD camera of the vehicle captures the images of these lines within a rectangular image window. Then a light intensity profile along a horizontal line drawn across this rectangular image window is obtained. The motion command to the steering wheel stepper motor is generated by comparing the centroid of two light intensity peaks representing those boundary lines to the current orientation of the vehicle. I. Introduction Towards closing the competency gaps in technical and communication skills in emerging graduates, industry has begun expecting the engineering and technology curricula to instill the overall qualities in the emerging graduates, such that a product development cycle goes smoothly in industrial settings. Nationwide several programs have begun collaborative and cooperative