A New Device Concept

The purpose of this Senior Capstone Design Project is to design and build a robotic vehicle capable of autonomously identifying and following a marked target using, as a minimum, a visual camera. The robot should be remotely controllable for navigation to and from the target area. It should include an autonomous mode where it searches a 360 degree field of view for a predefined target such as a brightly colored marker. Upon successful target acquisition, the robot will close to within 3 ft of the target without collision. If the marker moves the robot should be capable of autonomously following. The robot should be self-powered for over 1 hour of continuous run time. It should be capable of speeds around 5 mph and have a zero turning radius. An electrical package will be required including significant computing power, power supply and conditioning, wheel servos/motors control, and optional control of sensor tilt and angle. The device should be capable of two-way communication with a simple portable “base station” such as a PDA in order to accept commands and return data. In addition to the primary sensor(s), other sensors may be necessary such as wheel speed indicators and a range finder. The robot should be able to save data on command and have the ability to transfer that data to a PC. The chassis should be structurally sound and protect the electronics from minimal environmental conditions, with primary operation indoors at room temperature. An easily accessible manual shutdown must be included for safety purposes that will cut power to the wheels.