CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, a new way of interacting with robots is starting to develop among

both professionals and nonprofessional electronics users. Due to the recent
development of open source software and more recently open source hardware, as
well as the decreasing prices in the world of electronic tools, engineers find
themselves in a situation where they can think of and carry out a vast range of thesis.
This thesis may start out of the industrial environment, however, most of the
experience, technical abilities and new ideas are subject to be applied later on in the
industry of robotics. Robots play a major role in industrialized and developing
countries for their efficiency and capability in productions. In this chapter, the
android-based mobile robotic control system will be introduced for maneuvering the
environments such as dangerous and unreachable scenes for human beings.

1.1. Background Theory of Android-Controlled Spy Robot

Robotics is a prominent component of manufacturing automation which will
affect human labor at all levels from unskilled workers to professional engineers and
managers of production. Future robots may find application outside of the factory in
banks, restaurants, homes and even in war fields. The field of robotics has its origins
in science fiction. Nowadays, it can be seen that things which were previously
controlled manually are automated using machines and electronic remote controls.
And robots are highly automated mechanical manipulators controlled not only by
computers but also by smart phones.
Robotics that are controlled by wireless technique become more popular in
nowadays. Wireless robots are used in military and spying purposes. In 2005, the
Korean Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) created the HUBO wireless
robot that is the smartest mobile robot in the world. This robot is linked to a computer
via a high-speed wireless connection. This creation was the first basic step to invent
the next wireless robot.Android is the most popular operating system used for smart
devices. Smart devices which are using the Android platform are also becoming more
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popular these days because of its smart and easy to use touch interface. Also,
hardware technology utilized in smart phones is improving significantly day by day.
Given that the great majority of users have access to smartphones, an option to give
wireless connectivity for any purpose comes handy so that developers will not
concern themselves about implementing new hardware and software options to their
existing projects. Instead, they can adapt their projects to be compatible with current
connectivity protocols such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, and use a phone to interact with
them. This means that any of them would be capable of controlling their hardware
from their phones contrary to having to develop any significant extra parts.

1.2. Aim and Objectives

The main purpose of this research is to create an android application which
can be used to control the robot using wireless technology.

The objectives are as follows:

 To enter and exit such a difficult place that human can’t effort,
 To spy the environment using Android WiFi camera,
 To construct a vehicle with four-wheels-drive (4WD) mechanism,
 To control the movement of robotic vehicle with wireless technology,
 To avoid the obstacles with ultrasonic sensor mounted on the vehicle and
 To write android application (APK) software for android phone.

1.3. System Implementation

The Android application controlled robot communicates via Bluetooth to the
Bluetooth module mounted on the robot. The system architecture of proposed system
is shown in Fig. 1.1. In this system, Arduino Uno is used as main controller for the
robotic vehicle. For the vehicle motion control purpose, the driving motors will be
controlled with pulse width modulation (PWM) technique. As a wireless
communication, Bluetooth module is used to get command data via Android phone.
In the android-based vehicle control system, user will give input using buttons
provided on screen. There will be 4 buttons. These 4 buttons will be controlling the
direction of the robot. These 4 direction buttons will be used to move the robot in
forward direction, backward direction, left direction and right direction.
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Figure 1.1. System Architecture of Proposed System

The overview block diagram of the android application is shown in Fig. 1.2
and the proposed IP camera in Fig. 1.3. While pressing each button on the application,
corresponding commands are sent via Bluetooth to the robot. The commands that are
sent are in the form of ASCII. The Arduino on the robot then checks the command
received with its previously defined commands and controls the DC motors
depending on the command received to cause it to move forward, backward, left,
right.

Controlled Android
Figure. 1.2. Overview Block Diagram of the Android Application

Figure 1.3. Proposed IP Camera

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1.4. Scope of Thesis

In this system, a robotic vehicle is constructed with 4WD mechanism and
controlled via Android. In the motion control of the vehicle, PWM technique is
implemented in driving wheel motors and ultrasonic sensor is used for the front
obstacle avoidance purpose. Moreover, the motors are controlled with PID technique
using optical encoders as feedback sensors.
The Android app is generally developed using JAVA language but this
Android app can also be built without knowing the Java language. For the android
programming in this system, MIT App Inventor 2 is used because of simple and
efficient programming interface. This app was developed in “App Inventor”
developed by MIT [8]. This app inventor is designed specifically for Non-Computer
Science students those who don’t know the JAVA language.
The list of components used in this thesis is
 Arduino Uno
 L298N motor driver module
 Ultrasonic sensor
 Bluetooth module
 Four DC motors

1.5. Outlines of Thesis

Overview outlines of thesis are presented by five chapters. Chapter 1 describes
introduction of android-controlled robotic vehicle. In addition, aim and objectives of
research and scope of remote operated robot are involved in this chapter. Literature
review for robotics technologies are included in chapter 2. Moreover, fundamental
components of the robotic vehicle system are explained. Chapter 3 comprises for
operation of robotic vehicle hardware and software implementations. Chapter 4 has
test results and experiments of the research photos. The last chapter expresses with
discussions and conclusion as chapter 5.