HARDWARE TEAM

Concept

            The ACE Rover 1 is a four-wheel drive four-wheel steering all terrain autonomous rover.  Built on a modular and expandable platform this rover will have the ability to be manually adapted or automatically adapt itself for whatever environment it encounters.  Deployment will be as simple as attaching the proper wheels, adding any accessories that are needed for its task and sending it out to complete the task.  The ACE Rover 1 will be able to operate in water up to six inches deep.  It will be able to operate in mud, snow and sand as well as on ice, concrete, pavement and hard dirt.  
The ACE Rover 1 has two levels.  A lower level that contains all of the encoders and drive motors.  The lower level also contains batteries, a steering motor, tilt switches to determine surface inclination, touch switches to determine if the rover had bumped into and obstacle and four IR sensors to detect changes in surface features.  Later versions will also contain a movable counter weight to maintain a good center of gravity when the rover is on a tilted surface. The upper level contains eight IR sensors to detect obstacles, an analog compass to determine direction, the steering system and the electronics to operate the rover.   
Future versions of the ACE Rover will include features such as a manipulator arm and vision systems and may include automatic wheel changing and a carbon fiber body.