# IOT Enabled Rover for Remote Survey of Archeological Areas

Abhirup Sarkar, Ayushman Khetan, Eshan Gupta, Hussain Sabunwala, R.

Harikrishnan, Priti Shahane

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Abhirup Sarkar, Ayushman Khetan, Eshan Gupta, Hussain Sabunwala, R. Harikrishnan, et al.. IOT Enabled Rover for Remote Survey of Archeological Areas. 7th International Conference on Computer, Communication, and Signal Processing (ICCCSP), Jan 2023, Chennai, India. pp.296-306, 10.1007/978-3-031-39811-7_24 . hal-05363236

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# IOT Enabled Rover for Remote Survey of Archeological Areas

Abhirup Sarkar, Ayushman Khetan, Eshan Gupta, Hussain Sabunwala, R. Harikrishnan✉, and Priti Shahane✉

Symbiosis Institute of Technology, Symbiosis International Deemed University, Pune, India
dr.rhareish@gmail.com

**Abstract.** Archeological surveys help us understand the various lost and hidden treasures of our world and help bring forgotten knowledge to our modern world. But archeological surveys require a lot of manpower and may be sometimes dangerous too as many areas would have degraded structures or gases which may be harmful to the surveyors. Using an IOT rover, which will be able to survey the area instead of humans, will provide an additional safety step. In this paper, we discuss about an IOT rover for remote surveillance based around a Raspberry Pi microprocessor which will be able to survey a remote location, inaccessible to humans. This rover shall allow safer survey operations and would help to reduce the risks involved with it.

**Keywords:** Raspberry Pi · IOT Server · SSH · Rover · Sensors · Gas Data · Light Detection · NGRok · Archeological survey

## 1 Introduction

A RC rover is a movable vehicle having 4 or more wheels and can be used for many operations and we intend to make an RC rover that is based upon robotics and automation and has many sensors that are used to sense various parameters such as temperature, atmospheric pressure, etc. We plan to make the rover mentioned within the stipulated time span and get the best outcomes in an efficient manner possible. The said rover will consist of various sensors such as humidity and temperature, light, distance, and visual sensors such as camera. These will help us in studying various parameters of the location where the rover has been to enable us to get a better knowledge of the place. The rover can be used for both indoor and outdoor applications. On comparison with the existing work studied, some of the systems didn't have remote monitoring [1], some didn't use rocker bogie mechanism [2], and some had noisy data from sensors making them less efficient [3]. Our rover stands unique in such terms and uses a NGRok server to remote access the Raspberry Pi.

One of the main motives behind doing this project is to learn more about IOT systems, robotics, and automation. The chassis for the rover is inspired from the Mars curiosity rover having the rocker bogie mechanism that is suited for all terrain mobility.
## 2 Literature Review

The authors of [4] described on designing two proto-types of the rocker bogie rover having different lengths. A stair climbing graph (SCG) has also been proposed and the climbing ability of both the rovers have been com-pared and researched.

The paper [5] proposed the development and design of a 3 DOF robotic arm that can be controlled over the internet by means of a Raspberry Pi. The authors have used Node-red as a web server to communicate with the arm. The mentioned robotic arm has been made using a total of 4 servo motors, with each one controlled via PWM. The circuit design, flowchart and images of the final model has been mentioned in the paper. This helped us in understanding the working of a 3 DOF robotic arm and how we can possibly implement it on our rover to carry out specimen extraction.

The authors of [6] enlightened on Rocker bogies and their usefulness for doing in-situ scientific analysis. The rocker-bogie design eliminates the need for springs or stub axles in each wheel, allowing the rover to climb over obstacles twice the diameter of the wheel while retaining all six wheels on the ground. The tilt stability of any suspension system is limited by the height of the center of gravity. Thus, the mechanism provides a very stable base and low center of gravity, enabling it to travel in rough and rocky terrain with ease. This paper helps us to conceptualize the rocker bogie mechanism easily and helps us to understand it's working better.

The paper [7] related to requirement of raspberry pi in the project. We learnt from this paper that video streaming service can be enabled easily through a raspberry pi. This video streaming can be done over the internet using IOT systems. Therefore, the user using the rover can easily locate where the rover is travelling to by means of visual periphery provided by the camera.

The rapid advancement of lithium-ion battery technology in the electric vehicle (EV) industry had discussed in [8]. This paper helps us in developing an efficient and low power dissipation battery pack. We learnt a lot of concepts from this paper such as overcharge, over discharge and overcurrent conditions. We also learnt how to develop a battery pack configuration of our choice in accordance with the power requirement of our motors.

The paper [9] proposed the model design of a rover having similar features as of ours. They further discuss about the different response time of several components, the overall weight comparison of all components and finally present a rendered and physical model of the rover. Several tests were carried out on the rover such as climb test, drop test, water test etc. and have garnered positive results. This paper thus helped us get a detailed understanding of how a final model of a rover should look like and what tests are to be carried out on it to ensure its rigidity.

The process of controlling doors of a car remotely using NGROK and ESP32 board has been covered in [10]. The paper explains that NGROK is a cross platform application that is used to create a secure tunnel between two devices connected to internet. To demonstrate its feature, a car door has been controlled by the help of a relay which in turn is controlled by ESP32 via NGROK. This paper gave us a clear idea of what NGROK is and how we can use it for our purpose.

There are several algorithms in order to develop an autonomous, obstacle avoiding rover are described in [11]. The authors have used the method of collecting data from
distance measuring sensors the value of which is used to produce an artificial potential field. A linear feedback steering control law has been utilized for the three-axle rover. Tools such as velocity profiles, transfer functions, initial speed and positions have been considered for effective tracking. To validate the results, the authors have developed a computer simulation to monitor the rover's tracking performance. From this paper, we could possibly implement obstacle avoidance and autonomous feature to our rover considering the fact that it is controlled by a rasp-berry pi.

The paper [12] proposed the overall structural development and design of a 8WD rover. The paper talks about various mechanisms, CAD models, simulations, and situations that the rover may be in. The overall weight distribution, type of material used for chassis, power, drive and electric system have also been discussed. This paper thus gave us the complete idea of making a similar model but at a lower scale.

The authors of [13] worked on power saving system by detecting motion using a PIR sensor. A PIR sensor sends out infrared waves and helps detect objects around it. A PIR sensor can also be installed in the rover in order to detect motion of any living being.

# 3 Methodology

This section has been split into various parts for easy understanding. The parts include components used for making the model, block diagram of model, enabling IOT for the rover and the powertrain design. For the section of components used, we shall be mentioning both the hardware and the software components.

## 3.1 Mechanical Parts

### Motor and Motor Controller

The rover consists of six motors, three attached on either side. The motors are all controlled by 2000 W DC PWM Motor Controller. The motor controller takes direct input from Raspberry Pi. The motor controller is responsible for controlling both the direction and the speed of the motors. The direction of rover can be adjusted by turning off motors of one side of the rover.

### Chassis

The chassis of the rover has been made from acrylic material, which is waterproof, thus enabling the rover to travel in rainy and wet conditions. A cover shield has also been made (not shown in picture) to cover the wiring during rainy weather. The legs of rover have been split into two pieces to enable the rocker bogie mechanism. Separate parts have been screwed together.

### Raspberry Pi

This is the main cerebellum of our rover. The Raspberry Pi is responsible for controlling our motors via the motor controller by allowing the user to give it inputs on where to steer the motor and how much speed should be given to the wheels. The Raspberry Pi is also responsible for enabling the IOT Servers as it uses NGrok, an open-source software to allow users to control and program the Pi from different locations using a WiFi network
where NGroK creates a sort of tunnel connecting Raspberry Pi to the user's Device. The Raspberry pi is also responsible for data logging and extraction of data.

The framework of the rover has been described below using the following Fig. 1,

<figure><img src="image_4.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 1. Framework of rover</figcaption></figure>

## Camera

To provide visual feedback to the user, a 5V ESP-32 cam has been used. The camera, being ESP based, generates a URL that can be accessed using the Raspberry Pi desktop remotely thus providing a live feed to the user of the rover. Network connectivity for the camera will be provided by a portable hotspot router attached to the rover.

## Sensors

Every archeological survey requires data to be processed as this data is crucial in detecting the age of structure, the flora and fauna present in that area, or so ensure that the area is not filled with gases which may be harmful to the humans surveying that region. Therefore, critical components of atmosphere such as temperature, humidity, gases, light and distance have been considered. The rover consists of various sensors such as,

* **DHT11-**

It is used to calculate the humidity and temperature in the surroundings. This value will be helpful to get weather updates from the location.

* **MQ2 Gas Sensor-**

The MQ2 gas sensor can detect various gases such as CO, LPG, and Methane. For this phase, we shall be using only to detect the amount of smoke in air.
* **Ultrasonic Sensor-**

This sensor is used to detect the distance of rover from the object placed in front of it. Thus, the user can navigate the rover safely without causing it any harm.

* **Ambient light sensor-**

As the name suggests, the ambient light sensor will help us to detect the amount light present in surroundings. This will thus help us to judge whether the place is dimly lit or brightly lit.

## 3.2 Algorithm

The code for the project runs completely on Python. We have used libraries such as RPi INA219 to access and use the GPIO pins of the raspberry Pi. Specific sensor-based libraries for sensors such as DHT11 and MQ2 gas sensor have been utilized. To control the motors, GPIO pins have been used to give signal high or low to the motor controllers. The algorithm for sensors and motors has similar properties hence they have been represented in a common flowchart in Fig. 2,

<figure><img src="image_5.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 2. Logic flowchart</figcaption></figure>

## 3.3 Powertrain Design

The following section shall consist of motor and battery pack calculations, where we shall try to justify the battery pack configuration on basis of the motor power requirements. Following Table 1 shows datasheet values for the motor in use.

From the above datasheet it is evident that a minimum of 11.4 V and 0.4 A is required to run the motor. To hit the maximum output power and to achieve high torque the motor would need a current requirement of 4 A. A total of 6 motors shall be used in the rover in parallel configuration thus requiring a total of 24 A and 12 V. To be able to give the above current and voltage requirements, we would be using a total of eight 3.7 V 6000 mAh Li-ion cells. 8 cells shall be arranged in a 4s2p configuration i.e., 4 in series and 2 in parallel.

The reason behind such configuration is that since each cell can supply 3.7 V and has a capacity of 6000 mAh, therefore when 4 such cells are arranged in series, they can provide 14.8 V and supply 6 A of current for 1 h. When two stacks of 4 cells are connected in parallel, we get a total of 14.8 V and 12 A supply. If the cells are discharged at 2 C, we would get a current supply of 24 A, thus satisfying the requirements for the motor. We have considered a few situations such as stop-start conditions of the motor, sudden requirement of high torque and current to climb a bump and battery pack efficiency of 90%. Keeping all such factors in mind, the rover would approximately get a runtime of 45 min. If the motors are operated at max. Torque conditions, the runtime reduces to 20–25 min. The average speed of the rover would be in the range of 10–15 m/s.
<table><caption>**Table 1.** Motor datasheet values</caption><thead><tr><th>Specifications</th><th>Voltage (V)</th><th>Current (A)</th><th>Input power (W)</th><th>Torque (mN.m)</th><th>Speed (rpm)</th><th>Output Power</th><th>Efficiency (%)</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>No load</td><td>11.8</td><td>0.438</td><td>5.745</td><td>0.024</td><td>93.7</td><td>0.235</td><td>4.5</td></tr><tr><td>Max efficiency point</td><td>11.51</td><td>2.734</td><td>31.48</td><td>1.736</td><td>79.2</td><td>14.4</td><td>45.7</td></tr><tr><td>Max output power point</td><td>11.4</td><td>4.134</td><td>47.32</td><td>2.767</td><td>71</td><td>20.56</td><td>43.6</td></tr><tr><td>Max torque point</td><td>11.4</td><td>4.134</td><td>47.32</td><td>2.767</td><td>71</td><td>20.56</td><td>43.6</td></tr><tr><td>End point</td><td>11.4</td><td>4.134</td><td>47.32</td><td>2.767</td><td>71</td><td>20.56</td><td>43.6</td></tr></tbody></table>

## 3.4 IOT Enabling

As already mentioned earlier, we would be using IOT server to control our rover from any part of the world. To achieve this, we have used a platform called Ngrok. Ngrok enables us to create a secure tunnel (SSH) between the Raspberry Pi and the laptop/computer over the internet. After following a series of steps, we download and enable the feature of Ngrok on Raspberry Pi's command terminal. An IP address is generated through it. When this IP address is entered onto the VNC viewer, the Raspberry Pi's desktop is loaded onto it. Thus, we can now control the Pi over the internet without the need of HDMI cable or monitor or keyboard (headless setup). Figure 3 shows the Pi OS on a windows desktop using VNC.

<figure><img src="image_6.png" /><figcaption>**Fig. 3.** Pi desktop on VNC</figcaption></figure>
**3.5 Prototype**

The prototype was tested on Proteus Software. In the design of the rover, the mentioned sensors were mounted on different locations of the rover. We also placed a mobile hotspot in form of JioFi to provide continuous internet connection to the Raspberry Pi. As this was a test model, the body for the rover was made from acrylic. Due to the rocker bogie mechanism the rover is capable of moving uninterruptedly on different floor conditions. Figures 4 and 5 represent the prototype model of rover.

<figure><img src="image_7.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 4. Front view of rover</figcaption></figure>

**4 Results and Discussions**

The following section shall represent the results and outcomes of the project in terms of pictures and output values. To start off, controlling the motors from the Raspberry Pi was achieved successfully, we were also able to change the direction of the rover by switching off one side of the motors and keeping another side on. The images obtained from the ESP32 camera were clear enough to provide an idea of the location to the user. The rover cannot fly, can only traverse on ground. Figure 6 shows a snapshot obtained from ESP32 camera server.

Coming to the part of sensors, DHT11, LDR, Ultrasonic and Gas sensor showed positive outcomes. However, there were some spikes in values at times during transmission. The sensor output values are shown below in Figs. 7, 8 and 9.
<figure><img src="image_8.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 5. Top view of rover</figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="image_9.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 6. ESP32 camera output</figcaption></figure>

On comparison with actual parameter values, the sensor values have shown an accuracy of 85–90%, DHT-11 being the most accurate.

The threshold values for each sensor that we have set are –

* **Ultrasonic sensor:** if distance is between 0–10 cm then object is too close. If distance is above 10 cm, safe and drivable range.

* **LDR sensor:** if output value is between 0 to 2, then area is dimly lit, if value is between 3–6 then area is moderately lit and if value greater than 7 then area is brightly lit. (values are on a scale of 0 to 10).
<figure><img src="image_10.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 7. Ultrasonic sensor output</figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="image_11.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 8. LDR sensor output</figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="image_12.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 9. DHT11 sensor output</figcaption></figure>

* **MQ2 gas sensor:** if value is between 0-20 then area has clear air, low smoke, if value is between 20-60, then area is moderately smoky, if value is between 70-80 then area is highly smoky and any value above this means area is harmful for humans. (values are on a scale of 0 to 100).
* **DHT 11 sensor:** values have not been discussed as the values for temperature and humidity is highly subjective.

Below Table 2 demonstrates various sensor values and the status of the location being explorable or not.

<table><caption>**Table 2.** Parameter values</caption><thead><tr><td>Temp. Range</td><td>Gas range</td><td>LDR value</td><td>Status</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>15–20°C</td><td>70–80</td><td>1</td><td>Not safe to explore</td></tr><tr><td>20–30°C</td><td>0–20</td><td>8</td><td>Safe to explore</td></tr><tr><td>30–40°C</td><td>20–60</td><td>4</td><td>Requires supervision</td></tr></tbody></table>

## 5 Limitations and Future Scope

Further development can be done on the rover to make it more efficient in terms of power, working and stability.

Here are some improvements that we suggest,

* A custom-made battery pack with LiFePO4 cells and an in-house BMS, capable of notifying the user if battery pack has low power.

* Measure concentration of different gases such CO, Methane and LPG.

* Designing and fabricating a fully equipped robotic arm that could be attached to our rover for sample collection.

## 6 Conclusion

We have efficiently established connection to the rover via the raspberry pi using an IoT server which can be accessed through our phones and laptops. We have been able to detect various environmental parameters such as light intensity, if there are gases present in the area and the temperature of the surveyed area. An effort shall be made to ensure that the sensor data received will be reliable. An UI can also be developed to provide a dashboard display to the user so that he/she can monitor all the sensor values in a clean and effective manner. Thus, our team has been successful in developing a rover that would provide an additional layer of safety for humans before surveying an unknown location.

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