Remote-Controlled Vehicle

A Raspberry Pi-based robot that combines keyboard-driven motor control with real-time sonar obstacle detection to drive a two-wheeled vehicle.

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Course Information

Field	Details
Course Title	Introduction to Robotics
Course Number	EGN 4060C
Semester	Fall 2023
Assignment Title	Remote-Controlled Vehicle
Assignment Description	Design and implement a remote-controlled robotic vehicle integrating motor control and sonar-based obstacle detection on an embedded platform.

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Project Description

This project implements a keyboard-controlled robotic vehicle on a Raspberry Pi using GPIO-driven DC motors and an HC-SR04 ultrasonic distance sensor. The operator drives the vehicle using WASD keys via a terminal interface, with two speed modes available. An autonomous sonar mode (t) continuously reads distance to nearby obstacles and dynamically adjusts motor PWM duty cycle to maintain a safe following distance, stopping the vehicle when the 20-second run window expires.

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Screenshots / Demo

No screenshot available. Add one with: ![Demo](docs/your-image.png)

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Results

Expected Terminal Output

Manual Mode (r to enable, then WASD):

    w-forward a-left s-backward d-right
    r-run c-stop Hold Shift to go faster
    Press e to cleanup before and after running

Each keypress prints the direction taken (e.g. forward, left) and the motors respond immediately.

Autonomous Sonar Mode (t):

Waiting for Sensor
PMW: 50 %   Timer: 0.1 sec   Distance: 24.35 cm   Previous Distance: 24.35 cm
PMW: 45 %   Timer: 0.2 sec   Distance: 19.80 cm   Previous Distance: 24.35 cm
PMW: 50 %   Timer: 0.3 sec   Distance: 24.10 cm   Previous Distance: 19.80 cm

Each line updates in-place (\r) during the 20-second run window (200 × 0.1s ticks).

Field	Meaning
PWM	Current motor duty cycle (0–100%). Higher = faster.
Timer	Elapsed seconds since sonar mode started. Stops at 20s.
Distance	Current measured distance to nearest obstacle in cm.
Previous Distance	Distance reading from the prior tick, used to compute error.

The controller increases PWM when the vehicle is moving away from an object (error < -0.5 cm) and decreases it when closing in (error > 0.5 cm), with a gain of 5% per tick. If output seems unresponsive, check gainVal and pmwVal initial values in sonarMotorCombo.py.

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Key Concepts

GPIO Control PWM Motor Drive HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor Proportional Control Raspberry Pi Embedded Python Real-Time Input Loop

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Languages & Tools

• Language: Python 3
• Library: RPi.GPIO
• Hardware: Raspberry Pi, L298N Motor Driver, HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor, DC Motors
• Interface: Terminal (stdin keyboard input)

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File Structure

project-root/
├── sonarMotorCombo.py    # Main script: motor control + sonar logic
├── requirements.txt      # Python dependencies
└── README.md

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Installation & Usage

Prerequisites

• Raspberry Pi with GPIO header
• Python 3
• RPi.GPIO library

Setup

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/alexneilgreen/UCF-IntroToRobotics-RemoteControlledVehicle.git
cd UCF-IntroToRobotics-RemoteControlledVehicle

# 2. Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# 3. Run
python sonarMotorCombo.py

Controls

Key	Action
r	Enable drive mode
c	Stop all motors
w	Forward
s	Backward
a	Turn left
d	Turn right
h	Toggle normal / fast speed
t	Start autonomous sonar mode (20 sec)
e	GPIO cleanup and exit

Note: Movement keys only respond when drive mode is active (r pressed first).

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Contributors

Name	Role	GitHub
Alexander Green	Development, Testing, Presentation	@alexneilgreen
Antonio Duchesneau	Development, Testing, Presentation	@GitHubAccountExample1
Rodrigo Guerra	Development, Testing, Presentation	@rodygu

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Academic Integrity

This repository is publicly available for portfolio and reference purposes only. Please do not submit any part of this work as your own for academic coursework.