Autonomous technology is quickly emerging into the field of transportation and almost all major car companies are developing new cars with some sort of self-driving modes. For this capstone project, I looked into how autonomous vehicles operate and then attempted to build my own test platform.
My end goal was to perform a demonstration that shows how the vehicle can drive and react to some outside obstacles. My testbed also serves as an educational device for the public where they will be able to see how the vehicle operates. It also will be able to be used as a test platform, which other projects could use as a base. This is an exploration of mechanical and electrical engineering as well as computer programming.
Research Question
Can basic autonomy be achieved in a household workshop and help demonstrate how the main components operate?
Project
Phases
Existing Mechanics
Autonomous Golf Cart
1992 Electric Club Car DS
Accelerator and Brake Pedal
Steering
Drive-By-Wire
Electronic Control Of
Brake
Accelerator
Drive-By-Wire
Electronic Control Of
Steering
Autonomous Operation and Obstacle Avoidance
GPS - Use Global Positioning System, particularly real-time kinematic GPS, to locate current position and desired position
Distance Sensor - Determine distance to objects for collision avoidance
Odometry and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) - Use data from motion sensors, compass, gyro, accelerometer, etc. to estimate change in position
Sensors
Lat/Long - GPS
In order to use the GPS to help the vehicle drive, the distance and bearing between two sets of longitude and latitude coordinates needed to be found.
In order to do this, two formulas were used.
Haversine Formula:
Bearing Formula:
Sketches Option 1
Compile all sketches in one slide (delete this)
Final Photos (Detail)
Highlight specific details of the design (delete this)
Final Photos (Detail)
Highlight specific details of the design (delete this)
Video / GIF
Clip of final project, demonstrating how it works.
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