The Bearcat Cub V

The Bearcat Cub V

Presented June 9, 2012By William Hilton and Nicholas Vuotto

Outline• Our Team• Introduction to the Cub• Sensors• Last year’s performance• Design enhancements

– Wireless E-stop– Wired E-stop– Additional enhancements

• Lane Detection• Obstacle Avoidance• Conclusions

Our Team

• University of Cincinnati• Participated all 20 years of IGVC• Currently all undergraduates

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Introduction to the Bearcat Cub• Incremental evolution of last

year’s vehicle• Two deep cycle marine batteries

for power• Segway wheels and gearboxes

for motion• Sensors mounted on mast for

intelligence• Dell laptop to control it all

Sensors

• SICK Lidar• Bumblebee stereovision• Two Sony camcorders• Novatel GPS• HMR Compass• Wheel encoders

Last Year’s Performance

• We qualified!• 1st run: software crashed• 2nd run: E-stop demonstration caused

software crash & full reboot• Fuses in inverter blew preventing further

attempts

Lesson learned: more robustness!

Wireless E-stop

Remote Kill Switch with 2.5x factor of safety!

250 feet

Wired E-stop

New, schematically simpler system.Easier to reset & doesn’t crash code.

Additions Since Report

Since the written report was submitted, the following changes have been made:• Foam safety bumper• Upgraded safety light from parallel port to

USB• Added 100A circuit breaker• And central fuse box• Code stability improvements

Lane Detection• HSV thresholding for color detection• Hough transform to find best line fit

Obstacle Detection• Uses LIDAR and stereovision• Obstacles create virtual repelling forces• Target creates virtual attractive force• Heading determined by summing the

forces

Conclusions

• The same software algorithms as last year:– but better tested!

• Upgrades to the electrical system and the frame to be:– More reliable– Safer

• Competition, here we come!

Thanks to

• Our mentor, Professor Humpert• University of Cincinnati Center for

Robotics Research• IGVC Committee

Questions?