ECE 290: Senior Design Autonomous Fire Robot

1
ECE 290Senior DesignAutonomous Fire Robot

• Kenneth Cole
• Sean Pow
• Hau Truong

2
Summary

• Advisor John Ayers
• Sponsor Department of Electrical/Computer
  Engineering

3
Summary

• The 9th Annual Trinity College Fire-Fighting
  Robot Contest will be on April 21, 2002.
• Our Aim is to build a robot that will be a
  serious contender in this International Event.

4
Summary The Robot

• Stand-alone system, self-controlled.
• Must locate and extinguish a lit candle within a
  model of a single floor house.
• House layout www.trincoll.edu/events/robot/images
  /arena02.gif
• Should not bump into walls or the candle.

5
Summary The Robot

• An exciting challenge!
• Involves integration of mechanical, electrical,
  and computer knowledge.

6
Objective 1

• To successfully create a robot, subject to the
  parameters defined by the Trinity College Contest
  Rules and Regulations, which will compete in the
  April 21, 2002 competition.

7
Objective 2

• Combine the knowledge and skills of a 3-person
  team to successfully perform the task of
  designing and implementing a complex
  multidisciplinary engineering project.

8
Objective 3

• Reach for the goals that the Fire Robot Contest
  is promoting
• Creativity
• Originality
• Invention
• Education

9
Background Information

• Fire-Extinguishing Robot is a computer-controlled
  Robot. It can find a lit candle and extinguish
  it.
• The robot can use such items as water, air, CO2,
  Halon, etc., but any method or material that is
  dangerous or will damage the arena is
  prohibited.
• The walls of structure will be made of wood and
  will be 33 cm. High, and will be painted with
  plat white paint.

10
Background Information (cont)

• The contestants cannot measure or touch the
  candle before it is used. Contestant are not
  allowed to place any makers, beacons or
  reflectors on the walls or floors. Contestants
  will have time between their runs to make any
  adjustments, modifications or repairs to their
  Robot. They also will have 1 minute to get
  started on their Robot.

11
Background Information (cont)

• However, if a contestant wants to run their
  Robot successively without any delay between
  runs, they may do so.
• The contestants will show a judge how to actuate
  the Robot and then the judge will actually press
  whatever buttons necessary to start the Robot.

12
History of Contest

• The even though they call this a HOME Robot
  Contest they believe that the first applications
  will be used in warehouse situations. After a
  few years of running successfully in warehouses,
  this technology could then move into the more
  complicated office building setting. Finally this
  technology will be effective enough and cheap
  enough to move into the home.
• The 9th Annual Contest will be held on April 21,
  2002 at Trinity College in Hartford.

13
Our Design

• The Trinity College robot competition is divided
  into three classes Junior (Grade 8 and Below),
  High School (Grades 9 through 13), Senior
  (college students and adults), and Expert
  (experienced adults). We will be entering the
  competition in the Senior division such that any
  Operating Mode options are available and the
  candle may be located in any one of the four
  rooms.

14
Our Design (cont)

• Our project is to build a Fire Robot that is
  included the circuits to control the heat sensor,
  the wall detectors, and to control the DC motors
  for running the Robots wheels and the Robots
  fan.
• Our Robots circuits will be programmed by using
  Microcontroller (PIC) which we learnt from the
  course ECE 266. We also using the mechanical
  technology to build the body of our Robot, and
  the important thing is we use IR (Infra-Red)
  theory to build the circuit for the Sensors which
  we will use on our Robot.

15
Physics

• Robot builders should be aware that many modern
  film and video cameras transmit infrared light as
  part of their automatic focusing systems. Ambient
  lighting in the contest room may also be a source
  of IR, visible and UV light. If a Robot uses
  light sensors to find the candle or detect walls
  or furniture, the builders should take steps to
  prevent these light sources from interfering with
  its operation.

16
The Frame

• Circular for minimal turning radius
• Plexiglas platforms
• Base Platform
• Distance and Line detectors, Drive Motors,
  Wheels, and Batteries
• Center Platform Microcontroller and Drive
  Circuitry
• Top Platform Flame sensors and Fan

17
Motors

• In-Place rotation to avoid walls and objects
• 2 DC Motor-driven wheels
• Reversible, high torgue, low current, low
  voltage
• 2 Swivel wheels for stability
• Both motors driven by Dual Full-H Bridge chip
  UDN2916B

18
Fire-Extinguishing

• DC Fan Motor
• High torque at high speed, high current, low
  voltage

19
Wall and Object Detection

• 4 - SHARP GP2D02 Infrared Rangers
• Ability to determine position in arena
• Impervious to color and reflectivity of object
• 10cm (4") to 80cm (30")
• Serial 8-bit clocked output

20
Flame Detection

• UVTron Flame Detector
• Sensitive inside 185-260nm
• Susceptible to UV light
• Eltec Pyroelectric Sensor
• Heat-Sensing
• Responds to IR Wavelengths

21
Line Sensing

• White line will indicate room entry
• White circle will indicate 30cm circle around
  candle permitting fire extinguishing attempts
• QRB 1114 Phototransistor
• - Responds to reflectivity of object
• - Susceptible to ambient light
• - Mounted ¼ from floor for optimal SNR

22
PIC Microcontroller

• Brains of the robot
• Multiple inputs and outputs
• PIC 16F874
• Assembly language programming
• Flexibility Up to 8 analog inputs
• Pins as inputs or outputs
• Interface programming for threshold
  adaptation

23
Software

• Extensive programming for optimal technique
• Determine position and orientation using distance
  measurements and table of values
• Select algorithm from table to search all rooms
  based on position in arena
• - Dead-Reckoning
• Execute algorithm until fire is found
• Extinguish the fire

24
Budget
25
Timeline
26
Conclusion

• The Trinity College Autonomous Fire-Fighting
  Robot Competition is meant to further robotic
  knowledge and to encourage innovative ideas. We
  have used our prior experience to begin the
  design of an effective and reliable robot for
  this purpose. Although a lack of parts has
  prevented us from completing formal testing and
  implementation, we are confident of completing a
  robot that will be a strong contender in the
  robot competition on April 21, 2001.

27
Questions? Comments?