Wireless Communication Network Improvements for the UIUC Robotics Laboratory Testbed
Pesantez Diaz, Freddy Gonzalo
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/11967
Description
Title
Wireless Communication Network Improvements for the UIUC Robotics Laboratory Testbed
Author(s)
Pesantez Diaz, Freddy Gonzalo
Issue Date
2009-06-01T16:04:49Z
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Spong, Mark W.
Department of Study
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Discipline
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
Wireless communications
Testbed Robotics Laboratory UIUC
Gumstix configuration and programming.
Abstract
This thesis introduces some improvements to the robotic testbed in the Robotics Laboratory in the Coordinated Science Laboratory at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. The main goal was to improve the wireless network. Not only this goal was successfully achieved, but the complete tesbed was also improved with the introduction of new hardware and software.
The challenges of this research were twofold: first, it was necessary to keep functionality of the previous platform, and second, it was desired to maximize the performance of the new system. The legacy serial port used in the existing platform presents a serious constraint in terms of the performance of the system. Two main implementations are proposed: The first one is completely “transparent” to the user, meaning that the experiments can be run without the user noticing any change. This implementation can be used even with the same software that is running currently. The second implementation changes the serial port at the side of the control computer with a more efficient Ethernet port. This implementation demands a change of software in the control computer. This software was made in Labview and was developed to allow the same functionality as before but with improved communication performance.
The system achieved should not be considered merely as an improvement in wireless communications. Rather, it is a new logical layer introduced between the control computer and the robots, which will diversify enormously the experiments that can be performed in this new testbed.
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