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[DPRG] Outdoor Robot Challenges
Subject: [DPRG] Outdoor Robot Challenges
From: dpa
dpa at io.isem.smu.edu
Date: Mon Apr 14 13:31:17 CDT 2008
Howdy,
!!Dean wrote:
<snip>
> 0) We got 3 people to build, code and try their robot; that's better
> than just talking.
I whole-heartedly agree. That is the main benchmark and definition of success.
Everything from here on out is just tweaking and refinement. Congratulations
to all involved.
> 1) Eric visited from Dallas
which Eric?
<snip>
> 3) Waypoints marked with *brown* tape (hard to see against dirt and
> dried leaves).
For future events you might consider using pre-existing markers (like water
utility plates in the ground, seams in the concrete, etc) which can be
accurately measured with an averaging GPS days before the contest, and
published on your website in advance for folks who might want to do some
testing on their own at the contest site. Most of the waypoints that I've
measured at Fair Park in Dallas are pre-marked like that in some way.
> 5) Waypoint marking method was neither very accurate nor fair--if it
> were a competition (Dean used his robot's GPS to read coords, placed
> tape on ground under robot)
This is one of the main reasons that the DPRG OutDoor Challenges are
structured the way that they are. I'll be interested in your impressions
of the way this works out next month in Dallas.
<snip>
> #1 Tip: make every effort to do a practice run 2 weeks prior.
I second that one especially. The contest should not be the first time
your robot has ever attempted the challenges. You learn a lot from
getting outdoors and running the 'bot and identifying problems and
failure modes as well as strategies for success. It's also quite
a lot of fun. And it's SPRING!
Hope to see all three of these new DryRun robots in Dallas next month!
best regards,
dpa
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