Field
Test
Report- February 29, 2004
Objectives
- Test QID route execution
- Test sensor based GPS path tracking for duration on Simpson Road
Report
- Sandstorm executed the QID route without much difficulty, even
using the "fast" file. The corners were no problem, and Sandstorm
could likely have travelled a fair bit faster around them. The
only speed that may have been slightly too fast was the hairpin corner
between the high speed segments. The route was executed inside the dirt
oval and was very rough in places- Sandstorm bumped over foot tall
burried pipe mounds, with little problem- the same could not be said
for the poor saps chasing the robot. When run with safety
manager, the robot was stopped for an unexplained reason- it may have
been the result of a memory overflow that was corrected later in the
day. On QID, the safety manager will be disabled so this will not
be a problem either way.
- Sandstorm was fueled and transported to Simpson Road. For
the first time, Sandstorm reached the 4th segment, travelling a total
of 23.8 miles. Today's largest problem was that the Applanix
state sensor would lock up when the robot hit even minor bumps.
We were able to test code to reboot the applanix in this situation and
are currenlty troubleshoot the cause of this problem.
During the run, Sandstorm was combining GPS and riegl laser data as it
was available. All in all, Sandstorm's driving was good.
The robot wove through a canyon with fairly tight constraints and
passed through a gate without incident.
Observations
Though the navigation was good when
the Applanix system was on line, Sandstorm's recovery from faults
leaves room for improvement. When a state sensing fault occurs,
Sandstorm locks up it's brakes to stop rapidly, often sliding. We
noticed that Sandstorm almost always slides to the left on stopping,
often leaving it pointed off the path. We are implementing code
that will try and keep the wheels straight during a sudden stop, to
limit this effect. We are also implementing a backup procedure,
so Sandstorm will back onto the road, rather than drive forward into a
ditch.
Photos
& Videos
Sandstorm's
GPS track from the QID test course- Sandstorm's track is green, the
route is in red. Sandstorm stayed within the course boundaries.
Sanstorm fails to gracefully recover as the applanix reboots
Sandstorm on a new section of Simpson road
Sandstorm descends into a canyon
Sandstorm poses for pictures after spinning due to a state sensor
reboot at the end of 23.8 mile driving day
Videos
Sandstorm enters the
Simpson Road canyon-
(113!! mb avi)