Orion

Orion by Team OMEGA
Side View of Orion
Orion the multi terrain rover
Top View of Orion

Inspiration

As we are engineering students, it was a fun project to try out after learning about Arduino. The idea of controlling a remote control car began by searching the internet about how to build a robot that can be controlled via a mobile app, and we started building this project.

What it does

It is a four-wheel-drive robot that can be controlled via Bluetooth. It can move in all direction in a 2dimensional space. It can be used for an all-terrain locomotive. Even if a wireless camera fitted to the Orion, it could be used as a surveillance robot.

How we built it

It was built using an Arduino Uno board, and for the Bluetooth control, a 5 module was used. Now an App was downloaded from the Google Playstore, and we coded the Arduino board. The communication with the HC05 was made using the serial RX, TX software serial library. By using an L293d motor driver, four motors are driven by the Arduino upon receiving the commands from the application as UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT. The robot is powered using 2 LiOn 3.7v rechargeable batteries. The batteries can be recharged using a battery charger.

Challenges we ran into

The motor wheels are not in synchro with the commands send to the robot, i.e. one of the motors were spinning in the wrong direction. At first, the batteries we chose was 9v batteries, which has a very low current output, thus reducing the power abstaining the robot to start. Every time the start command was sent, the Arduino gets reset and stops working.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We established a successful communication between the robot and the android application. Successfully changed the battery system from non-rechargeable 9v low power batteries to high power lion batteries. Adding a rechargeable unit to the battery system. And we were successful in running the robot over all terrain without any problems.

What we learned

We have learned soldering, motor connections, interfacing motor drivers. We also learned how to connect Arduino and program it. Learned about advanced module like HC05 and got to know about serial UART communication.

What's next for Orion

We are planning to build a battery monitoring system that can indicate low battery alert in the application, Connecting a wireless camera for the surveillance system.