Design and implementation of a magnetic rotary wheel encoder for a self-driving robotic vehicle

Abstract

This thesis project aims to help complete the fabrication of a magnetic wheel encoder for a fleet of autonomous electric vehicles that will provide shuttle service across MIT's campus. Currently no self-driving vehicles exist for such a function, especially for mobility on a college campus. In an effort to assist the system's simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithm, this magnetic wheel encoder was designed and implemented to more accurately and directly determine the vehicle's trajectory. After mounting the magnets and sensors, an algorithm was developed to map the vehicle's path given raw magnetic field data. Though the open-loop system was not a perfect map to the actual path taken, this work provides a guideline with more than enough accuracy for the SLAM algorithm.