ROS2 GoPiGo3 Dave's 1k Run

[jimrh]

@cyclicalobsessive

Course Signage

What the heck?!!
Is this a 5k fun-run for the United Way?
Where’s the TV and magazine coverage?

Have you arranged bodyguards to protect him from the paparazzi?

@cyclicalobsessive

Arrange safe transportation method for Dave

How about hidden in a pizza delivery van?

Check schedule for hurricanes and thunder storms

Wimps!

How are you EVER going to teach Dave to be a news reporter or meteorologist if he’s afraid of a tiny bit of catastrophic weather?

[cyclicalobsessive]

@jimrh

Where’s the TV and magazine coverage?

Ancient Tech!

Dave claims he is just taking up movement meditation in nature, but then said something about this upping his “influencer cred”.

[cyclicalobsessive]

@jimrh

@cyclicalobsessive

Arrange safe transportation method for Dave

How about hidden in a pizza delivery van?

I’m thinking to make him cozy in a hard-shell carry-on, but afraid TSA might swoop in and confiscate his Lithium battery

[cyclicalobsessive]

@jimrh

Have you arranged bodyguards to protect him from the paparazzi?

No, but I am a little worried a dog will try to pee on him

[KeithW]

@cyclicalobsessive

Scout the proposed location for safety

Bring some colored chalk as you scout the route. In tricky areas you can mark a path you determined is safest. That way during the actual 5K that’s one less thing to divert your attention.
/K

[cyclicalobsessive]

@KeithW

In tricky areas you can mark a path

Great idea. Especially for the follow-on “autonomous 1k run” next year!

(I think I heard a donkey-car laughing at Dave.)

[cyclicalobsessive]

@cyclicalobsessive

donkey-car

@cyclicalobsessive

Topic information: Topic: /odom | Type: nav_msgs/msg/Odometry | Count: 14879 | Serialization Format: cdr
                   Topic: /motor/status | Type: ros2_gopigo3_msg/msg/MotorStatusLR | Count: 14883 | Serialization Format: cdr
                   Topic: /battery_voltage | Type: std_msgs/msg/Float64 | Count: 14888 | Serialization Format: cdr
                   Topic: /tf | Type: tf2_msgs/msg/TFMessage | Count: 14876 | Serialization Format: cdr
                   Topic: /cmd_vel | Type: geometry_msgs/msg/Twist | Count: 9036 | Serialization Format: cdr

If I run out of ROS programming concepts to learn, I am hoping this bag and 1fps video will be enough data to train a TensorFlow-Lite self driving net. I tried the TF-Lite demo on Carl some time back, and he did quite well as far as frame rate and thermal performance on a RPi3B. Dave has a RPi3B+ with 17% faster processing and supposedly better thermal management.

[jimrh]

@cyclicalobsessive

@jimrh

Have you arranged bodyguards to protect him from the paparazzi?

No, but I am a little worried a dog will try to pee on him

You mean the “poop-arazzi”, 'eh?

[jimrh]

@cyclicalobsessive

Dave has a RPi3B+ with 17% faster processing and supposedly better thermal management.

Try:

• Pi-4 4gb
• Jetson Nano.

(Just kidding! )

A serious question for both @KeithW and yourself. . . .

Given that the following is true:
(Assume truth if it hasn’t been accomplished yet.)

Dave is:

• running ROS version “x”
• configured and running.
• programmed to do certain things and/or has been “trained” to do certain things.
  (i.e.  TensorFlow lite, finding his dock and docking a-la Carl, etc.)

Question:

• How much of this effort is portable to a different platform?
  (i.e.  Jetson Nano on a GoPiGo, a completely different robot, etc.)

In other words, how much of your effort is portable and how much goes up in smoke if you decide to turn Dave into a TurtleBot or one of Tom Coyle’s MegaBots with 16" twin turrets in the main battery, torpedoes, and a depth charge launcher?

[jimrh]

@cyclicalobsessive

(I think I heard a donkey-car laughing at Dave.)

No.

The donkey-car was laughing at you as it’s a known fact that donkey cars are real asses!

I would qualify that with the fact that everyone laughed at the Wright brothers, Einstein, Stephen Hawking, etc.

If they laugh, just give them a link to the online version of 101 recipes for eating crow !

[cyclicalobsessive]

@jimrh

Dave is:

• running ROS version “x”
• configured and running.
• programmed to do certain things and/or has been “trained” to do certain things.
  (i.e. TensorFlow lite, finding his dock and docking a-la Carl, etc.)

Question:

• How much of this effort is portable to a different platform?
  (i.e. Jetson Nano on a GoPiGo, a completely different robot, etc.)

In other words, how much of your effort is portable and how much goes up in smoke if you decide to turn Dave into a

The short answer - everything but the TF-Lite custom-trained net if the target is a GoPiGo3, and the launch file would need to be tweaked to swap out the rosbot_killa_node for the gopigo3_node.

TF-Lite nets are only as general as the data they are trained on and the information density of the data annotation.

Example a stack with a stupid lane sensor that looks like:

• TF-Lite Lane Sensor that publishes:
  • center of lane as +/- percent of half- lane width
  • (trained on one width light colored sidewalk with unreliable darker areas on left and right)
• “Self Driving Node”:
  • subscribes to:
    • Lane Sensor
    • Forward looking short range Ultrasonic Ranger
    • Joy_node “Dead-man” Enable Motion Button
  • publishes:
    • cmd_vel linear x, angular z
  • Implements:
    • if enable button and no fwd obstacle and lane center reading:
      • implement PID angular z based on distance from lane center
    • if enable button and fwd obstacle:
      • stop and start yelling “get outa my way”
    • if no enable:
      • twiddle the battery away waiting for the harness to come off
• Ultrasonic Ranger node
• IMU node
• GoPiGo3 Node:
  • subscribes to cmd_vel
  • implements linear x and angular z

It may have difficulties if the lighting is different, the sidewalk is wider, the sidewalk is darker than the border areas.

[cyclicalobsessive]

@cyclicalobsessive

Dave’s training for his upcoming 1k run continued [yesterday]

with:

• Proposed site scouted and approved
• Official “Dave Car Safe Transportation Container” prepared
  
  
  
  
  
• Video Capture Test: 1fps Raspistill time-lapse vs 4fps Raspivid h264 capture

DAVE is planning to run today!

[KeithW]

@cyclicalobsessive

DAVE is planning to run today!

Good luck to Dave.

Do you have a participation medal for him? Seems that’s what all the runs do now.

/K

[cyclicalobsessive]

@KeithW

Do you have a participation medal for him?

Wife suggested Carl wanted to be at the finish line with a banana for him, but Dave said medals are for boomers. Dave mentioned getting followers and upgrading to 360 video or something. I told Dave I wasn’t following, and he muttered “boomer” back.

[jimrh]

@cyclicalobsessive

Wife suggested Carl wanted to be at the finish line with a banana for him, but Dave said medals are for boomers.

What Dave really wanted was a dry martini, “shaken, not stirred”.  His race number IS  “007”, isn’t it?

Maybe if Carl offered a banana daiquiri, Dave might be more appreciative. . . .

Of course, maybe a glass of fresh-squeezed Florida Orange Juice would be more appropriate?

P.S.
You are bringing extra batteries, right?

P.P.S.
I watched the video and found a bunch of others, some of which are, apparently, “un-rated” and cannot be viewed unless you have a Vimeo account.

Just what I need.  ANOTHER account to trigger yet MORE spam-mail when they sell my info to some slime-house spammers.

Maybe you can rate them if you get the chance?

[cyclicalobsessive]

@jimrh

found a bunch of others, some of which are, apparently, “un-rated”
Maybe you can rate them if you get the chance?

Thanks for discovering this - all set for “all audiences” now.

[cyclicalobsessive]

@jimrh

You are bringing extra batteries, right?

Only for the remote. The spec on the remote suggests 3-4 hours on a charge, but I am taking a spare USB power bank for that.

If the ModRobotics 11.1 3000mAh pack refuses to play nice outside the house, Dave will just have to ask for a transfer of his “1k run registration” to a different date.

My phone is charged, my watch is charged, Dave is charged, the remote is charged, the remote backup is charged, and the videographer’s phone (wife) is charged. The car tires are at pressure and the tank is full. The water bottles are filled and cold, the refreshments for Dave’s driver and the videographer are set. Dave’s SDcard was backed up. The scripts to start the run and to end the run were checked.

I think we’re ready.
I’ve packed some tape for emergency repairs

[jimrh]

@cyclicalobsessive

I think we’re ready.

. . . and I’m all ears waiting for the results!

[jimrh]

[Expectant hush from the crowd as we wait for the main event]

[cyclicalobsessive]

@jimrh

Expectant hush from the crowd as we wait

Its all in the hands of the creative content and video post departments, with the development team assessing what can be learned, and the communications team working on statements for the investors.

No robots were harmed. The coach and press were seen celebrating till the establishment closed for the night.

Paparazzi caught what appeared to be a robot bouncing happily along: