Mouse Droid Blog

This week's progress centered around updating our current simulation model to fit the physical models Ackermann Steering method. Progress this week was not major as many attempts to reconfigure the front wheels for more accurate steering were made, with advancements appearing near the end. We are continuing the development of the simulations Ackermann Steering and from there will begin programming a set path for the robot to move, additionally, the controller for the simulation may have to be updated to work with the new steering. The total hours logged for this week: 20 hours. Below are images and videos documenting our progress: Fig 1. Front Axle Testing Fig 2. Applying forces to the robot Fig 3. More forces

 This week's progress centered around updating the droid's simulated dimensions. Accuracy is integral in creating as realistic an environment as possible to minimize any hiccups in the ultimate transition from the simulation to the actual droid itself. Droid specs were acquired from MEs and reflected in our updated code. A new GitHub repository was also created, due to technical difficulties with parent folder permissions with our previous directory. Gazebo was successfully installed and now runs smoothly, the team also created a shortcut/wrapper file to run repetitive launch commands more efficiently. Motion tests were conducted in Gazebo as well, the droid now can move in a simulated environment using keyboard commands as input. The current challenges at this stage are as follows: The simulated droid currently in development only moves using it's back two tires (for forward/backward/turning) and pushes "frictionless" front tires that do not turn. In addition to ...

The week's progress focused on starting to run the simulation on the desktop. Having gotten the existing files connected to the GitHub repository we were able to edit some of the dimensions to fit sizes we found online as a placeholder until the other team gave us the final sizes. All was working well, however once we moved to the desktop and input the commands to start up the simulation process we ran into errors not yet seen and spent the rest of the time trying to fix them. Eventually the issues were fixed and we were able to run the simulation for the first time only to realize the dimensions were in the wrong order and we had to fix them. Other tasks for the week include continuing the playlist and likely making a new repository as the working files aren't linked to GitHub. The total time spent working this week was 18 hours. Below are this weeks images: Fig. 1 Directory Issues Fig. 2 Commands to start simulation Fig. 3 Simulation model with wrong dimensions Fig. 4 Simulat...

The week's progress focused on finishing the setup on the desktop provided to us by Dr. Van Haaster. As previously mentioned, a key issue we faced for our setup was a lack of working WiFi connection, this was fixed and the PC is now setup for what we currently need. Additionally, we connected the code that we got through following the video playlist to our Github repository for the project, allowing us to work along the videos on our laptops or home PC's, with testing being done by the PC on campus. The groups total hours for the week is: 18 hours. Below are screenshots related to the various tasks we did during this week. Fig. 1 Video the group watched from the main playlist Fig.2 Video screenshot showcasing an obstacle course Fig. 3 Screenshot from a file on our repository

This week's progress was a continuation of the previous week's research in preparation for the Midterm Exam. Each member of the team was responsible for research, memorization, and hypothetical application of their algorithm to a specific problem related to the project. ROS2 installation on the PC is still underway, working through issues with Wi-Fi connection. Due to the nature of the research and the fact that the scheduled Wednesday meeting was set aside for the actual Midterm Exam, the total hours logged for the team this week was: 16 hours. Below are screenshots and photos documenting what was accomplished this week. Fig 1-4 document the algorithms chosen by the team to present for their midterms.  Fig 1. Otsu's Method. This algorithm is used to determine the perceived pixels into   two categories: foreground and background. Fig 2. Watershed Algorithm. Similar to Otsu's method, this algorithm is an integral part of    the image segmentation process, which w...

This week's progress consisted mainly of algorithm research to prepare for the upcoming Midterm Exam and gain an altogether better understanding of the various algorithms required for full functionality of the Mouse Droid. A team task hub was created using Notion to aid in Agile Sprint Management, organization, and delegation of tasks. Now that Linux is setup and running on the team desktop, ROS2 installation is underway on both the desktop and the R-Pi4.  The total hours logged this week for the team was: 19 hours. Below are screenshots and photos documenting what was accomplished this week. Fig 1. Current obstacle with Ubuntu MATE: getting the Wifi dongle and/or LAN cable connection to work with Ubuntu  Fig 2. An example of an algorithm (Otsu's Method) found during research that will be relevant to the functionality of the project. Here, Otsu's method is used to determine perceived pixels into two categories: foreground and background.  This algorithm, as well as others...

This week's progress consisted mainly of software and OS setup on acquired hardware (Raspberry Pi 4 and designated school desktop computer). ROS and 3D Mapping algorithm research is still ongoing, so to optimize group efforts as the weeks continue.  The total hours logged this week for the team was: 28.5 hours. Below are screenshots and photos documenting what was accomplished this week.  Fig 1. Successfully running/updating the Raspberry Pi 4  We have access to two other Raspberry Pis as well, but they are both Raspberry Pi 3s, so we decided to continue installations on the RPi 4 only. The other two Pis will be kept as backups, and can potentially be used if we needed more computational power for droid functions down the line.  Fig 2. Securing and setting up provided school desktop PC. At this point we ran into  issues with admin privileges, and required extra help from RON (?) Fig 3. Once privileges were acquired, we were able to partition disk space to run...