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MESA Lab's Unmanned Ground Vehicle Research

MESA LAB @ UC MERCED's Unmanned Ground Vehicle Research

 

2024 Summer UGV4CH4 team efforts.

References:

  • Smart agricultural in-field service robot: from toy to tool. P Wang, J Tian, H Niu, YQ Chen - … Conferences and Computers and Information in …, 2019 [PDF]
  • Multi-resolution energy strategy for battery management system of unmanned ground vehicles in agriculture. Yanan Wang, Junwei Tian, Haoyu Niu, Peng Wang, Xiaozhong Liao, Yangquan Chen. 2019/8/18 [PDF]
  • Smart and autonomous farm field scouting service robot as an edge device under $1000: Challenges and opportunities. Junwei Tian, Haoyu Niu, Peng Wang, YangQuan Chen. 2019/8/18 [PDF]
  • Intelligent bugs mapping and wiping (iBMW): An affordable robot-driven robot for farmers. Haoyu Niu, Tiebiao Zhao, YangQuan Chen. 2019/8/4 [PDF]

 

 

Past Projects and Credentials:

CSOIS summary (Moore era) (pdf) [PPT 80Mb], spinoff companies ASI, VPI, movie clips: T3 YouTube, T1 YouTube (part-1, part-2) etc. (1996-2004 Moore era, 2004-2012 Chen era). The edited book: "Mobile Robots, State of the Art in Land, Sea, Air, and Collaborative Missions".

Current Active Projects:

  • UGV Digital Twins for Soil Salinity Sensing, Methane Emission Mapping, Pest Population Mapping, Surgical Spraying etc.

  • Unmanned Ground Vehicle for Water Leak Detection in Precision Agriculture

  • ROS Based "Robotic Swarming for Good"

  • ROS Based Robotic Optimal 3D Mapping and 3D Reconstruction of Mayan Caves (See also SmartCaveDrone page)

What is the Unmanned Ground Vehicle for Water Leak Detection?

The Unmanned Ground Vehicle for Water Leak Detection, or UGV for short, is a project started by Tiebiao Zhao, a Ph.D mechanical engineering student at UC Merced in the Fall of 2015. It is a fully autonomous rover aimed at empowering farm owners by replacing monotonous physical labor with a rover that can detect water leakage using image processing and deep learning techniques, rather than traditionally letting workers work tirelessly searching for leaks manually. Apart from replacing labor, this rover will save time, reduce overhead costs, and most importantly, save water for the benefit of our ecosystem. 

The UGV has gained a reputable reputation not only in academia, but also throughout local farming agencies around Merced. We have pitched our idea to the 2015 Big Ideas Convention @ Berkeley and won the Honorable Mention Award, funding us with an amount of $1,000.00 in grant money. Furthermore, the UGV team has gained recognition of farmers, as it is anticipated for many farmers to invest in the project and ultimately purchase our product later on. 

pipes

Partnerships and collaborators have immensely aided in the development of the UGV. We were fortunate enough to have David Paull, CCO of Compost Wheels, mentor us in the Big Ideas proposal process. Likewise, we are proud to represent UCCE, the University of California Cooperative Extensions and have them support us fiscally. Moreover, the MESA Lab has been integral in housing the project, funding us with hardware and software, and providing a welcoming workspace for all of the team members. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To visit the official site of Big Ideas explaining our award, visit: http://bigideas.berkeley.edu/2016/05/04/2016-winners/

Documentation and Timeline

A short viewable video of rover collecting frames for image processing at varied distances from pipes: https://ucmerced.box.com/s/9p70bu54zoym9zcvredhrdcrxxglxs1a

Our image processing team will then proceed to filter images which look something like this!

Current Team Members (Fall 2016)

ugv team

Tiebiao Zhao( Project Lead): tzhao3@ucmerced.edu

A graduate student pursuing his Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering that works under Dr. Yang-Quan Chen at the MESA Lab, located at the UC Merced Castle Airport research facility. He is in charge of this project and advises the undergraduate students.

Jan Tanja (Technical Project Manager): jtanja@ucmerced.edu

A second-year computer science engineering major who serves as the undergraduate team lead. He oversees development of the UGV as well as programs leak identification software using OpenCV C++ for the vehicle’s use in the field. He is responsible for directing the overall progress of project.

Brandon Yang (Structural Engineer and Design Manager):byang34@ucmerced.edu

A second-year Mechanical Engineering major who focuses on maintaining the structural integrity of the rover. His role includes chassis design and repair, part salvaging and replacement, piloting the rover. Additionally, he designs and optimizes CAD drawings and 3D prints any additional parts that are needed.

Christian Tran (Engineer): ctran69@ucmerced.edu

A second-year student working towards a bio-engineering degree that concentrates on the coding behind the image processing system in identifying leakage experienced in farm fields. Knowledgable in Python, he is responsible for spatial recognition patterns using OpenCV and uses image filtering techniques to distinguish water leaks from the surroundings. 

Last updated 3/25/2020. Webpage in charge: Di An, Ph.D. student @ EECS @ UC Merced (since Jan. 2020)