Tag: status report

Accomplishment (Updated on 04/29)

• Prepared for the final presentation
• Worked with Shakthi to deploy headless device settings by changing the startup application of the Ubuntu, so that the Jetson Nano automatically runs the main.py file, which has the OR model with speech module and button integration. 
• During the process, when trying out different permission change commands, the speech module broke down. As a result, we had to reboot the Jetson and reinstall all the necessary programs to run the speech module and OR module.
• I reinstalled python 3.8.0 to the Jetson and opencv 4.8.0 with the GStreamer option enabled to allow video streaming. The same memory swap technique used previously was used to download a huge opencv build folder, which was about 8 GB. 
• (Update) Reduced the data latency of the OR model to an average of 1.88s by using a multithreading method to concurrently run the OR model and the video capture by the gstreamer from OpenCV. The OR model uses a frame to detect the closest object while the camera concurrently updates the frame. Although it faces a race condition by multiple threads accessing the global variable at the same time, the data fetched from the global variable would be from the previous instance, which is at most 1 frame behind real time. Not only it works with our use case requirement, but also this would not be noticeable to the user and hence does not affect their navigation experience. For this reason, we decided not to use any mutex or other lock methods for the global variable, which can potentially create a bottleneck and increase the latency of data transfer.

Progress

• Fixed the speech module by rebooting the Jetson to a clean default setting. 
• Due to the audio error in the Jetson, the rebooting and reinstalling programs hindered our work for headless deployment. We are behind schedule in this step and will do unit testing once we get to finish this deployment. 

Projected Deliverables

• By next week, we will finish deploying the Jetson headless, so that we can test out the OR model by walking around an indoor environment. 
• By next week, we will conduct a user testing on the overall device functionality

Accomplishment:

• Enabled Gstreamer option on opencv-python on Jetson to allow real time capture. The opencv version 4.8.0 did not have a gstreamer option enabled, so a manual installation of the opencv with that option enabled was necessary. Because the opencv folder is too big, around 8 GB, I used a memory swap within the Jetson to temporarily increase space on Jetson. The build and install was run after the download.
• Worked on integrating the OR Module, Speech Module and the Proximity module into the NVIDIA Jetson alongside Shakthi. The speech module and the proximity module were integrated within the loop of the OR model, so that for each frame, the Jetson will identify which button is pressed and which object is detected to output a desired result. 
• Added “cat” and “cellphone” as one of the indoor object options in the OR model and DE feature. 
• Tested OR model with a test file I have created. It stores the detected results and the real objects and compares them to yield the accuracy data. Tested 40 images composed of 6 cat images, 6 cellphone images, 10 chair images, 6 couch images, and 12 person images. Among them, 38 images were able to correctly detect the closest object. That makes the accuracy 95%. The incorrect images were due to the overlapping of several objects in one image. As an example, the model falsely identified the closest object when an image contained a cat right beneath a person. 

• Conducted unit testing on buttons and speech module with integration with the OR model. Pressed buttonA for vibration module and pressed buttonB for speech module consequently to test the functionality. Both modules had 100% accuracy.
• Performed a distance estimation testing under four different conditions on detecting a person: first was to stay around 1.8m from the camera, second was to stay around 1.2m, third was to stay up close around 0.2m, and the last was to stay around 2.2m. 
  • The result was that 1.8m detected 1.82m, 1.20m detected 0.89m, 0.20m detected 0.38m, 2.2m detected 1.94m. On average, there is an uncertainty of 21.5%. Since the DE feature works based on the reference images, a little calibration is required. We will conduct more testings to find the most accurate calibration on the distance result. 

Progress:

• I made progress on successfully implementing the OR model to the Jetson Nano and allowing the camera to send real time data to the model for object detection. 
• We need to work on making the device headless, so that the device can be run without the monitor and wifi. 
• During the process of moving the device to headless, the speech module broke, so will need to work on the module again. 

Projected Deliverables:

• By next week, we will finish deploying the Jetson headless, so that we can test out the OR model by walking around an indoor environment. 
• By next week, we will conduct more testing on the Jetson OR to find the most accurate calibration for the distance of the closest object. 
• By next week, we will integrate the speech module again. 

As you’ve designed, implemented and debugged your project, what new tools or new knowledge did you find it necessary to learn to be able to accomplish these tasks? What learning strategies did you use to acquire this new knowledge?

I learned a lot about machine learning frameworks and techniques by integrating an OR model and developing a distance estimation feature. I learned how to train an OR model with my own dataset with pytorch, modify training parameters such as epochs to yield different training weights, and display and compare detection results with a tensorboard. To learn this new knowledge, I allocated a lot of time researching by reading research papers, navigating through github communities, and scanning many tutorials. It was very challenging to find online resources that had the same issue as me because the systems are generally all different for each user. I also realized how important the relevancy of a post is because the technology upgrades rapidly, so I found many cases where the issue occurred due to the outdated sources. 

Furthermore, I was able to get some experience on deploying modules on Jetson Nano. I learned a new skill of “memory swap”, which allowed me to temporarily increase the memory of the Jetson if I needed to import a huge module, such as opencv. I also realized how difficult it is to work with hardware modules and learned why we need to leave sufficient slack time towards the end of the project. As an example, the detection rate of the OR model was much slower than when it was run on the computer. If I did not spend time modifying the weight of the model during the slack time, I would not have been able to deploy the module and yield the detection result with less latency. Likewise, through multiple occasions where deployment of the model did not function as what I would have expected, I acquired this learning strategy.

Accomplishment:

• Implemented a python program that tests the OR model + DE feature against test images. It retrieves the closest object detected in the image and verifies accuracy by the respective image filename. As an example, if the filename is “person_test5.jpg”, the actual closest object is a person in the image. In the program, it filters out “person” from the filename and compares it with the detected closest object. 
• The program was run against chair (8), couch (6), person (5) images. The result came out as 100% accurate.
• Started working on deploying the OR module to Jetson. I transferred python files and reference images from my computer to Jetson.  

Progress:

I failed to meet the schedule due to the system setting of Nvidia Jetson. Importing the torch module on Jetson is taking more time than expected due to unexpected errors, so the schedule is postponed for a few days. Installing appropriate modules to Jetson is the critical component of the project, so I will make this as the highest priority and attempt to resolve the issue as fast as possible. 

Projected Deliverables:

By next week, I will finish deploying the OR model to Jetson, so that we can start testing the interaction between several subsystems. 

Now that you have some portions of your project built, and entering into the verification and validation phase of your project, provide a comprehensive update on what tests you have run or are planning to run. In particular, how will you analyze the anticipated measured results to verify your contribution to the project meets the engineering design requirements or the use case requirements?

I have implemented a python program that tests the OR model + DE feature against test images. It retrieves the closest object detected in the image and verifies accuracy by the respective image filename. As an example, if the filename is “person_test5.jpg”, the actual closest object is a person in the image. In the program, it filters out “person” from the filename and compares it with the detected closest object. The program was run against chair (8), couch (6), person (5) images. The result came out as 100% accurate, which is far greater than the use case requirement of 70% accuracy. If time permits, I am planning to include more indoor objects, so that the model can cover a wider range of objects while maintaining high accuracy. 

After the deployment of the OR model to Jetson, I am planning to use the same test file to run a testing on images taken from the Jetson camera and produce an accuracy report. In this case, since we are sending the images to the model in real time from the Jetson, we would not be able to rename the file in the format of the actual object. Therefore, I will instead use live outputs of detected closest objects from the Jetson and manually check whether the detection is accurate.

What are the most significant risks that could jeopardize the success of the project? How are these risks being managed? What contingency plans are ready?

• This week we connected the camera module to the Jetson and captured a few images. The camera lens causes a slight distortion to the image, and the images are lower resolution compared to the laptop camera we have been using to test the OR model. A risk associated with this is that we may experience lower accuracy of the model, and we may have to mitigate this by processing the images before sending them to the OR model.
• The accuracy of the DE of a detected object is a risk that we are currently facing. Although we can successfully determine which object is closer to the camera, the numerical value of the distance in meters is inaccurate. This is due to the difference in the width of the chair in the lab and from the reference image. This inaccuracy does not impact the output of the model as much, but it is an undeniable factor to the accuracy of the DE feature. We are planning to mitigate this risk by taking the reference images of the objects that we will be using for the test environment. In this way, we are able to make the width of the respective indoor objects the same (i.e. all chairs have the same width, all sofas have the same width, etc.). 

Were any changes made to the existing design of the system (requirements, block diagram, system spec, etc)? Why was this change necessary, what costs does the change incur, and how will these costs be mitigated going forward?

There was one change from the design of the system. The OR model will use Yolov5 instead of Yolov4. This change is to increase the accuracy and improve the data latency of the model. Although it took more development time than necessary to program the DE feature, the result will have a better yield. 

Provide an updated schedule if changes have occurred.

Few more relevant objects will be added to the DE feature. The deployment of the OR model on Jetson will begin next week. 

Here is our update Gantt Chart as of Interim Demo (4/1/2024):

Gantt Chart – Timeline 1

Accomplishment: 

For this week, I have successfully implemented the Yolov5 OR model + DE feature. I used classes for the easier extraction of the reference images and filtered the detected objects so that it only outputs several indoor objects, such as a couch, person, mobile phone, and chair. I took several reference images from my laptop camera from a known distance and compared them with the images from online pairwise to determine whether the OR model successfully recognizes specific indoor objects and outputs relative distance from one another (which object is closer to the camera). After several instances of successful output, I used the image captured from the Jetson camera and ran it in my model. The following has the image taken and the output from the model. 

As shown in the image, it successfully outputs several chairs and their distances from the camera. However, although the order of distance from the camera makes sense, the numerical value of the estimation is too high. This is because the chair from the reference image has a different width from the chair from the test image. To resolve this problem, I am planning on taking the reference images of the objects that will be used in the test environment to increase the precision of the DE feature. 

Progress

I have successfully added relevant objects (coach, chair) to the DE feature and had some testing done. However, it is also important to test the OR model with more images from the Jetson camera to ensure the accuracy. I will need to do more testing with images and videos taken from a Jetson camera. 

Projected Deliverables

For next week, I will finish deploying the OR model to Jetson. At the same time, I will include more relevant objects, such as a table, to ensure sufficient range of indoor objects. The test results with Jetson camera will be documented for the final report.