Week of 11/8/21 - Weekly Report 10

Plans for next week:

• Test the RC car's signal generation and operation with standard remote control

• Start testing the ordered RC car with a Microcontroller and code

• Keep working on individual systems

Group Meeting memo:

• Discussed testing and implementation of systems on the RC car with Dr. Asghari.

• Set individual goals, in terms of deliverables, for the end of this semester.

Project Progress:

Jordyn:

• Continue working on PCB implementation for CAN Bus

• Continue to gather research from other projects and last years Smart Car I

• Submit HW 5 - System Description and Project Description

Figure 1: Part of CAN Bus for Smart Car I project

Quinn:

• Worked on getting the RC car ready for testing.

• Worked on getting real time GPS coordinates using the Adafruit Ultimate GPS Logger Shield.

• Worked on setting up a Raspberry Pi camera with Dr.Asghari.

• Downloaded OpenCV.

Jacob:

• Worked on getting the RC car ready for testing

• Starting to implement code on Arduino with sensors, temporary servo and temporary motor. The temporary components are being used in place of the RC components. The goal will be to start testing the algorithm with these temp components and then switch to the RC components when possible.

DJ:

• Began writing the program that would emulate the anti-collision feature implemented in previous projects.

• Determined the three-speed settings and the corresponding stopping/following distance for the ACC subsystem. The three speeds that the user will be allowed to choose from are 5 mph (2.25 m/s), 7.5 mph (3.35 m/s), and 10 mph (4.5 m/s). The corresponding stop/follow distances are 25", 36", and 50", respectively.

• The current Arduino program pre-defines a speed setting for the purposes of simulation. The program is implemented in a circuit that includes an Arduino Uno, TFmini LiDAR sensor, resistors, and LEDs. A photo of the circuit is shown below in Figure 1.

• Depending on the speed setting, the red LED will illuminate if the distance between the lidar and an object is less than the corresponding stopping distance. Otherwise, the green LED will be illuminated. In the completed program, the car motor will stop rather than have a red LED illuminated.

• For example, if the lowest speed setting (5 mph) is defined in the code, then the red LED will illuminate if the distance between the lidar sensor and an object is less than 25".

• A visual representation of the example above is shown in Figures 2 and 3.

• The plan for next week is to continue working on coding the anti-collision as well as determine how to control the car motor using code.

Figure 1: Temporary circuit for testing the program

Figure 2: The green LED illuminates before the distance between it and the wall is 25"

Figure 3: The red LED illuminates when the lidar is 25" away from the wall