The OttoBot
As self-driving vehicles are continually becoming more prevalent in our society, it is important that we begin to educate students about self driving principles to raise the education level of those who will be programming them. Thus, the OttoBot enters the room. The OttoBot is a small scale autonomous vehicle designed to teach students about the limitations of self driving, and how to effectively program a self driving vehicle.
The Hardware
The OttoBot is operated by a using a Raspberry Pi to control an I²C module, and a DC electric motor driver. The I²C module is used to control the upfront steering with a servo motor, and the DC motor driver interfaces with 2 small hobby motors to propel the OttoBot forward.
The Software
The OttoBot uses processing on both the programmers computer, and on the Raspberry Pi to interface. Using the OpenCV library available for processing, the OttoBot uses computer vision to process data, and this computer vision allows the OttoBot to interpret data and act upon that data to drive autonomously.
Driving Autonomously
After many hours coding some robust software, the OttoBot was able to drive autonomously. Shown in the video above, it is not quick, nor is it the smoothest drive. However, it is propelling itself forward and making that turn on its own based on the data it receives through this computer vision.
