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George’s Status Report for 3/25/2023

Tasks:

  • More ROS exploration, continued to work with Jack on Navigation Stack bring-up
  • Navigation Stack installed
  • Tried GMapping over Hector slam, but got a worse map than hector slam, due to heavy odometry error.
  • Path planning through ROS & RVIZ seems to work, encountered challenges with following said path physically

Schedule:

  • This week was slack week, so theoretically still on schedule

Next Week:

  • Want to finish navigation stack bring up, and test robot physically works with the stack.

 

 

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Jack’s Status Report for 3/18/2023

 

  • Week recap
    • Ordered wifi module for Jetson Xavier AGX. This will allow remote control and monitoring.
    • While we wait for the wifi module to arrive, I setup the backup Jetson Xavier NX. The NX comes with a wifi module installed, so I was able to ssh into it over CMU-SECURE right away.
    • Installed ROS onto Xavier NX
    • Used the python modules pycreate2 + sshkeyboard to control the Roomba over ssh.
    • Installed Hector SLAM onto the Xavier NX
    • Used Hector SLAM to map HH1307 with team. When attempting to map nearby the windows of the room, the map became very inaccurate as it could not identify the window as a wall.  We were using tethered driving to map, so we had to follow the robot closely, which may have impeded its mapping accuracy. Now that I have remote control working, we will attempt mapping again to see if the issue persists. I also want to test our alternative LiDAR sensor (Intel l515) to see if it has the same issue.
    • Completed ethics assignment.
  • Schedule
    • Did not start navigation, as I focused on getting the NX setup, and getting remote movement working. I’m going to work on navigation this Sunday with the team to make up on time.
  • Deliverables
    • Setup wifi module on Xavier AGX once it is delivered
    • Get navigation bring up ready.
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Zach’s Status Report for 3/18/2023

This week I was able to CAD the mounting plate for our lift arms, and the lift arms themselves are in progress and will be done tomorrow. I tried to design them for high load capacity, since I’m not too sure about the strength of plywood. I also worked on some of the drive code using the pyCreate2 API, since that’s what we’ll be using for the full system, and supported making our first map of HH 1307. roomba_v1.py

I’m still a little behind schedule with the CAD, but have been making good progress to catch up. I’ll be working hard to iterate the design if needed, but the CAD models for the arms are simpler than the top, which should help. Assembly will be rather quick as well, since I’m designing with notches and slots that fit well together.

This week’s target is to have bin docking done, which will be on schedule if I can complete the bin arms in the first half or two-thirds of the week. Not sure if docking will be able to occur using CV, but I can always test with a remote connection to the Jetson to make sure all mechanisms are working.

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Team Status Report for 3/18/2023

Significant Risks

  • LiDAR mapping
    • When we attempted mapping HH1307, the system had trouble with recognizing windows as walls. While mapping we used tethered driving, which required us moving behinds the robot, so we may have impacted the accuracy of the map. Now that we have tele-op functionally working, we will attempt mapping again. Additionally, we will also setup our backup LiDAR system (RealSense L515) to see if it has similar issues.
  • Bin CV with movement
  • Ros Navigation Stack Setup
    • Need to attempt setting up navigation, but this is limited by our understanding of ROS. Additionally, navigation is limited by the map quality produced by SLAM, so mapping is a hard dependency as of now.

Design Changes

No design changes were made, but we did buy a USB network adapter so we can connect to the Jetson wirelessly if using the AGX. This will allow us to remote access for debug, monitoring, and tele-op for driving, map creation.

Photos

 

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George’s Status Report for 3/18/2023

  • Week recap
    • Worked with team to incorporate entire Ros Navigation Stack setup on Jetson https://github.com/gxgao/eceCapstone/commit/90eac2dfaa66f95673eb20bf9b45bb73561d2cd6 (WIP).
    • Completed Ethics Report
    • Primitive HH 1307 mapping with hector slam on Roomba level completed with team:  https://github.com/gxgao/eceCapstone/tree/master/catkin_ws/maps
      • Initial map seems to be messed up due to the floor level windows of hammerschlag. Further testing needs to be done, in addition to integration with odometry data.
    • Odometry python Ros infra setup:
      • Learning curve for python ros interface
      • https://github.com/gxgao/eceCapstone/blob/master/encoder_node.py
  • Schedule
    • Behind Schedule on Path planning. Path planning bring up is tied to navigation stack, deprioritized to bring up movement before path planning through goal publishing node will be done.
  • Deliverables
    • Get Roomba motor control setup with ROS
    • Navigation stack completion
    • Encoder data pull from pycreate
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Zach’s Status Report for 3/4/2023

This week I spent most of my time on the design report linked below, since we wanted to make it quite thorough. That took more time than expected due to Google docs formatting issues. I benchmarked the stepper motor’s current draw and best pulse frequency across various micro step configurations. I also created the CAD model for the cam for the lift system.

Team_B4_Design_Report

I’m still slightly behind on CAD modeling and fabrication, but slack time this week and having the design report complete will allow me to get everything made. It was also tough because I wasn’t in Pittsburgh for break so couldn’t prototype designs in TechSpark.

This upcoming week I will be spending a lot of time in TechSpark getting parts laser-cut and start assembling onto the Roomba. There could be delays here based on fastener availability, but I can find quick, temporary workarounds for those to allow for  rapid prototyping.

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Jack’s Status Report for 3/4/2023

  • Week recap
    • ROS setup on Jetson Xavier
    • Completed Design Report with team
    • Got SLAM w/ Hector Slam package working on Jetson; below there is a screenshot of the SLAM visualization of my bedroom.
  • Schedule
    • Back on track after switching to ROS, completed LIDAR bringup.
  • Deliverables
    • Get Roomba motor control setup with ROS
    • Setup Navigation in sim
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Team Status Report for 3/4/2023

The most significant project risk at this point is successful integration of various components. We are making good progress on getting individual components working, but because there are so many hardware and software elements it will be a challenge to complete this on time. For mitigation, there’s not a ton we can do, other than adhere to the schedule and use the built-in SLACK time as necessary; though we have obtained backup items in case the Jetson Xavier AGX and/or SLAMTEC LiDAR do not meet our requirements.

There were no major changes to the overall design or its requirements since the last status report. Our current implementation details can be found in the full design report.

As a team we spent most of our time this week on the design report, so that’d be the biggest artifact produced. We have also got a POC for SLAM running  on the Jetson using ROS and hector SLAM.

Q: As you’ve now established a set of sub-systems necessary to implement your project, what new tools have your team determined will be necessary for you to learn to be able to accomplish these tasks?
A: As we have transitioned from using Matlab to ROS, the team must learn ROS as it will be the framework used for controlling the robot and implementing SLAM.

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George’s Status Report for 3/4/2023

The majority of my time was spent writing and planning out the software for the design report.

For the project itself I helped with Lidar bring up through the use of the ROS library.

Schedule:

We are behind schedule for path planning bring up., as the majority of it was blocked due to Lidar bring up issues. We will get back on schedule on the first week of break back, with a focus on getting ROS path planning to work with the mapping system we decided upon.

Deliverables next week:

Using slack time to bring up path planning software, and provide interfacing program to work with the rest of the robot.

Drive system program to simulate driving towards bin.

 

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Jack’s Status Report for 2/25/2023

  • Week recap
    • Jetson Xavier AGX
      • Initially got ssh working on windows, but after system reset, failed to connect
      • Using Linux 20.04 + Refreshing the Jetson (and not updating any packages) seems to have alleviated the issues, but just in case we have requested the Xavier NX as a backup
    • Matlab
      • Connected Matlab to Jetson
      • Compiled test Matlab Script -> Cpp executable remotely onto Jetson
    • Helped setup roomba driving
  • Schedule
    • Again behind on LIDAR because of continuous issues with the Jetson
    • Will have to use Spring Break to make up one week of work
  • Deliverables
    • Create a Matlab -> Cpp executable that takes lidar scan data (angle + distance vectors) and creates a map object