Statement of the Problem

Background:

There are many types of 2-dimensional vehicles out there, yet no generic method exists for controlling them through a single, consistent interface. Our design would create a common interface for all sorts of vehicles that can follow an arbitrary 2-dimensional path, such as cars, boats, tractors, and even lawnmowers or modern vacuum cleaners. Creating such a common interface will allow operators to be able to provide an arbitrary path of their choice and command any type of vehicle to follow that path, possibly with specific points along that path to carry out some action. Among the plethora of possibilities for such a design are: Planting crops (sowing seeds as an action to take regularly) Handicapped Assistance (picking up a newspaper at the front door) Water Based Vehicular Control (boats, robots, buoys) Patrolling Surveillance Camera The Design

The Design:

The BUNI device will be controlled via Java software installed on a Bluetooth device (PDA, cell phone, laptop, etc.). The software should run on any Bluetooth-enabled device that supports the Java APIs for Bluetooth Wireless Technology (JABWT). For software installed on PDAs, the user interface should support input from the stylus, in the form of drawing a line to represent movement commands. The BUNI device should be able to move forward, backward, left and right. Depending on the device, some other actions may be able to be performed from commands input by the user of the BUNI software. If a new BUNI product is developed that has new features (e.g. A new Bluetooth-enabled lawnmower that can raise and lower its blades), a plugin for the user interface software could be created and installed on the user's Bluetooth device. �´Security�¡ options will be investigated. Should each BUNI device have a unique identifier so that only its owner can control, should sharing of devices from one user to another be encouraged, or some combination of the two? The hardware on the BUNI device should consume as little power as possible to allow for maximum run-time before recharging the power source. The user interface software and Bluetooth link will be common among vehicles of all types, but will differ on the microcontroller that controls the movement of the BUNI device. In this way, everything except the microcontroller software will be the same for each type of vehicle.

Deliverables of the Design Project:

As an example implementation of our solution, we will reconfigure a simple radio-controlled car to be controlled by a PDA using Bluetooth technology as a communications link. The Bluetooth link would act as a bridge and provide a common communications platform so that many different types of Bluetooth-enabled electronic devices could interact with the car. The PDA will run software which will translate a line of any shape drawn on the screen into a series of commands sent over the Bluetooth link to the RC car. The data sent over the Bluetooth link would then be fed into a microcontroller which would translate the commands into a sequence of movements specific to that RC vehicle.