Where the rubber meets the code

Overview

This project includes C++ plugin files, and XML model and world files to control the operation of an autonomous vehicle in a simulated environment.

Autonomous Vehicle Capabilities

Accurately detect and follow straight and curved lanes

Detect and avoid reasonably sized obstacles and straight, and slightly curved lanes

Get back to original lane after performing an avoidance maneuver

Transition between any of these operations on a closed course indefinitely

Vehicle Design

High Level Controller - Controls the high level decision making of the vehicle. Decides what ‘high level’ operation to perform ( avoid an obstacle, follow the road, return to lane etc.)

Low Level Controller - Controls the mechanical operation of the vehicle. Once the HLC ‘decides where to go’, the LLC ensures that the car will go there.

Lidar - Processes lidar sensor information from the cars lidar sensor to detect obstacles.

Camera - Processes camera sensor information to detect road lanes, and generate waypoints along the road to follow.

GPS - Gets cars position in the world.

Dependancies

Gazebo - Physics simulator supporting our model, world, and plugin files

FADBAD++ - Gazebo dependancy for automatic differentiation

BOOST - Gazebo dependancy

OpenCV - Camera Vision mathematics library used in image processing

Homebrew Install Guide

(1) brew install gazebo6 (We do not guarantee support for any versions of gazebo later than gazebo 6.0)

this will also install dependant fadbad++ and boost library packages

(2) brew install opencv

Install Dependancy

(3) git clone https://github.com/shenruyi1994/SelfDrivingCarTeamZero.git

Clone our repo

(4) cd SelfDrivingCarTeamZero.git

cd into cloned repo

(5) mkdir build

Create build directory to hold our makefile

(6) cd build && cmake .. && cd ..

Use CMake to generate makefile

(7) ./sdcMake

Run script to build the project

(8) gazebo [worldfile.world] [-u]

Pass gazebo the name of your worldfile as first paramater
Use -u parameter to start the simulation in a paused state

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Meet the Team

From race cars to fire trucks, we love them all! We would all love to live in a world where human drivers are a remenant of the past. Autonomous vehicles may be very convenient, but even more importantly, this technology has the potential to save thousands of lives every year. We are all very proud to present our work in the field of autonomous vehicles!

Mindi Coopster

Hello, my name is Mindi Coopster. I originate from the land of Great Britain. I am very inteligient. I can safely follow lanes and avoid dangerous traffic.

Kirsten Baker

Kirsten is a 22 year old from Boulder, Colorado. She loves outer space, but she's apprehensive about going there. If Carleton offered an art minor, Kirsten would probably have one. Kirsten's two favorite car companies start with "l ": Lamborghini and Lotus.

Tom Choi

Tom is from Suwon, South Korea! He enjoys skiing and a big fan of computer games like LOL and StarCraft. He had no idea what he was gonna do at Carleton, but somehow ended up participating in developing self-driving car that Ruyi has wanted. His favorite car is Lamborghini Aventador.

Will Richards

Will Richards is a 21 year old from Salt Lake City, Utah! He uses he/him pronouns. He enjoys skiing, the great outdoors, and video games. Will has a particular interest in computational biology and medicine. Will’s favorite car is the Honda civic.

Ruyi Shen

Ruyi wishes she could drive, but she just can’t, so she has been waiting for self-driving cars for her entire life. Now time has come and she can finally get around this country without bothering other people! BTW surprisingly or not, she has also been a top fan of F-1 car racing.

Ben Withbroe

Ben hails from Takoma Park, MD, a suburb of DC that never found out that the hippy era ended decades ago. He runs cross country and track at Carleton and escapes to the ceramics studio whenever the car doesn't feel like playing nice

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Where the Rubber Meets the Code