Week 5

Feb 20, 2018

Sensing and Processing Team

We have an order placed for the Velodyne VLP — 16 3D LIDAR (see image below). Once we get it, we will work to configure it for the golf cart. It will simplify our job and make our data capture both more reliable and centralized. Even though we previously wrote off using the Intel Euclid, we are looking into the capabilities of the Euclid and the ZED Stereo Camera for object detection. However, the LIDAR may get rid of the need for the Euclid and the ZED.

Planning and Navigation Team

After creating an accessible web server last week, we still needed to add modules and packages to make a fully functional Apache2 server. We installed php, MySQL, and phpMyAdmin which enables us to store databases and login information. Next week, hopefully, we will have created a database that can provide sensor data to a front-end app user. We ran into a lot of issues getting a working simulation but after much effort we got a simulation of a vehicle that drives similar to that of a car. We still need to confirm that it accepts the right types of movement messages. Another potential issue is whether or not we will be able to easily modify the template car to fit the dimensions of our vehicles.

Motor Control Team

This week the motor control team has successfully received the parts they need to prototype and test the control systems. The most important parts that they received were the linear actuators, which are rods that will push down on the gas and brake pedals to control the golf cart. The team has also started to write code to control the linear actuators based off of what the planning team sends. Lastly, the team began to design a separate system for the cart’s emergency shut off button, allowing the passenger to directly stop the vehicle at the press of a button.

Front End Team

The Logo is still going through the design process. Below are the initial designs we have so far. We are going for one closer to Gen 2, and the name is also still being decided. We will be going with a name that relates more to the car, and JMU.