Discipline: Technology and Engineering
Subcategory: Electrical Engineering
Session: 2
Room: Virginia C
Jean-Paul Mirindi - Prairie View A&M University
Co-Author(s): N/A
As a new concept, swarm robotics is an alternative to the coordination of multiple robots as a system, but we want to create a system that communicates with and control multiple robots simultaneously on a wireless network. The conventional way that we interact with robots, consist on of one device and one user performing a single task, we do not possess the flexibility of operating multiple bots under one system. The current proposed solution was to create a system that inherits from the idea of swarm robotics to allow for a more natural collective and dynamic robotic behavior with the environment. These devices will be manufactured in such a way they can be easily maintained and also allow effortless repair in case of technical malfunction (robust design).
The primary reason we picked this project was to save lives, in case of a natural emergency we have to rely on real-time data to be able to assist those in need. For example, in August-October of 2017, the US and its provinces were strutted with a wave of catastrophic natural disasters, and it was difficult for the first responder pinpointing locations to where an emergency call was made. This system will allow the first responder to do recon mission in real-time thus maximizing their efficiency. In case of a natural disaster, we need a way of consistently monitoring the situation and provide the immediate service before the personnel arrives at the designated location. There are currently drones that are equipped with defibrillators, and other emergency devises, but these devices are really expensive to manufacture and to operate, thus it, not the most optimal solution.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): Suxia Cui, Jean-Paul Mirindi, Uchechuku Uboh.
Faculty Advisor: Suxia Cui, sucui@pvamu.edu
Role: In our approach, a combination or Arduino and Raspberry Pi microcontrollers and sensors are chosen to establish the hardware, while Python, C++, & PHP are the software platforms. A group of DF-robots equipped with the hardware and software is used to test the functionality. The system communicates and controls multiple robots simultaneously on a wireless network. Each robot is contributing to creating the map of the site in a format of a visualized image, and send the image out through data cloud. The major challenge is how to efficiently transmit collected information among all the robots within a short period of time for decision making.