Specifications

Introduction
5
¾ Calibration and testing of sensors
¾ Provide communication link with remote base station
¾ Test and evaluate mechatron performance outdoors
The final result of this thesis will be a multi-terrain robotic platform capable of
autonomous operation outdoors. Supporting electronics and sensory systems will be
installed and evaluated to provide navigation data and obstacle avoidance. An
evaluation of available devices will facilitate future robotics research and a
comprehensive graphical software interface will provide access to robot control and
sensor data.
1.5 THESIS STRUCTURE
This thesis is divided into chapters and presented as follows:
Chapter 2 describes the background behind the project including the original
mechanical platform and the motivation behind the system
development.
Chapter 3 covers the theory and hardware associated with controlling the motors
using both existing and newly constructed driver modules.
Chapter 4 outlines the electronics and sensory systems that have been evaluated
and installed on the mechatron providing the means for future
autonomous operation.
Chapter 5 details the software algorithms written to control the robot including
hardware interfacing, sensor data acquisition and a user interface.
Chapter 6 presents the results of the various sensor evaluations and platform
testing completed. The entire thesis is then summarized and a brief
discussion on future work is outlined.