Tasks accomplished this week
This week, I primarily worked on getting video feed from the PTZ Camera on the Raspberry Pi. This task was crucial as it handled communication between the rover and the distributed CV server. I spent most of my time researching and implementing logic for receiving, decoding, and interpreting the byte stream received from the Raspberry Pi (8+ hours). I also worked on using the video frames and feeding it into YOLOv5 object detection (2+ hours)
Furthermore, I worked with Nina on the PTZ functionality (4+ hours). This involved debugging the stock code received with the camera to ensure the movability of the PTZ motors. This brings us significantly closer to our goals with the rover, as we would now be able to capture different angles.
Progress
I believe I am a little behind, as communication from the distributed CV server to the rover must be worked out. However, this is not much of a concern as I was able to figure out how exactly communication over WiFi can be implemented between the two components. I am going to work extensively this week to make sure the rover is able to receive instructions and execute them in a timely manner before the interim demo.
Deliverables for next week
As mentioned above, I am going to work extensively on communication from the CV server to the rover. Additionally, I am hoping to make headway on the trigonometric calculations (control logic) that must be performed on the server to ensure that the rover orients itself correctly if a human is detected.