robotics

The ECE Department at University of Florida offers one course where the students are trained in the areas of design and construction of autonomous robots and machine learning. It is EEL 5666 run by Intelligent Machines Design Laboratory (IMDL).

I took this class in 2009 Fall semester.

Robot Name: Follower;
Designer: Jun Ling;
Robot Behavior: In open space, Follower follows a moving target. Follower can also track an object in a two-lane situation; when a hostile vehicle moves toward Follower, it will dodge to avoid collision, changing lanes if necessary.

Phase 1

The above two pictures were taken on 2009-10-15.
All components (including a battery pad, PVR Xmega128 Board, wheels and IR sensor) were mounted on a plastic board, which was cut from a cheap photo frame. This intermediate version had successfully demoed the obstacle avoidance.
I was not happy with the messed wires.

Phase 2

The above two pictures were taken on 2009-10-28.
Compared with the previous version, this one looks more like a robot. CMUcam had been mounted at the head of Follower. LCD pad had been integrated. Further, wires were arranged neatly.

Phase 3

Today is 2009-11-22. Pre-demo day is at the corner.
This is what finalized Follower looks like with major components labeled.