The Moksha ground vehicle developed by the robotics team of M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology navigates to a given location by evaluating the shortest and safest path

TInnovative approach to hardware

Project Mokshaugv included various innovations:

Split-frame chassis. The chassis of the UGV is designed using splitframe technology. The chassis is split into two frames—a rear frame and a front frame. The two frames are interlinked via the flexible joint supported by a suspension system.

This splitframe design helps the robot easily manoeuvre through difficult terrains. The suspension system helps keep the UGV stable. Thus the UGV can easily cross ramps and rugged terrains.

Camera angle. As a convention, frontfacing cameras are used in vehicles to capture a complete scenario. In the UGV’S implementation of image processing, only one camera is used, which is inclined downwards to amplify the details captured by the camera. This also prevents the unnecessary details that creep in when a conventional position is used. By making these small he robotics team of M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology has developed an autonomous unmanned ground vehicle ( UGV) named Moksha. The objective of the project was to build an autonomous ground vehicle capable of following a prescribed track while avoiding obstacles in its path, to reach specified geometric locations.

The Mokshaugv team was divided into five groups based on the different requirements of the project, namely, computer vision, light detection and ranging (LIDAR), GPS, motor controller and power systems. supply board is made from wood and the terminals are mounted. The board helps in power division and also provides sturdy connections. Power is provided to all parts of the vehicle from the power supply board. The power system is designed taking the realtime scenario under consideration in such a way that it provides power to the system without any fluctuation.

Circuit description

The hardware of the UGV is divided into three subunits— drive train, control and perception. The UGV is a fourwheeled, twodcmotored differentiallydriven vehicle.

The control unit consists of RS160D motor controller. The motor controller is connected to a laptop, which serially communicates with the controller to control the vehicle’s motion. The computer also receives and processes data from the perception unit which comprises three sensors, namely, ROD 420 LIDAR, Maxsonar and Garmin 18HVS GPS device.

Perception unit. The three sensors help Moksha perceive its surroundings as follows:

ROD 4-20. It is an optical distancecumangle sensor, which uses infrared and laser light sources to detect objects, sweeps at 180 degrees and returns distance and angle at a rate of 25 scans per second (range adjustable).

Maxsonar. It is an ultrasonic rangefinder sensor that can detect objects within the range of 06.5 metres. It needs only 5V power supply and gives an analogue output, which is easier to process.