2010 International Conference on Recent Trends in Information, Telecommunication and Computing

Photo-Chrome: Asias Largest Techfest Award Winning Solar Robot

Siddarth Jain
Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering Medi-Caps Institute of Technology & Management Indore, India e-mail: siddarth.m.jain@gmail.com

Navneet Tiwari
Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering Medi-Caps Institute of Technology & Management Indore, India e-mail: navneet1231@gmail.com

Abstract Creativity, imagination and practical implementation of concepts are the pedestal of the educational policy for any country. In all practical aspects of Engineering Education the Student Design Competition always showcases the extraordinary talents of students while encouraging them to develop innovative ideas. Being Indian student and won the solar robotics competition in Asias Largest Technology Extravaganza- Techfest 2009, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India is a dream, which was fulfilled by making a sincere effort in this direction. This paper deals with the designing and implementation of the Solar Robot: - Photo-Chrome. This design not only defeats 400 teams but also won the Prestigious Event: Photovore- Indias First Solar Robotics Challenge, on the occasion of Golden Jubilee Year of the IIT Bombay. This event was inspired by the Charles Darwins Theory of Evolutions concept, Survival of the Fittest. It involved construction of a light seeking solar robot, which uses solar power as the only source of energy. This is the first occasion, when we are revealing the logic [a great mystery] behind our design. Our solemn aim behind this paper is to guide and encourage young nurturing engineering students mind. We here wish that, this paper will become a platform for the development of vast number of machines. Keywords- Gold Capacitor, Photo Chrome, Photovore, Engine, Solar Robotics, Touch sensors(Feelers). Solar

II.

COMPETITION AT GLANCE

This event was organized by Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay at Asia level. In consequence of that this Technology Extravaganza attracts more than 60,000 students from over the 2100 colleges of India and Abroad. Everyone wanted to be the part of this great venture. As, this field is very new in India; we have often faced so many difficulties during the design and implementation phase of the solar robots. But very soon, we have gained a good practical experience over the designing of the Solar Engine. This practical experience has been valuable, because it has taught us that some of the simplified assumption made about the Solar Engine in much current research does not hold well in practice. The lessons we learned have greatly impacted some of the design choices that we have used during the implementation of our Solar Robot: Photo-Chrome. Now in the upcoming paragraphs, we will discuss the various design aspects of the robot. DESIGN FOR COMPETITION * Photo-Chrome: - This robot was designed for the competition: Photovore held at IIT, Bombay. This robot remained closest to the brightest spot in the arena beating all other teams.

I.

INTRODUCTION

This paper deals with the designing of, Photo-Chrome- Solar Robot . We all know that there are a number of autonomous machines available in working conditions right now, which were empowered by using oil, natural gases and other fossil fuels. If, we have a platform, that can use solar energy as the only source of power. Thus, making it possible for robots to move freely; powered by nothing more than sunlight. In this paper, we are representing a working model of this feasible machine. It is not the ultimate model; but in simple words, we are looking for the endless opportunity. The Golden Jubilee Anniversary Year 2009 of the Indian Institute of Technology - Bombay, brings new rays of hopes and inspiration for us in the form of Asias Largest Techfest. This Techfest is embolden with the various enlightening lectures, mind boggling programming contest, technology work-shops, scintillating exhibitions and nerve breaking but mind opening competitions.[10] Among all these activities the Robot Designing Competition is always being a backbone for the Techfest. This year the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay has introduced up a new theme called as Photovore- Solar Robot Design Competition. Ultimately, it becomes Indias first Solar Robot Design Challenge. Thus this single event fascinated the creative mind of more than 10,000 techies.

Figure 1. Demonstration of the Photo-Chrome that was designed for the Solar Robotics Competition: Photovre.

III.

COMPETITION PHOTOVORE @ IIT BOMBAY

*Mission Objective: The construction of the automated, digitalized and involuntary processed light seeking solar robot machine, which uses solar power as the only source of energy. *Parametric Constraint Arena: The managers of the Photovore design competition have designed an Arena which follows the International Solar Robotics Competition rules and regulations and also being compliance with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory validation and test. This Arena consist a white
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978-0-7695-3975-1/10 $25.00 2010 IEEE DOI 10.1109/ITC.2010.101

surface, which is white in nature. The whole arena is illuminated by the single 500 Watt Halogen Lamp [act as a Solar Source]. This lamp is situated at the elevation of the 300 mm above the centre of the circle which have been aimed vertically downward. The centre of the circle is marked with a black color dot [the final destination] while the centre is filled with the green [environmental friendly] color. There were the four 250 mm. blue squares marked at the corner of arena. Every team was instructed to start the competition with this blue mark. *Obstacles:--There were the four obstacles in the arena painted with the black color and fixed in the four symmetric location of the International Arena. The dimension of these obstacles is 40mm in height and 80 mm in diameter. Here, some of the figures clearly demonstrate the various dimensional views of the arena, which were compliance with the various International Standards.

very difficult task. So many scientific experiments got failed during the determination of this significant capability. A robot which is clever enough to do such things may well remain out of reach for quite so much times. The Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection states that, the evolution of any organism depends directly not only how quickly it can search for its source of energy but also how well it can defend it. Thus the term, Survival of the Efficient is also comes into existence. The prominent source of energy for a solar robot is sunlight. Photo-Chrome is a light seeking solar robot, which has an advantage over living nature because it uses solar cells to convert the sun light directly into electromechanical energy, whereas biological life needs a complex chemical interstages. In biological point of view the solar robot has very few natural enemies because it is not edible. This allows even very simple robots to remain active for a very long time and stubbornly search for a better place under the sun roof. The Photo-Chrome is a nippy little robot empowered by the solar energy. In general practice so many time, we also called it as a Dwarf because it demonstrates that solar-powered devices can also perform various autonomous function. It dominant over the precedent set of larger and complex devices. A small robot eats nothing but sun light without complex nitty-gritty of structure. V. MECHANISM BEHIND PHOTO-CHROME

Figure2. Demonstration of the Three Dimensional View of the Arena of the Photovore Event.

Figure3. Demonstration of the Top View of the Arena of the Photovore Event

Figure4. Demonstration of the Side View of the Arena of the Photovore Event

The light-seeking behavior is the fundamental and multi adoptable nature of solar robot. This means that our design Photo-Chrome always try to seek the light and avoid the shadow wherever it is possible. This behavior was firstly exhibited in Grey Walters turtle--an early robot which proved that a simplified structure with a limited number of connections could give rise to a more complex but an emerging behavior. The mutual demonstration of working of the solar robot can be delineating in the Figure - 5. Our Photo-Chrome always tries to enhance his motion toward the light source. Now whenever, we have tried to relate our solar robot to the world of the animal kingdom, we can see that light is the food for our robot. As we all know that a natural animal instinct always allowed him to go where -- there is food in order to survive. The impedances [obstacles] are the physical resistances, which often found in Nature. Thus as a consequence of that our design exhibits the Obstacle Avoidance Behavior. In which the robot always tries to be as far as possible from obstacles by using its whisker touch sensors [12].These whiskers are also known by the Feelers. Again, we can compare these whiskers with the animal kingdom where whiskered animals such as hamsters and cats sense obstructions with their sensitive whiskers and take evasive action to avoid those obstacles. VI. PHOTO-CHROME IN ACTION The Movement of the machine is the prominent factor, which decides that how well a machine will work in arena. Our design is totally unique in these matters because our solar robot rolls in the form of circular arc. At the time of competition the movement of our design in arena fascinates everyone. The motion of our robots can be sub-divided into forward and the reverse movement. The Photo-Roller doesn't move in straight direction, which you might expect in most of the machines. But the movement of our design is such that it moves at the right angle to its axis. This movement has been carried out for the half circles around the stationary wheel.

IV.

PHOTO-CHROME : ENHACEMENT IN SOLAR ROBOTICS ERA

In present scenario the solar robots are found to be dearth but revolutionary in nature. We could rarely found them on roads or in household. There are some of the robotics machine that earns their daily bread work in large factories and laboratories. But they totally depend on the sources of non-renewable energy. These were the clumsy machines because everything they do, they need scripts describing every motion in precise detail. So they aren't real robots, because intuitively, we reserve the term real for a mechanism that being capable to carried out by own self, without us determining every single action. For some times now the designing an intuitive real robot has proved to be a

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The question arises Why its movement is rolling in nature? As we all know that in a geometrical figure the circumference of circle is always greater by the perimeter of the square or by the length of line. Thus these homogeneous movement travels at greater distance in arena and absorb more amount of solar energy. And when this creature is on the center head of the arena it dominate over the whole 250 mm of circle by taking a sharp circular actuation in rolling movement. The feeler situated behind the rolling wheel cannot hit any (new) obstacles, because the feelers also describe arcs with the opposite wheels as their centers. These odd but clever design features always help us to dominate over the arena for a long span of time. *The Golden Rule of Design*

Circumference of Circle > Length of Line

[Our Robot Movement] [Other Robots Movement]

Figure5. Demonstration of the Photo-Chrome Action in Arena

VII.

DESIGN ANALYSIS OF PHOTO-CHORME

The key factor in designing any solar robot is the Solar Engine [7]. The main difficulty in designing a solar engine arises due to the slow rise of the voltage over the storage capacitor. There is a lot of hesitation between yes and in the voltage conscious part of the design, making the semiconductors to leak current. But, the need is to make the output either high or low, with fast switching in between. This design has been inspired by the Sun-Eater- III a work of great robobiologist Steve Bolt [8]. The Ultimate Design: Photo-Chrome Eagle Schematic

Figure 6. Demonstration of the eagle schematic of the Solar Robot: PhotoChrome for the Photovore Competition @ IIT, Bombay.

We have used polycrystalline solar cells [6] that are available within the 37 X 33mm and 37 X 66 mm package. The 37X33 mm solar cell has the voltage & current specification of 6.7V and 31mA, which were significantly lower than by 33 X 66 mm solar cells. These solar cells have the current and voltage specification of 8V and 44mA. An important factor was the selection of the storage capacitor according to the Solar Engine design. Firstly, a 4700uF

16V capacitor was used, but the performance was very poor, the robot taking occasional steps. Replaced with the Gold capacitor of .33F 2.5V, the robot started moving but not giving the desired performance, reason being the large Super capacitors like Gold capacitor usually discharges faster [11]; hence its fortunate for the Photo-Chrome that it needs an ordinary storage capacitor. But, its selection was also challenging. We tried to use combinations by connecting capacitors in parallel. After experimenting a lot finally, we got the solution. Ten 3300uF 6.3V capacitors connected in parallel did provide the desired capacitance. The performance was outstanding. When only a Schmitt trigger is used to check the voltage over the storage capacitor- as the trigger point is reached, the result will be a slowly rising current that too not going in the storage capacitor but rather consumed by the circuit itself. In this design the problem is avoided completely. The 74HC Logic makes the basis of the design. A Schmitt trigger is formed by the NAND gates G1 and G2, checking the storage capacitor voltage. Whereas, the NAND gates G3 and G4 forms a pulse generator, supplying approx. 5 pulses a second. The key used is to sample the voltage rather than to measure it continuously, hence only during a sample pulse, the Schmitt trigger look at the voltage over the storage capacitor The voltage over the storage capacitor is presented by the resistors (500K pot (the switch on level is adjusted by using this pot) plus 100K) and diodes (1N4148 x 3) junction. Now, as the stored voltage reaches the required value (switch on trigger level), G1s output becomes 0, stopping the pulse generator in an output high condition (forcing G3s output to remain high), which implies the Schmitt trigger now continuously monitors the stored voltage. Its output keeps one of the motors running. When the voltage drops to the switch off level G1s output returns to 1, making the pulse generator to continue. The selection of appropriate motors was also painstaking. Experiments with Pager motors, 1.5V DC motors, Servo motors, Coreless DC motors etc. were done but still the search was not over. Then, we got our hands on to the CD player DC motor, and excitingly the results were excellent. The motor has fairly large diameter, which gives the rotor considerable inertia. The motors worked best with a slightly lower switch-on level and a larger difference between switch-on and switch-off. The second pot of 500K, decides the hysteresis of the Schmitt trigger. The value needed is dependent on the mechanical nature of the motors used. For example, high inertia means a current pulse needs to be relatively long, whereas a large diameter gives good torque at low rpm. Another Schmitt trigger built around the NOR gates G5 and G6, decides which motor will run. The input to it is feeded from the feelers acting as touch sensors and the photodiodes. Also for good performance, usage of a small bias resistor is made possible by the pulse generator switching the bias current for the photodiodes. Also, the photodiodes were balanced by covering part of the front of one of them by using a black tape. The, Switch-on is set at a voltage where the motor accelerates well. A higher voltage wastes energy resulting in shorter step and the longer recharge time. These switching levels makes the Photo-Chrome react properly when a feeler touches an obstacle, and give it sufficient push to handle terrain somewhat more difficult than a smooth tabletop. In all, the design makes it possible for Photo-Chrome to act as an automated light seeking machine, using solar power as the only source of energy.

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Demonstration of PCB structure Photo-Chrome

VIII. ANALYTICAL & GRAPHICAL OBSERVATIONS A. Analytical Results:* The solar panel Voltage at No Load:~ 1) At the starting zone in the arena: 3.5 V 2) At the brightest spot: 6.2 V * Switch on voltage: 2.5 V * Switch off voltage: 1.5 V
Table1. Demonstration of the Rise in capacitor Voltage with time. Time (Sec) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 Capacitor Voltage (V) 0.9 0.98 1.11 1.25 1.41 1.58 1.77 Time (Sec) 70 80 90 100 101 110 120 Capacitor Voltage (V) 1.97 2.2 2.39 2.51 1.48 1.7 1.89

Table 2. Demonstration of the Analytical Results of the testing of Photo Chrome. Position Figure7. Demonstration of the flow diagram of the working Principle of Solar machine: - Photo-Chrome Start Zone Intermediate Position 1 Intermediate Position 2 Inner Circle Brightest Spot Current (mA) 10 20 30 40 50

Figure8. Demonstration of the PCB structure of the Solar Robot: Photo-Chrome.

Photo-Chrome Design Mechanics

B. Graphical Results:The following graphs have been plotted with the help of above described analytical results for our solar robot PhotoChrome. The Photo-Chrome was placed in the Start Zone at time T=0 sec. The capacitors start charging. The switch on level is reached at time T=100 sec. Capacitor discharges (from T=100 sec. to T=101 sec.). Motor spins according to the input given by the photodiodes. Switch off level reached at T=101 sec. Now, again the capacitors starts charging and the cycle continue.

Figure9. Demonstration of the Design Mechanics of Photo - Chrome.

Graph1. Demonstration of the graph plotted between capacitor voltage v/s. time for the solar machine: - Photo-Chrome. At the time, when Robot is placed at starting zone.

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X.

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE IMPLEMENTATION

Graph2. Demonstration of the graph plotted between current v/s. positions of solar machine: - Photo-Chrome.

Now, we can see that the charging current increases as the robot approaches towards the light source. IX. FEASIBLE DESIGN APPLICATIONS Every design competition is always being inspired by the development of the innovative ideas towards the quality improvement and enhancement in daily life for all. The design applications have the light sensing and the obstacle avoidance capability, which can further be enhanced for the multiple adaptive practical applications. The various numbers of parameters are always being associated with this enhancement. Let us imagine -- a daily life situation in which, we have to vacuum the carpet or mow the lawn of your domestic household. These wonderful machines can be associated with all this work with an advantage of empowerment only by the sun and its ambient light. As now, we can see that these behaviors, which on the mundane face is very simple but its nitty-gritty is ennui in nature. These enhanced machines can be associated with the various automated devices, which exhibits more complex behaviors. Thus by this design, we can show that it not only relieve the tedium of simple human tasks but at the same time it did not consumes precious fossil fuel i.e. non-renewable energy.

Solar Robotics is a developing and revolutionary field. Our design always inspired us for the more exploration of this field. After one year of painstaking study of this field with various successes and amazing failures; we have been able to write the technology description of this elegant machine called as PhotoChrome. This miniature robot is a beautiful example of efficient utilization of the non-renewable energy i.e. solar energy. This is our best possible effort to describe the technology description of these graceful machines. For the purpose of better understanding we have included the various background details of the event Photovore in paper. The use of solar Engines was not satisfactory for this particular task, but the 74HC logic design really proved handy. In the event the robot didnt only reach and remains at the brightest source in arena avoiding obstacles but also was able to defend the brightest area from the other machines In the future implementation, we will enhance our approach toward the development of Biomorphic Robots. This design will become the greatest achievement of our lives. Our solemn aim behind this paper is to inspire the sophomore engineering students for the development of vast number of Solar Robotics machines. At the end of the paper, we wanted to imply them The winning is not so much essential in life in front of the concept that we had learned from our own failure. REFERENCES
[1] Hrynkiw, Dave & Mark Tilden. 2002. Junkbots, Bugbots & Bots on Wheels: BuildingSimple Robots With Beam Technology. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Osborne. ISBN 0-07-222601-3 [2] 123 Robotics Experiments For The Evil Genius. NewYork: McGraw-Hill, Tab Robotics. ISBN 0-07-141358-8. [3] Mims, Forrest M., III. 1992. The Forrest Mims Engineers Notebook. ISBN1-878707- 03-5, HighText Publications Inc., P.O. Box 1489, Solana Beach, CA 92075 [4] Cook, David. 2002. Robot Building For Beginners. New York: Apress, Springer-Verlag New York. ISBN 1893115445 [5] H.S. Ullal, J. L. Stone, K. Zweibel, T. Surek, R. L. Mitchell, Polycrystalline Thin-Film Solar Cells and Modules 6th International Photovoltaic Science & Engineering Conference, New Delhi, India, 1992, p.4 Solar Engines information on URL http: //www.solarbotic s.net/ library / circuits/se.html. Sun Eater III Available on:: http://www.xs4all.nl/~sbolt/e-index.html Hasslacher B., Tilden M. W., "Living Machines, Robotics and Autonomous Systems: The Biology and Technology of Intelligent Autonomous Agents. Editor: L. Steels. Elsevier Publishers, Spring 1995. (LAUR- 94- 2636). Look Back- Asias Largest Technology Extravaganza - IIT Bombay Tech fest, Available: www.techfest.org.

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[10] Panasonic Electronic Double Layer Capacitor Gold Capacitor, Panasonic Industrial Company Production Management Department year 2004. [11] Jaury A. Wijaya and R. Andrew Russell, Object Exploration sing Whisker Sensors, Proc. 2002 Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation, Auckland, Nov.2002. Figure10. Demonstration of the six different Positions of Our Solar Robot in the arena where it is competing with the other robot in the final round of the competition Photovore at IIT Bombay. [12] Valentine, Richard. 1998. Motor Control Electronics Handbook. New York: McGraw-Hill ISBN 0-07-066810-8

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