Team: Brian Eccles, Brendan McLeod

Tim Murcko, TJ Watson, Mitch Wills

Advised By: Professors Taskin Padir, Sonia Chernova

& Kenneth Stafford

An Amphibious Search and Discovery Rover

Intel-Cornell Cup Final Presentation

Presentation Outline1. Project Introduction

• Project Motivation • Mission • The WALRUS Rover • Design Overview

2. Evaluation 3. Logistics

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• Robots have been used in search and humanitarian missions since September 11th, 2001.

• Current robots are… • Limited by deep water. • Targeted solutions. • High cost. • Closed systems with narrow expandability.

3

Project Motivation

MissionTo create a highly configurable amphibious rover for

search and humanitarian missions at a competitive cost.

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The WALRUS Rover• “Water and Land Remote Unmanned Search Rover” • Provide a mobile platform that…

• Can overcome difficult terrain and bodies of water • Offers expansion through payload interfaces

• Easily deployed & reconfigured in the field • Low cost solution

5

Design Overview6

Rear Camera

Rear Flipper Motor & Gearing

Left Drive Motor

Main Contactor

SMBus Isolation Board

Main Proprioception Board

Front Flipper Motor & Gearing

Front Camera

Right Drive Motor

Front Flipper Controller

Front Flipper Controller

9”

20” 25”

Main ComputerDC-DC Converter

Power Failover

Wireless ModuleRight Drive Controller

Left Drive Controller

Diagnostics Display & Control

Presentation Outline1. Project Introduction 2. Evaluation

• System Specification • Mobility • Power & Communications • Supervised Autonomy • User Interface • Payload Specifications • Future Improvements

3. Logistics

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Specification Requirement Actual EvaluationMaximum Land Speed: ≥ 6.5 ft/s 7 ft/s ✔

Maximum Water Speed: ≥ 1.69 ft/s 1 ft/s ✖Static Stability Limit: ≥ 45° pitch, 30°

roll80° pitch, ≥ 65° roll

✔

Stair Capability: ≥ 37° 37° metal & rounded

✔

Total Weight: 80 lbs 82 lbs ✖Stow Size: 32 in 20 x 25 x 9 in ✔

Typical Battery Life: 1.5 hours 3 hours ✔

Control Distance: 975 ft LoS 1200 ft ✔

Payload Capability: ≥ 10 lbs 10 lbs ✔

Water Payload Capability: ≥ 1 lb 1 lb ✔

System Specifications8

Mobility9

• Land • Max speed: 7 ft/s • Tested terrains:

• Tight pile carpet • Symmetric stepfield • 35° stairs • Crossing ramps • Pavement • Grass and mud

• Water • Max speed: 1 ft/s • 20-30 minute safe runtime

Power & Communications10

• Power consumption: • ~3 hour runtime (two

batteries) • Charge state reported by

BMS

• Communications • Maintains video stream and

control over 1000 ft

User Interface11

Supervised Autonomy12

• Autonomous stair climbing • Region growing based plane extraction • RANSAC model parameter estimation

Payload Communication• Internal IPC2 Intel Core i7:

• USB 3.0 • Gigabit Ethernet • HDMI

• DE2i-150 FPGA Dev Kit: • USB 2.0, RS-232 & TTL Serial • Gigabit Ethernet • Two-Way Audio • GPIO • HDMI & VGA

• Power Options: • 5V, 12V, 24V & Unregulated 32V

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Payload Power (5V, 12V, 24V)

Payload Power (5V, 36V)

Payload Ethernet (2) & USB 3.0 (1)

Payload Ethernet (1), USB 3.0 (1) & HDMI (1)

Payload USB 3.0 (1) & Wi-Fi Antenna

E-Stop

Diagnostics Display & Control

2” #10-32 Grid Plate

Heat Fins

DE2i-150 FPGA Dev Kit

Future Improvements• Remove weight

• Cost: 3 Months, $3,000 • Gain: Lower power required, water speed increase

• Add cowlings to treads • Cost: 1 week, $50 • Gain: Water speed increase

• Dynamic tread tensioner • Cost: 2 weeks, $200 • Gain: Better traversal over gravel

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Presentation Outline1. Project Introduction 2. Evaluation 3. Logistics

• Gantt Chart • Outreach • Rover Costs • Sponsors

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Gantt Chart16

Outreach17

Worcester Art Museum

Cambridge Science Festival

VECNA Robot Race

Turkish Military General Delegation

USAID’s Innovation on the Edge: Accelerating Solutions

in the Fight Against Ebola

Rover Costs18

Chassis & Actuation CostMotors $2,750Motor Controllers $2,000Power Transmissions $3,430Treads $2,800Raw Materials $1,500Hardware $1,000Total $13,480

Electronics CostMain Computer $1,000Custom PCBs $2,000Wiring and Connectors $1,500Sensors $1,500Batteries and Chargers $4,400Misc. Electronics $1,600Total $12,000

Total Cost: $25,480

Sponsors19

Email us: walrus@wpi.edu Visit us on the web: walrusrover.com

Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/walrusrover

Questions?20