Project Overview

Members

• Tarun Agarwal
• Matthew Deutsch
• Madhav Singhania
• Insik Yoon

Concept: The FollowMe device is used in conjunction with mobile objects such as shopping carts to follow around an individual while they are navigating through a grocery store.

Motivation: Currently, shoppers generally have their hands on their shopping cart while navigating through grocery store. With the use of FollowMe-equipped carts, users can be hands-free at all times, do not have to worry about lugging their carts around, and will not forget where they’ve left their carts. This product can be especially useful for disabled persons.

• No competing commercial products
• Don the Robot (Junko Isawa of University of Tsukuba, Japan)
  • Autonomous Navigation of a mobile robot in indoor narrow environments
    Robot can follow a human using two laser range sensors, and keep a safe distance between itself and a human
  • The laser range sensors cost upwards of $4000
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nnvi-Sn1BI

• B.O.S.S. (Gregory Garcia of University of Florida)
  • Robotic shopping cart
  • Uses an ultrasonic range finder
  • Slow, and often runs into the user

  

Hardware:

• Multiple Sharp GP2Y0A02YK0F’s (Long Range Infrared Proximity Sensor)
• 1 Arduino Duemilanove
• Many resistors
• 2 Battery packs
• 2 protoboards
• USB Cable

Software:

• Will be coded in Arduino’s IDE
  

Protocols:

• TBD
  

• Functional
  • Follows the user as they move about
    • Can distinguish between users
      
  • Will avoid bumping into obstacles
  • Maintains same distance from user
• Timing
  • Responds to user’s movement within a second
• Reliability
  • Starts beeping and stops moving if loses track of user

Risks	Mitigations
Unable to retrieve signal from user	Shopping cart’s LED will blink red, then the cart will stop beeping to alert the user
Interference from other nearby IR’s	Calibration at startup
Motors malfunction	Motors turn off, system stops responding, LED turns red

• Project Proposal and Requirements, Team Project Presentation, February 1, 2009
• Project Poster, May 2, 2009