Transcript Southeastcon 2009 Hardware Competition: The Recycling Robot

The Recycling Robot
SECON Team B
Mid-Term Presentation
Team B
Dr. Bryan Jones,
Advisor
Jeff
Brantley
Jonathan
Bryant
Sorting
Storage
X
X
Kevin
Vu
X
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X
Discrimination
Navigation
Brooke
Grantham
X
Outline
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Competition Overview
Project Division
Technical Constraints
Practical Constraints
Project Timeline
Problem Statement
• Autonomous recycling robot
for 2009 IEEE SECON
hardware competition
• 10 Recyclables include:
– 5 aluminum cans
– 3 plastic bottles
– 2 glass bottles
• Must locate, acquire, sort,
and store recyclables on the
robot [1].
Competition Playing Field
• Artificial turf
• Recyclables will be
placed on their sides
• The recyclables
arrangement will be
the same for each
heat
Competition Recyclables
Image obtained from SoutheastCon 2009 Hardware Competition rules [1].
Outline
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Competition Overview
Project Division
Technical Constraints
Practical Constraints
Project Timeline
Team Tasks
Team A
Boundary
Detection
Team B
Acquisition
Driving
Discrimination
Navigation
Target
Detection
Sorting
Storage
Outline
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Competition Overview
Project Division
Technical Constraints
Practical Constraints
Project Timeline
Technical Constraints
Name
Description
Storage Capacity The robot’s storage compartments
must accommodate all 10
containers that will reside on the
playing field.
The robot must recognize the
Target
containers as being either glass,
Discrimination
aluminum, or plastic.
Storage Capacity
• Constraints
– Plastic bags cannot drag on the field
– Store 10 containers
• Approach considerations
– Number of compartments
– Expansion
Storage Tradeoffs
• Three compartments
– Necessary for
maximum score
– More complex
• Two compartments
– Less sorting
complexity
– Reduces maximum
possible score
• Expanding containers
– More room for internal
subsystems
– More likely to extend
outside boundary
• Fixed containers
– Less complex
– Limits room for other
components
Storage Capacity
• Final Approach
– Three storage compartments
– Store internally
Storage Access
• Small rear slot for glass bottles
• First slot on top for aluminum cans
• Can slot closes for plastic to roll past
Target Discrimination
• Initial Approaches
– Camera
• Complex, dependent upon lighting conditions
– Infrared (IR) sensor
• Sensitive to lighting conditions
– Force Sensing Resistor (FSR)
• Limited sensitivity
Target Discrimination
Container Type
Voltage*
Glass
3.17
Plastic
2.62
Aluminum
0.00
*Using 3.3V scale
Target Discrimination
• Final Approach:
– Combination FSR and IR sensor
– FSR to detect and differentiate between glass
and plastic
– Cans detected by IR sensor
Mechanical Lift
• Placement
– Middle
– Front
– Back
• Lift Mechanism
– Pulley System
– Stepper Motor
Lift in the middle
• Complexity
• No storage space
– Requires expansion
Lift in front
• Storage room
• Arms in front
– Push items
– Past outer boundary
TOP VIEW
Lift in back
• Robot drives over item
• Arms moved inside
– Turn at outer limits
• Storage space lost at
the bottom
• Final Approach
TOP VIEW
Pulley System
• Level with ground
• Complexity
• Room for cables
and pulleys
SIDE VIEW
Stepper Motor
• Simplicity
• Offset with size
of motor
• Final Approach
SIDE VIEW
Navigation
Systematic
scanning for all
possible target
locations
• perimeter
• sweeping back
and forth
Outline
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Competition Overview
Project Division
Technical Constraints
Practical Constraints
Project Timeline
Practical Constraints
Name
Manufacturability
Sustainability
Description
The robot must fit inside a
12" X 12" X 18" box
before beginning of each
round.
The robot must operate at
least 4 minutes on a single
battery charge.
Manufacturability
• Allowed to use 18” for L, W, or H
• 18” Height
– Small footprint (12” x 12”) is more
maneuverable
– Tracks take up 3-3.5” in width
– Plastic bottles are 8.7” long
– Need more room for bottles to between tracks
Manufacturability
• 18” Width
– Plenty of room for bottles to pass between
tracks
– Containers do not naturally fall in the most
optimal arrangement
– Must reorient some containers to fill in wasted
space due to extra width
Sustainability
• Robot must be able to run for a full round
(4 min.) on a single battery charge
• Battery options:
– Lithium-Ion Polymer
• Small, high energy density
• Performed well for SECON 2008 team
• Requires external protection circuitry
– Lithium-Ion
• Also a high-density battery
• Protection circuitry housed in battery
Outline
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Competition Overview
Project Division
Technical Constraints
Practical Constraints
Project Timeline
Timeline
Sept.
Sorting
Storage
Discrimination
Navigation
Integration
October
November
Summary
Problem
Approach
Target Discrimination
FSR and IR sensor
Storage
Fixed-size box with
three compartments
Lift-and-dump
Sorting
Navigation
Systematic, fullcoverage sweep
References
[1] Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Southeastcon 2009 Hardware Competition: The
Recycling Robot, 2008 August 28,
http://hardware.gtieee.org/southeastcon2009/Southeast
Con-2009-Hardware-Rules.pdf. Accessed September
16, 2008.