Mobile Robot Control 2021

'PICO in the Hospital'

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Introduction

This course is about software design and how to apply this in the context of autonomous robots. The accompanying assignment is about applying this knowledge to a real-life robotics task.

Course Schedule and Lecture Slides

[This schedule may be changed during the course!] Online sessions such as live lectures will typically take place on the wednesdays between 15:30-17:15. Except for the week of may the 5th as it is liberation day; the Q&A session of lecture 2 will thus take place on the 7th of may between 10:45-12:30. The course schedule is as follows:

April 21 (LIVE on MSFT teams; link via canvas mail)	Introduction by René van de Molengraft, Tech United , VanderLande and Lely	Tooling, Infrastructure and Assignment by Bob Hendrikx
April 28 (Live on MSFT teams; link TBD)	Q&A session about Tutorial lectures 1. One should have watched tutorial lectures 1 before attending this live session. Tutorial lectures 1 can be found online when the course starts.
May 4	Deadline: design document
May 7 (Live on MSFT teams; link TBD)	Q&A session about Tutorial lectures 2. One should have watched tutorial lectures 2 before attending this live session. Tutorial lectures 2 can be found online when the course starts.
May 12	Escape Room Competition
May 19	No Lecture
May 26	Coordination: mechanisms and architectural patterns by Herman Bruyninckx
June 2	Presentation of final design by the groups.
June 9	Final Competition
June 16	No Lecture
June 23	Deadline: Wiki Pages

Getting Started

To get started, please do the tutorials on the Tutorial Page.

Design Document

Hand-in a 3-page A4-sized design document as pdf (<1Mb) that pictures/describes the initial design idea with:

• Requirements,
• Functions,
• Components,
• Specifications
• Interfaces.

You should upload this design document to your group's Wiki-page as this is a vital document in the design process. Make sure the document has been uploaded on May 4th, 17.00h. In case of questions about the document, consult your tutor.

Escape Room Competition

Scheme of a possible Escape Room, with measurements, but not up to scale!

Challenge Specifications

• You have finished the assignment if PICO did not bump into walls and the entire rear wheel is across the finish line.
• Do not touch the walls! Slightly touching is allowed, however, bumping (i.e., driving head-on into a wall) is not allowed! If PICO hits the wall, we decide whether it counts as bumping.
• Every team has two trials (= max one restart). A trial ends if:
  • PICO bumps into the wall
  • PICO has not moved or has not made sensible movements (as judged by the tutors) for 30 seconds
  • The total time limit of 5 minutes per group is reached
  • The group requests a restart (on the first trial)
• restart means:
  • PICO restarts at the defined start position
  • The trail time (= the time graded) is reset, but
  • the total time keeps running
• Maximum speed (is limited in PICO): 0.5 m/s translational, 1.2 rad/s rotational.
• There will be no second attempt if first attempt was successful

On the right you can find one example of a Escape Room Challenge.

Environment Specifications

• The shape of the room is rectangular, the dimensions will not be given before the start of the challenge.
• PICO starts at a random position in the room (but equal for all groups), PICO does not necessarily face the exit, nor a straight wall.
• The orientation of the corridor will be perpendiculair to the wall.
• The wall (on the far end) of the corridor will be open
• The walls might not be perfectly straight, the corners might not be perfectly perpendicular, the walls of the corridor might not be perfectly parallel. The width of the corridor will be reasonable (somewhere between 0.5 and 1.5 meters).
• At the exit, the finish line is located more than 3 m into the corridor. The walls that can be used to align PICO will be a little bit longer.

Robot Software

• Make sure your software is easy to set-up, i.e:
  • Your software can be updated with one easy command, e.g. 'git pull'
  • Your software can be compiled using 'cmake' and 'make'
  • To start your software, only one executable has to be called
  • If your set-up deviates from this method, let your tutor know 1 week before the challenge!
• The software of all groups will be updated on the robot before the challenge starts
  • This way, teams starting the challenge have as much time as teams that do the challenge at the end

Group Wiki Pages

Group 1 - visit wiki - Tutor: Manuel Muñoz Sánchez

Group 2 - visit wiki - Tutor: Peter van Dooren

Group 3 - visit wiki - Tutor: Jordy Senden

Group 4 - visit wiki - Tutor: Hao Liang Chen

Group 5 - visit wiki - Tutor: Bob Hendrikx

Group 6 - visit wiki - Tutor: Manuel Muñoz Sánchez

Group 7 - visit wiki - Tutor: Peter van Dooren

Group 8 - visit wiki - Tutor: Jordy Senden

Group 9 - visit wiki - Tutor: Hao Liang Chen

Contact Details

Tutors

Bob Hendrikx - r dot w dot m dot hendrikx at tue dot nl

Hao Liang Chen - h dot l dot chen at tue dot nl

Jordy Senden - j dot p dot f dot senden at tue dot nl

Peter Dooren - p dot v dot dooren at tue dot nl

Manuel Muñoz Sánchez - m dot munoz dot sanchez at tue dot nl

César López - C dot A dot Lopez dot Martinez at tue dot nl