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Project 9: Inertial Navigation Blimp

1 Project Overview

Our project is an Inertial Navigation Blimp. This simple blimp will be utilizing a Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), which is a box with multiple gyroscopes and accelerometers, for the purpose of navigating itself using inertial measurements. The IMU will most likely contain three accelerometers and three gyroscopes. Although the project is sponsored by HP, we were told by our mentors that HP accelerometers don't have to be used. A IMU is essential to our project because the accelerometers will detect current acceleration rates and the gyroscopes will take real-time measurements of yaw, roll, and pitch. The pre-determined route will be specified with the use of plotting multiple three-dimensional "waypoints" in some type of computer software to be developed. Waypoints are like markers that one can set to get from point A to point B. The computer software will most likely be accomplished by implementing some type of command line based program. It's important to note that the heart of this project is the development and integration of the intertial navigation system for the blimp. We are not required to build the blimp from scratch and will also not be required to build our own charger; our mentors have told us that we would be allowed to research rc blimps and to choose one that we feel we would be able to best modify to meet the required specifications for the project. The rechargeable battery for the blimp will probably be some type of lithium ion battery as they are one of the lightest rechargable batteries available and was an option brought up by HP during our first meeting.

This section explains what the the blimp will be required to do. The simple blimp will be semi-autonomous, flying a predetermined 3D path inside a building. The operator of this blimp will be given the ability to preset the trip route, of the blimp, on his own computer. Also, the user will be able to wirelessly transmit trip route data to the blimp via his computer. The blimp will be able to navigate itself with respect to all three dimensions and should be able to temporarily hover itself at some location, then proceed with the pre-defined route that it was given. As a safety feature, the user will have the ability to shut off the blimp at any given time; this is like an emergency power-off feature. The blimp will be powered with the use of some type of rechargeable battery and the battery should be able to keep the blimp fully operational for at least 5 minutes of continuous flight. There will also be some type of charging dock for the blimp. If the blimp flies for three continuous minutes with a total of 10 waypoints, the blimp will be no further than 2 meters away from the pre-determined 10th waypoint.

The following proposed features for the blimp are “desired” but not “required”. If time permits, some or all of the following features will be added to the blimp. The blimp will feature an onboard camera with a remote shutter and the user will be able to remotely take photos with the use of the camera on the blimp, while the blimp is flying it’s predetermined flight path. The blimp will be able to automatically navigate itself to the home/charging dock whenever the user pleases or when the blimp senses that it is running on very low battery. The user will be given the ability to override the predetermined flight path at any given time, and specify (in real-time) where he wants the blimp to go. A sonar obstacle detection system will be implemented in the blimp, which will cause the blimp to reroute itself should it sense any type of obstacle in it’s predetermined path.

Required Features

Ability to preset trip route on computer
Wireless transmission of trip route data
Ability for blimp to be able to temporarily hover at a location, then proceed with pre-defined route
Ability for user to shut off the blimp anytime (emergency power off)
The blimp will have less than or equal to 2m 3D-navigation precision (3 minutes of continuous flight with at least 10 waypoints, upon arrival to the 10th waypoint, the blimp needs to be no longer than 2 meters away)
The blimp must be powered by a rechargeable battery
The blimp must be able to remain fully operational for a minimum of 5 minutes of continuous flight

Desired Features (not required for completion of project)

The blimp will have an onboard photo camera with remote shutter
The blimp will be able to automatically navigate to home/charging dock
Real-time driver control option for the user; the user can choose to give commands that will override the preset route that the blimp was following.
The blimp will have sonar obstacle detection with re-routing capability

2 Background Research
3 System Requirements and Desired Features
4 Design Solutions
5 Top Level Block Design
5.1 Carrier Board
5.2 Microcontroller
5.3 RF Receiver
5.4 USB RF Transmitter
5.5 Power Supply
5.6 DC Motor Driver
5.7 Blimp Motor
5.8 Waypoint Code
5.9 Microcontroller Code
5.10 Blimp
6 Testing
7 Project Timeline
8 System Test Evidence
9 Expo Materials

Sponsor/Mentor
Mentors: Ding Luo and Cassady Roop

Team Members
Davis Hayashi (Email: hayashid@onid.orst.edu)
Timothy Xiong (Email: xiongt@onid.orst.edu)
Jonathan Connelly (Email: conneljo@onid.orst.edu)

From left to right: Timothy Xiong, Davis Hayashi, Jonathan Connelly

Final Presentation Video

References

Attachments

Roles and Responsiblities Contract.pdf (48.2 kB) -Roles and Reponsiblities Contract, added by conneljo on 10/13/10 13:30:21.
SeniorDesignGroup.jpg (52.3 kB) - added by conneljo on 10/13/10 13:33:29.
hplogo.jpg (11.5 kB) -Sponsor logo, added by conneljo on 10/13/10 13:53:52.
DCmotorDriverSchematic.jpg (144.5 kB) - added by hayashid on 11/30/10 21:00:43.

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