DesinoBot : The construction of a color tracking turret

Abstract: In a way to explore the different ways a computer may discern information from its surroundings this is a thesis focusing on analysis of a live camera feed. The core is how to build a turret, a tower with rotating axes, using a single-card computer and a camera module and make it interact based on visual input. The interaction explored is to track an object in the live feed. The tracking is solved by using Python 2 with OpenCV’s color-filter and contour-finder to create color tracking used to find a predefined object and determine the vector which the turret will aim towards. The turret is mounted on a motor-controlled chassis for increased mobility. Additional research is made on the turret’s control system to find the most efficient and still reliable one if cycleskips of calculations are introduced for performance saving. Herein is a full construction of said turret and extended explanation of relevant theory. The final product is able to follow a pre-specified object with a distinct and homogenous color, with dependable certainty and is able to take user-defined actions based on the information. Cycleskips to increase performance is determined, through statistical experiments, not to be an efficient method.