Test plan

Radio loss

• Why: Car should stop when out of range of transmitter to avoid loss of the car or possible damage if it is traveling uncontrollably at high speeds.
• How: Manual. Make a Faraday cage for the transmitter and place the transmitter in the cage when the car is in motion.

Steering wheel to transmitter communication durability

• Why: The modified transmitter is controlled by an Arduino which is connected to the BeagleBoard over a USB-serial link. Two possible tests would be that 1: the software on the BeagleBoard should not send any invalid commands to the Arduino and 2: the Arduino should not crash as a result of an invalid command.
• How: Automatic. Send random data to the Arduino and see what happens.

Steering wheel to car latency

• Why: The delay between user input and car response should be small, or at the very least, consistent.
• How: Manual. Send a turn command to the car and use a stopwatch to measure the delay. Repeat this process at various car distances.

Camera to screen latency

• Why: The delay between the camera and on-screen display should be small, or at the very least, consistent.
• How: Manual. Place an object in front of the camera and use a stopwatch to measure the time between placement and appearance on the screen. Repeat this process at various car distances.

Collision avoidance test

• Why: The car has an ultrasonic rangefinder on board which should automatically slow the car if it is rapidly approaching an obstacle.
• How: Manual. Try to run the car into a wall. Optionally put a pillow in front of said wall in case of non-detection.

 

Architecture Diagram

 

Parts

• An RC Car

• Wireless Camera

• USB Steering Wheel and Pedals

• Ultrasonic range sensor

• Beagleboard xM

• Arduino (2 - One for the controller, one on board for collision avoidance)