A team of super geeks at Brigham Young University are working hard at building an autonomous robot for entry in this June’s Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC). What caught my attention was the fact that they are using parts from an Invacare Arrow wheelchair in their system.
The team is comprised of a group of electrical and computer engineering students, and Dr. D.J. Lee, Associate Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, who serves as the faculty advisor to the team.
While this contest has no direct connect to wheelchairs, autonomous control and robotics are often considered as a someday enhancement (in some way) to powered wheelchairs. Contests like the IGVC and students like those on the Y-Clops team will help to move that “someday” up on the calendar.
This competition simulates a car traveling autonomously down a roadway. Robots must complete the course and avoid obstacles without any human interaction. Here are some details-
Y-Clops* is an autonomous robot designed by a twelve man team of BYU electrical engineering undergraduates. It is designed to navigate obstacles for the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC). These obstacles include pot holes, sand traps, cones, fences, and staying within a track outlined by white lines.
To win this competition this robot uses three main components:
* Camera for data collection
* Computer for interpreting the data
* Electric wheelchair frame for navigation
I’ll see if I can get one of the team members to post their progress in the comment area.
Go gettem Y-Clops Team!
I’m glad you found our project!
We have found that the wheelchair frame and motor system are incredibly robust and reliable. We have been very pleased with the system. We decided to put tracks on the robot because the swivel wheels caused the robot to veer off course on hills. The tracks allow the stability and power of a 4×4 system while maintaining a great turning radius. The motors are so powerful that the robot still has a top speed of about 6 mph even with the added load of the tracks.
The onboard computer interfaces with the motor controller of the wheelchair. We created a small add-in circuit board that receives commands from the serial port of the computer and then emulates the output of a standard wheelchair joystick.
The IGVC competition is coming up in less than a week and we are confident that Y-Clops will be very competitive!
Thanks for insights Nicholas. I was curious about the motors. Are those 4 pole motors that are being used? In any event, that’s great mph you have pushed out of them considering the load. Please keep us informed regarding the contest and best of luck.
All terrain AND a decent turning range? Oh my gosh!