Concept for Non Wired Motion System Controller

Requirements

1. Non Wired automatic motion system

2. Speed of approx 3km/hour
3. Accuracy of 25cms
4. Cost ALAP
5. Work in any conditions.(Rain/ No rain/ Cloudy etc)
6. Automatic error detection and correction
7. Ability to avoid Specific areas within the boundary of the area defined.
8. Ability to adapt to different locations/ boundaries without much effort
9. Ability to work in open/ closed space
10. Dynamic avoidance of any object (optional)
<<Internal>>
Proposed Strategy for identifying a good alternative:

1. Classify the requirements based on the importance of the requirement.

2. Identify all possible solutions.
3. Create a weighted average value for each of the solutions identified.
4. Review weighted average scores and choose the highest rated solution
Proposed concepts
1. GPS based positioning system
2. Pseudo wired system
Pseudo wired system

The advantages of having a wired boundary are huge. Typical advantages include the
low cost incurred and the high reliability of the solution. Also such a system can
satisfy all the mandatory requirements of the controller needed.
For explanation of the requirements, let us consider the below two diagrams.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 1 denotes an irregularly shaped lawn; there is a circular swimming pool inside
the lawn. The requirement is to design a lawnmower, which will crop the lawn such
that it is within the boundaries always and also avoids the swimming pool.

Figure 2 denotes a within building setup with two rooms wherein there is a need to
clean the building automatically. Further there are immovable objects placed within
the room which should not be disturbed. The cleaner should clean the entire two
rooms without hitting any of the obstacles

Thus the design should be such that both the requirements can be satisfied by the
proposed design.
In a pseudo wired system, artificial boundaries are created and used to control the
motion of the machine very similar to that of a wired system; this method will
therefore satisfy all the requirements of that are satisfied by the wired system.

Following is the idea proposed

1. Create a stationary controller working in line of sight model.
If need arises more than one controller can be used as per the requirement.
This will act as the reference for controlling the machine.
2. Create an initial boundary map for the machine to operate on.
This can be done by just controlling the motion of the machine using a joystick
The boundary can be two fold, external / internal. The map is based on simple
XY-coordinate mapping from the reference point.
3. A mechanism to determine the position of the machine from the reference
controller based on XY-coordinates is also identified.
There are many ways to realize this like, sonar, parallex, etc.
4. Then the machine can be placed anywhere inside the created boundary and the
controller can be used to control the movement of the machine.
5. In this method the motion of the machine can be controlled easily
The working of this system in the above two use cases is explained below:
Garden:

Figure 3

A boundary is created for the lawn as depicted in the above picture.

The boundary is based on identifying the coordinates of the lawn based on the
controller shown in the diagram.
The position of the machine can also be identified based on its x, y coordinates.
Using the above mentioned data, the controller decides the motion of the object.
Thus we can see that in effect the machine will work in the same way as it would if in
a wired system.
Further there is no need for the machine to come back to the same starting point as
the movement is controlled by the controller which is always stationery.
Since it is a very simple way, the cost involved in realizing this system will be very
low. (eg: parallex method is used for distance calculation)
Indoor Cleaning

Figure 4 –a Figure 4 – b

A boundary is created for the area to be cleaned just as in the case for the lawn
mower.
The boundary is based on identifying the coordinates of the room based on the
controller shown in the diagram.
There are two controllers used here, one for each closed room so as to overcome any
problems due to the cement structures in between the rooms.
The position of the machine can also be identified based on its x, y coordinates.
Now one of the controllers control the position of the machine based on its current
position.
Further there is a handover protocol used so as to make sure that the machine is at
anytime under control of one controller only.
Using the above mentioned data, the controller decides the motion of the object.
Thus we can see that in effect the machine will work in the same way as it would if in
a wired system.
Further there is no need for the machine to come back to the same starting point as
the movement is controlled by the controller which is always stationery.
Since it is a very simple way, the cost involved in realizing this system will be very
low. (eg: parallex method/ ultra sonic/ angle calculator is used for distance
calculation)

The concept of multiple controllers can be extended to any number based on the size
of the place to be covered.
Further the controllers would be very compact and can be connected easily to any
place.
As we can see this is a very simple and low cost solution to the defined requirements