{"id":216752,"date":"2026-05-04T11:44:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T15:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hajim.rochester.edu\/senior-design-day\/?p=216752"},"modified":"2026-05-05T10:09:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T14:09:59","slug":"wifi-controlled-tele-presence-rover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hajim.rochester.edu\/senior-design-day\/wifi-controlled-tele-presence-rover\/","title":{"rendered":"Wifi Controlled Tele-Presence Rover"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Khoi Phan, Nyasha Gwaza, Quang Nguyen, Saumili Chakravarty, Sufi Hossain,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advisors:<\/strong> Prof. Jack G. Mottley, Prof. Irving Barron Martinez, and Prof. Daniel Phinney<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Department:<\/strong> Electrical and Computer Engineering class of 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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About the Project<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The Challenge:<\/strong> There is a growing need for versatile, remote-controllable robotic systems for exploration, inspection, and telepresence in environments that may be hazardous or difficult to access. Traditional control methods often suffer from high latency, limited range, complex network configurations, or lack real-time sensory feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Goal:<\/strong> To design and build a robust telepresence rover that can be easily piloted in real-time using an intuitive mobile application. The system must seamlessly integrate ultra-low-latency video feedback with precise, reliable motor control over a secure network, regardless of physical location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Objectives<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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  • Mobile Robotic Platform:<\/strong> Develop a functioning, multi-wheel rover utilizing a dual-motor driver for responsive locomotion.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • On-Board Processing:<\/strong> Integrate a Raspberry Pi as the central compute unit to handle media broadcasting, network signaling, and GPIO hardware control.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Custom Control Interface:<\/strong> Create a dedicated, user-friendly Android application serving as the primary interface for live video viewing and directional control.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Robust Networking:<\/strong> Establish a low-latency, reliable, and secure peer-to-peer connection capable of traversing NATs and firewalls without complex user setup.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Fail-Safe Operations:<\/strong> Implement strict timing and safety mechanisms to ensure the robot halts safely in the event of a network drop or application failure feedback, GPS, or a camera for enhanced user experience.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    System Architecture<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Our system architecture relies on a strict separation of high-bandwidth media streams and low-bandwidth control signals to ensure maximum responsiveness and reliability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • App Layer (Android Client):<\/strong> A dual-channel Android application. It utilizes an embedded WebView to handle complex WebRTC video\/audio streams natively, alongside a Native Socket.IO connection for transmitting lightweight motor control commands.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Network Layer (Tailscale VPN):<\/strong> A WireGuard-based VPN overlay creates a secure, shared virtual network. This bypasses traditional NAT\/firewall restrictions, allowing the app and the rover to communicate via direct IP addresses as if they were on the same local subnet.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Rover Layer (Raspberry Pi):<\/strong> A Node.js server manages connection handshakes and forwards control commands. A WebRTC Broadcaster captures and streams the Pi Camera feed directly to the client.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Physical Layer:<\/strong> A background Python script listens for commands from the Node.js server, parsing JSON data into physical PWM and direction signals sent via GPIO pins to the motor drivers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
      \n\n\n\n

      Our Result<\/strong>s<\/h2>\n\n\n\n