- What did I accomplish?:
- This week I have begun researching SLAM and related algorithms, specifically I am interested in combining lidar depth data with visual landmarks (April tags) to improve mapping.
- Additionally, my group mates and I discussed the benefits/challenges of using a 360 deg. lidar system vs. a fixed lidar system. (It also may be possible to filter the 360 deg. lidar system?)
- I helped fix our website to properly display weekly status report posts by category/team member.
- Am I on schedule?: Yes, no direct tasks where assigned this week.
- What deliverables do I want to complete next week?:
- If I get access to the roomba next week, I would like to have basic movement control when tethered to a PC complete.
- If I get access to the LIDAR camera early next week, I would like to attempt implementing SLAM using a premade library (Maybe MATLAB or slam_toolbox)
- If I get access to a camera, my goal is to implement local bin identification.
About Our Project
Many office workers have a tiny trash can near their desk, which regularly overflows forcing janitors to make repeated trips to hundreds of tiny trash-bins scattered across an office space. It is inconvenient and unhygienic for office workers to sit next to days old trash, and it’s inefficient and a breach of privacy for janitorial staff to check hundreds of possibly empty bins which may be located in sensitive areas. Thus we have decided to build a personal assistant robot that can take out an office worker’s trash can and bring it to a centralized dumping ground, where janitorial staff will empty dirty bins and place clean bins for pickup.