Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)

At the Machine Intelligence Lab, University of Florida in Gainesville, FL

Directors: Dr. A. Antonio Arroyo & Dr. Eric M. Schwartz

Fellow REUers Outside of the MIL

Name: Andrew Chambers

Robot: WiFLY

Autonomous blimp with basic obstacle avoidance and the ability to dock with a recharging station.

Platform: MACH IIIz R/C Blimb from rctoys.com

Two horizontal thrusters
One vertical thruster

There are two types of blimp envelopes you can order.

Normal blimp: $9.95 Lift: 3 oz or 86g
High lift blimb: $14.95 Lift: 5 oz or 120g

Using the high lift blimp I could lift 135 grams at sea level.

Here the blimp is looking a little flat. I took this picture 4 weeks after I filled the blimp up. The blimp was noticably leaking after the first day and lost the most volume in the first week...

Luckily I have been able to get the helium very cheaply.

Filled entire blimb from Publix Supermarket for $2

Microcontroller: Atmel ATMega8

3 timer/counters - two are 8-bit and one is 16-bit
8 analog to digital (ADC) pins
Adjustable clock speed 1 MHz to 8 MHz (generated internally)
Serial and I2C communcation
2 External interrupts
Programmable in C

Click here for the data sheet: ATmega8(L) (309 pages, revision P, updated 02/06)

Sensors:

Proximity and obstacle avoidance:
Ultrasonic Range Finder - Maxbotix EZ1

Range objects 6 inches in to 254 inches
Serial (0-5V) Out
Analog Voltage Out
Pulse Width Out
42KHz ultrasonic ping

MaxSonar-EZ1-Datasheet.pdf
MaxSonar-EZ1 FAQ

I ultimately decided not to use these wireless sensors because they could not be interfaced with the ATMega chip.

2.4GHz wireless field strength sensor:
IOGEAR GWF001 Wireless WiFi HotSpots Explorer

Required input voltage: 2.5 V to 3 V
Range: Approx. 500 feet (150 meters) in open space
Frequency: 2400 - 2483 MHz (802.11 b/g)
Current: Scanning 35 mA; Sleep < 10uA

Media:
Pictures
Movies

Pictures and articles from Media Day - August 9, 2006:
The Independent Florida Alligator (pdf)
The Gainesville Sun (pdf)
CBS News (pdf)
Picture gallery

Documentation:

Informal Proposal
Initial Presentation
Oral Presentation 2 (ppt) - 11 July 2006
Sensor Report (doc) - 11 July 2006
Final Oral Presentation (html) (pdf) (ppt) - 8 August 2006
Final Written Report (html) (pdf) (doc)- 10 August 2006

Weekly Reports:

Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6
Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12

FAQs and Tutorials:

Servo PWM guide
HOWTO Setup CodeVision to control servos
HOWTO Submit Eagle CAD boards for the T-Tech

Fellow REUers Outside of the MIL