Beach Cleaning Robot (WALL-E 2.0) Project Proposal for Senior Robotics 2018 Ver 1c 29 Sep 2017 1.0 General This is a senior robotics and Paraparaumu College Societal, Environmental and Animal Rights Action Group (SEAR) project the purpose of which is to design and build a robot capable of autonomously cleaning a section of beach the size of an Olympic swimming pool of pieces of rubbish between the size of a bottle cap and up to and including the size of a plastic 3L milk bottle. The robot must be able to clean two 1250m2 sections of beach of 80% of the rubbish found in each area within a two and a half hour period by term 4 in 2018. The final robot must be presentable and acceptable to the public using the beach where it is operating, this entails that it should be such that the chances of members of the public impeding it in it's work are minimal. The robot will be required to start at a home base position and make it's way to the first section to be cleaned. The robot shall locate items of rubbish using its own robot vision system with a camera mounted on a mast. An advanced task would be to use a robot drone system which would overfly the area to be cleaned and generate a rubbish map for the robot to follow. Should this be the case the beach robot will use the drone generated rubbish map to navigate to each rubbish item at which point it will use it's own robot vision system to identify the rubbish item followed by it's collection. Should the robot come across an item of rubbish it cannot remove, due to its size or nature, the robot should take a picture of the rubbish item and note it's location using GPS to allow retrieval by a person. Once the robots rubbish bin becomes full it should make it's way back to the base station where it will unload it's rubbish to a base station receptacle before returning to the beach to continue the cleaning process. All of the above should be completed in an autonomous fashion with no human intervention. The robot should also have the ability for a human operator to use it in a fully manual mode. The final competition will be in the latter part of term 4 2018 in which the robot will have to demonstrate it's ability to complete the assigned task. However, we need secured funds to follow through with this project.
1.1 Advanced Tasks In the event that the students have a working robot by the start of term 3 they may be offered the chance to attempt one of the following advanced tasks. These will be contingent on the availability of funds, materials and time. 1.11 Drone Rubbish Mapping and Collection Planning This calls for the use of a drone aircraft to map the section of beach to be cleared. The drone must be able to identify potential items of rubbish on the beach and add them to a rubbish map which will be used by the beach robot later on. The position of each item of rubbish must be established to the point where by the beach robots GPS system can get the robot to within visual identification range of the item of rubbish. The drone map should also include some information about the rubbish item such as it's size, colour and it should also attempt to identify the rubbish item. Should the drone option become a reality the drone operation will be undertaken within CAA regulations and will be supervised by the newly formed Kapiti Drone Club. 1.12 Built in Rubbish Compactor In order to increase the rubbish load that the robot can accommodate a rubbish compactor should be created the purpose of which is to halve the volume of a full load of rubbish by compacting it to half its original volume thus doubling it's rubbish holding capacity.
1.2 Basic Robot Requirements & Design The robot should fulfil the following basic requirements: 1. Be able to clear a 1250m2 area of beach in a 25 x 50m (Olympic swimming pool size) block of 80% of the following types of rubbish within 1 hour or less: * Objects not smaller than a bottle top * Objects not larger than a 3L plastic milk bottle (160x100x300mm) * Objects not heavier than 3Kg 2. Have a rubbish carrying capacity of 10Kg contained in a volume of up to 1 standard garbage bag in volume. Approx 500mm x 500mm x 1000mm. 3. The robot must be able to clear two 1250m2 sections of beach area within 2.5 hours. This allows 1 hour for each section and 30 mins for the unloading of rubbish at the base station. 4. The robot will have a base station located on the beach and it must be able to start from the base station, go out and collect rubbish and then come back to the base station to unload its rubbish and return back to the point on the beach where it stopped and continue rubbish collection. 5. The robot shall be able to operate while the beach is open to the public and as such should be able to co-exist with people using the beach. 6. The robot must be able to operate in a sandy beach environment and its drive systems and construction should reflect this environment. 1.3 Beach Rubbish Collection Area The two areas of beach to be cleaned will be 50m long and 25m wide each. These will be end on end with the robots base station being between them as shown below: Beach Cleaning Area 1 50m x 25m Robot Base Station and rubbish deposit point Beach Cleaning Area 2 50m x 25m
Beach Zones: For the purposes of the project the beach will be divide into the following zones: Zone 1 > Dry land/sand hills. This zone contains sand hills and grasses. Zone 2 > Driftwood zone. This zone contains driftwood and other large objects. Zone 3 > Dry loose sand zone. In this area the sand is dry and loose. Zone 4 > Hard sand zone. In this area the sand is firm and compact. Zone 5 > Wet loose sand zone. In this area the sand is loose and objects easily sink in it. Zone 6 > Sea zone. This is the ocean The robot is to operate in zones 3 and 4 and actively avoid moving into any of the other zones. The base station will be located in zone 3 or 4.
2.0 Requirements Specification This section is the specification that the students will build the robot to. This can be thought of as the customers requirements that the students design must satisfy. The robot shall fulfil the following requirements: 2.1 Basic Robot Requirements The robot should fulfil the following requirements: 1. Be able to clear a 1250m2 area of beach in a 50m x 25m block of 80% of the following types of rubbish in 1 hour or less per block: * Objects not smaller than a bottle top * Objects not larger than a 3L plastic milk bottle (160x100x300mm) * Objects not heavier than 3Kg 2. Have a rubbish carrying capacity of 10Kg contained in a volume of up to 1 standard garbage bag in volume. Approx 500mm x 500mm x 1000mm. 3. The robot must be able to clear two 1250m2 sections of beach area within 2.5 hours. This allows 1 hour for each section and 30 mins for the unloading of rubbish. 4. Should the robot detect a piece of rubbish larger than it can handle it should take a picture of it and note it s location for later retrieval by a human. 5. The robot should have the ability to identify items of rubbish using robot vision. Once identified the robot must then decide the following: * Is this a valid rubbish item * Is it within the allowed size range 6. The robot must be able to identify people and animals on the beach and use this information to avoid coming into contact with them or disturbing them. 7. The robot should have the ability to try and identify the difference between genuine rubbish items and things such as beach towels, picnics etc that are legitimately on the beach. 8. The robot must be aware of its position at all times. GPS and dead- reckoning may be used. 9. The robot must have the ability to decide when it must return back to base to either offload the rubbish or charge it's batteries. 10. The robot should be able to complete the clearing of the two sections of beach on one power cycle.
11. The robot should photograph and map the position and nature of each pice of rubbish it finds for later analysis. 12. The robot will start its run from the robot base and must be able to decide whether the conditions are suitable for it to start work using criteria like: * Weather * Tides * The number of people on the beach 13. The robot should be presentable to the public such that beachgoers accept it. The external appearance and operation of the robot must be such that they do not impede the robots ability to do its job. 14. The robot must have the ability to detect people and animals on the beach so that they may be avoided. 15. The robot shall be able to detect and avoid objects in it s path such as drift wood, wreckage, the sea and other obstacles etc. 16. The robot should photograph and map the position and nature of any objects found in 15 for later analysis. 17. The robot should also be able to avoid trapping itself. 18. The robot shall operate in zones 3 and 4 of the beach. 19. The robot shall be able to navigate between zones 2 and 5 keeping out of these ares. 20. The robot shall be able to climb a straight slope of 2m long by 0.2m at the highest point. 21. The robot shall be able to detect the presence of rain indicating it should return to base. 22. The robot must be able to identify the level of rubbish in its collector to at least 4 levels of resolution.
2.3 Operating Modes: The robot shall operate in one of two selected modes: 2.31 Manual Mode In this mode the robots operation shall be entirely under the control of a human operator. The operator is to be able to see the view from the robots cameras and have complete control. 2.32 Autonomous Mode In this mode the robot is entirely under it's own control. The human operator has the ability to instruct the robot as to which section of the beach is to be cleaned. In the event of an emergency the human operator shall have the ability to stop the robot over-riding its systems. 2.4 Robot Vision System: The robot vision system must be able to do the following: 2.41 Identify items of rubbish on the beach and provide enough information for the robot to be able to collect the item of rubbish. 2.42 Allow the robot to detect and avoid hazards including people and objects. 2.43 Allow a human operator to control the robot from a remote location. 2.44 Use opencv as the base vision system along with a Raspberry pi camera. 2.45 Be able to identify the basic nature of items of rubbish including their approximate size and nature.
2.5 Technical Requirements The robot shall meet the following technical requirements: 1. It shall use a Raspberry Pi 3 as the computational unit. ALL control elements will be fly by wire, the students software load running on the raspberry pi must have full control at all times. All control inputs, with the exception of the emergency stop button, are to be accepted and processed by the raspberry pi. All control outputs must come from the raspberry pi. Should a more powerful unit be required for robot vision processing this is allowed. 2. It shall incorporate a camera. 3. The robot shall be able to unload the rubbish un-supervised. 4. The robot must have a physical means of measuring its speed. 5. The robot vision system will be used to identify rubbish and obstacles. 6. The robot vision system must be able to identify and display the location of the beach edges at all times. These are to be shown on the main display overlaid on the live view from the camera. 7. The vision system must be trainable such that new obstacles and destination elements can be added. 8. A means of allowing the operator to steer the robot and control its speed must be included. 9. The robots exterior must be covered on all sides with attractive well designed artwork. The exterior design is important and one of the judges will be a designer charged with judging the design and visual elements of the robot. Marks will be awarded for the quality of the exterior design and artwork. 10. All electrical and electronic parts be protected from sand, dirt, light rain and wheel splash. 11. The robot shall be entirely battery powered 12. Stop button. There must be a large emergency stop button that when pressed will disconnect ALL power.
2.51 Physical Properties * The robot shall be no more than 1.2m wide at its widest point * The robot shall be no longer than 2.4m at its longest point * The robot shall be no higher than 1.2m at its highest point, except for a camera mast * It should weigh no more than 100kg unladen * It shall have a turning circle of no more than 4m * Reverse is optional but advisable * There should be a suitably soft bumper at the front and rear of the robot the purpose of which is to protect humans in case of a collision * A horn is optional 2.52 Hazardous Areas Any and ALL areas of the robot which pose either an electrical or physical/mechanical hazard must be rendered inaccessible to people. This includes but is not limited to: * battery terminals and cables, drive train components, gears and chain drives. 2.53 Environmental Protection It is critical that the robot does not leave any litter on the beach. Thus there must be no fluids, metal scraps, oils etc left on the beach by the robot. 2.54 Project Documentation and Repeatability Requirement For the project to be considered a total success the students are required to generate on-going and final documentation for the project. This documentation must be such that a third party should be able to re-produce the robot based upon the students documentation. This is an effort to ensure that the students work does not simply vanish at the end of the project. Instead their works should have the ability to benefit others. Thus the documentation will be freely available on the internet for download and use. The documentation process must not be over burdensome for the students but should be functionally usable. The final documentation should be completed by the end of the year.
The documentation must, as a minimum, comprise: 2.541 Final Plans A set of overview plans of the robot should be produced indicating the general layout and structure of the robot. These should also be annotated with technical/operational information where applicable. A complete set of FINAL drawings of the major parts of the final working robot should be produced which link back to the overview plans above. The format of the plans is to be determined by the students. The primary requirement is that they be available online and usable for the purpose of replicating the robot. 2.542 Process Photographs showing the robots evolution These are photographs taken as the project progresses to record major design, construction, testing and functionality milestones. Captions are required where their absence compromises the photographs usefulness. 2.543 Technical Photographs of the Finished Robot This set of technical images will document the finished robot on or as close to the final competition day as possible. They should show all of the major robot parts as well as any relevant construction or procedural details. Where required the photographs should be captioned. 2.544 Software Code All software code MUST be commented and documented to the point that a knowledgable third party would reasonably be able to: 1. Understand and appreciate the purpose of the code 2. Understand the reasoning and operation of the code 3. Based on the above be able to make modifications to the code 4. Be able to run the code themselves 2.545 Selected Test Results Test results relevant to the final implementation of the robot should be included where possible. Students may choose the documentation methods that suit them best provided the end result complies with the above. A stipulation for the use of the documentation and any works produced by the students is that their names be permanently attached to the work and any derived works.
3.0 Competition On competition day the robot will complete the following task: The robot must autonomously clean two 50m x 25m sections of beach of 80% of the rubbish items which are: * Objects not smaller than a bottle top * Objects not larger than a 3L plastic milk bottle (160x100x300mm) * Objects not heavier than 3Kg When the robots collection bin is full it must return to it's base to unload. Once unloaded the robot must resume it's operation on the beach. The two sections of beach must be cleared within a two and a half hour period. In completing the competition the robot should comply with the requirements specifications in section 2.0. The competition will be held at the beach in Paraparaumu. A number of invited judges will asses the results of the robots rubbish collection efforts. 4.0 College Resource Requirements Due to the mechanical nature of the robot it is envisaged that the ongoing support of the workshop department would be required. This would include: * Mr Brown for teaching coding etc * Mr Bruce Mander for metal working * In term 1 support in terms of practical design assistance and some help with the selection of suitable materials and techniques which best match the workshops fabrication abilities * Assistance in the creation of the initial observations and design report * Assistance in the early mechanical design stages would be invaluable especially as these early decisions will have dramatic effects later * Some students may have a very limited workshop experience and as such may require additional help * Term 3 should see the construction process largely complete and the focus should then shift to software and testing which should mean less workshop time required * A suitable sandy test area would need to be created for the students to use as a test beach. It is envisaged that much of the rubbish collection testing could be done at the college.
5.0 Basic Time Table and Milestones The following is a proposed timetable for the year. The main competition is to take place in term 4 2018. 5.1 Term 1 > The first weeks of term 1 will see the students completing a workshop course which will introduce them to basic workshop practices and also give them an idea of the various techniques they may use in the design and construction of their robot. The refinement of the requirements specification will also be a part of early term 1. Once the specs are defined the design process will begin. The students will be expected to use their observations about the problem to be solved to create an initial set of observational sketches and concept designs which can be presented in a brief report. About 6 weeks will be spent on the design with a set of build plans being the result. The team should have allocated tasks to team members by now. Once the proposed design is signed off construction can begin. Term 1 will also see the students being trained in the basic electronics, software. Beach Rubbish Research This term the students will go on various field trips to local beaches in Kapiti with the intent of learning about the beach environment in which the robot will have to operate and the nature of the rubbish found on beaches. Samples of rubbish will be collected and the general distribution of rubbish at the various beaches visited will be mapped to aid in the design of the robot. Stake Holder Engagement As the beaches are public community areas the students will make efforts to engage with the various stake holders of the beaches. These include the Kapiti Council, local Iwi and the local community. The purpose of which is to allow the students to learn about the human environment in which the robot will operate and it will also give them a chance to educate the stakeholders about the robot and the project they are undertaking.
Specific issues are: * Complete initial observations and design report * Refine requirements and start design * Research the specific challenges of operating in a sandy environment * Research the best wheel or other traction method for sand * Define final menu options * Choose drive mechanism * Choose the steering system * Determine the layout of the major systems * Design the main chassis frame which will house the robot. This is important as all of the robots internals will be mounted to it * Design review and sign off * Allocate Tasks to team members * Get a pi3 with a camera and OpenCV working and start to get familiar with robot vision on the pi. * Determine the best position for the raspberry pi camera * Start collection samples of rubbish for use in testing the robot vision * Investigate the coupling of OpenCV with the ability to control real world hardware such as the robots motors and steering * Define the way in which the human operator user interface will operate and create a user guide * Document the design plan of the robots hardware and software * Generate a set of owner manual documentation such that the owner of the robot will be able to operate it * Think about the ways in which the various Obstacles can be detected and identified * Ensure that the robot itself does not become a source of beach rubbish
5.2 Term 2 > By the end of this term the following should have been achieved: * The chassis and drive system should be built * The robot should be drivable in manual mode * The robot vision system should be able to reliably identify basic rubbish items * The hardware interface with the robot vision system should be developed to the point where it can control the speed and direction of the robot Specific issues are: * Mid term assessment - this is to check where the robot should have progressed to vs where it is * Confirmation that the chassis and drive system can transport the robot over a distance of not less than 250 meters in sand should be obtained * Determine the response speed of the robot vision system and compare it with the physical control requirements of the robot * Check the time it takes the vision system to identify the various rubbish types and obstacles * The first basic autonomous driving tests should have started * The user interface should be in a position to allow the operator to make basic selections * Most of the hardware control elements should be built and be in place 5.3 Term 3 > The software should be the main focus of this term. As the hardware should be well along by now and stable. The bulk of this term should be occupied with ensuring that the robot complies with the requirements section and the tasks to be performed during the competition. Specific issues are: * Almost all of the hardware should be finished by now with most hardware related effort going towards refinement and trouble shooting * The exterior artwork design should be well under way by now and should be finished 1 month before the competition. This is to allow its production * Driverless testing should be well underway by mid term * Beach testing should start by the last two weeks of the term
5.4 Term 4 > By this term the robot should be basically functional and able to perform a significant number of the tasks set out in the requirements section. Testing on the beach with real rubbish should be the primary focus of this term. With the rectification of issues identified during the beach testing being the primary focus. By mid term the robot should be ready for a public demonstration a few weeks before the actual competition. Specific issues are: * Almost all of the hardware should be finished by now with most hardware related effort going towards refinement and trouble shooting * The exterior artwork design should finished. * Driverless testing should be almost completed * Several beach tests should have been completed by now