The students at the University of Oklahoma have put together a
robot that will surely join the other drones in our future robot
overlord regime. This autonomous vehicle was produced to replace
human security patrols which can be both boring and dangerous.
Intent on delivering surveillance to most locations, an all
terrain vehicle was used as the base. It can navigate by itself
through an obstacle avoidance system and communicate video and
audio wirelessly. After the break we’ll take a look at the
systems that make this work. The team implemented steering
controls by mounting a geared motor to the front of the ATV.
This steering motor interfaces with a gear they added to the
steering column via a chain. Obstacle avoidance is facilitated
by sonar sensors on the front and sides of the chassis. These
sensors can detect ground level obstacles such as curbs. The
vehicle uses both pre-programmed as well as sensor-based
behavior. To start, the patrol route is fed into the program.
Once unleashed, the bot uses a combi