debugging rules
Posted inSystems & Sensors Testing

Debugging: A guide to troubleshooting

Hi all For some people debugging comes natural, and they will think that this entire article is obvious, however to many people I hope that this guide will help them become better at debugging systems. If you are one of those people who is an expert debugger (which comes from experience), it is often hard to put into words how…
gps satelite
Posted inSystems & Sensors

GPS and Global Absolute Positioning

Hi all Here is a post describing how to get absolute position for your robot. It discusses the basic methods and then ways to assist them for better accuracy. GPS GPS (or Global Positioning System as those in the know call it) is a widely used technology. It is not the "GPS" that you have in your car or on…
field testing
Posted inSystems & Sensors Testing

Designing for Success – Field Testing Series – Part 2

This post is part of a series on testing robots with a focus on field testing. It will start with why we test robots, work its way through planning for a field test, to performing the test, and finally what to do after the test. We will conclude with a description of many common tests that we subject our robots…
sensor datasheet
Posted inSystems & Sensors

Sensor characteristics guide – How to understand your sensor

Hi all Ok, so you read my last post on sensor types (you did, didn't you? if not check it out here) and you now know which sensor you want to use. How do you choose which sensor option to choose? That is a great question, this post will go into details of the various sensor characteristics you might see…
velodyne laser
Posted inSystems & Sensors

Sensor types (modalities) for robots to experience the world

Hi all There are many different sensor types that can be used on a robot, and most robots will have many different sensor types. I am going to talk about the common types and avoid some of the more application specific sensors such as environmental, radiation and chemical. When I think of sensors I divide them into two categories. You…
software flow in a robot
Posted inSoftware & Algorithms Systems & Sensors

Software that Forms a Robot

Hi all While many people find it boring, one thing that has always interested me is the software infrastructure of a robot. By infrastructure I mean the code that all robots have and that binds everything else together. This includes the things like the interprocess communication (IPC) method, the system executive, the health monitor and the user interface. I will…