PRE2017 4 Groep5
Group Members
| Name | Study | Student ID |
|---|---|---|
| Ahmed Ahres | Software Science | 0978238 |
| Quinten Maes | Psychology & Technology | 0955972 |
| Hugo Melchers | Mathematics & Software Science | 0994280 |
| Christel van den Nieuwenhuizen | Psychology & Technology | 0940672 |
| Frank de Veld | Physics & Mathematics | 1010914 |
Introduction
We are developing a smart self-following suitcase in order to make traveling and transporting objects more efficient and less tiring. This system requires different technologies: Bluetooth connection to be able to follow a device owned by a person, GPS tracking to avoid getting lost by the owner, security procedures to avoid getting stolen and computer vision for obstacle avoidance. In this project we detail a framework to build such a system and present an object detection algorithm that can be used by the suitcase for obstacle avoidance.
Problem Statement
Project Planning
Approach
We aim to design a motorised suitcase that can be configured to follow it's owner. First, we will develop a vision for a nominal use case of such a motorised suitcase. From this vision, we will extract user requirements. Then, we will give a high-level architecture showing the different components that will be used (e.g. computer vision, electric drive, etc.). We will do research regarding all these components, gathering the knowledge required to combine them into one device. Finally, we will present a design for a motorised suitcase based on our vision, the user requirements, and the technicalities of the used components used.
Weekly Planning
Milestones
The following milestones are set for this course. They are shown in the planning aswell.
- In the first week every group member finds and summarizes the articles for their part for the state of the art. The entire introduction and accompanying parts are written.
- In the third week the requirements and UI requirements are finished.
- In the fourth week the USE analysis is finished.
- The last milestone are the deliverables.
Deliverables
Users
In general the users for this kind of technology will be persons who regularly have to cover distances with baggage and either have trouble with that or would like to have their load relieved. This mostly covers business travelers, elderly or disabled travelers or elderly and disabled persons in general. The general area of use would thus be airports, train stations, bus stations, naval docks and urban areas. It is pretty important that these technologies are used in relatively smooth and flat terrain. In the case of personal suitcases, the self following suitcases would be bought particularly by the users. In the case of trolleys, the self following trolleys would be purchased by organisations like airports, nursery homes, supermarkets, retail stores and universities.
State of the Art
So far, a few companies have already tackled the case of self following suitcases. At several events such devices have been shown or demonstrated, but so far none have been sold to particulars yet. The companies currently working on a self following suitcase are:
- Olive robotics owned by IKAP Robotics from Iran (http://oliverobotics.com/)
- Travelmate robotics from the United States (https://travelmaterobotics.com/)
- ForwardX from China (https://www.forwardx.com/)
- Cowarobot owned by LeMoreLab from China (http://en.cowarobot.com/en/r1/robotics.htm)
- 90FUN owned by Shanghai Runmi Technology Co., Ltd. from China (https://www.90fun.us/puppy1)
- NUA Robotics from Israel (http://unbouncepages.com/nuarobotics/)
It is important to note that all of these companies, the parent companies included, have been founded in the previous 3 years. Two of these companies, Travelmate and Cowarobot, needed crowdfunding from the crowdfunding website indiegogo.com in order to be able to produce their suitcases, Travelmate even needed two (https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/travelmate-a-fully-autonomous-suitcase-and-robot, https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/travelmate-a-fully-autonomous-suitcase-and-robot--2#/comments and https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/cowarobot-r1-the-first-and-only-robotic-suitcase). Both companies had delivery dates around end 2016 / begin 2017, but both experienced production delays and have not yet delivered the suitcases to their customers. Furtheremore, Travelmate has doubled to tripled their prices compared to their original plan (€400 to €600), which was comparable to the price of the one from Cowarobot. Nevertheless, both companies received an overwhelming amount of support from their backers; 400% of the necessary funds was received by Cowarobot and 1600% of the necessary funds were received by Travelmate. The other four companies do not give specifications on either the release date or the price, only NUA Robotics and ForwardX hope to release it at the end of this year.
Also interesting is that five of these six companies claim to have made the first self following suitcase; ForwardX is not claiming this. Additionally, NUA Robotics is a very small company with only 2-10 employees and their site is hosted by the third party company Unbounce; the company does not look very professional. To summarize; there are several companies currently working on the idea of an self following suitcase and they are at varying stages of releasing the technology in form of a product but it seems most of the companies have run into some issues and none are delivering yet. However, since the companies are already promoting their idea a lot, there are also numerous responses from potential buyers, both negative and positive. This is a really important source of feedback, since this technology is largely based on the users and their preferences. The most important positive remarks are:
- It is an innovative idea
- It is efficient
- It can help disable people
The most important negative remarks or fears are:
- It could be stolen easily
- It could be vulnerable to hacking
- The weight could become too high, since the allowed weight for hand luggage is limited
- The size of the batteries might be too high, since the guidelines for batteries on aircraft are strict
- Terrorism could become easier
- It might not useful enough for the target group. This can of course be avoided by searching for other applications, such as aiding elderly or disabled people and improving efficiency in work environments.
It is important that these subject will be adequately thought of in the design of such a suitcase.
However, the case of self following trolleys does not seem to have been explored yet. One device which resembles this idea is the Stewart Golf X9 Follow (https://www.stewartgolf.co.uk/trolleys/x9-follow/), a self following golf cart and another device is a prototype of a self following shopping cart (http://www.technion.ac.il/en/2014/11/a-shopping-cart-that-follows-you/). The golf cart seems to be the only one of the products listed in this section which is actually for sale. Thus, no self following trolleys have been made for airports, retail stores, train stations or other places where a lot of products need to be moved. Since the golf cart is the only actual product resembling the technologies aimed for in this product, it is interesting to investigate how this company has approached the problem of self-following trolleys. The golf cart uses Bluetooth and a separate remote which the user should keep with him and the range is 50 meters. The cart rides a few meters behind the user when on ‘Follow-mode’, but apparently it sometimes ‘chases rabbits’. The battery life is 25 to 30 holes, which means a few hours. Furthermore, it has downhill braking and an integrated stabilizer, which are important to have on golf courses. Of course, this machine is only useful for transporting golf clubs and golf accessories.
For the intended devices, several important (software) components and concepts are needed, of which there generally is a lot of research about. The important software concepts are autonomous image recognition, obstacle avoidance, remote tracking, control systems, autonomous driving and Bluetooth/GPS connections. Hardware subjects that are relevant are battery efficiency, the most optimal motors and wheels, Arduino connections and battery life. Furthermore, there are general subjects like privacy, security, user preferences and (airport) regulations.