10.15131/shef.data.4990910.v2
Eleftherios Nikolaidis
Eleftherios
Nikolaidis
Chelsea Sabo
Chelsea
Sabo
James Marshall
James
Marshall
Andreagiovanni Reina
Andreagiovanni
Reina
Characterisation and upgrade of the communication between overhead controllers and Kilobots
The University of Sheffield
2017
Kilobot
Swarm Robotics
Control Systems, Robotics and Automation
2017-09-19 15:08:13
Journal contribution
https://orda.shef.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/Characterisation_and_upgrade_of_the_communication_between_overhead_controllers_and_Kilobots/4990910
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p>This study consists in (i) characterising the infrared (IR) communication
between the Kilobot robots and the overhead controller (OHC), (ii) identifying potential communication problems and (iii) designing solutions to them.
Typically Kilobots operate in large environments, therefore a large OHC
communication range is necessary (e.g., to begin or stop an experiment).
We investigated how the communication range is influenced by the surface
material (glass vs. whiteboard), the ambient light and the type of LEDs
on the OHC. The material that maximises the communication range is the
whiteboard (Perspexà Frost matt acrylic, color Moonlight White S2 1T41)
which also reduces the reflections from the fluorescent lights. Additionally,
our study shows that the ambient light influences the communication range;
as such, we designed and implemented an external IR light device that considerably improves the communication. Finally, to reach a large area of
coverage, we designed and implemented a new OHC board. The board is
equipped with the infrared LEDs (TSAL6200) that gave the best performance in the performed tests. In this report, we provide the results of our
tests and the design of the new boards. </p>
</div>
</div>
</div>