BE DRIVEN
Since Tuesday, Michael and I have been testing the self-driving golf cart on the road. It has been a very very exciting process. Tuesday: This was the first real-world test with the brand new steering control system. Just like any "first test", the cart didn't work. Thanks to our robotics teacher Ms. Hayes-Golding, we were… Continue reading On the Road — Testing the Autonomous Golf Cart
Today, we put together the whole entire system on the golf cart. The setup includes: NVIDIA Jetson -- the main controller for the vehicle A webcam on the front of the vehicle A computer monitor (placed on the cupholder) A mouse A keyboard A DC motor for steering An Arduino with a motor controller module… Continue reading Testing the Steering System with NVIDIA Jetson
Introduction After engineering the steering mechanism, we needed a software & hardware system that can control the steering motor. We need to send commands to the motor from the Jetson to control its turning. What happened Initially, we landed on the TB6612 motor controller by SparkFun. After burning six of them, Michael and I decided… Continue reading Steering Motor Control System (SMCS)
Before we can figure out our testing site. We wanted to implement the Arduino controlled acceleration system. We decided to take a bold step and take apart the accelerator pedal and cut all of its wires. The whole entire accelerator sensor is a potentiometer. Potentiometer (pot for short) is everywhere in electronics, from speakers… Continue reading Hacking the Accelerator — Controlling the Speed Using an Arduino
Our first and perhaps one of the biggest hurdles is to engineer a mechanism that can control the steering of the vehicle. After the winter break, my focus has been on engineering the steering control system. Michael is working on the Arduino & motor controller & Jetson. Today, I finished the first iteration of the… Continue reading Engineering the Steering Mechanism
