Abstract
The interaction between Man and vehicle tends to move from direct input to completely autonomous driving. In this transition researchers cut the dependency strings that tie the two together with new human computer interaction systems and devices.
The main purpose of this study was to create a wireless iPod Touch application to control the car-like robot from the Laboratory of Automation and Robotics of University of Minho. Another aim was to create an easy and enjoyable human interface with simple menu navigation and intuitive controllers for the user. Finally the interface would have to be capable of showing video streaming from a camera mounted on the forefront of the robot.
The system was composed of an iPod Touch acting as a wireless controller client and a car-like robot accommodating an intermediary netbook server between its microcontroller and the client application. The connection was effectuated through Wi-Fi and there were two controlling modes: with the iPod’s accelerometer data or with touchable sliders drawn in the screen. Additionally a Kinect camera was installed in the forefront of the car with the aim to stream video in the car’s perspective, watchable on the iPod’s application background. The system was tested with four different setups: with image resolutions of 133x100 pixels (low resolution) and 240x180 pixels (high resolution), in a public and a private network, with 5 trials each, making up a total of 20 runs.
The experiments demonstrated that the system in its best performance attained an average of 8 frames per second, latency of 0,044 seconds and easy robot maneuver.
The goal of this dissertation has been accomplished, demonstrating secure aptitude in the private network with highly considerable frames per second and the interaction between the user and the car in almost real-time.
The interaction between Man and vehicle tends to move from direct input to completely autonomous driving. In this transition researchers cut the dependency strings that tie the two together with new human computer interaction systems and devices.
The main purpose of this study was to create a wireless iPod Touch application to control the car-like robot from the Laboratory of Automation and Robotics of University of Minho. Another aim was to create an easy and enjoyable human interface with simple menu navigation and intuitive controllers for the user. Finally the interface would have to be capable of showing video streaming from a camera mounted on the forefront of the robot.
The system was composed of an iPod Touch acting as a wireless controller client and a car-like robot accommodating an intermediary netbook server between its microcontroller and the client application. The connection was effectuated through Wi-Fi and there were two controlling modes: with the iPod’s accelerometer data or with touchable sliders drawn in the screen. Additionally a Kinect camera was installed in the forefront of the car with the aim to stream video in the car’s perspective, watchable on the iPod’s application background. The system was tested with four different setups: with image resolutions of 133x100 pixels (low resolution) and 240x180 pixels (high resolution), in a public and a private network, with 5 trials each, making up a total of 20 runs.
The experiments demonstrated that the system in its best performance attained an average of 8 frames per second, latency of 0,044 seconds and easy robot maneuver.
The goal of this dissertation has been accomplished, demonstrating secure aptitude in the private network with highly considerable frames per second and the interaction between the user and the car in almost real-time.
