Design of the Wireless Telecommunication System of an Autonomous Solar Vehicle
Abstract
The Automatic Control Lab at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) is currently designing and building an autonomously driving solar vehicle (ASV). Having the size of a Radio Control Model Car, the main purpose of it is to serve as a research platform to test new control methods and strategies.<br/>The ASV project has been divided into different stages such as mechanical design, power train motor control, energy management, etc. The aim of this particular Semester Project is to design and fully implement a wireless telecommunication system onto the ASV. This wireless channel will enable the transmission of information between the ASV and a remote PC in charge of sending instructions and processing data measurements. <br/>The main constituent devices of this project are a microcontroller onboard of the ASV that manages its motion; two radiofrequency modules (one integrated and with accessible pins and the other embedded with a USB) and a PC. The structure of the project is mainly divided in two parts, one is the ASV-side, where the microcontroller is connected via USART (Universal Asynchronous Transmitter Reciever) to the IC wireless device. On the other side, the PC-side, the system will present a PC connected to the USB RF Module. Through the programming of the microcontroller and the development of a computer application on the other side a communication channel between the two wireless devices will be established. The PC will be able to send specific instructions to the ASV and receive measurements and data that later on are going to be processed.<br/>Due to the ongoing works on the ASV project, one of the main goals of the current project is to build a software communication layer independent of changes in the data or instruction to be sent. The aim of this layer is to provide a system where instruction and data reach their destination regardless of their structure. Taking the OSI Model (Open Systems Interconnection) as the reference, future enhancements in the project will not modify the lowest layers of the architecture but rather the two top ones: Application and presentation. Mehr anzeigen
Publikationsstatus
publishedVerlag
ETH Zurich, Automatic Control LaboratoryOrganisationseinheit
03416 - Morari, Manfred (emeritus)
ETH Bibliographie
yes
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