Introducing Dextra
Today we all live in a rapidly changing competitive world. With the development of science and technology, lots of innovative gadgets are being added to make our lives more convenient and comfortable. Robotics plays a vital role in many industries in the developed countries even though it is relatively a new subject to all of us in the third world. Project Dextra is launched with an aim of using artificial intelligence (AI) and Robotics to design a car that would operate with less human intervention.
What Dextra is
Dextra is an autonomous and gesture-controlled robotic car. It travels on its own, detecting and avoiding obstacles on its path. While being driven on the autonomous mode Dextra could be controlled to a certain extent by the gestures in the form of hand movements given by an outside controller. These autonomous and gesture-controlled modes are interchangeable. Thistechnology we introduced is referred as “Hybrid Driving Technology” or “HDT”.
How Dextra works
Once switched on, Dextra starts to move forward avoiding the obstacles on its path with the help of its main sensor. If this sensor detects any obstacle, Dextra’s microprocessor commands it to stop. The sensor then turns to the left and right, and calculates the distances to the closest obstacles in both directions. These distances are compared by the machine itself and the longest distance without obstacles would be detected. Once the obstacle-free path is determined, it automatically steers towards that direction.
Dextra has a sophisticated haptic glove equipped with an accelerometer, which detects the angle in which the operators hand is bent. Dextra does this maintaining a wireless communication with the glove and the operator via, Bluetooth.
Dextra’s Test Drives
Dextra encountered many issues in its initial test drives. One such problem was its inability to move in a straight line towards a definite direction. While moving Dextra knocked on to walls and other obstacles at its sides which prevented its movement forward.This was due to the inability of its sensors to detect obstacles lying at its sides.To overcome this it was programmed again to turn to the left and right every now and then, to check the availability of any obstacles at the sides. Since that did not serve the desired purpose, it was decided to fix extra sensors at its sides. With the new changes Dextra improved its functionality, and worked much more smoothly than before.
Dextra’s Safety and Security Measurements
Dextra contains its own of ‘safety and security’ measures which makes it stand out among the rest of the remote-controlled cars. As mentioned before, to switch Dextra to the gesture-controlled mode, a specific gesture needs to be performed. If the Bluetooth connection underwent some error and no data were received by Dextra while it is in Gesturecontrolled mode , it would simply keep on executing the last received command. This was another problem encountered at the initial stage. To overcome this issue, Dextra was programmed to wait for a specific time period looking for data from the glove. If no data were received, Dextrawould automatically switch back to the autonomous mode.
The Future of Dextra
Today, the concepts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Autonomy are being researched about, and applied in various fields extensively. The combination of AI and autonomy has given birth to automatic cars and flying machines. With further modifications, the principle behind Dextra’s operation could be applied in making automatic programmable cars in future. These self-driven cars could turn a new leaf in the automobile industry of Sri Lanka soon.Dextra could be further modified to an automatic car that could drive itself autonomously and intelligently, avoiding other vehicles, to the intended destination, in
the future.
Team Infinitium, is a group of four students from Grade 9 at Vidura College Colombo. Pulasthi Udugamasooriya Himath Ipalawattage Kawan Rupasinghe Mandil Amarasuriya
Pulasthi is responsible for creating the ideology of Dextra and undertook its programming. He has a keen interest in ICT. He likes developing software and programming; especially Android apps, web designs, and developing web apps. Pulasthi dreams to be an IT specialist/engineer in future.
Himath is interested in ICT. In addition to his passion for information technology he is interested in Human Anatomy, Physiology, Physical Science, and Space exploration. He wishes to become a doctor in future. Himath has contributed in the assembly of Dextra’s parts and in its test drives.
Kawan is interested in the fields of Engineering, Electronics and IT. Kawan dreams to be an engineer in future. He has contributed in the assembly of Dextra’s parts and helped in the hardware engineering of Dextra. He has also helped in Dextra’s test drives.
Mandil is interested in creating new things. He likes watching documentaries about animals, their behavior, habits etc. Mandil likes to spend his time reading and drawing. Mandil wishes to be doctor in future. Mandil played an important part in the analysis of budgets, costing, of Dextra.
We at our team are interested in the fields of Robotics, Information and Communication Technology, Electronics and Physics. We aim at working towards the development of Robotics in Sri Lanka. Dextra is our latest creation.