- 1/20/05-1/31/05
During this period I tested the sonar transducers and found two non-functioning sensors.
After emailing Activmedia about replacement sonars, I continued to work on waypoint
detection using the functional sensors.
- 2/1/05-2/7/05
I worked on writing the functions for the waypoint detection and also the drift correction.
I worked through several different ways of detecting the waypoints and identifying drift
and settled on the two most viable options.
- 2/8/05-2/15/05
I continued testing and changing the waypoint detection code until I was satisfied with the
results. With my code, Guidebot was able to detect a variety of waypoints such as doorframes,
open areas such as the way to Dr. Malinowski's office, and other features in the hall. The
drift correction problem was worked on some more trying to decide the best way to correct
Guidebot's drifting without stopping it.
- 2/16/05-3/3/05
The waypoint detection code was made into a function which could be called when needed and the
drift correction code was written and tested. The drift correction worked well keeping Guidebot
close to his intended path without stopping. This was tested several times by making Guidebot's
starting direction point towards and away from the wall and in both instance Guidebot corrected
back to the original line and distance. I also finished the patrol test code which made Guidebot
patrol a section of the 3rd floor hallway. There were minor collisions with the wall until the
collision detection code was tweaked to account for the momentum.
- 3/4/05-3/22/05
We were able to order the touchscreen and have it delivered. The touchscreen is 15" flat panel. I
began work on Guide mode which would control Guidebot when a user selects a destination. The
code will work on only one side of the hallway at the start.
- 3/23/05-3/29/05
Work continued on Guide mode. We tested minor functions on the second floor of Jobst designating
the lab door as Dr. Huggin's office and a start position as MR. Gutschlag's office. Problems with the
Case statement arose and had to be dealth with along with other minor problems.
- 3/30/05-4/11/05
While testing Guide mode, Guidebot would stop at the door as expect but the text output we were
using to check distances and headings was not showing up. We added statements to output to the
command prompt if a waypoint was found and it showed that one was being found as expected.
- 4/12/05-4/19/05
We are satisfied with the waypoint finding so we implemented the drift correction code. After minor
tweaking, Guidebot was correcting reasonably well so we decided to take it to the third floor of Jobst
and test it. On 4/19/05, we tested the Guide mode on one side of the wall with great success. Using
Mr. Gutschlag's office as a starting point, Guidebot was able to guide people up and down that hallway
a few times before it was too far off course for the drift correction to fix. That will be addressed and
crossing the hallway will be addressed for the remainder of the semester.
- 4/20/05-5/13/05
We spent the finals weeks showing the robot to people and writing our final paper. We had our formal
presentation which was a giant success. Our demo did not happen because somehow the robot had been
unplugged and completely drained of power.