/ToyCarController

Primary LanguageJupyter NotebookMIT LicenseMIT

ToyCarController

Materials

  • A laptop (with ubuntu OS)
  • A Raspberry Pi 3 Board with power cable
  • A MicroSD card
  • A MicroSD to USB converter
  • A Camera with two Servos
  • Motors with cable (x4)

and a working space with wifi access.

How to build

Step 1: Initialize a remotely developable Raspberry Pi 3 Board

  1. Run Command: on the laptop, turn on the terminal, and type, then type enter:

    snap install rpi-imager

  2. Plug In: plug in the MicroSD card to the laptop

    # Action: plug-in: MicroSD -> Laptop  # may need converter

  3. Run Program:

    # Action: Open the **Raspberry Pi imager** App.
# Action: Select the proper settings on the UI. (trivial)
# Action: Click run and wait it finished.

  4. Run Command:

    # navigate to the root of the MicroSD card
cd /media/congyu/bootfs
touch ssh
nano wpa_supplicant.conf

  5. Type In (Accordingly): type the following content according to your true information and save.

            country=YOUR_CONTRY_CODE  # eg. US
            ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
            update_config=1

            network={
                ssid="your wifi ssid"
                psk="your wifi password"
                key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
            }
  1. Plug In: 
    # Action: plug-out: MicroSD <- Laptop
# Action: plug-in:  MicroSD -> Raspberry Pi 3 Board
# Action: plug-in:  Power cable -> Raspberry Pi 3 Board

# Action: wait ~10 minutes (for raspberry to setup automatically)

Step 2: Test the remote access.

  1. Run Command:

    # locate the IP of the rasberry PI. run: 
ip route | grep default

  2. Observe:

    # Information: you will see something like default via 192.168.1.1 dev wlan0 proto dhcp metric 600. 
# Action: Figure out your router's IP address (e.g., 192.168.1.1)

  3. Run Command (Accordingly):

    # Modify the following IP based on your Router IP. (replace last .1 to .0)
nmap -sn 192.168.1.0/24

  4. Observe:

    # Action: Figure out your Rasberry IP. (eg. 192.168.1.xxx)

  5. Run Command (Accordingly):

    ssh pi@192.168.1.xxx
# for password, type in: raspberry

  6. Run Command:

    exit

Step 3: Setup environment and Clone the repository to the Raspberry Pi

  1. Run Command (Accordingly):

    ssh pi@192.168.1.xxx
# for password, type in: raspberry

  2. Run Command:

    sudo apt install python3-venv
python3 -m venv toy_car_controller
source toy_car_controller/bin/activate

  3. Run Command:

    git clone <this git repository>
cd ToyCarController
sudo apt-get install portaudio19-dev
pip3 install -r requirements.txt

Step 4: Install Camera

  1. Plug In:

    # Action: plug-out: Power cable <- Raspberry Pi 3 Board
# Action: plug-in:  Adafruit Control Board (With Power) -> Raspberry Pi 3 Board
# Action: plug-in:  Camera -(Servo cable)-> Adafruit Control Board (With Power))
# Action: plug-in:  Camera -(USB)-> Raspberry Pi 3 Board

Step 5: Install Motors

  1. Plug In:

    # Action: plug-in:  Motors x 4 -> Adafruit Control Board
# Action: plug-in:  Adafruit Control Board -(GPIO & Power)-> Adafruit Control Board (With Power)

  2. Plug In:

    # Action: plug-in:  Power cable -> Adafruit Control Board (With Power)
# Action: plug-in:  Power cable -> Raspberry Pi 3 Board

# Action: wait ~3 minutes (for raspberry to start)

Step 6: Play

  1. Run Command (Accordingly):

    # you might need to re-connect the resberry board
ssh pi@192.168.1.xxx
# for password, type in: raspberry

  2. Run Command:

    source toy_car_controller/bin/activate
cd ToyCarController
python control_server.py

  3. Run Program:

    # Action: open a **browser** (from any device under same wifi)
# Action(accordingly): go to 'http://192.168.1.xxx:5000'