joeyorlando / self_driving_car

Neural network/Haar cascade trained self-driving RC car using Raspberry Pi

Self Driving RC Car

This repository houses all of the software/instructions, as well as schematics, that will allow you to turn an ordinary RC car into a "smart" self-driving car 🤓. The car is capable of autonomously detecting the bounds of the road

All of the software in this project (except for a smidgeon of HTML/CSS/JS) is Python 3.6.0.

Running the web server

Note: because this uses the picamera module, this will likely only run on the rasperry pi.

make run-web-server

##Things you'll need Below is the list of parts that I used to make this project happen.

Hardware/Electrical

• Raspberry Pi
• Raspberry Pi camera (case is recommended)
• Lots of jumper cables (male to male & male to female)
• Half breadboard L293D H-Bridge Motor Driver
• HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Range Finder
• Resistors: 330Ω and 470Ω
• RC Car - I used one like this

Note on the Raspberry Pi: I used the Model 2B but the 3 has since come out, either or should work for this project. I would recommend the 3 as you don't need to worry about purchasing an extra WiFi dongle. A kit like this is probably best as it comes with a case, preinstalled SD, etc. For this walkthrough I'll make the assumption that you already have a functioning, WiFi connected Pi.

Note on the RC Car: If you're crafty you really don't need to purchase an RC car. Essentially you'll be "tearing the guts" out of the car down to just the DC motor that controls forwards/reverse, servo that controls left/right, and the chassis. You could build a car with a kit like this for cheaper but I decided not to focus on that (at least for now).

Tools

• Electrical tape
• A small screwdriver set like this comes in handy
• Soldering Iron Kit (optional)
• Wire-stripper (or if you don't have this a box-cutter/knife will do the trick)

Note on soldering: soldering isn't really necessary for this project, although it's a temporary solution. If you're a noob at soldering like me, you can just strip your wires back, inter-twine the cooper and throw some electrical tape on it.

Wiring things up

Note: Fritzing schematic can be found here.

Testing out our connections

...test scripts to make sure everything works fine

To-do list

• Get materials
• Control rear DC motor from Pi
• Control front DC motor from Pi
• Control HC-SR04 from Pi
• Create schematic
• Stream video to Mac from Pi camera
• Connect to web server running on Pi
• Drive car from Mac
• Collect data ...

References

• Connecting an HC-SR04
• Connecting an L293D
• Connecting an SG-5010