S22: Road Runner

1 Road Runner
2 Abstract
- 2.1 Introduction
- 2.2 Team Members & Responsibilities
3 Schedule
4 Parts List & Cost
5 Printed Circuit Board
6 CAN Communication
- 6.1 Hardware Design
- 6.2 DBC File
7 Sensor ECU
8 Motor ECU
9 Geographical Controller
10 Communication Bridge Controller & LCD
11 Master Module
12 Mobile Application
13 Conclusion

Road Runner

Abstract

Road Runner is a self navigating car built with the ability to drive to a specified geo-location within its battery range, while avoiding any physical obstacles that come on its way and successfully reaching its destination, with no human intervention apart from commanding the destination location . The car’s infrastructure has four important nodes (Driver, Sensor and Bridge, Geo and Motor) communicating within themselves over internal CAN Bus and with the end user over a mobile application. The car always strives to stay on and maintain its path to the destination by periodically sensing and processing all the relevant information from the nodes to arrive at an informed decision. It is built on top of a hobby grade RC car chassis with all the necessary adjustments and components to achieve its intended objective of self navigating and object avoidance, one of the basic requirements and functionality of an autonomous vehicle.

Introduction

The project was divided into 5 modules:

Bridge and Sensor Controller
Motor Controller
Geo Controller
Driver / LCD Controller
Android app interface

Team Members & Responsibilities

Road Runner Firmware: GitLab Repo

Team Members:

Dhruv Choksi
Jonathan Doctolero
Tudor Donca
Hisaam Hashim
Saicharan Kadari
Kyle Kwong

Project Subteams:

Bridge and Sensor Controller:
- Tudor Donca
- Saicharan Kadari

Motor Controller:
- Dhruv Choksi
- Hisaam Hashim

Geological Controller:
- Kyle Kwong
- Jonathan Doctolero
- Saicharan Kadari

Bridge and LCD Controller:
- Hisaam Hashim
- Kyle Kwong

Android Application:
- Jonathan Doctolero
- Tudor Donca

Integration Testing:
- Tudor Donca
- Dhruv Choksi
- Hisaam Hashim
- Saicharan Kadari
- Kyle Kwong
- Jonathan Doctolero

Schedule

Week#	Start Date	End Date	Task	Status
1	03/06/2022	03/12/2022	Read previous projects, gather information and discuss among the group members. Discuss each team-member's preference and assign controller roles Create parts list for the RC car, discuss, and decide on each item	Completed
2	03/13/2022	03/19/2022	Design interface for Bridge and Sensor Controller, with unit tests Design interface for Motor Controller, with unit tests Design interface for Driver and LCD Controller, with unit tests Integrate Bridge/Sensor Controller to CAN bus with DBC, handling messages Integrate Motor Controller to CAN bus with DBC, handling messages Integrate Driver Controller to CAN bus with DBC, handling messages Order all parts from list and save tracking/price info	Completed
3	03/20/2022	03/26/2022	Connect Sensor, Motor, and Driver controller together on CAN bus and verify messages Connect all nodes together on the CAN bus, connect android app, verify messages across all nodes Design interface for Geological Controller, with unit tests Design basic android app connection and communication	Completed
4	03/27/2022	04/02/2022	Integrate Geological Controller to CAN bus with DBC, handling messages Integrate Android app with Bridge/Sensor controller, sending/receiving messages both ways Integrate Motor and Steering with PWM control, figure out the working ranges Integrate Bluetooth module to Bridge/Sensor controller, with UART logic Connect Android app to Bridge/Sensor controller, send test message All parts received	Completed
5	04/03/2022	04/09/2022	Connect all nodes together on the CAN bus, connect android app, verify messages across all nodes Mobile app can send coordinates to Bridge controller Start RPM sensor logic implementation and add it to Motor controller MILESTONE - All individual modules considered "Roughly Working" with hardware interfaced	Completed
6	04/10/2022	04/16/2022	Integrate GPS and Compass peripherals, writing the driver and unit tests Have Driver node process GPS position/heading/bearing messages and incorporate in the driver logic Complete RPM sensor and integrate with Motor controller for reliable PID control Bridge sends to mobile app car status / telemetry data Compile additional parts list and order them MILESTONE - Basic car driving ability with basic obstacle avoidance	In Progress
7	04/17/2022	04/23/2022	Create a on-board battery power supply for all components Complete the Compass I2C integration and read values from the peripheral Have PWM signals reliably controlling the motor speed, start working "backwards driving mode" Interface LED ring on the Driver controller and display heading direction MILESTONE - Integrated, reliably "heading" towards provided destination bearing, basic obstacle avoidance First Demo (Apr. 19)
8	04/24/2022	04/30/2022	3D print sensor housings, mounting for the whole platform Design and solder the prototype board with all SJTwo boards Add data to display on the LCD screen Outdoor testing for longer range trips, and complete necessary enhancements MILESTONE - Integration part 2, perform obstacle avoidance and destination bearing Second Demo (Apr. 26)
9	05/01/2022	05/07/2022	Verify that the electrical and mechanical work is complete MILESTONE - Integration and outdoor testing, adding necessary software changes Third Demo (May 3)
10	05/08/2022	05/15/2022	Add "beep beep" sound with speaker MILESTONE - Integration testing, deal with uneven terrain, reliable waypoints navigation and obstacle avoidance Fourth Demo (May 10)

Parts List & Cost

Item#	Part Description	Vendor	Qty	Cost
1	RC Car	Redcat [1]	1	$153.00
2	CAN Transceivers	Various	6	$55
3	Ultrasonic Sensors	Max Botix[2]	2	$87.00
4	Adafruit Bluetooth UART Tranceiver	Adafruit[3]	1	$33.90
5	GPS Module and Antenna	Adafruit[4][5]	1	$59.50
6	Compass Module	Adafruit[6]	1	$29.00
7	Traxxas RPM Sensor	Traxxas[7]	1	$12
8	Discrete Electronic Components	Generic[8]	1	$

Printed Circuit Board

CAN Communication

Hardware Design

DBC File

Gitlab link to the RoadRunner DBC file

VERSION ""

NS_ :
	BA_
	BA_DEF_
	BA_DEF_DEF_
	BA_DEF_DEF_REL_
	BA_DEF_REL_
	BA_DEF_SGTYPE_
	BA_REL_
	BA_SGTYPE_
	BO_TX_BU_
	BU_BO_REL_
	BU_EV_REL_
	BU_SG_REL_
	CAT_
	CAT_DEF_
	CM_
	ENVVAR_DATA_
	EV_DATA_
	FILTER
	NS_DESC_
	SGTYPE_
	SGTYPE_VAL_
	SG_MUL_VAL_
	SIGTYPE_VALTYPE_
	SIG_GROUP_
	SIG_TYPE_REF_
	SIG_VALTYPE_
	VAL_
	VAL_TABLE_

BS_: 

BU_: DBG DRIVER MOTOR SENSOR_BRIDGE GEOLOGICAL

BO_ 100 MOTOR_CMD: 4 DRIVER
 SG_ MOTOR_steer_degrees : 0|9@1- (1,-45) [-45|45] "degrees" MOTOR
 SG_ MOTOR_speed_kph : 9|9@1- (0.1,-40.5) [-40.5|40.5] "kph" MOTOR

BO_ 101 MOTOR_STATUS: 4 MOTOR
 SG_ MOTOR_STATUS_steer_degrees : 0|9@1- (1,-45) [-45|45] "degrees" DRIVER
 SG_ MOTOR_STATUS_speed_kph : 9|9@1- (0.1,-40.5) [-40.5|40.5] "kph" DRIVER

BO_ 200 SENSOR_SONARS: 8 SENSOR_BRIDGE
 SG_ SENSOR_SONARS_left : 0|10@1+ (1,0) [0|500] "cm" DRIVER
 SG_ SENSOR_SONARS_right : 10|10@1+ (1,0) [0|500] "cm" DRIVER
 SG_ SENSOR_SONARS_middle : 20|10@1+ (1,0) [0|500] "cm" DRIVER
 SG_ SENSOR_SONARS_back : 30|10@1+ (1,0) [0|500] "cm" DRIVER

BO_ 201 GPS_DESTINATION: 8 SENSOR_BRIDGE
 SG_ GPS_DESTINATION_latitude : 0|28@1- (0.000001,-90.000000) [-90|90] "Degrees" GEOLOGICAL
 SG_ GPS_DESTINATION_longitude : 28|28@1- (0.000001,-180.000000) [-180|180] "Degrees" GEOLOGICAL

BO_ 350 GEO_STATUS: 8 GEOLOGICAL
 SG_ GEO_STATUS_COMPASS_HEADING : 0|12@1+ (1,0) [0|359] "Degrees" DRIVER,SENSOR_BRIDGE
 SG_ GEO_STATUS_COMPASS_BEARING : 12|12@1+ (1,0) [0|359] "Degrees" DRIVER,SENSOR_BRIDGE
 SG_ GEO_STATUS_DISTANCE_TO_DESTINATION : 24|24@1+ (1,0) [0|0] "Meters" DRIVER,SENSOR_BRIDGE

BO_ 360 GEO_CURRENT_POSITION: 8 GEOLOGICAL
 SG_ GEO_CURRENT_POSITION_latitude : 0|28@1- (0.000001,-90.000000) [-90|90] "Degrees" DRIVER,SENSOR_BRIDGE
 SG_ GEO_CURRENT_POSITION_longitude : 28|28@1- (0.000001,-180.000000) [-180|180] "Degrees" DRIVER,SENSOR_BRIDGE 

CM_ BU_ DRIVER "The driver controller driving the car";
CM_ BU_ MOTOR "The motor controller of the car";
CM_ BU_ SENSOR_BRIDGE "The sensor and bluetooth bridge controller of the car";
CM_ BU_ GEOLOGICAL "The GPS and compass controller of the car";
CM_ BO_ 100 "Sync message used to synchronize the controllers";

BA_DEF_ "BusType" STRING ;
BA_DEF_ BO_ "GenMsgCycleTime" INT 0 0;
BA_DEF_ SG_ "FieldType" STRING ;

BA_DEF_DEF_ "BusType" "CAN";
BA_DEF_DEF_ "FieldType" "";
BA_DEF_DEF_ "GenMsgCycleTime" 0;

BA_ "GenMsgCycleTime" BO_ 100 1000;
BA_ "GenMsgCycleTime" BO_ 200 50;
BA_ "FieldType" SG_ 100 DRIVER_HEARTBEAT_cmd "DRIVER_HEARTBEAT_cmd";

VAL_ 100 DRIVER_HEARTBEAT_cmd 2 "DRIVER_HEARTBEAT_cmd_REBOOT" 1 "DRIVER_HEARTBEAT_cmd_SYNC" 0 "DRIVER_HEARTBEAT_cmd_NOOP" ;