Drone Following Project #14: Updated Arduino sketch

I'm feeling better, so I went ahead and fulfilled all of my improvements for modifying the Arduino sketch, along with some new features. Here's a quick overview of the new features:

• Two publishers (Uint8 for state, and Bool for new state)
• Consistent "/Lakitu/Device" name scheme
• 3 LEDs (blue, yellow, green)
• 4 states (Landing, DronePosition, Takeoff, Calibration)

The two publishers were already explained, but why did I add a whole new state? Well, again, I was thinking ahead at the steps that need to be taken when GPS is implemented. We've taken it for granted so far that the Drone is going to translate its position from the device, however, I failed to addressed how the Drone would receive its initial distance from where the device will be. There are a few sensing and distance ways to go about this, but I worry that many of them limit the set of scenarios greatly. I currently have it in mind that you will be able to press a button to generate a GPS location for the Drone that will change as the Drone moves. Whether this method is successful or not, I feel that it's good to secure a state where the user can can safely move around and find the initial distance from the drone without the danger of it moving.

Anyways, you can can see the changes made on Github. Enjoy!

Drone Following Project #12: ROS and ardrone_tutorials

Today, during my lunch break I connected my Drone to ROS and gave it a whirl. This made signficantly easier by MikeHamer's ardrone_tutorials repo. In fact, I'd say that this is a great fit for any hobbyist, besides the fact that you have to set up and configure ROS in Linux (though I heard thay make preset virtual machines for this).

Whereas I'm using to breaking my neck attempting to connect to the Velodyne or other ethernet based utilities, connecting to the Drone was a synch. Perhaps this is due to the fact that it has own wi-fi connection, and you don't have to fool with all of that other garbage. Anyways, I managed to quickly get outdoor_controls.launch working. It pops up a handy camera feed GUI, and from this point you can use WASD style controls to steer the drone in all directions. More importantly, we can use rostopic to navigate the many, many topics that the ardrone_driver node produces... Thankfully, it is fairly well organized. There is a direct nav topic, IMU topic, a set for each camera, and even one for an emergency reset. I suggest you peruse ardrone_autonomy's readme for more info-- it is really well written. Below you can see some of my screenshots from my flights, along with the data produced.

Sorry for no IRL pictures of the drone in action. I'm sure we'll get enough of that later. Now on to deciphering those topics, and learning to put them in code!

Drone Following Project #11: Project Name!

This is a stupid and insignificant detail, but I've finally realized what to call this project! I originally had it under a Repo known as "AirCat", an obvious play on "AirDog", but I've found something much better.

Do you remember Super Mario 64?

Even if you don't, perhaps you recognize this character:

This is Lakitu. He got his start throwing spined turtles ("Spinies") at Mario in the original Super Mario Bros., but as time went on Nintendo chose to give him a more friendly role in future titles, such as an assistant in Paper Mario, the flagger in Mario Kart, and most importantly, the cameraman in Super Mario 64.

His significance as the cameraman was a pretty unique one at the time. While there may be an existing exception, not many thought to actually characterize the camera in a video game before, and most treated it as simply a mechanic. In Super Mario 64, Lakitu is actually the first character shown in the game world, flying down as Mario heads to the castle, and taking the place as his cameraman. From this point on, the player controls not only Mario in saving Princess Peach, but as Lakitu as well, helping properly angle the camera so that the player can more easily see what is around them. Today, I had the realization that this is not unlike the intended result of this project. Therefore I choose to name the project Lakitu. 

If I complete it in a timely manner, I'll be sure to make my own Super Mario 64 video as a demonstration. Hopefully I can attract the gaming community to this project and get the word out. It's good to balance yourself as engineer by surrounding yourself with clever and imaginative people. It could mean inspiration for your next part of the project! I foresee the implementation of Oculus Rift being a popular topic of discussion.


Bonus asset:

Drone Following #8: LSM9DS0 chip and sensor research

So I was in a position where I could make a Youtube video about Physics for some extra credit, so I took the opportunity to do some research on LSM9DS0, and all of it's components. In the video you'll also found how these components physically work.

The chip actually arrived today, and I have to say, I'm surprised at how small it is! I probably should be, but I can't help but be excited that that much information comes from a board small than my thumb.

This is finals week, so I'm going to desperately try to hold back from toying around with it, but I do need to go ahead and solder it next weekend before the lab closes. Then I can spend my break getting my Drone off the ground, and using the IMU. If I get where I want to go, I might try asking for a GPS shield for my birthday in January... Unfortunately I also need a wifi shield to communicate with the computer or the drone. : (