Tung Do

Tung Do

M.Sc. Electrical and Computer Engineering - Robotics candidate | Research Assistant | Robotics Engineer

Autonomous Robot Competition

Published:

Brief: This is the project where we had to build a 1ft x 1ft robot that had to compete with others robot in 5 competitions: tug-of-war, ramp race, fox hunt, follow the lead, and log push.

Role: Robotics Engineer

Result

Our robot's final design

Electronics diagram


Tug-of-war rule: The strongest wins.
Tug-of-war testing

Tug-of-war competition

Ramp race rule: Have to go up a ram in your own zone, without interfering with other robot's path. This competition needs to be accurate and steady with velocity control.
Ramp race testing

Ramp race competition

Fox hunt rule: Each robot will be the hound once while the others will be the fox. If your team is the hound, the more robots you find the higher score you get. If a fox is found (come close within 2ft range of the hound), it is out. The foxes can choose to stay put, or keep moving, or flexible hiding, as long as it never gets into within 2ft range of the hound. The zone is 30ft x 30ft.
Fox hunt - Object Avoidance testing (Fox Hiding)

Fox hunt - Object Following testing (Hound Hunting)

Follow the lead rule: Competition is in pairs randomly chosen, one robot will be the leader and the other is the follower. In a specific zone, the leader has to do everything to cut its tail wihin 1 minute, and end up or go pass the target corner. If the follower can follow no matter where the leader goes, the follower wins, else the leader wins. However, if the leader does not go the target zone within 1 minute, it also loses.
Follow the lead testing

Follow the lead competition - the follower

Follow the lead competition - the leader

Log push rule: The robot must be able to push a log continuously without failing or it will be out. We measures the distance that each robot pushes its log until the log is no longer in contact with the robot. Whichever robot with the maximum distance or crossed the finish line is considered win.
Log push testing

Log push competition

Summary of my contribution:
- Led the mechanical design, electronics setup, control programming, and computer vision for the robot, focusing on optimizing the front bumper for aerodynamics while ensuring stable contact with the log at high velocities. I spearheaded discussions on design concepts and implementation strategies with my teammates to achieve the best performance.
- Directed the integration of a Raspberry Pi communicating with an STM32 microcontroller, where the Raspberry Pi handled sensor data and computer vision processing, while the STM32 managed motor control and real-time feedback. I oversaw the electronics and wiring, ensuring smooth communication between hardware components and control systems.
- Collaborated closely with my team to develop the software, control algorithms, and computer vision systems, guiding the programming efforts to enhance system reliability and functionality.
- Our teamwork and collaboration led to a 2nd place finish in the competition, with the robot being praised for its stable and flawless performance. The hardware operated without any issues throughout the competition, demonstrating the effectiveness of our design and system integration.

Our team


[GitHub]

Skills: Leadership, OpenCV, Python, C, C++, Linux, Bash/Shell Scripting, Git, Debugger, Microcontroller, GPIO, ADC, PWM, SolidWorks, 3D Printing
Contributors' Acknowledgement: Li Ren, Haoran Chen, Mingfei Yu, Michael Lucas, Joseph Nunez, Marly Latif