GoPiGo OS 1 entering Beta!

[cleoqc]

This does seem like an error. Since our pull from Tensorflow is pretty recent, it might still be in their github. Want to do a PR on their repo?

[cyclicalobsessive]

@cleoqc

Want to do a PR on their repo?

Too complicated for the moment; I’m not set up to do Jupyter notebooks actually. I found a “cheat path” to this running the GoPiGo OS beta on a bare Pi board (Carl is “busy” running a R4R PiOS HW I²C stress test.) but it isn’t exactly easy to get to it.

[jimrh]

@cleoqc

Things to know about the wifi feature:
Every boot-up will be in Access Point mode. . . .

If you know that the robot will always stay home, you can disable this and take full responsibility. Go to the Jupyter terminal and type in :

sudo systemctl disable start_as_access_point.service

Should you ever need to take the robot elsewhere, you will have to remember to run

sudo systemctl enable start_as_access_point.service

before you leave!

Things to know:
<snip>
Please note the limitation that you cannot switch from Access Point mode to Wifi mode through VNC. It has to be done via the browser.

An update about the WiFi mode.

The two commands noted above, in essence, do the following:

• “Disable” removes the start_as_access_point.service symlink from the /etc/systemd/system/dexteros.target.wants/ directory.
• “Enable” adds, (replaces), that symlink (which points to the start_as_access_point.service file in the /etc/systemd/system directory.)
   

I have deduced the following rules:

1. The only way to CHANGE the networking mode of your robot is via the web interface .
   (as Nicole noted above, though somewhat hidden near the bottom of the section)

2. The start_as_access_point.service symlink, if it exists, serves to force the next reboot to be in Access Point networking mode, regardless of what the current networking mode is.
   Note that the converse is NOT true. That is, the absence of that symlink does NOT force Networked networking mode.

3. If that symlink is NOT present, the ‘bot will return to whatever mode it was in before the reboot occurred.
   If the robot was in Access Point networking mode prior to the reboot, it will be in Access Point networking mode after the reboot.
   If the robot was in Networked networking mode prior to the reboot, it will return to the Networked networking mode after the reboot.

Important Takeaways:

• If you want your robot to ALWAYS return to “Access Point” networking mode after every reboot, (the default behavior), run the “Enable” command.

• If you want the robot to REMAIN in the current networking mode after each reboot, run the “Disable” command, or remove the symlink, and then change to the desired networking mode via the web interface.

========================

P.S.
A lot of the "Dexter/GoPiGo OS stuff seems to presuppose a lot of knowledge about Jupyter and Jupyter Notebooks and such.

Though I have been around the block once, maybe twice; I had never in my entire life heard about Jupyter anything until I bought my GoPiGo and ran the included DexterOS

Aside from wading through the copious documentation on Jupyter’s web site, (which goes to great lengths to tell you how wonderful Jupyter is, but little actual hands-on training), I haven’t found much in the way of “what do I do with this stuff?” What is there appears to be scaled to work well when projected on a 7-foot screen, but does little good on a 15" laptop monitor.

Recommendations would be appreciated.

[woody123]

@cleoqc

ger sell the empty battery holder. We had a major recall on all battery packs. In other words, we no longer support using 8xAA batteries, for safety reasons.

@cleoqc Why you no longer support using 8xAA batteries??? I ask because of my post on Very hot components with External Power Supply / Power over Raspberry Pi and I use such an “empty battery holder” with 8xAA batteries. What can happen?

[jimrh]

Note the following from the last PM I sent you. Hopefully Cleoqc and the rest of the MR team don’t object to me posting this here.

@cleoqc
Redact/delete if necessary.

Viz.:

What happened to me is that the 8-cell AA battery holder that used to ship with the GoPiGo has exposed metal contacts on the outside of the battery holder, and the outer-shell of the plug that goes to the GoiPiGo made contact with one of those contacts near the end of the battery, putting about 10v at about 2 amps through it as a direct short-circuit.

The resultant short-circuit caused a (very) small fire, smoke, and a lot of plastic damage to the battery holder itself. I was able to keep things happy, got the holder working again and eventually bought a new 8-cell holder from a local retailer here in Moscow Russia. I attached the GoPiGo barrel-plug and cord to it, taped over the ends with black electrical tape to prevent future short circuits, and this is what I currently use.

I mentioned this to the people at Dexter Industries, (this was just before they were bought out by Modular Robotics), and they, (apparently, as I am guessing now), went with a monolithic, rechargeable battery pack right afterwards.

THAT particular battery pack, (for reasons I am not familiar with, they never went into details), was recalled, and has now been replaced with a modular Li-Ion battery block and charger. Were I in the US, I would order a couple of packs and a charger for it.

This is all I know.

As far as the first battery pack is concerned, it is very likely that the manufacturer of that pack recalled it, and Dexter/M.R. did the same with it’s customers in response.

The current battery pack, based on pictures and what I hear, appears to be a Hot Smokin’ Weapon, (figuratively!), and I would love to get one or two. The only disadvantage I can see is the relatively long charge time.

As far as powering the robot during development, where I need the Red Board powered up as well, I have a 12v supply with a barrel-plug the same size as the GoPiGo, and I use that with the robot sitting on my desk.

“live” testing where the robot moves is done on the floor with the batteries installed.

I used to test with both batteries and a 5v adapter, (and that caused no problems), but it was damned inconvenient, especially as the batteries would still die after a few hours of Dev work, requiring a re-charge. I have a total of three sets of batteries so that Charlie always has access to a live, fully charged, set. It’s still a pain though.

P. S.
What is your native language?

P. P. S.

@woody123

I use such an “empty battery holder” with 8xAA batteries. What can happen?

You should place some black electrical tape over the exposed metal contacts on each side of the battery. This will prevent accidental short-circuits and resulting damage.

[woody123]

Thank you for your help. I will place some black electrical tape over the metal contacts for safety.

My native language is german, sorry for my bad english, I hope it will get better someday…

[KeithW]

Ihr Englisch ist sehr gut. Zweifellos besser als mein Deutsch. Schön Ihnen hier zu haben.
/K

[jimrh]

@woody123

My native language is german, sorry for my bad english, I hope it will get better someday

Don’t worry, your English is excellent! It’s much better than my German, or even Russian language skills.

Keine Sorge, dein Englisch ist ausgezeichnet! Es ist viel besser als meine Deutsch- oder sogar Russischkenntnisse

[cleoqc]

@woody123

Why you no longer support using 8xAA batteries???

Once we put the stickers on the battery holder, it was perfectly fine. We didn’t get any reports of any issues after that. But these robots are meant for the classroom, and students are prone to, hmmm, not always do the wise thing.

So while the battery holder was just fine, the lack of any protection circuit at all was worrisome. We decided it was best overall to only offer batteries that do have a protection circuit in place.

[jimrh]

@cleoqc

But these robots are meant for the classroom, and students are prone to, hmmm, not always do the wise thing.

Oops!
Can you say “YouTube”? Ahh! I KNEW you could!