Posted on by rickitura

This project was completed over the course of seven months from October 2017 to April 2018, as part of the COMP3200 – Individual Project module. 

The SwarmIR platform is a set of small swarm robots created to mimic animal behaviours such as herding, avoiding predators, and targeting prey. This project enhanced the capabilities of the SwarmIR robots and the amount of behaviours they could model. The project utilised mechanical and electronic design to create coupling attachments for the robots; as well as software programming and digital control to optimise the positioning of the robots to get them to couple.

A bird's eye view of a SwarmIR robot with the completed modifications.
A CAD design of two coupled robots.

Limitations included having a restricted set of GPIO pins available on the robot’s microcontroller, which was solved by using multiplexers and programming the robot to switch and use the different signals when required. The limited amount of current available was also a challenge. The servo motor controlling the coupling arm was powered using a high-gain MOSFET, controlled by one of the microcontroller output pins, and the on-board Li-Po battery. A pulse width modulation (PWM) was used to control the MOSFET gate, and subsequently the position of the servo arm.

Many of the parts used in the project were 3D printed or laser cut, with the designs made in appropriate software packages such as Solidworks.

The project has opened up possibilities of further work such as a wired I2C communications link between the robots, and this was accounted for in the electronic design and in the software.

This project was accompanied by 10,000 word report, and was awarded a first class grade of 80%.

If you would like to know more about this project, feel free to get in touch.

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