A deterministic and robust wireless control system for driving a six wheeled all-terrain vehicle

This paper describes the robotic control system implemented to handle tasks, which if performed by humans pose significant risks. The system described is used for manually controlling a six wheel all-terrain vehicle through a radio interface from a safe distance. Dual wireless video channels offer a feedback to the operator for maneuvering and controlling the robot. Developing robotic manipulators and vehicles for real time systems require enhanced and deterministic control of peripherals. Functional state machine diagrams that have been developed for this application showcase the predictable behavior of the robot and if necessary, can be further extended to incorporate additional tasks. Special care has been taken to keep the system compact and minimize the overhead from the timing requirements of control system software, so that it can be deployed on a low cost and low power platform. Highly efficient H-bridge drivers for controlling high torque motors have been specially controlled through slow decay PWM control strategy for reducing dissipated heat. The physical implementation ensures optimum performance from all components of the system precluding EMI/EMC and power supply related issues. Field trials have yielded promising results proving that such a control system can be suitably modified to cater to the needs of unmanned ground vehicle applications like remote surveillance, bomb disposal, etc.