ITEE Innovation Expo 2008 : Project Details

Converting the RoboRoos for Research

The UQ RoboRoos were a successful robot soccer team for many years until their retirement in 2003. Since they are still in good working order, it was decided that they could be upgraded to be used as a research platform similar to the Pioneer 3-DX, Khepera-III and MiaBot robots. This thesis details the development of new hardware and software as well as changes to and integration with the existing RoboRoos hardware.

The original RoboRoos omni-directional drive system was reused along with the original PCB based around a Motorola MC68332 microprocessor and motor drive electronics. In order to allow the robot to sense its environment a total of 24 sensors were added to the robot including 16 Sharp IR Rangefinders and 8 bump sensors. A Bluetooth communications module was added to provide wireless communications. A switch mode power supply was designed to provide regulated power for both the existing and the new PCBs. The mechanical and electrical design was made to be easily adapted and customised for specific research needs.

In order to demonstrate the robot’s usability a simple wander algorithm was created that allows the robot to avoid obstacles by moving to the largest area of free space detected by the IR Rangefinders. In case these sensors fail to detect an object, the Bump sensors can be used to determine where a collision occurred and which direction of movement should free the robot.

In the future it is hoped that all five RoboRoos are upgraded to be used for research.