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The Wi-Fi Seeker robot was completed by Christina Leichtenschlag, Adrian Morgan, and Jimmy Wong of Group #30 as their UCF ECE Senior Design project. The project was sponsored by Leidos Engineering and Duke Energy. The purpose of this robot is to seek out the location in an area where a wireless signal is being broadcasted the strongest. This has been accomplished using an autonomous algorithm and the robot's ability to determine the strength of a given wireless network. The robot has been equipped with sensors to allow it to detect and avoid obstacles as it implements its autonomous functionality. In addition, the robot has other features, such as a video streaming system that allows the user to "see what the robot sees". In order to view this video stream, an Android application has been developed for the Wi-Fi Seeker robot. This application serves as the medium for control of the robot, and has the ability to allow the user to either manually control the robot or start the robot's autonomous functionality, all the while allowing the user to watch the video stream being broadcasted by the robot. Another feature of the Wi-Fi Seeker robot is its use of solar energy. The robot is powered by lithium-polymer batteries, and the batteries are able to be recharged using solar energy and the solar panel that was mounted on top of the robot. This allows the robot's battery life to be extended and for renewable energy to be used to recharge the batteries.

Meet the Team

Jimmy

Jimmy Wong is a senior Electrical Engineering student. He is most interested in semiconductor devices and electronic design. After he graduates with his degree in May 2015, he plans on finding a job to start his career as an Electrical Engineer.

Christy

Christina Leichtenschlag is a senior Computer Engineering student. With a passion for programming, she has focused her studies on software development, specifically with back-end systems and with mobile development in Android. She has obtained two software engineering internship positions, and after graduating in May 2015 she will join Amazon as a Software Development Engineer.

Adrian

Adrian Morgan is a senior Electrical Engineering student. With his favorite topic being electronics design, he has concentrated his coursework on analog and digital design. He currently holds an engineering internship at Cubic Simulation Systems Division, and will continue as an Associate Electrical Engineer after he graduates in May 2015.

Main Board
The Main Board is comprised of the MSP430F5529 microcontroller, the Bluetooth and Wifly wireless modules, as well as the logic connections for the sensors and motor controllers, and LEDs to indicate the current status of the robot. The logic for the autonomous algorithm as well as robot control is located on this board.
Infrared Sensor
Four GP2Y0A21YK infrared sensors are mounted to the robot chassis to help aid the robot with its autonomous mission. The sensors are used to detect obstacles in the robot’s path, and this information is used to help the robot navigate around said obstacles.
MPPT Charge Controller
The MPPT Charge Controller Board is responsible for routing the energy from the solar panel to charge the batteries. It is based off of Texas Instruments’ reference design for the BQ24650, which is the integrated circuit used for this task.
Voltage Regulators Board
The Voltage Regulators board consists of two switching voltage regulators. Both regulators split an input voltage from a battery. The 3.3V regulator powers the MSP430F5529, Bluetooth, and Wifly wireless modules. The 5V regulator powers the camera and the sensors.
Solar Panel
One goal of this project was to use renewable energy to power the robot. In order to reach this goal, a solar panel from Solartech Power Inc is mounted on top of the robot and is used to recharge the batteries. This panel is able to fully recharge a battery in only 5.4 hours.
Motor Controller Boards
There are two Motor Controller Boards, with each board controlling two of the four total motors to create a differential drive system. Each board features an H-bridge design and uses Pulse Width Modulation to regulate the DC power supply and speed of the robot.

Sponsored by




Duke Energy Leidos


Leidos, Inc.
11951 Freedom Drive
Reston, VA 20190
(571) 526-6000