Implementation of obstacle avoidance and ZigBee control functions for omni directional mobile robot

Based on FPGA (field programmable gate array) development board, this paper presents the obstacle avoiding and ZigBee wireless control functions for omni directional mobile robot. By using ultrasonic transducers, the embedded controller receives the obstacle distance signals, and then calculates the control signals to drive three omni directional wheels DC motors which set up on mobile robot. On the other hand, through the onboard RS-232 port, the controller as well as receives the control signals from remote PC via ZigBee wireless communication. The graphical human machine interface is programmed by Visual Basic software at PC part; such the functions of mobile robot remote control and messages transmission are displayed on screen. The experiment results provide the FPGA implementation techniques for control omni directional mobile robot; also extend the ZigBee wireless communication techniques into the intelligent robot research field.