Bluetooth Controlled Stairs Climbing Robot.
UNIVERSITI TEKNIKAL MALAYSIA MELAKA
BLUETOOTH CONTROLLED STAIRS CLIMBING ROBOT
This report submitted in accordance with requirement of University Teknikal Malaysia
Melaka (UTeM) for the Bachelor of Manufacturing Engineering (Robotic and
Automation) with Honours.
By
SYAZWAN AKMAL BIN SUMAIDI
FACULTY OF MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING
2008
ABSTRACT
This project is about designing and developing a stairs climbing robot which is
manually controlled using Bluetooth wireless technology. This project is actually
an improvement of a previous PSM project of stairs climbing robot. The
improvement focuses on the design structure, robot capability and technology
implementation. For the design structure, the improved stairs climbing robot have a
more stable structure compared to previous design. The base of the improved robot
is wider and has larger surface contact to the ground, therefore it is more stable. For
robot capability, the improved stairs climbing robot uses tracked wheels, this type
of wheel increases the traction between wheels and stairs during climbing thus
preventing it from slipping. This also increased the capability of the robot to climb
stairs compared to the previous one that was only able to climb two steps of stairs.
In the technology implementation, the improved stairs climbing robot utilizes
Bluetooth technology. That adopted frequency hopping technique minimizes the
chance of signal interference compared to the previous robot that uses radio
frequency (RF) signal that was highly exposed to interferences during
communication. The result from testing shows that this robot is able to climb up
stairs better from the previous stairs climbing robot.
i
ABSTRAK
Projek ini adalah berkenaan dengan mereka dan membangunkan sebuah robot yang
boleh menaiki tangga yang dikawal secara manual dengan menggunakan teknologi
wayarles Bluetooth. Projek ini adalah suatu penambahbaikan dari projek PSM
sebelum ini. Penambahbaikan ini adalah bertumpu pada struktur reka bentuk,
keupayaan robot dan penggunanan teknologi pada robot berkenaan. Untuk struktur
reka bentuk, robot ini mempunyai struktur yang lebih stabil berbanding dengan
reka bentuk robot sebelum ini. Tapak asas robot ini mempunyai keluasan
permukaan bersentuh dengan lantai yang lebih besar, oleh itu ia lebih stabil. Dari
segi keupayaan, ia menggunakan roda bertrek, roda jenis ini meningkatkan daya
geseran antara roda-roda dengan tangga semasa mendaki dan menghalang ia
daripada tergelincir. Ini juga dapat menembahkan keupayaanya untuk memanjat
tangga dengan lebih baik berbanding dengan robot sebelum ini yang hanya dapat
menaiki dua anak tangga sahaja. Dalam penggunaan teknologi pula, robot ini
menggunakan teknologi Bluetooth. Teknologi ini menggunakan teknik frekuensi
loncatan bagi mengurangkan gangguan isyarat berbanding dengan robot sebelum
ini yang menggunakan isyarat frekuensi radio (RF) yang sangat terdedah kepada
gangguan semasa berkomunikasi. Hasil daripada ujian yang telah dijalankan ke atas
robot ini, ia mampu untuk menaiki tangga dengan lebih baik berbanding robot
sebelum ini.
ii
DEDICATION
To my parents, Sumaidi Sukarso and Rohaidah Hassan;
Supervisor, Pn. Syamimi Bt Shamsuddin;
Co-supervisor, En. Muhamad Arfauz bin Abdul Rahman;
Girlfriend, Nor Hayati Nadzli;
Housemate, Addam, Adam, Abie, Ajis and Apis;
Whose love of reading has been an inspiration.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious and Most Merciful. I would like to express
my most sincere and deepest gratitude to my PSM supervisor, Pn. Syamimi Bt
Shamsuddin, for her untiringly encouraging discussion, valuable comment and
advice throughout this PSM period. Her continuous support and concern during
critical and difficult times have been such an inspiring moment that motivated me
in many ways especially in focusing and directing toward the accomplishment of
this PSM report. May Allah (S.W.T) bless her with many and best rewards. Special
thanks also go to my PSM co-supervisor, En. Muhamad Arfauz bin Abdul Rahman,
who have endowed his sensible and constructive advice and wisdom throughout
this PSM period. My warmest thanks also go to all my collogues, for giving such a
great help to me and also being my companion during those hard times. Finally I
would like to acknowledge an unconditional love, encouragement and moral
support that I have received from my loving partner, Nor Hayati Nadzli, the source
of my inspiration, my families for their love and understanding that have become
the driving force of aspiration that lead me to this achievement. May Allah (S.W.T)
bless them with His greatest rewards.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENT
Abstract
i
Abstrak
ii
Dedication
iii
Acknowledgment
iv
Table of Content
v
List of Table
ix
List of Figure
x
List Abbreviations
xiv
1. INTRODUCTION
1
1.1
Project Background
1
1.2
Problems Statement
2
1.3
Project Aim and Objectives
2
1.4
Project Scopes
3
1.5
Project Benefits
3
1.6
Project Planning
4
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
7
2.1
Introduction to Robot
7
2.2
Type of Robot
8
2.2.1
Industrial Robot
8
2.2.1.1 Cartesian Robot
9
2.2.1.2 Cylindrical
9
2.2.1.3 Polar
10
2.2.1.4 Jointed-Arm
11
2.2.2
11
Mobile Robot
2.2.2.1 Wheeled
12
2.2.2.2 Tracked
13
2.2.2.3 Legged and hopping
14
2.2.2.4 Hybrid
17
2.2.2.5 Flying
18
v
2.3
Mobile Robot Components
19
2.3.1
Body (Material)
20
2.3.1.1 Metal
20
2.3.1.2 Plastic
22
2.3.1.3 Composite
23
2.3.1.4 Wood
24
2.3.2
25
Motor
2.3.2.1 AC Motor
25
2.3.2.2 DC Motor
26
2.3.2.3 DC Stepper Motor
30
2.3.3
32
Power Source
2.3.3.1 Nickel Cadmium
33
2.3.3.2 Nickel Metal Hydride
36
2.3.3.3 Lithium-Ion
38
2.3.3.4 Lead-Acid
39
2.3.4
41
Communication
2.3.4.1 Radio Frequency
41
2.3.4.2 Bluetooth Technology
43
2.3.4.3 ZigBee
48
2.3.5
53
Brain
2.3.5.1 Programmable logic controller
54
2.3.5.2 Microcontroller
57
2.3.5.3 PC Based Controller
59
2.4
Designing Tools
61
2.4.1
Autodesk Inventor
61
2.4.2
CATIA
63
2.4.3
SolidWorks
64
2.5
Previous Studies on Climbing Robot
65
2.5.1
A Study on a Wheel-Based Stair-Climbing Robot With
a Hopping Mechanism
2.5.2
66
Innovative Design for Wheeled Locomotion in Rough
Terrain
67
2.5.3
Stable Stairs Climbing in a Simple Hexapod Robot
69
2.6
Summary
72
vi
3. METHODOLOGY
73
3.1
Introduction
73
3.2
Flow Chart
73
3.2.1
Identify Problem Statement
75
3.2.2
Research on Stairs Climbing Robot
75
3.2.3
Conceptual Design
75
3.2.4
Design Selection
76
3.2.5
Component Consideration
76
3.2.6
Fabrication
77
3.2.7
Controller Programming
77
3.2.8
Integration
78
3.2.9
Testing
79
3.2.10 Modify
79
3.2.11 Report Presentation
79
3.3
Research and Study Tool
79
3.3.1
SolidWorks Software
80
3.3.2
MPLAB Software
84
3.3.3
BlueSoleil Software
88
3.3.4
Hyper Terminal Software
91
3.3.5
Pugh Method for Decision Making
94
3.4
Summary
95
4. DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
96
4.1
Designing
97
4.1.1
First Design: Crawler Robot
98
4.1.2
Second Design: Rover Robot
98
4.1.3
Third Design: Crawler-Rover Robot (Hybrid)
101
4.2
Design Selection
103
4.3
Electronic Circuit Diagram
104
4.3.1
Microcontroller Circuit
105
4.3.2
Power supply Circuit
106
4.3.3
Bluetooth Module Circuit
107
4.3.4
Motor Driver Circuit
110
vii
4.4
Programming
111
4.5
Mechanical Structure
116
4.5.1
Base
116
4.5.2
Wheels
119
4.5.3
Shafts
121
4.5.4
Synchronize Belt
124
4.6
Parts Assembly
124
4.7
Mechanical Structure Analysis
126
4.7.1
Center of Gravity
127
4.7.2
Force of Climbing
128
4.8
Summary
130
5. TESTING, RESULT AND DISCUSSION
131
5.1
Electronic Circuit Testing
131
5.1.1
Result and Discussion of Electronic Testing
133
5.2
Mechanical Testing
136
5.2.1
Result and Discussion of Mechanical Testing
138
5.3
Summary
141
6. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE WORKS
142
6.1
Conclusion
142
6.2
Suggestions for Future Work
143
REFERENCE
146
APPENDICES
152
viii
LIST OF TABLES
1.1
PSM Gantt chart for semester one
5
1.2
PSM Gantt chart for semester two
6
2.1
Bluetooth specs and classes
45
2.2
Comparison between Bluetooth and radio frequency
48
2.3
Comparison between ZigBee and Bluetooth
53
4.1
Pugh method
103
4.2
Bluetooth module pin assignment
108
4.3
Pin Function Description
`
.
ix
111
LIST OF FIGURES
2.1
Cartesian or X-Y-Z arm robot manipulator
9
2.2
Cylindrical-arm robot manipulator
9
2.3
Polar robot manipulator
10
2.4
Jointed-arm manipulator
11
2.5
Nomad traversing very uneven terrain
12
2.6
The tracked Hobot
13
2.7
Honda biped P3
14
2.8
Robinspec magnetic climbing robot
15
2.9
Sony AIBO Robot Dog
15
2.10
Walking Forest Machine
16
2.11
Robug 4
17
2.12
Wheeleg
18
2.13
Unmanned aerial vehicle
19
2.14
Variety shapes of metal (aluminum)
21
2.15
PVC pipes
23
2.16
Carbon fiber
24
2.17
Wood
25
2.18
DC Motors with Brushes
27
2.19
Brushless DC Motors
29
2.20
DC Stepper Motors
31
2.21
Nickel Cadmium
34
2.22
Nickel Metal Hydride
36
2.23
Lithium-Ion
38
2.24
Lead-Acid
40
2.25
Bluetooth piconet /scatternet topology
47
2.26
ZigBee Network
49
2.27
Mesh Networking Path one
50
2.28
Mesh Networking Path two
51
2.29
The application of ZigBee
52
2.30
Programmable logic controller
54
2.31
Components of a PLC
57
x
2.32
Microcontroller
58
2.33
PC-Based Controller
60
2.34
Wheel-based robot with hopping mechanism
67
2.35
Sequences showing the rover climbing a step
68
2.36
Hexapod robot (RHex)
69
2.37
Phases of one complete stair climbing cycle
70
2.38
Phases of one complete stair descending cycle
71
3.1
Process flow of PSM 1 and PSM 2
74
3.2
The flowchart of controller programming
78
3.3
SolidWorks icon
80
3.4
SolidWorks program
80
3.5
Create new document
81
3.6
New SolidWorks document window
81
3.7
Planes in SolidWorks
82
3.8
Drawing icon
82
3.9
Sketch mode
83
3.10
MPLAB icon
83
3.11
Create a new document
83
3.12
Choosing the correct type of microcontroller
84
3.13
Selecting the Active toolsuite
85
3.14
The project name and location window
85
3.15
Proceed to next window
86
3.16
The creation of a new workspace is complete
86
3.17
Add the source file
87
3.18
Add Bluetooth.c to the project
87
3.19
Build the created project
88
3.20
BlueSoleil icon
88
3.21
BlueSoleil window
89
3.22
Bluetooth module is detected
89
3.23
Method of Bluetooth connection
90
3.24
Bluetooth serial port service
90
3.25
Bluetooth connections is on COM4
91
3.26
HyperTerminal icon
91
xi
3.27
Making new connection
92
3.28
Serial port connection
92
3.29
Baud rate selection
93
3.30
HyperTerminal interface window
93
4.1
Isometric view of first design: Crawler robot
97
4.2
Isometric view of second design: Rover robot
(before transformation)
4.3
99
Isometric view of the second design: Rover robot
(after transformation)
99
4.4
Robot A with ramp
100
4.5
Robot B without ramp
100
4.6
Isometric view of the third design:
Crawler-rover robot (hybrid)
101
4.7
Bluetooth enable microcontroller circuit diagram
105
4.8
Microcontroller circuit
106
4.9
Power supply
107
4.10
Bluetooth module
108
4.11
Bluetooth module pin connections
109
4.12
Motor driver connection
110
4.13
Program part A
112
4.14
Program part B
113
4.15
Program part C 1
114
4.16
Program part C 2
115
4.17
Program part C 3
115
4.18
Program part D
116
4.19
The drilled mild steel hollow square rod
117
4.20(a) The upper rectangle frame
117
4.20(b) The lower rectangle frame
117
4.21
The frame structure of this robot
118
4.22
Exploded view of frame structure
119
4.23
Laser cutting machine
120
4.24
Exploded view of the wheel design
120
4.25
Assembled wheel
121
xii
4.26
Shafts
121
4.27
Combination of part A and Part B
122
4.28
Exploded view of shaft
122
4.29
Shaft mounted to wheel
123
4.30
Shaft mounted to wheel and motor
123
4.31
Synchronize belt
124
4.32
A complete assembled robot
125
4.33
Exploded view of the complete assembled robot
126
4.34
Robot parameters
127
4.35
Force during climbing
129
5.1
Testing circuit
131
5.2
Input signals keyed by using a keyboard
131
5.3
Keying input forward (key 8)
132
5.4
Forward signal
132
5.5
Keying in input backward (key 2)
133
5.6
Backward signal
133
5.7
Keying in input stop (key 5)
134
5.8
Stop signal
134
5.9
Artificial stairs
135
5.10
Simulation of stairs climbing
136
5.11
First phase
137
5.12
Second phase
137
5.13
Third phase
138
5.14
Fourth phase
138
5.15
Fifth phase
139
5.16
Sixth phase
139
6.1
Play station joy stick
142
6.2
Proximity sensor
143
6.3
Legged locomotion
143
6.4
Stairs climbing robot that can carry load
144
xiii
LIST OF ABBREVIATION
AC
Alternating current
ADC
Analog-to-Digital converter
Al
AM
Aluminum
Amplitude modulation
CAD
Computer aided design
CAE
Computer aided engineering
CAM
Computer aided manufacturing
CATIA
Computer Aided Three Dimensional Interactive
Application
Cd
Cadmium
CPU
Central processing unit
C++
A language used in programming
DC
Direct current
DWG
A file format used for 2 and 3 dimensional design data
ECO
Engineering change orders
EDR
Enhanced Data Rate
FFD
Full Function Devices
FM
Frequency modulation
HAZ
Heat-affecting zone
HCI
Host Controller Interface
GHz
Giga hertz
GPS
Global positioning system
Hz
Hertz
IBM
A company major that manufacturer of computer hardware
ISM
Industrial Scientific and Medical
I/O
Input/output
KOH
Potassium hydroxide
Mbps
Mega bits per second
Ni-Cad
Nickel cadmium
Ni-MH
Ni (OH)
PAN
Nickel metal hydride
2
Nickel hydroxide
Personal-Area Networks
xiv
PDA
Personal digital assistant
PLC
Programmable logic controller
PLM
Product lifecycle management
PC
Personal computer
PVC
Polyvinyl chloride
QoS
Quality of Service
RF
Radio frequency
RFD
Reduced Function Device
SIG
Special Interest Group
UART
Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter
2D
Two dimensional
3D
Three dimensional
xv
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter is a brief of what actually this whole project is all about and this
allows a glimpse of the entire report and provides understanding of the author’s
work. This introduction section contains project background, problem statement,
project aim and objectives, project scope, project benefits and project planning
(using the Gantt chart).
1.1
Project Background
Climbing robot has been a field of increasing activity in the previous years. This
can be seen through the research and development of many types of mobile robots
such as climbing and walking robot. The example of the previous research and
development done by professors, engineers and even scholars are:
a)
Hybrid locomotion of a wheel-legged machine by Halme, A. et al that
introduce the combination of leg and wheel locomotion to gain effective
natural terrain mobility.
b)
A Biomimetic Climbing Robot Based on the Gecko by Menon and Sitti
(2002) propose a study on climbing locomotion that involved adhesive
adopted from gecko lizard.
c)
A motorless micro walking robot by Doroftei (2000) which develop a six
legged robot that require no motor for its movement instead using small
memory alloy wire (muscle wire) by heating to archive movement.
1
In this project, the designed climbing robot is for climbing a structured terrain
which is a flight of stairs that has six inches of height for each step. It is a manual
stairs climbing robot which is control wirelessly by using a Bluetooth module.
1.2
Problem Statement
This stairs climbing robot is actually an improvement version from the previous
project of stairs climbing robot in term of design structure, capability and
technology. For the design structure, this robot will tackle the critical flaws of
previous robot which is the stability. The previous robot is quite small compared to
the stairs itself and its shape is not suitable for the steps of stairs therefore
maintaining stability would be a major problem for it.
In term of capability, this improved robot should be more reliable compared to
previous one. It must be able to climb up more then two steps of stairs and this
capability depends on the design structure of the robot. This improved robot utilizes
Bluetooth technology in controlling its movement. The Bluetooth technology is
low-cost, requires low power, and utilizes a radio-based link which does not require
a line-of-sight connection in order to communicate.
1.3
Project Aim and Objectives
The aim of this project is to design and develop a stairs climbing robot. This robot
is an improvement compare to the previous project done by a senior student. In
order to achieve it, the aim and objectives are:
a)
To design, develop and improve the mechanical structure of previous stairs
climbing robot.
b)
To program the Bluetooth stairs climbing robot microcontroller
c)
To pair the Bluetooth enable microcontroller with the Bluetooth adapter
from the computer so that it can be able to sent and receive signal.
2
1.4
Project Scopes
In this project of stairs climbing robot there are three main scopes that need to be
focused on and there are:
a)
To used Bluetooth as a medium of transferring and receiving signal for
stairs climbing robot in manual mode.
b)
To design and develop a stable structure of a climbing robot
c)
To produce a working robot that can climb stairs.
1.5
Project Benefits
In future, the application of stairs climbing robot can be used as devices that ease
human daily life in many ways for example as a medium of transportation to carry
heavy load fast and efficiently through stairs which would be a hectic job of an
ordinary human. Beside that, this application would give its biggest contribution to
the disable people/paralyze, by incorporated this technology into a wheel chair
which enable them to climb stairs like any other ordinary person. If there are
continuously increasing performance to this robot for higher speed and better
motion, soon it can just climb stairs but also go through any terrain that it
encounters and this is perfect for military used in combat vehicle.
The method of connecting and controlling this robot is via Bluetooth that give
cable-free connections, which means real freedom to working environment
regardless of location and wire availability. This technology allows robot and other
handy gadgets to make use of "short range, low power" radio technology to connect
to each other. With the growth demand toward Bluetooth devices, it will replace the
inconsistency of radio frequency (RF). With Bluetooth it is possible to be in
another room and still be able to access another device with no use of wires.
Bluetooth radio uses a fast acknowledgement and frequency-hopping scheme to
make the link robust, even in noisy radio environments.
3
1.6
Project Planning
This project of stairs climbing robot will be carried out according to these time
planning. Table 1 shows the activity planning for semester one while table 2 shows
the activity planning for semester two.
4
BLUETOOTH CONTROLLED STAIRS CLIMBING ROBOT
This report submitted in accordance with requirement of University Teknikal Malaysia
Melaka (UTeM) for the Bachelor of Manufacturing Engineering (Robotic and
Automation) with Honours.
By
SYAZWAN AKMAL BIN SUMAIDI
FACULTY OF MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING
2008
ABSTRACT
This project is about designing and developing a stairs climbing robot which is
manually controlled using Bluetooth wireless technology. This project is actually
an improvement of a previous PSM project of stairs climbing robot. The
improvement focuses on the design structure, robot capability and technology
implementation. For the design structure, the improved stairs climbing robot have a
more stable structure compared to previous design. The base of the improved robot
is wider and has larger surface contact to the ground, therefore it is more stable. For
robot capability, the improved stairs climbing robot uses tracked wheels, this type
of wheel increases the traction between wheels and stairs during climbing thus
preventing it from slipping. This also increased the capability of the robot to climb
stairs compared to the previous one that was only able to climb two steps of stairs.
In the technology implementation, the improved stairs climbing robot utilizes
Bluetooth technology. That adopted frequency hopping technique minimizes the
chance of signal interference compared to the previous robot that uses radio
frequency (RF) signal that was highly exposed to interferences during
communication. The result from testing shows that this robot is able to climb up
stairs better from the previous stairs climbing robot.
i
ABSTRAK
Projek ini adalah berkenaan dengan mereka dan membangunkan sebuah robot yang
boleh menaiki tangga yang dikawal secara manual dengan menggunakan teknologi
wayarles Bluetooth. Projek ini adalah suatu penambahbaikan dari projek PSM
sebelum ini. Penambahbaikan ini adalah bertumpu pada struktur reka bentuk,
keupayaan robot dan penggunanan teknologi pada robot berkenaan. Untuk struktur
reka bentuk, robot ini mempunyai struktur yang lebih stabil berbanding dengan
reka bentuk robot sebelum ini. Tapak asas robot ini mempunyai keluasan
permukaan bersentuh dengan lantai yang lebih besar, oleh itu ia lebih stabil. Dari
segi keupayaan, ia menggunakan roda bertrek, roda jenis ini meningkatkan daya
geseran antara roda-roda dengan tangga semasa mendaki dan menghalang ia
daripada tergelincir. Ini juga dapat menembahkan keupayaanya untuk memanjat
tangga dengan lebih baik berbanding dengan robot sebelum ini yang hanya dapat
menaiki dua anak tangga sahaja. Dalam penggunaan teknologi pula, robot ini
menggunakan teknologi Bluetooth. Teknologi ini menggunakan teknik frekuensi
loncatan bagi mengurangkan gangguan isyarat berbanding dengan robot sebelum
ini yang menggunakan isyarat frekuensi radio (RF) yang sangat terdedah kepada
gangguan semasa berkomunikasi. Hasil daripada ujian yang telah dijalankan ke atas
robot ini, ia mampu untuk menaiki tangga dengan lebih baik berbanding robot
sebelum ini.
ii
DEDICATION
To my parents, Sumaidi Sukarso and Rohaidah Hassan;
Supervisor, Pn. Syamimi Bt Shamsuddin;
Co-supervisor, En. Muhamad Arfauz bin Abdul Rahman;
Girlfriend, Nor Hayati Nadzli;
Housemate, Addam, Adam, Abie, Ajis and Apis;
Whose love of reading has been an inspiration.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious and Most Merciful. I would like to express
my most sincere and deepest gratitude to my PSM supervisor, Pn. Syamimi Bt
Shamsuddin, for her untiringly encouraging discussion, valuable comment and
advice throughout this PSM period. Her continuous support and concern during
critical and difficult times have been such an inspiring moment that motivated me
in many ways especially in focusing and directing toward the accomplishment of
this PSM report. May Allah (S.W.T) bless her with many and best rewards. Special
thanks also go to my PSM co-supervisor, En. Muhamad Arfauz bin Abdul Rahman,
who have endowed his sensible and constructive advice and wisdom throughout
this PSM period. My warmest thanks also go to all my collogues, for giving such a
great help to me and also being my companion during those hard times. Finally I
would like to acknowledge an unconditional love, encouragement and moral
support that I have received from my loving partner, Nor Hayati Nadzli, the source
of my inspiration, my families for their love and understanding that have become
the driving force of aspiration that lead me to this achievement. May Allah (S.W.T)
bless them with His greatest rewards.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENT
Abstract
i
Abstrak
ii
Dedication
iii
Acknowledgment
iv
Table of Content
v
List of Table
ix
List of Figure
x
List Abbreviations
xiv
1. INTRODUCTION
1
1.1
Project Background
1
1.2
Problems Statement
2
1.3
Project Aim and Objectives
2
1.4
Project Scopes
3
1.5
Project Benefits
3
1.6
Project Planning
4
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
7
2.1
Introduction to Robot
7
2.2
Type of Robot
8
2.2.1
Industrial Robot
8
2.2.1.1 Cartesian Robot
9
2.2.1.2 Cylindrical
9
2.2.1.3 Polar
10
2.2.1.4 Jointed-Arm
11
2.2.2
11
Mobile Robot
2.2.2.1 Wheeled
12
2.2.2.2 Tracked
13
2.2.2.3 Legged and hopping
14
2.2.2.4 Hybrid
17
2.2.2.5 Flying
18
v
2.3
Mobile Robot Components
19
2.3.1
Body (Material)
20
2.3.1.1 Metal
20
2.3.1.2 Plastic
22
2.3.1.3 Composite
23
2.3.1.4 Wood
24
2.3.2
25
Motor
2.3.2.1 AC Motor
25
2.3.2.2 DC Motor
26
2.3.2.3 DC Stepper Motor
30
2.3.3
32
Power Source
2.3.3.1 Nickel Cadmium
33
2.3.3.2 Nickel Metal Hydride
36
2.3.3.3 Lithium-Ion
38
2.3.3.4 Lead-Acid
39
2.3.4
41
Communication
2.3.4.1 Radio Frequency
41
2.3.4.2 Bluetooth Technology
43
2.3.4.3 ZigBee
48
2.3.5
53
Brain
2.3.5.1 Programmable logic controller
54
2.3.5.2 Microcontroller
57
2.3.5.3 PC Based Controller
59
2.4
Designing Tools
61
2.4.1
Autodesk Inventor
61
2.4.2
CATIA
63
2.4.3
SolidWorks
64
2.5
Previous Studies on Climbing Robot
65
2.5.1
A Study on a Wheel-Based Stair-Climbing Robot With
a Hopping Mechanism
2.5.2
66
Innovative Design for Wheeled Locomotion in Rough
Terrain
67
2.5.3
Stable Stairs Climbing in a Simple Hexapod Robot
69
2.6
Summary
72
vi
3. METHODOLOGY
73
3.1
Introduction
73
3.2
Flow Chart
73
3.2.1
Identify Problem Statement
75
3.2.2
Research on Stairs Climbing Robot
75
3.2.3
Conceptual Design
75
3.2.4
Design Selection
76
3.2.5
Component Consideration
76
3.2.6
Fabrication
77
3.2.7
Controller Programming
77
3.2.8
Integration
78
3.2.9
Testing
79
3.2.10 Modify
79
3.2.11 Report Presentation
79
3.3
Research and Study Tool
79
3.3.1
SolidWorks Software
80
3.3.2
MPLAB Software
84
3.3.3
BlueSoleil Software
88
3.3.4
Hyper Terminal Software
91
3.3.5
Pugh Method for Decision Making
94
3.4
Summary
95
4. DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
96
4.1
Designing
97
4.1.1
First Design: Crawler Robot
98
4.1.2
Second Design: Rover Robot
98
4.1.3
Third Design: Crawler-Rover Robot (Hybrid)
101
4.2
Design Selection
103
4.3
Electronic Circuit Diagram
104
4.3.1
Microcontroller Circuit
105
4.3.2
Power supply Circuit
106
4.3.3
Bluetooth Module Circuit
107
4.3.4
Motor Driver Circuit
110
vii
4.4
Programming
111
4.5
Mechanical Structure
116
4.5.1
Base
116
4.5.2
Wheels
119
4.5.3
Shafts
121
4.5.4
Synchronize Belt
124
4.6
Parts Assembly
124
4.7
Mechanical Structure Analysis
126
4.7.1
Center of Gravity
127
4.7.2
Force of Climbing
128
4.8
Summary
130
5. TESTING, RESULT AND DISCUSSION
131
5.1
Electronic Circuit Testing
131
5.1.1
Result and Discussion of Electronic Testing
133
5.2
Mechanical Testing
136
5.2.1
Result and Discussion of Mechanical Testing
138
5.3
Summary
141
6. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE WORKS
142
6.1
Conclusion
142
6.2
Suggestions for Future Work
143
REFERENCE
146
APPENDICES
152
viii
LIST OF TABLES
1.1
PSM Gantt chart for semester one
5
1.2
PSM Gantt chart for semester two
6
2.1
Bluetooth specs and classes
45
2.2
Comparison between Bluetooth and radio frequency
48
2.3
Comparison between ZigBee and Bluetooth
53
4.1
Pugh method
103
4.2
Bluetooth module pin assignment
108
4.3
Pin Function Description
`
.
ix
111
LIST OF FIGURES
2.1
Cartesian or X-Y-Z arm robot manipulator
9
2.2
Cylindrical-arm robot manipulator
9
2.3
Polar robot manipulator
10
2.4
Jointed-arm manipulator
11
2.5
Nomad traversing very uneven terrain
12
2.6
The tracked Hobot
13
2.7
Honda biped P3
14
2.8
Robinspec magnetic climbing robot
15
2.9
Sony AIBO Robot Dog
15
2.10
Walking Forest Machine
16
2.11
Robug 4
17
2.12
Wheeleg
18
2.13
Unmanned aerial vehicle
19
2.14
Variety shapes of metal (aluminum)
21
2.15
PVC pipes
23
2.16
Carbon fiber
24
2.17
Wood
25
2.18
DC Motors with Brushes
27
2.19
Brushless DC Motors
29
2.20
DC Stepper Motors
31
2.21
Nickel Cadmium
34
2.22
Nickel Metal Hydride
36
2.23
Lithium-Ion
38
2.24
Lead-Acid
40
2.25
Bluetooth piconet /scatternet topology
47
2.26
ZigBee Network
49
2.27
Mesh Networking Path one
50
2.28
Mesh Networking Path two
51
2.29
The application of ZigBee
52
2.30
Programmable logic controller
54
2.31
Components of a PLC
57
x
2.32
Microcontroller
58
2.33
PC-Based Controller
60
2.34
Wheel-based robot with hopping mechanism
67
2.35
Sequences showing the rover climbing a step
68
2.36
Hexapod robot (RHex)
69
2.37
Phases of one complete stair climbing cycle
70
2.38
Phases of one complete stair descending cycle
71
3.1
Process flow of PSM 1 and PSM 2
74
3.2
The flowchart of controller programming
78
3.3
SolidWorks icon
80
3.4
SolidWorks program
80
3.5
Create new document
81
3.6
New SolidWorks document window
81
3.7
Planes in SolidWorks
82
3.8
Drawing icon
82
3.9
Sketch mode
83
3.10
MPLAB icon
83
3.11
Create a new document
83
3.12
Choosing the correct type of microcontroller
84
3.13
Selecting the Active toolsuite
85
3.14
The project name and location window
85
3.15
Proceed to next window
86
3.16
The creation of a new workspace is complete
86
3.17
Add the source file
87
3.18
Add Bluetooth.c to the project
87
3.19
Build the created project
88
3.20
BlueSoleil icon
88
3.21
BlueSoleil window
89
3.22
Bluetooth module is detected
89
3.23
Method of Bluetooth connection
90
3.24
Bluetooth serial port service
90
3.25
Bluetooth connections is on COM4
91
3.26
HyperTerminal icon
91
xi
3.27
Making new connection
92
3.28
Serial port connection
92
3.29
Baud rate selection
93
3.30
HyperTerminal interface window
93
4.1
Isometric view of first design: Crawler robot
97
4.2
Isometric view of second design: Rover robot
(before transformation)
4.3
99
Isometric view of the second design: Rover robot
(after transformation)
99
4.4
Robot A with ramp
100
4.5
Robot B without ramp
100
4.6
Isometric view of the third design:
Crawler-rover robot (hybrid)
101
4.7
Bluetooth enable microcontroller circuit diagram
105
4.8
Microcontroller circuit
106
4.9
Power supply
107
4.10
Bluetooth module
108
4.11
Bluetooth module pin connections
109
4.12
Motor driver connection
110
4.13
Program part A
112
4.14
Program part B
113
4.15
Program part C 1
114
4.16
Program part C 2
115
4.17
Program part C 3
115
4.18
Program part D
116
4.19
The drilled mild steel hollow square rod
117
4.20(a) The upper rectangle frame
117
4.20(b) The lower rectangle frame
117
4.21
The frame structure of this robot
118
4.22
Exploded view of frame structure
119
4.23
Laser cutting machine
120
4.24
Exploded view of the wheel design
120
4.25
Assembled wheel
121
xii
4.26
Shafts
121
4.27
Combination of part A and Part B
122
4.28
Exploded view of shaft
122
4.29
Shaft mounted to wheel
123
4.30
Shaft mounted to wheel and motor
123
4.31
Synchronize belt
124
4.32
A complete assembled robot
125
4.33
Exploded view of the complete assembled robot
126
4.34
Robot parameters
127
4.35
Force during climbing
129
5.1
Testing circuit
131
5.2
Input signals keyed by using a keyboard
131
5.3
Keying input forward (key 8)
132
5.4
Forward signal
132
5.5
Keying in input backward (key 2)
133
5.6
Backward signal
133
5.7
Keying in input stop (key 5)
134
5.8
Stop signal
134
5.9
Artificial stairs
135
5.10
Simulation of stairs climbing
136
5.11
First phase
137
5.12
Second phase
137
5.13
Third phase
138
5.14
Fourth phase
138
5.15
Fifth phase
139
5.16
Sixth phase
139
6.1
Play station joy stick
142
6.2
Proximity sensor
143
6.3
Legged locomotion
143
6.4
Stairs climbing robot that can carry load
144
xiii
LIST OF ABBREVIATION
AC
Alternating current
ADC
Analog-to-Digital converter
Al
AM
Aluminum
Amplitude modulation
CAD
Computer aided design
CAE
Computer aided engineering
CAM
Computer aided manufacturing
CATIA
Computer Aided Three Dimensional Interactive
Application
Cd
Cadmium
CPU
Central processing unit
C++
A language used in programming
DC
Direct current
DWG
A file format used for 2 and 3 dimensional design data
ECO
Engineering change orders
EDR
Enhanced Data Rate
FFD
Full Function Devices
FM
Frequency modulation
HAZ
Heat-affecting zone
HCI
Host Controller Interface
GHz
Giga hertz
GPS
Global positioning system
Hz
Hertz
IBM
A company major that manufacturer of computer hardware
ISM
Industrial Scientific and Medical
I/O
Input/output
KOH
Potassium hydroxide
Mbps
Mega bits per second
Ni-Cad
Nickel cadmium
Ni-MH
Ni (OH)
PAN
Nickel metal hydride
2
Nickel hydroxide
Personal-Area Networks
xiv
PDA
Personal digital assistant
PLC
Programmable logic controller
PLM
Product lifecycle management
PC
Personal computer
PVC
Polyvinyl chloride
QoS
Quality of Service
RF
Radio frequency
RFD
Reduced Function Device
SIG
Special Interest Group
UART
Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter
2D
Two dimensional
3D
Three dimensional
xv
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter is a brief of what actually this whole project is all about and this
allows a glimpse of the entire report and provides understanding of the author’s
work. This introduction section contains project background, problem statement,
project aim and objectives, project scope, project benefits and project planning
(using the Gantt chart).
1.1
Project Background
Climbing robot has been a field of increasing activity in the previous years. This
can be seen through the research and development of many types of mobile robots
such as climbing and walking robot. The example of the previous research and
development done by professors, engineers and even scholars are:
a)
Hybrid locomotion of a wheel-legged machine by Halme, A. et al that
introduce the combination of leg and wheel locomotion to gain effective
natural terrain mobility.
b)
A Biomimetic Climbing Robot Based on the Gecko by Menon and Sitti
(2002) propose a study on climbing locomotion that involved adhesive
adopted from gecko lizard.
c)
A motorless micro walking robot by Doroftei (2000) which develop a six
legged robot that require no motor for its movement instead using small
memory alloy wire (muscle wire) by heating to archive movement.
1
In this project, the designed climbing robot is for climbing a structured terrain
which is a flight of stairs that has six inches of height for each step. It is a manual
stairs climbing robot which is control wirelessly by using a Bluetooth module.
1.2
Problem Statement
This stairs climbing robot is actually an improvement version from the previous
project of stairs climbing robot in term of design structure, capability and
technology. For the design structure, this robot will tackle the critical flaws of
previous robot which is the stability. The previous robot is quite small compared to
the stairs itself and its shape is not suitable for the steps of stairs therefore
maintaining stability would be a major problem for it.
In term of capability, this improved robot should be more reliable compared to
previous one. It must be able to climb up more then two steps of stairs and this
capability depends on the design structure of the robot. This improved robot utilizes
Bluetooth technology in controlling its movement. The Bluetooth technology is
low-cost, requires low power, and utilizes a radio-based link which does not require
a line-of-sight connection in order to communicate.
1.3
Project Aim and Objectives
The aim of this project is to design and develop a stairs climbing robot. This robot
is an improvement compare to the previous project done by a senior student. In
order to achieve it, the aim and objectives are:
a)
To design, develop and improve the mechanical structure of previous stairs
climbing robot.
b)
To program the Bluetooth stairs climbing robot microcontroller
c)
To pair the Bluetooth enable microcontroller with the Bluetooth adapter
from the computer so that it can be able to sent and receive signal.
2
1.4
Project Scopes
In this project of stairs climbing robot there are three main scopes that need to be
focused on and there are:
a)
To used Bluetooth as a medium of transferring and receiving signal for
stairs climbing robot in manual mode.
b)
To design and develop a stable structure of a climbing robot
c)
To produce a working robot that can climb stairs.
1.5
Project Benefits
In future, the application of stairs climbing robot can be used as devices that ease
human daily life in many ways for example as a medium of transportation to carry
heavy load fast and efficiently through stairs which would be a hectic job of an
ordinary human. Beside that, this application would give its biggest contribution to
the disable people/paralyze, by incorporated this technology into a wheel chair
which enable them to climb stairs like any other ordinary person. If there are
continuously increasing performance to this robot for higher speed and better
motion, soon it can just climb stairs but also go through any terrain that it
encounters and this is perfect for military used in combat vehicle.
The method of connecting and controlling this robot is via Bluetooth that give
cable-free connections, which means real freedom to working environment
regardless of location and wire availability. This technology allows robot and other
handy gadgets to make use of "short range, low power" radio technology to connect
to each other. With the growth demand toward Bluetooth devices, it will replace the
inconsistency of radio frequency (RF). With Bluetooth it is possible to be in
another room and still be able to access another device with no use of wires.
Bluetooth radio uses a fast acknowledgement and frequency-hopping scheme to
make the link robust, even in noisy radio environments.
3
1.6
Project Planning
This project of stairs climbing robot will be carried out according to these time
planning. Table 1 shows the activity planning for semester one while table 2 shows
the activity planning for semester two.
4