Straight Run Challenge

GCC 2018-04-15 16:34 Comments

Last year we had one out of three attempts on the Straight Line Speed Test challenge. Now, in a hindsight, we can blame the gyro or our lack of gyro feedback. It is so easy to spot when the mean value of every oscillating, noisy gyro is not quite on. The accumulated value tends to creep to one side. Repeated calibration usually is way to sort it (or maybe better calibration routine we never got to use).

This year we decided to do it using distance sensors. And WAY faster motors! :D

Unlike using gyroscope, distance sensors are slower but over time more accurate. At least that's a theory. Remember our distance sensor's configuration:

[gallery ids="1113" type="rectangular"]

Middle, 45º orientation is perfect for this challenge. All we needed to do was to read both distances and apply steering depending on the difference of those distances.

error = distance2 - distance1
if abs(error)  steerMaxControl:
    controlSteer = steerMaxControl
elif controlSteer &lt; -steerMaxControl:
    controlSteer = -steerMaxControl

leftAngle = int(-controlSteer)
rightAngle = int(-controlSteer)
..

And results were promising. No bananas were (significantly) harmed during filming this video:

Our Take on OpenCV (for SOTR Challenge)

GCC 2018-04-15 16:33 Comments

OpenCV is fun. It looked scary before we tried it but when we did, it turned out to be much easier than we anticipated. Shame we didn't start with it sooner (and by sooner I mean for last year's competition).

Somewhere Over The Rainbow Analysis

GCC 2018-04-11 13:58 Comments

The Somewhere Over the Rainbow challenge is new this year and one of the most interesting. We started by breaking down what the rover needs to do for it in simple tasks/steps (no matter how complex each step is):

turn round the arena at 90º steps (starting with initial 45º turn) - but we need 135º and 180º turns, too
scan the colour of a ball that that rover is facing
going towards a corner
follow left or right wall of the arena to an adjacent corner

Light Armoured Mobile Nerf Cannon

GCC 2018-04-10 08:09 Comments

Finally got a short break between tinkering with OpenCV, complaining about sensors and fine tuning the rover logic for Somewhere Over the Rainbow challenge to write up about our take on the Duck Shoot challenge.

We started with and with very limited knowledge about Nerf guns. The only thing that was provided for the club were five packs of Nerf darts so we had some idea of the size we needed.

The idea was to have two concave cylinders with gears on bottom and a grove on the other so some kind of belt (elastic band) can be used to turn them). gun-1

Virtual PiNoon?

GCC 2018-03-30 09:15 Comments

With one challenge sorted, and a few more on the way, we have decided to take a little moment, and make a game - we aren't called the Games Creators Club (GCC) for nothing! With only weeks left, we should have been focusing on the other autonomous challenges, and other challenges that we are far from completing, but instead, we made this:

GCC Virtual Rover PiNoon!

This Year's Distraction

GCC 2018-03-01 18:19 Comments

Rovers work no matter what the 'client' side apps look like, right?

PyROS Clients and Agents

PyROS (Python Rover Operating System) is, in essence, simple Linux service that starts one Python program which listens to particular topics on MQTT (local queue broker). The client (computer or laptop) program communicates with Rover's code by the same MQTT that sends instructions to that Python program (imaginatively called just PyROS). The most important command clients can send to the PyROS is to upload a whole Python code (file with file extension '.py' - a Python program). There is set of command line tools (pyros) that can do various things to the rover - upload program/service/agent, query what is running on the rover, start/stop program/service/agent, check stdout (read logs), etc..

One Challenge Down - 6 More To Go

GCC 2018-02-27 17:24 Comments

Last year our attempt at Slightly Deranged Golf with a 'kicker' didn't go the way we expected it. The best go was when we tucked the golf ball under the 'kicker':

last-year

Dual VL53L0X Distance Sensor

GCC 2018-02-22 17:31 Comments

Update: there is important update section at the end of the article!

One of the options we are exploring for our rover to find its position is with a distance sensor. Last time we went with single VL53L0X attached to a servo. The idea was that moving it around from -90º to 90º we could scan the rover's surroundings and make decisions. And it worked.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

GCC 2018-02-19 08:23 Comments

This is blog post about making the 'arena' for the Something Over The Rainbow challenge.

The Bill:

9mm MDF 2440mm x 1220mm board - £16.80

Corner Brace 40mm - £7.74

3.5 x 12mm screws - £2.88

Blackboard paint - £5.90 (£11.60 as second coat was needed for removing grey quarter circles)

Art Attach PVA glue - kids had grown up sufficiently not to notice half is missing

Total: £33.32 (£39.32 - with second coat of paint)

Start of the build:

Status Update

GCC 2018-02-11 17:48 Comments

We were quite busy last few weeks. Our first priority was to make sure all rovers are operational. Motor swaps, new wheels, and other minor repairs where needed since last PiWars. And now - all three are updated to the latest spec and even upgraded. Last rover got MPU9250 9 axis gyro/accelerometer/compass breakout board and all got extra pin provided at our 'i2c' bus. Now not only we have GND, VCC (3.3V), SDA and SCL on the cable for attachments, but extra GPIO - GPIO 4 which, in theory, can dub as One Wire Interface, too. Currently that pins purpose is to select between two VL53L0X sensors.

ThreeRovers1

PyROS Clients and Agents

Games Creators Club PiWars Blog credits