BE DRIVEN
Yesterday, Michael and I had the final demo & presentation of our autonomous golf cart. Phase 1 of the development process is now completed, which means a couple of different things for us: For the rest of this trimester, we will no longer be developing the goal cart. We will continue the phase 2 of the… Continue reading Looking Into The Future
Introduction After implementing the steering system, our focus has been on the cruise control system. The golf cart needs to stop when it encounters an obstacle, and continue to move forward once the obstacle is removed. At the time when we tested & implement this basic cruise control system, the golf cart had no odometer… Continue reading Autonomous Cruise Control System
Today is a very special day for us. We have successfully tested the autonomous steering system for the self-driving cart. Here is a video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcUXtViFQeU&t=2s For the past 27 days (not counting weekend only 19 days), Michael and I have been working on the autonomous steering system for the self-driving golf cart. Frankly, I have never… Continue reading Successfully Tested the Autonomous Steering System for the Self Driving Golf Cart
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
