EDC Robot testing tools
Posted inTesting Uncategorized

Roboticists EDC (Every Day Carry)

Recently I have been doing a lot of field work and have seen a lot of people looking for random things or asking people if they had those items. In many of those cases I had the items they needed. This is not because I am great or anything, this is from building up my bag over the years. I…
rim pull
Posted inMisc Testing

Drawbar Pull vs Rim Pull

Hi all Many people get confused between what drawbar pull is and what rim pull is. Many people also use the terms interchangeably. Drawbar Pull - Pull available from the vehicle (think pulling from a hitch in the rear of the robot) Rim Pull - Pull available at the rim of each driving wheel (some people say it is from…
computer repair
Posted inComputing & Networking Testing

Computer Field Recovery Kit

Hi all So I got a question about what I bring to the field with me when I am taking a robot out for testing. The simple answer is everything that I might need. Here is a list of the basics that a carry with me. I have a box labeled Computer Recovery Kit that I always keep complete and…
leica total station
Posted inMisc Testing

Position Tracking: Total Station

Tracking the position of a robot is difficult to do accurately, especially when you need to track position in a variety of locations. GPS is not accurate for small movements and can have jumps as the position estimate changes. One good solution is the Leica Total Station. The Total Station can measure a robots position with an accuracy of under…
LIDAR animation
Posted inSystems & Sensors Testing

Evaluating LIDAR (Laser Scanner) Guide

This is part of a series of posts talking about some of the common LIDAR's used in robotics. At the end of these sensor profile articles there will be a final post that compares the sensors based on data collected by each of the sensors. Posts: Evaluating LIDAR Guide LIDAR Fundamentals SICK TiM551 - LIDAR Overview SICK LMS111 - LIDAR…
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…
drawbar pull test
Posted inTesting

Common Robot Tests – Field Testing Series – Part 6

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…
robot data
Posted inTesting

Test Analysis – Field Testing Series – Part 5

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…
robot testing
Posted inTesting

Test Execution – Field Testing Series – Part 4

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…
robot testing
Posted inTesting

Test Preparation – Field Testing Series – Part 3

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…
safety first
Posted inMisc Testing

Safe Robots

Hi all Remembering to be (and being) safe is an important aspect of building robots. If you are not do things safely, you might not get the chance to build anything else. I am not going to go into the standard stuff such as soldering, machining, and chemical safety since you can get that in other places. The thing I…
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…
robot testing
Posted inTesting

Why Test Robots? – Field Testing Series – Part 1

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…