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FAST: Fully Autonomous Sentry Turret

ECE 4007 L01 DK6Dr. David Keezer

Patrick Croom, Kevin Neas, Anthony Ogidi, Joleon Pettway

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FAST Overview

• Fully Autonomous Sentry Turret – area denial gun turret with integral IFF capabilities

• Improve security, reduce unnecessary casualties, and reduce operational costs

• Intended for US Department of Defense, other armed federal organizations, and licensed private security companies

• $2500 component cost; $200,000 prototype development

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Design Objectives

• Once activated, this system will operate without user interaction

• Uses visual monitoring to detect significant sources of movement

• Rapidly engages targets while avoiding designated friendly personnel

• Easy to use, portable, and low cost

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System Block Diagram

WebcamNotebook Computer

Phidget Control Board

Azimuth Servo

Altitude Servo

Power Supply

Digital Video(USB)

USB

DC Voltage

Voltage Data

Turret Configuration

Stand Dimensions: 2’x2’x2’Feet

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Mechanical Turret

• Will consist of:– Phidget servo controller– A pair of HiTec Servomotors– Pan and Tilt servo mount– Mounted laser pointer

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Motion Tracking Interface

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Motion Tracking Algorithm

StartSave

Current Frame

Save Next Frame

Detect Differences

Locate rectangle around

connecting edges

Mark largest rectangle and its center on

video

Send coordinates

to servo motors

• Identify Friend/Foe (IFF) Capability– Identity determined by color of uniforms– Sample color around aim-point– Compare to predetermined “safe” color

spectrum– Color Spectrum Example:

• Safe Color: Red • Color Range Accepted as “Red”:

– R: 235-255; G: 0-50; B: 0-50

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Target Differentiation

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Problem #1: Target Acquisition Rate

• Motion Tracking software currently exhibits a delay between image capture and target identification

• Acquisition time needs to be fast enough to prevent targets from bypassing the turret

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Target Acquisition Rate Solutions

• Reduce Image Resolution – Improve Simple Compression Algorithm

• Filter and sort motion sources based on relative size

• Employ a more powerful central processor

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Problem #2: Target Differentiation

• Current software converts images to grayscale

• IFF code may decrease run speed

• Color sampling locations may not be consistent

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Preliminary Acceptance Testing

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Project Schedule

• 3/29/10 – Basic Servo Control functional

• 4/05/10 – Total System Integration

• 4/19/10 – IFF Operational• 4/26/10 – Prototype Complete

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Conclusions

• FAST – Revolutionary New Defense Technology

• Reliable Basic Design– Functional Motion Tracking

• Problems:– Acquisition Rate– Target Differentiation

• Questions?