Category: Caitlyn’s Status Reports

Accomplished

This week, I worked on setting up the initial framework for development on the ESP32. This included updating the README on GitHub to document how to connect to the ESP32 for development and setting up the file directory structure. We will modularize our code by creating files for each task or subsystem on the ESP32, with the main.c handling creation and scheduling of all tasks.

Another task I worked on this week was getting raw IMU data from the MPU6050 (which we are currently using as a substitute for the actual IMU we will use). Once we order the actual IMU, I can ideally quickly update the code to process the new IMU’s data since most of the interface will be the same. I also implemented the FIR filter which simply outputs filtered data of the most recent raw gyro data.

Progress / Schedule

I am still a bit behind schedule, but now that I have implemented one filtering method (FIR), I think implementing Kalman Filtering will be a bit more straightforward. I have also started thinking about how to translate the gyro z-axis into the kar’s steering/rotation, which will have to be done through integration of the z-axis rotational acceleration.  I have updated the Gantt chart, and believe that I can still catch up with my goal of finishing up the IMU subsystem by next week.

Deliverables / Next Steps

Next week, I will:

• implement Kalman filtering for IMU.
• figure out optimal mapping between IMU and kar steering/rotation.
• begin twiddling with the haptic controller and experiment with generating different types of feedback.

Accomplished

This week, I worked with Enrique to set up FreeRTOS on the NUCLEO-WB55RG board that we will be primarily using for kar prototyping. We followed a tutorial that I linked two weeks ago, however instead of setting up FreeRTOS in VSCode which I worked on last week, we decided to set it up in STM32CubeIDE. After setting up LEDs, redirecting printf to Serial Wire View (SVW), and FreeRTOS, we were successfully able to create two tasks where one toggles an LED and the other prints to the serial monitor. We decided to stick with using the ST IDE for setting up the environment because there are more resources online using this setup, and we will probably stick with using the ST IDE for the remainder of the STM32 development.

I also worked on a more complete architecture diagram of our system that was used in the design presentation. For this diagram, I communicated with Nick on where the hardware is and communicated with Enrique on what the communication protocols look like between components.

Progress / Schedule

I am a bit behind schedule, since I was supposed to finish FreeRTOS setup for the STM32 last week and finish up researching IMU algorithms this week. Since I have just received the ESP32-S3 microcontroller and found an additional MPU6050 that I can use, I will focus on getting the IMU reliable, accurate, and consistent. I have updated the Gantt chart, and believe that I can still catch up with my goal of finishing up the IMU subsystem by next week.

Deliverables / Next Steps

Next week, I will:

• learn how to use the ESP32-S3 for IMU.
• research the FIR and Kalman filters for the IMU.
• collect measurements from the IMU and process them through filters.
• set up FreeRTOS on my own Nucleo STM32 (not the NUCLEO-WB55RG) on STM32CubeIDE since it looks like we will be doing all development on there.

Accomplished

This week, I followed multiple tutorials to set up FreeRTOS and the beginning of what our team’s workflow would look like on the STM32.

Using an STM32 Nucleo board that our team had on hand, the STM32F401xE, I used the STM32CubeMX software to enable FreeRTOS on the board. This software has a user interface for easily using methods in the FreeRTOS library, which I experimented with to create two simple tasks. I was able to change the priority of tasks and figure out other settings like configuring the heap size. Since STM32CubeMX is more for configuration and code generation, I couldn’t figure out how to compile and deploy the code without installing STM32CubeIDE, so I moved onto setting up the STM32 development environment on VSCode.

Recently STM32 developed an extension on VSCode called “STM32Cube for Visual Studio Code” which integrates build systems like CMake so users can compile STM32 projects within VSCode. With this extension, I was able to compile and deploy the STM32CubeMX-generated FreeRTOS firmware onto my STM32 Nucleo board.

Progress / Schedule

I will need to spend a bit more time making the STM32 development workflow more seamless and integrated, since it took me some time to install and debug drivers for the STM32 Nucleo board. This way it will be easier for the team to work on different parts of the STM32 software concurrently.

Otherwise, I am mostly on schedule but will have to prepare and do some research for collecting IMU measurements and experimenting with different filters, namely the FIR and Kalman filters.

Deliverables / Next Steps

Next week, I will:

• push the STM32 development environment up to the team GitHub and work with Enrique to set up a more seamless workflow for working on the STM32.
• outline and plan what types of tasks we will need on the TX and RX MCUs. This will include identifying what initialization and run will look like for each task, as well as task priority.
• research the FIR and Kalman filters for the IMU.