University of Toronto

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

MIE444: Mechatronics Principles

Request for Proposal

October 12th, 2018

Group 2:
Yuanshan Du 1001324541
Hongzheng Xu 1001772904
Yixiao Hong 1001311145
Ziqi Zhang 1001374684
Stephen Huang 1001165099
Project Requirements

The goal of this project is to build a rover that can navigate through the 4 x 8 maze,

avoid obstacles, and relocate a load from the loading zone to the drop-off zone. Several

sub-categories are required to be considered in order to achieve the objective.

First of all, the rover should be able to identify its own location in the maze and the

direction it is heading. Second, the rover should be able to drive in a straight line during

movement and perform corrections. Third, the rover should be efficient when choosing

the route, which means the rover should travel the shortest distance.

There are several important constraints that the design must meet. First, the cost of the

entire project has to be less than 250 Canadian dollars. Second, the rover must be able

to identify the wall and avoid contacting the wall. Third, the rover must be able to identify

the location of the load in the loading zone. Last, the rover must be able to perform

collect-and-release operations to move the load.

Detailed Rover Design
The layout of the rover components is shown by the CAD model in Figure 1 to Figure 3

Figure 1. Isometric View of Rover

Figure 2. Side View of Rover

 G

Figure 3. Top View of Rover

Figure 4. Front View of Rover

Maneuvering:

The rover is driven by two side-wheels that are powered by 6V DC motors. The rover

moves forward when two wheels spin in the same direction, turns when two wheels spin

in the opposite directions. A ball caster is placed at the back of the rover to support its

body weight. Four ultrasonic sensors on each side obtain the distance from the wall.

When moving forward, the rover straightens itself by maintaining the readings of the

side sensors. If the reading from either side sensors drops suddenly, the rover will know

it’s approaching an intersection. Then it will perform turning operations as per Figure 5.

Figure 5. Forward, Intersection detection, and Turning

Loading:

The loading mechanism consists of two clamping arms that pick up the block by pitching

it on both sides, shown in Figure 4. A layer of high friction soft material (eg. scouring

pad) is attached to the inside of the clamping arms for both lifting and holding purposes,

as per Figure 6 and 7. The rover will detect the block when the IR sensor’s distance

reading is significantly smaller than the front ultrasonic sensor’s reading, shown in

Figure 8.

Figure 6. Rover Clamp Closing

Figure 7. Rover Clamp Fully Closed

 Figure 8. Sensor Block Detection

Bill of Materials

The following table lists the components required to build the rover:
Component Comment Quantity Price (USD)

6V DC motor with 2 $23.44

encoder

Pololu-like wheels 2

Servo motor Screw mounted and glued to the 2 $7.32

rover frame

IR distance sensor 1 $3.37

Ultrasonic distance 4 $15.16

sensor

Digital compass 1 $0.77

L298P motor Control the motors 1 $4.19
controller shield

Arduino UNO 1 $3.88

USB Programming 1 $1.00

Cable

12V NiMH Battery Step down to 6V for all the motors 1 $30.26
Pack

12V Battery pack 1 $5.00

connectors

DC-DC converter 1 $0.78

Ball caster (large) 2 $6.14

Breadboard 1 $1.00

Acrylic Sheets (~12" x Laser cut 1 $11.93

~12")

Wifi ESP8266 Logic operations performed on a 1 $5.26

separate computer. The rover
communicates with the computer
through the Wifi module.

jumper wires 30 $1.22

Screws (multiple Secure main components (motors, 18 $2.00

sizes) ball casters, Arduino board,
sensors, etc.)

Portable power bank Supply 5V input voltage to Arduino 1 $15.99

(5200mAh) board

Total $134.99 (CA$174.89)

Maze Solving Strategies

Localization Strategy:

As shown in Figure 9, the internal map’s orientation (up down left right) is predefined to

be aligned with the maze in terms of the compass cardinal direction.

Each 1’ x 1’ grid of the map is then characterized into different types of zones based on

their surrounding walls. See Figure 9 for locations of characterized grids and zones. “☆”

grids are unique zones while Type1-5 grids are non-unique zones.

Once the rover is placed in the maze, it will re-orientate itself using the compass to face

the “Up” direction. Then, ultrasonic sensors will scan the surrounding walls to identify

the rover’s current location. The rover will be localized if it is in any “☆” grids.

Otherwise, the rover will be able to identify which type of zone it’s currently in and

proceed to further localization procedures described in Figure 9.

Figure 9. Localization Strategy
Target Location Navigation:

A 6*10 navigation map is shown in Figure 10 below. The target location(s) are given

values of 0. All other locations are assigned with a value which represents the least

number of steps needed to reach the target. Once the rover localizes itself, it will start to

compare its current location with the surrounding grids and move to a lower-valued grid

until it reaches the grid with the value of 0 (Target location).

Figure 10. Navigation Maps

Maneuvering & Real-Time Location Display Strategy:

Following strategies will be applied depending on which zone the rover is in as per

Figure 11. The rover will confirm its current location every time it passes a turning zone.

Other non-turning zone locations will be calculated based on the tracked distance of the

encoder from the last confirmed turning zone. The rover’s location will be displayed on a

laptop through Wifi connection.

Figure 11.Strategies Matrix

 Summary of individual tasks

The individual assignments’ responsible personnel, specific goals, and timelines are
listed in the table below:

Task Responsible Goals Timelines

Person

1 Achieve Stephen ● Identify the initial To be completed before the

localization with a Huang orientation first milestone, obstacle
random starting ● Identify the orientation avoidance
after turning, which
orientation, and
way the rover is
track & display facing.
orientation during ● Implement a display
the operation. showing the current
moving direction.

2 Provide a sound Yuanshan ● Provide sound effect To be completed before the

effect based on Du to show the moving second milestone,
the location and direction after each localization.
turning operation.
task.
● Provide sound effect
on loading and
unloading operations.

3 Build a circuit Hongzheng ● Build a circuit that To be completed 1 week

which can Xu allows charging the before the first milestone,
recharge NiMH battery from a obstacle avoidance, to
standard 110V support testing.
battery
Voltage source.

4 Robot Aesthetics Yixiao Hong ● Ensure all the To be performed before each
electrical connections test run and milestone
are secured, no loose showcases.
wire.
● Group or identify the
wires for tidiness.
● Ensure no visible glue
residues on the rover
5 Program Arduino Ziqi Zhang ● Create communication To be completed 1 week
over Bluetooth between the Arduino before the second milestone,
board and the localization, for ease of
computer via a adjustment and
Bluetooth/Wifi module troubleshooting.
● Be able to remotely
change the Arduino
code
● Oversee the rover
operations on the
computer. Read the
data for location,
direction, loading, and
unloading.

Contribution List​:
Summarize the distribution of work. (5 points)

Ziqi Zhang Yuanshan Du Yixiao Hong Hongzheng Xu Stephen Huang

Project ET FD,FP ET ET, MR, FP ET

Requirement

Detailed Rover ET, FP MR,FP FD ET, FP FD,FP

Design

Bill of Materials FD, FP ET FP ET,FP

Maze Solving MR, FP ET,FP MR,FP FD, ET, MR MR,ET,FP

Strategy

Summary of FD ET FP ET
Individual Task

FD - First Draft
ET - Edit
MR - Major Revision
FP - Final Proofreading