This transformed RC automotive makes use of a Portenta H7 to drive itself

Jeremy Ellis is a instructor, and as such, needed a longer-term challenge that his college students might do to study extra about microcontrollers and laptop imaginative and prescient/machine studying, and what higher manner is there than a self-driving automotive. His concept was to take an off-the-shelf RC automotive which makes use of DC motors, add an Arduino Portenta H7 because the MCU, and practice a mannequin to acknowledge goal objects that it ought to comply with.

After deciding on the “RC Professional Shredder” because the platform, Ellis carried out a VNH5019 Motor Driver Service, a servo motor to steer, and a Portenta H7 + Imaginative and prescient Defend together with a 1.5” OLED module. After 3D printing a small customized body to carry the parts within the right orientation, practically 300 photos had been collected of double-ringed markers on the ground. These samples had been then uploaded to Edge Impulse and labeled with bounding bins earlier than a FOMO-based object detection mannequin was skilled.

Reasonably than making a sketch from scratch, the Portenta group had already developed one that grabs new photos, performs inferencing, after which steers the automotive’s servo accordingly whereas optionally displaying the processed picture on the OLED display screen. With some minor testing and changes, Ellis and his class had constructed a complete of 4 autonomous vehicles that might drive all on their very own by following a collection of markers on the bottom.

For extra particulars on the challenge, take a look at Ellis’ Edge Impulse tutorial right here.