Remote Controlled Surveillance Mobile Robot with IP Cam

Remote Controlled Surveillance Mobile Robot

     The project is built by Team Stark. Gilbert (myself :D) as the leader and my subordinates Martin and Janssen. I divided the tasks in 3 parts. First is the camera control, Log-in database, installer and network setup which was assigned to Martin. The second part was assigned to Janssen and his main tasks are mainly in the mechanical (gears, tracks, etc.) and production of the robot (physical design, mounting, space management, bolts, etc.) making it organized inside and a stunning looking outside. I assigned myself to the last tasks which are designing the circuitries, simulating, programming the microcontroller, programming Visual Basic for serial communication, building PCBs (ironing, etching, slotting, soldering, etc.). With teamwork, cooperation, team handling and good communication we were able to finish the project in less than 2 months.

The Senior Year Design Project was named Vanguard by the team. He is a remote controlled surveillance robot. To avoid data communication problems we decided to use different protocols for controlling the wireless camera and the robot. The robot can be controlled through desktop or laptop computers while the video can be controlled through internet, adhoc, WAN and LAN. It is powered by two batteries. One for the circuit and one for its motors.

Here’s some of his main features:
1. Operating range up to 800m on open area and 200m on crowded area. (based from the RF Transceiver module used)
2. Video feed’s range is limited depending on the connection device like router, WIFI booster, etc.
3. Big treads suitable for outdoor terrain.
4. Batteries can last up to 3 hours.
5. Camera can tilt 180 deg and pan 110 deg.
6. Bright blue LED lights.
7. Night vision mode.
8. Log in database.
9. User friendly graphical interface.
10. Battery status.
11. Speed Control.
12. Has horn.
13. Installer

Please note that I will mostly discuss the tasks I did.

HARDWARE:

Main components used on operating:
Tomtop IP Camera
Desktop / Laptop
Two RF Transceiver modules (JZ871)
USB to RS232 converter
Max232 Circuit (serial interface for RS232)
PIC16F877A
Motor driver L298
Two Mabuchi motors
Bandai 1/15 Stug 4 Model (chassis only)
Li-Ion battery (circuit power)
6v SLA battery (motor power)

Based on our setup

Robot Program path:
Visual Basic 6 > MAX232 > RF Transceiver (TX) > RF Transceiver (RX) > PIC microcontroller > DC motor driver chip > DC motors

Camera Program path:
Visual Basic 6 > Internet Browser > Router> Camera

There are 4 PCBs involved.

Robot Side:
1. Controlling circuit
2. DC motor driver circuit
3. Camera power source

Controller Side:
1. Max232 circuit

I will only show few board designs due to team privacy policy.

The 1st PCB schematic design:
(You can request the other circuits to me)

PCB Layout Design:

1st PCB Layout Design

Max232 Circuit:

Max232 Circuit

I used a different circuit for powering the Wireless camera since it can only operate in 2A current and the 7805 circuit on the main circuit board only releases 1A.

Some images I took when we were building the project:

Software

Software I used were:
1. Proteus ISIS/ARES – I used this one for simulation, pcb schematic designing and pcb layout designing.
2. MikroC PRO for PIC – I used this one for programming the PIC microcontroller.
3. Visual Basic 6 – I used this one for communicating Laptop/Desktop to the PIC installed in the robot.
4. VSPE – virtual serial port.
5. Hyperterminal – testing purpose.

In programming the microcontroller I used the modules involved in the PIC16F877A. I used Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) Module, Timer Module, Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) Module, UART Module and Interrupts.

Here is an image of simulation:

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Here are some of the websites I used in building the project.

http://creativeelectron.net/blog/2009/10/pic-serial-communition-in-pic-microcontroller-1/

http://www.rentron.com/sending_data.htm

http://circuitpowersupply.blogspot.com/2010/12/increasing-regulator-current-psu.html

Here’s the video used for the exhibit:

That’s all guys please leave feedbacks or comments below. You can ask also questions.