EDGE™

Wireless Open-Source/Open-Architecture Command and Control System (WOCCS)

• Group Members:– Eric Hettler– Manuel Paris– Ryan Miller– Christian Moreno– James Reepmeyer

EDGE™

Problem

• Wireless Open-Source/Open-Architecture Command and Control System (WOCCS)

• Used to control and communicate with remotely controlled vehicles and devices

• Communicate data over multiple channels in both directions Send data to device for control Receive data from device for feedback and data collection

• Fully modular

• Common interface

EDGE™

Module Breakdown

EDGE™

Stakeholders - Harris Corporation

• Providing funding and guidance• Not the end user• Work with the government on many projects that

require security clearance• Cannot allow senior design teams to work on

these projects• Designed this project to get students interested

and involved with Harris and RF communication• Create a pool of newly graduated engineers to

recruit from

EDGE™

Stakeholders – MSD Teams

• End user• Many senior design projects in the past required

wireless communication• This was a failure point in some cases • Rarely had time to develop the wireless

communication and just bought off the shelf systems

• This new system will be modular enough to meet the needs of any senior design team that needs to use it

EDGE™

Historical Project – P08027

• Bio Track, Wireless Assistive Control System (WACS)• Goal: Human movement interface to control RC car• Used COTS components

– BioRadio 150• 12 available data channels• 4 total channels used

– Labview• Input filtering• Signal processing• Wireless data output

– Custom RF hardware and microprocessor for RC car• Communicated at 434MHz and 325MHz bands

• Total project costs: ~$411– RF component costs: ~$100– No software costs- Labview student version?

EDGE™

WACS Results

• Successes– Wireless vehicle control with muscle movement input

• User simulates vehicle driving motions• Output from Labview is sent wirelessly to RC car• Received data converted to directional signals

• Problems– Syncing error between Labview and BioRadio

– Latency-induced device shutdown (work-around used)

– BioRadio channel crosstalk (work-around used)

– No feedback method for user

• Time-constraint based? Extra data channels existed to convey feedback

– User tethered to PC area

EDGE™

P06501 : About Zigbee Technology

2005 5 Engineers : 2 CE, 3 EE Sponsors : Sensorcon, PCB Express Advisor : Dr Hu, Dr Reddy

Problem : Crossbow Technology provides wireless sensor motes but cost deters the creation of large networks

Requirements : Sending commands to the network, receiving messages from the connected mote and display the real time network topology

Solution : Create low cost ZigBee Data Forwarding Unit (DFU) hardware and software prototype

EDGE™

P06501 : About Zigbee Technology

Why :Low-powerLow-costUse of standard (Protocols and Hardware)

Results : 3 concepts have been studied, only one until the end Life-time calculations : more than 4 years The final project works Open-Source, Open-Architecture

Conclusion : This project relates with our project, the low-power is very useful. The only problem is the range, which is 30ft outdoor. Is it possible to go further with this technology?

Lessons Learned : Find different solutions for the same problem Low-power implies sleeping devices : how to transmit data to sleeping devices Most important : separate each part of the project in sub-projects, hence the need of good modularity (interface device/device)

EDGE™

Historical Project – P08201

• Vehicle Systems Technology Track, 10 Kg Payload Modular Robot

• Goal: Construct a land-based robotic platform.• In this project, the platform was wirelessly controlled. • Used COTS components

– Crossbow TelosB Mote• IEEE 802.15.4 compliant, 250 kbps data transfer rate, 30 m range• USB port for programming and/or communication

– Crossbow MICAz module• 2.4 Ghz Transceiver• IEEE 802.15.4 compliant, 250 kbps data transfer rate, 30 m range• USB port for programming and/or communication

– Freescale CSM12D Microcontroller• Six PWM channels, Two for drive motors, Four for steering motors• Twelve digital inputs• Eight encoders

– Java and nesC• Total project costs: ~$2500

– Wireless components rather inexpensive

EDGE™

Results

• Successes– Wireless vehicle control

• Successful wireless control• Each motor module could be controlled individually• Long battery life

• Ways to Improve– Display when robot is out of range– Add functionality to obtain feedback from robot– Add PID control to maintain speed during manual operation– Add PID control to maintain position used under autonomous

navigation

EDGE™

Common Problems

• Limitations Feedback

• Use of unproven and untested systems

• Distance and Range do not scale very well

• When using COTS, capability never exactly matches needs

EDGE™

To Conclude

What we are confused about : Our knowledge set does not align with the project

Possible direction for the future : Determine our scope Conduct several interviews