Team History


Retired Robots

     

    ALVIN

    Alvin participated in the IGVC competition for 6 years from 2001 through 2006. It won a lot of accolades during this period. Retired in 2007, its technology has been borrowed by the new Q robot, which was built from scratch. Alvin was an autonomous vehicle with capabilities of image processing, JAUS compliance, obstacle avoidance and path planning.

    JUSTICE LEAGUE

    The Trinity College Swarm robots  - Justice League was a new concept of 8 robots working together to extinguish a candle in the expert division maze of the Annual Fire Fighting Competition. These robots were small, cost efficient and could communicate with each other for faster and efficient movement algorithms.

    BUDGET BOB

Budget Bob was undertaken as a challenge by the team to build a working robot under $200. The robot with three IR ranging sensors, two DC motors and a custom built computer board featuring the PIC 16F873 qualified and ran at the 2002 Fire-fighting contest. The total operating cost of the robot was $120. Beating the $200 dollar challenge, the team is currently working on reducing the cost further to build a reliable working robot costing under 100 dollars. Its going to be a challenge even the amount of scotch tape used is priced.
     

    FIRE

FIRE was Trinity's first fire fighting robot undertaken by three seniors as a senior design project. With a computing power of an eight bit HC11 processor, this robot ran with a pair of geared DC motors and used data from digital Infra-Red sensors for navigation and obstacle avoidance. A fuzzy operating system was written for its operation and hence the name FIRE (Fuzzy Infra-Red Explorer). Although the robot was not able to perform as per the expectation of its developers, this robot opened the doors for research in robotics and related technologies at Trinity college.

     

    PHOENIX

PHOENIX was Trinity's second and by far the most stable robot. Phoenix was a big jump from FIRE both in terms of technology and team organization. The initial design for Phoenix took place in Spring, 1995 by a team of three students. Just before the 1995 robot contest, Phoenix "blew up" but rose again (hence its name) to compete in the 1996-1998 contests. Both the 1995 and 1996 campaigns can be termed disastrous. Improvements made during the summer of 1996 saw Phoenix win the second place at the 1997 contest and with further software improvements the first place at the 1998 Trinity College Fire Fighting Home Robot Contest. Since then the Robot had been in retirement, but intact and is used from time to time for demonstration purposes. PHOENIX runs on the computing power of HC11 processor. It also uses stepper motors for motion resulting in more accurate control. Infra-Red sensing devices were custom made at the Robotics Research Laboratory which opened new doors into sensor technology research and development at the laboratory.
     

    OTBOT

Often used as a teaching robot for the new members of the Robot Study Team, OTBOT enjoys the unique honor of having participated in a competition in foreign soil. A delegate consisting of Dr. David Ahlgren, Amir Tamrakar, Sheldon Provost, Brian Jackson and Kundan Nepal came back from ROBONER 2000 organised in Tel Aviv, Israel with a second place. Designed in 1997 as a successor to Phoenix but with a DC motor control system, OTBOT posed numerous problems to its developers. The motion controller has been designed and redesigned multiple times. Currently, a smooth control is achieved by using a microcontroller based digital PD control. OTBOT was also the first robot for which a custom sensor circuitry was designed in a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) using Mentor Graphics tools. Currently in retirement, OTBOT is used for demonstration purposes.
     

    BOB

BOB is the technically most advanced robot designed at the Robotics Research Laboratory. BOB features a 32 bit HC332 microcontroller board as its brain. It also features a set of precise Stepper motors and excellent motor controllers designed by Intelligent Motion Systems (IMS). BOB includes a digital compass, three pairs of Infra-red ranging sensors and a pair of infra-red photo detector for navigation and fire-fighting operations. It also features a custom built PCB for sensor circuitry and a separate PCB for all the entire interfaces. BOB competed in the 1999 contest and was placed 5th in the senior division. The next year, BOB was awarded the "Most Technically Advanced Robot with Commercial Potential" by the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA). In the ROBO 01 Expo organized by Acroname Inc. in Boulder, Colorado, BOB finished first and continued its excelled performance with a fifth place finish in the Expert Division in the 2001 Fire-Fighting contest. BOB has not only been a technical superstar but also a real superstar. It has been featured by the FOX 61, ABC and even by National Geographic Channel. BOB has recently been retired from active duty but still remains the team's favorite research robot.
     

    MINI BOB

Mini Bob was designed to be a miniature version of Bob. Like Bob, it also features a 32 bit processor, a pair of precise stepper motors controlled by IMS controllers. Mini Bob is unique from the other fire-fighters in the sense that it is completely maze independent. With a seven IR sensor array, this robot basically goes around avoiding obstacles until its UV flame sensor detects traces of fire in the maze. Once flame is detected, it uses a pair of IR sensors to zero into the fire and extinguishes it. Mini Bob runs with a fuzzy operating system and the majority of its software was designed and tested in the Fire-Fighting Robot Simulator designed by Marin Kobilarov as his Senior Design Project for Computer Science. This robot was the first to use custom designed Surface Mount PCBs. Mini Bob competed in the 2001 contest and placed second in the Expert Division. Currently improvements are being made, both hardware and software for a better performance in the next contest. Mini Bob was recently featured in the New York Times.

    HEXA BOB/QUADRA BOB

Hexa Bob is the third robot of the Bob series and the first walking robot built initially by a team of four students with the assistance of the Robot Study Team. The 2001 contest honored the design by awarding it the second place of the NCIIA Innovation Award. Currently, the design is being modified from a six-legged walker to a four-legged walker (Quadra Bob) for better walking motion.