DPRG mailing list archives: [DPRG] Long Haul Way Points

Sun Sep 10 22:09:16 CDT 2006

All:

Actually, that is correct. I missed a digit while
writing up the coordinated. I'll get that taken care
of. 

The good news is now our measurements only differ by
2/10,000.

-Martin

--- "David P. Anderson" <dpa at io.isem.smu.edu> wrote:

> Howdy,
> 
> Martin, the finish waypoint on the webpage I think
> is perhaps
> a typo.  The coordinates are listed as
> 
> finish		32.77791 N	96.7646 W
> 
> Seems like the longitude is truncated?  That puts
> the point out
> in the parking lot, as John observed.
> 
> Should that perhaps be:
> 
> finish		32.77791 N	96.76246 W
> 
> ??
> 
> best
> dpa
> 
> 
> > 
> > All:
> > 
> > The differences in GPS coordinates don’t come as
> any
> > surprise to me. That’s why I also described the
> course
> > in terms of headings, distance, and pictures.
> After
> > yesterday’s meeting two potential competitors
> walked
> > the course with their GPS’s, and noted
> discrepancies
> > between their readings. If they’d like to share
> their
> > results, I’d be interested in comparing them to
> what
> > I’ve already calculated. The maximum difference
> > between what yours and my readings are about
> 2/1000.
> > That doesn’t sound like much; until you realize
> how
> > much distance a single degree covers.
> > 
> > What does surprise me is not being able to get a
> lock
> > at some key way points. When mapping the course, I
> > made sure I could get at least 5 satellite’s per
> mark.
> > But I wanted this to be a contest of ingenuity,
> rather
> > than who has the best equipment. In that spirit,
> Eric
> > offered an interesting suggestion yesterday, when
> > another GPS had the results you mentioned:
> Activate
> > your robot far enough away from the building to
> get a
> > satellite lock prior to the start of the attempt.
> Then
> > direct the robot to the starting area, and use
> > odometry to compensate. There is nothing in the
> rules
> > about taking that approach.
> > 
> > > For those who might like to try another
> challenge
> > while we are at FiarPark,
> > > here are the 2 waypoints to go from the meadow
> next
> > to the Science Place
> > > to the meadow next to Texas Star Ferris wheel,
> which
> > must circumnavigate the
> > > Band Shell, as jBot demonstrated in a round trip
> a
> > few months ago:
> > 
> > I have no problem with this, provided it does not
> > disrupt the planned contest or distract from the
> > people running attempting to compete.
> > 
> > -Martin
> > 
> > 
> > --- "David P. Anderson" <dpa at io.isem.smu.edu>
> wrote:
> > 
> > > Howdy,
> > > 
> > > I went by Fair Park yesterday to verify Martin's
> > > waypoints and got the
> > > following.  John, you might try these out with
> > > Google Earth:
> > > 
> > > start:	N  32.77715
> > > 	W 096.76190
> > > 
> > > waypt1	N  32.77753
> > > 	W 096.76208
> > > 
> > > waypt2	N  32.77770
> > > 	W 096.76266
> > > 
> > > waypt3	N  32.77790
> > > 	W 096.76249
> > > 
> > > Note that these are specified in decimal degrees
> > > (hddd.ddddd) as are Martin's
> > > rather than degrees-minutes-seconds.
> > > 
> > > The first waypoint is in the shadow of the
> Science
> > > Place building on two sides
> > > and I was only able to get three satellites at
> that
> > > location, so it is not
> > > a very accurate measurement.  Likewise with
> waypt2,
> > > which is in the building
> > > shadow and also under a large tree.  
> > > 
> > > For those who might like to try another
> challenge
> > > while we are at FiarPark,
> > > here are the 2 waypoints to go from the meadow
> next
> > > to the Science Place
> > > to the meadow next to Texas Star Ferris wheel,
> which
> > > must circumnavigate the
> > > Band Shell, as jBot demonstrated in a round trip
> a
> > > few months ago:
> > > 
> > > start:	N   32.77634		// Water cover next to TSP
> > > 	W  096.76179
> > > 
> > > end:	N   32.77631		// In front of Ferris Wheel.
> > > 	W  096.75965
> > > 
> > > 
> > > A little more challenging is the route from the
> > > Science Place meadow, 
> > > across the entrances and parkinglots to the
> field
> > > behind the Natural
> > > History Museum:
> > > 
> > > start:	N  32.77636		// Water cover next to TSP
> > > 	W 096.76179
> > > 
> > > end:	N  32.77821		// Behind Nat'l Hist Museum
> > > 	W 096.76369
> > > 
> > > 
> > > For those without obstacle avoidance working,
> you
> > > might want to at least
> > > run a demo course.  Here is one laid out earlier
> > > this year. This was for
> > > those who might have a navigating robot but
> don't
> > > have obstacle avoidance
> > > working yet.  
> > > 
> > > It begins in front of the Cotton Bowl and has a
> > > second
> > > waypoint at a bend in the road, and a third
> point in
> > > front of the Aquarium where the path is blocked.
> > > 
> > > Plaza in front of Cotton Bowl (intersection of
> brick
> > > paths):
> > > 
> > > start:	N  32.77790 		// Cotton Bowl Plaza
> > > 	W 096.76112 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > waypt1	N  32.77707 		// Corner of Band Shell:
> > > 	W 096.76085 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > finish:	N  32.77654		// In front of Aquarium
> > > 	W 096.76042 
> > > 
> > > Here is an ariel view with the route marked out
> in
> > > red, from
> > > upper left to lower right:
> > > 
> > >
> >
>
<http://geology.heroy.smu.edu/~dpa-www/robo/jbot/jbot2/fairpark2_x.jpg>
> > > 
> > > 
> > > best,
> > > dpa
> 
=== message truncated ===

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