2016, Arduino Based Controllers for RC Trucks
Fully automated radio controlled trucks integrated into the ever changing virtual environment of the Smart Mobility Lab provide the lab demonstrations with dynamics and real world behavior. Francesco Ducci, Leonardo Intesa and Akshay Kumar Burusa have developed Arduino based controllers and integrated them into the SML demonstration environment for the RC trucks of the lab to cooperate with the virtual traffic.
This project is not only about creating a low level controller for a toy truck, but to develop the code needed for it to run completely autonomously in the demonstration environment in the Smart Mobility Lab. For this a PID controller has been developed with input data from the Qualisys positioning system and information about the road network in the shape of an XML file. The XML file contains coordinates that correspond to points on the chosen map that represents the road and information about how these points relate to each other. Furthermore, a virtual truck is continuously tracking the movements of the physical one in order for the vehicle to cooperate with the virtual world.
This project is part of the summer 2016 SML projects that together forms a demonstration showcasing how driverless and smart vehicles can improve general traffic dynamics by making smarter and more informed decisions than human drivers.