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This report describes the security and safety rover capable of monitoring the the indoor areas of a home and alerting the homeowner of events, such as burglary, fire, or flood. Physical security has always been a concern for homeowners. Digital video security systems are becoming commonplace in modern homes. The majority of the cameras available in this consumer market are fixed-mount cameras with limited capability. The pan-tilt-zoom feature is much less common due to cost. However, with the recent availability of low-cost, powerful, micro-controller boards along with high definition cameras and a myriad of electronic sensors this nascent product comes to mind. This report describes an experimental effort to build a robot using ``off-the-shelf'' hardware and custom software. Specifically, it will answer the question: ``Is it possible to build such a rover with the requisite capability and, if so, at what cost?'' / text

This research builds up on recent results in planar kinematic synthesis with contact direction and curvature constraints on the workpiece. The synthesis of spherical serial chains is considered to guide a rigid body, such that it does not violate normal direction and curvature constraints imposed by contact with objects in the environment. These constraints are transformed into conditions on the velocity and acceleration of points in the moving body to obtain synthesis equations which can be solved by algebraic elimination. Trajectory interpolation formulas yield the movement of the chain with the desired contact properties in each of the task positions. Example shows the application of the developed theory to the failure recovery of a robot manipulator.

<p>The Lunar Rover (Roony) is a robotic project group at Mälardalens University composed by students. The objective of this group is to design and build an autonomous robot that has to be able to move by itself through the moon terrain.</p><p>The Lunar Rover is divided in several sub-projects from different knowledge areas; the objective of this electronic thesis is to design a controller board.</p><p> </p><p>The designed board will be able to connect the robot to an external dispositive (via JTAG, or WIFI), and also it will control and connect the different robot’s peripherals.</p><p>The main component of the controller board is the microcontroller AT90CAN128.</p><p>The peripherals are a steeper motor, a LIDAR system (Light Detection And Ranging), a WIFI chip(WIPORT™), a bus can driver, an accelerometer, a LIPO( Lithium-Ion Polymer) battery charger, a Solar photovoltaic cell handler, and sixteen DC motors(four in each leg of the robot).</p><p>Once the logic design has finished, the PCB design is done attending the size limitations of the robot. Once the design has finished, a prototype has been built and tested using ATMEL software.</p>

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This thesis is issued in collaboration with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. JPL's primary function is the construction and operation of robotic planetary spacecraft. At the time being JPL has 22 spacecraft and 10 instruments conducting active missions. The "Dark Ages" represent the last frontier in cosmology, the era between the genesis of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and the formation of the first stars. During the Dark Ages, when the Universe was unlit by any star, the only detectable signal is likely to be that from neutral hydrogen (HI). The HI absorption occurs in dark matter-dominated overdensities, locations that will later become the birthplaces of the first stars. Tracing this evolution will provide crucial insights into the properties of dark matter and potentially reveal aspects of cosmic inflation. This could be accomplished using a radio telescope located on the far side of the Moon, the only site in the solar system shielded from human-generated interference and, at night, from solar radio emissions. Our objective has been the development of the concept of an autonomous rover that would be capable of deploying a large number of low frequency radio antennas on the lunar surface. This is an enabling task for the eventual creation of a radio telescope. The project at Halmstad University was divided into three sub-projects, where our area of responsibility has been the development of a concept of the rover's mobility system. The result of the project is the concept of a "Rocker-Bogie" suspension system, created in a 3D-environment. A concept which underwent a series of digital analyses and simulations to ensure the compliance with required specifications. / Detta examensarbete är utfört i samarbete med Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) i Pasadena, Kalifornien. JPL's primära funktion är konstruktion och drift av robotiserade rymdfarkoster. För tillfället har JPL 22 rymdfarkoster och 10 instrument i aktiva uppdrag. Den "mörka tiden" representerar den sista utposten i kosmologi, eran mellan uppkomsten av den kosmiska bakgrundsstrålningen (CMB) och bildandet av de första stjärnorna. Under den "mörka tiden", när universum inte var upplyst av någon stjärna, var den enda detekterbara signalen sannolikt från neutralt väte (HI). HI-absorptionen sker i mörk materia-dominerade överdensiteter, platser som senare blir födelseplatserna för de första stjärnorna. Att spåra denna utveckling kommer att ge viktiga insikter i egenskaperna hos mörk materia och eventuellt ge information om universums expansion. Detta kan åstadkommas med hjälp av ett radioteleskop på baksidan av månen. Den enda platsen i vårt solsystem avskärmad från störningar från jorden, och på natten även från solens strålning. Vår uppgift har varit att utveckla ett koncept på en autonom rover som ska placera ut ett stort antal lågfrekvensantenner på månytan. Detta är ett nödvändigt steg för det eventuella anläggandet av ett radioteleskop. Projektet vid Högskolan i Halmstad delades upp i tre delprojekt, där vårt ansvarsområde har varit att utveckla ett koncept för roverns drivsystem. Resultatet av projektet ett koncept på ett "Rocker-Bogie"-hjulupphängningssystem, skapad i en 3D-miljö. Ett koncept som har genomgått en serie av digitala analyser och simuleringar för att säkerställa överensstämmelse med krav och önskemål.

The Lunar Rover (Roony) is a robotic project group at Mälardalens University composed by students. The objective of this group is to design and build an autonomous robot that has to be able to move by itself through the moon terrain. The Lunar Rover is divided in several sub-projects from different knowledge areas; the objective of this electronic thesis is to design a controller board.   The designed board will be able to connect the robot to an external dispositive (via JTAG, or WIFI), and also it will control and connect the different robot’s peripherals. The main component of the controller board is the microcontroller AT90CAN128. The peripherals are a steeper motor, a LIDAR system (Light Detection And Ranging), a WIFI chip(WIPORT™), a bus can driver, an accelerometer, a LIPO( Lithium-Ion Polymer) battery charger, a Solar photovoltaic cell handler, and sixteen DC motors(four in each leg of the robot). Once the logic design has finished, the PCB design is done attending the size limitations of the robot. Once the design has finished, a prototype has been built and tested using ATMEL software.

Increased interestin In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) concept for lunar outpost construction has motivated to the development of autonomous excavation rovers. The system design of two autonomous excavation rover prototypes UNEMEEP and The Musketeers are detailed in this thesis. The problem of autonomous excavation has been explored in the area of agriculture and mining. However, to date very little have been accomplished in the area of an autonomous excavation rover aimed towards space application. A hybrid position and admittance control strategy is implemented on autonomous excavation rovers to achieve digging and leveling capabilities. Integration tests and a full scale multirover mission scenario were also carried out. The results from the experiments are analyzed and recommendations are made to improve upon the capabilities of the rovers.

Increased interestin In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) concept for lunar outpost construction has motivated to the development of autonomous excavation rovers. The system design of two autonomous excavation rover prototypes UNEMEEP and The Musketeers are detailed in this thesis. The problem of autonomous excavation has been explored in the area of agriculture and mining. However, to date very little have been accomplished in the area of an autonomous excavation rover aimed towards space application. A hybrid position and admittance control strategy is implemented on autonomous excavation rovers to achieve digging and leveling capabilities. Integration tests and a full scale multirover mission scenario were also carried out. The results from the experiments are analyzed and recommendations are made to improve upon the capabilities of the rovers.

abstract: One of the main challenges in planetary robotics is to traverse the shortest path through a set of waypoints. The shortest distance between any two waypoints is a direct linear traversal. Often times, there are physical restrictions that prevent a rover form traversing straight to a waypoint. Thus, knowledge of the terrain is needed prior to traversal. The Digital Terrain Model (DTM) provides information about the terrain along with waypoints for the rover to traverse. However, traversing a set of waypoints linearly is burdensome, as the rovers would constantly need to modify their orientation as they successively approach waypoints. Although there are various solutions to this problem, this research paper proposes the smooth traversability of the rover using splines as a quick and easy implementation to traverse a set of waypoints. In addition, a rover was used to compare the smoothness of the linear traversal along with the spline interpolations. The data collected illustrated that spline traversals had a less rate of change in the velocity over time, indicating that the rover performed smoother than with linear paths. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Computer Science 2013