Here are some project ideas that I've collected recently. Please feel free to comment below with other ideas or questions. We will discuss the class project in Week 4 or 5.
Husky as Snowplow
Demonstrate "proof of concept" for using the Husky UGV as a small snowplow.
Simulate in Gazebo. Maybe use lots of "cubes" to represent snow. Try reducing friction.
I have official UB floorplans, so you can get exact dimensions of the room
Duplicate ceiling lights and shiny tile floors
This is a particularly good project if you're interested in 3D graphics (e.g., of the type produced in Blender).
Create a Simulated Laser Tag Game
We don't have real IR lights or lasers, but you can determine if your robot is aimed properly at a target.
This project requires the use of "transforms".
Need a UI to change settings (e.g., level of difficulty, number of "bullets" per user, etc) and to keep score.
Do you allow cameras to change pitch? Are there ground vehicles, drones, or both?
Create something Useful out of Dynamixel Servos
We have numerous AX-12A servos, that were part of a "Trossen" robot package. These can be linked together to create robotic arms, to be used in a pick-and-place type of system.
I'm particularly interested in mounting a camera to the end and tracking a moving object.
Design and Test a Mechanism for Payload Drop
For this project, I'm looking for creative ways to safely delivery small packages from a drone. Demonstrate the system concept in simulation. If it looks safe/promising, we can deploy on a real drone.
Inventory Tracking
Demonstrate the use of mobile robots (drones and/or UGVs) to count inventory in a mock warehouse.
Assume that each inventory unit is marked with an ArUco tag.
Count how many tags are in the warehouse (this isn't as easy as it sounds....don't double-count the tags!)
Determine the location of each tag within the warehouse.
Instead of a mobile robot, you could build a cheap hand-held inventory tracker out of a Raspberry Pi, a camera, and an IMU.
Control robots with the help of an LLM
There are an ever-increasing number of very capable open-source LLMs. This project would involve implementing one of these to allow a human to provide natural language commands (voice or text) to the robot. Perhaps the LLM can give the user information about the status of the robot.
Integrate with OpenDroneMap
Check out https://opendronemap.org. Design a system to capture images and then build a 3D model (or do some volumetric analysis).
Here are some project ideas that I've collected recently. Please feel free to comment below with other ideas or questions. We will discuss the class project in Week 4 or 5.
Husky as Snowplow
Demonstrate "proof of concept" for using the Husky UGV as a small snowplow.
/usr/share/gazebo-11/worlds/flocking.worldCreate Gazebo Model of Bell 427
Make a "digital twin" of our classroom.
Create a Simulated Laser Tag Game
We don't have real IR lights or lasers, but you can determine if your robot is aimed properly at a target.
Create something Useful out of Dynamixel Servos
We have numerous AX-12A servos, that were part of a "Trossen" robot package. These can be linked together to create robotic arms, to be used in a pick-and-place type of system.
Design and Test a Mechanism for Payload Drop
For this project, I'm looking for creative ways to safely delivery small packages from a drone. Demonstrate the system concept in simulation. If it looks safe/promising, we can deploy on a real drone.
Inventory Tracking
Demonstrate the use of mobile robots (drones and/or UGVs) to count inventory in a mock warehouse.
Control robots with the help of an LLM
There are an ever-increasing number of very capable open-source LLMs. This project would involve implementing one of these to allow a human to provide natural language commands (voice or text) to the robot. Perhaps the LLM can give the user information about the status of the robot.
Integrate with OpenDroneMap
Check out https://opendronemap.org. Design a system to capture images and then build a 3D model (or do some volumetric analysis).