GMU Grand Challenge

What is the GMU Grand challenge.

The GMU Grand Challenge is an autonomous robot challenge. It is going similar to the Darpa Grand Challenge. The objective is to have a robot start in an arbitrary location on campus, then be given a goal location which it must reach. The robot must perform all path planning, obstacle avoidance and motion on its own.

This is a very ambitious project and it success will say a lot about the team that helped to complete the challenge.

The rules

So far these are the rules that we have come up with:

1. The robot must run autonomously.
2. The robot must stay on the pathway.
3. The robot must avoid obstacles.
4. Their can be no assistance given to a robot to put it back on course or avoid obstacles.

There may be other rules that are added along the way to help make this a fair competition. We do want to make this as official as possible to try and make it a competition that George Mason can sponsor in the future.

The Competitors

"In the red corner weighing in at...." (snicker)

We will hopefully have two robots competing in the competition.

Pioneer P3AT-SH

• Drive System
  • Differential-Four Wheel Skid Steer
• Sensing
  • Currently a sonar ring, in the future we plan to add vision.
• Localization
  • We are using an inexpensive 12-channel GPS receiver with WAAS enabled.
• Computing power
  • It will be using a Laptop affixed to its top deck.
  • The laptop is a Dell 700M with Mandrake/Mandriva Linux 10.2

Speed Racer

• Drive System
  • Rear-Wheel Drive RC Car
• Sensing
  • Sonar-ring
• Localization
  • We will be adding GPS.
• Computing power
  • Gumstix