Firebots: Autonomous Fire Detecting Robots

Localization

The known Access Points are the Access Points which have been inputted into the robot’s software. This kind of identification can be easily done by differentiating different Access Points based on their ‘Service Set Identifiers’ or SSID’s, which are broadcasted by all Access Points which are powered up. By recognizing the known SSID’s, the robots will be able to recognize the known Access Points. Therefore to collect the signal strength data, a program will be created, which will record 100 samples of signal strength data for each of the detected Wi-fi Access Points. Since the Monte Carlo Algorithm is already provided with the ‘player-stage’ project, data will be provided to it from the Map_Base_Data above. Thus position data can be easily obtained after the initial maps have been created. To analyse the design feasibility, the signal strength can be easily recorded from “iwconfig” on Linux Operating System. LASER values can be recorded by interfacing with the LASER sensor through the “player-stage” project. Finally the Monte Carlo Algorithm can also be used from the “player-stage” project. As a Design Review, as discussed earlier, the design will meet the objective of an accuracy within 1.0m, with minimal processing required when the robots are also detecting fires, i.e. in ‘online’ mode. This is because “Manual Placement” data recordings will be done in ‘offline’ mode before the robots start detecting fires, and only the Location Determination will be carried out in ‘online’ mode. To summarize the design, Manual Placement technique will be used to record data, and Monte Carlo Algorithm to determine location. The expected performance would be an accuracy of within 0.5m, and the processing will only be required by the “Monte Carlo” algorithm, when the robots need to know position information.