Explorer 51: Second Iteration

Explorer51
Nov 8 · 2 min read

On November 1st, we decided to shift over to another version of robot: the Aion Robotics R1 ArduROS Edition UGV. The layout of this robot is mostly the same as that in the first iteration, but this robot is much more rugged, includes more space internally and externally, and supports different steering methods for us to test. The robot also includes GPS support, and external antennae (in addition to extra space) for peripherals, which we will test soon. We’ve temporarily attached a camera to the front with tape, to test First-Person View while operating the robot.

This robot uses a similar controller to operate, but is much more responsive when connecting to the robot:

More information about this robot can be found here:


A side-by-side comparison of the two robots:

Test drive comparison of the two robots:


Testing

We started testing some of the navigational limitations of the new robot. To do this, we set up a camera and a connected pair of goggles to test the first-person view of robot movement. We did not set the camera at an angle with the ground at first to best test movement on a flat surface.

One problem we encountered was that the robot would not move if it got too far away from the starting point. We are not sure if this is due to range problems (unlikely, as the range should be pretty far), or due to failure to connect to GPS, or another unclear reason. What we gathered so far is that as soon as the robot stops moving, the video feed gets fuzzy. An example test is shown below:

The video feed:

Explorer51

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Autonomous Indoor Navigation Robot

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