Start of Project

At the start of this project, the team was given a Project Readiness Package which defined the desired scope and general outcomes of the project.

Background

Autonomy is becoming more and more important as automotive standards leave fewer vehicle functions to the human user. Autonomous vehicles offer significant improvements in roadway safety and traffic flow.

The base of this project is the work started by the Autonomous People Mover Phase 1 team.

The goal for Phase 2 of this project is to convert a golf cart to a vehicle that will be able to navigate a predetermined closed course on its own. The safety of the vehicle’s passengers and bystanders is the first priority. Therefore the vehicle is required to be low speed and contain the ability for passengers to take control. We are working with the help of a Computer Engineering team of 3.

For more information, check out Phase 1 and CE Team.

Problem Definition

During this phase, the team and customer agreed on the expectations, deliverables, and goals of the project. An understanding of integration between Phase 1 and this phase of the project and communication channels were opened. The team agreed upon team values and norms in order to ensure communication and project success.

Systems Design Phase

This phase ended with a lengthy discussion of the scope of the project and the feasibility of it. This was very important as it lead to changing the scope of the project slightly so that the project could be accomplished on time and in a manner satisfactory for future phases to build upon.

Sub-Systems Design Phase

This phase was a crucial turning point for our project. We received a grant for additional funds for our project which enables us to consider other options of sensors for use with the project. This phase ended with the ordering of a new state-of-the-art LiDAR sensor to use in this project.

Detailed Design Phase

During this phase of the project, the team started to work on drawings, diagrams and a Bill of Materials. We met with different Subject Matter Experts to get a better understanding of our different systems and receive feedback on our diagrams. The team investigated other options that were suggested to us. After careful evaluation and refinement of our documentation, we presented our final ideas to our customer.

MSD 2

Subsystem Level Prep

The team dubbed this "Phase 1.5", as the team was working with an outside engineering company, D3, to remake the PCB. There was a short in the PCB and there was the addition of an Arduino Sheild to make the wiring cleaner and easier to understand.

Subsystem Level Build & Test

During these 3 weeks, the team did some troubleshooting and worked on getting the 3 main subsystems working. The team was able to get the braking and throttle working fairly quickly. The steering required some testing, diagnosing and reworking due to some errors found that needed to be corrected. The team gave a demo of the 3 subsystems working to the customer in week 9. The team was also able to get the the LiDAR working in ROS and gave the customer a demo of the LiDAR in week 6.

Subsystem & System Level Build, Test & Integrate

The team started creating templates for documentation and met with the Phase 3 team to understand what they are looking for in documentation. The 2 teams met a couple of times throughout these 3 weeks and the previous 3 weeks to align on what was being done and the status of the subsystems.

Verification & Validation

The team connected and integrated everything on the cart. The team then came up with some test plans for testing the 3 subsystems separately now that everything was integrated. Then test plans were created for testing the 3 subsystems working together.

Project Future

As this is a large project, that encompasses a wide range of disciplines and knowledge there are multiple phases. This is an ongoing project and each phase is ever expanding the capabilities of autonomy. If you are interested in the next steps of this project please check out Phase 3.

Project Name

Autonomous People Mover Phase II - Sensors

Project Number

P15242

Project Family

Vehicle Systems and Technology Track

Term

2145 - 2151

Faculty Guide

John Kaemmerlen

Primary Customer

Dr. Raymond Ptucha

Sponsor (financial support)

Lou Beato / Kodak Alaris

Esther Betancourt / Harris

Roger Brandt / Nuttall Golf Cart

Evan Lumby / Maval Gear

Other Support

Clark Hochgraf

Photo Gallery

Planning & Execution

Gate Reviews

Problem Definition

Systems Design

Sub-Systems Design

Detailed Design

Build, Test, Document

Publications & Presentations