Lab #3: Kinematics and Vision

The objective of this lab is to pratice kinematic control of the Turtlebot and to better understand vision processing on the Turtlebot. You are welcome to copy code from the internet, but make sure to credit where it came from. You can work in teams if you'd like.

Upon successful completion of this lab, you will be able to:

1. Have the simulated turtlebot trace a squareunder open-loop control
2. Have the simulated turtlebot identify and respond to different objects in the environment

To help you get started, James has provided a few files:

• This repository contains example code for labs: https://github.com/IRLL/intro_to_robotics
• You may want to start with this file: https://github.com/IRLL/intro_to_robotics/blob/master/nodes/lab2_example.py

In addition, note that there is no way to directly control the wheel velocities. I suggest you:
1. Do the math to figure out the desired velocities / time
2. Create a twist message based on this
3. Publish the twist message and stop after a certain amount of time.

To show me that you understand the inverse kinematics of the turtlebot, I suggest you do something like the following:

 
def spinWheels(u1, u2, time):
  linear_vel = (???) * (u1 + u2)
  ang_vel = (???) * (u1 - u2)
 
  twist_msg = Twist()
  twist_msg.linear.x = linear_vel
  twist_msg.angular.z = ang_vel
 
  #while haven't reached time
      #publish twist_msg
  #publish a new twist message to make the robot stop

The goal of this lab is for you to get a better understanding for controling the turtlebot and understanding vision. If you're stuck on something, don't spend hours banging your head against it - post to Piazza!

1. Your goal is to have the turtlebot drive in a square that is 2m per side. First, use inverse kinematics to figure out the speeds you would want to drive the wheels and for how long for (a) a turn and (b) an edge. You may be able to look up the relevant measurements on line, or you can fall back on using a tape measure.
2. Have your turtlebot trace out the square as calculated above. After the turtlebot finishes, how close did it come to ending at the correct location?
3. Place an object in the environment (I'd recommend a sphere). Use openCV to find the center of the image. Write a reactive controller that can drive the robot towards the sphere.
4. Enhance your code so that the turtlebot stops some known distance from the sphere (e.g., by counting the number of pixels wide the sphere is).
5. By placing four objects in the environment, write a reactive controller so that the turtlebot traces out a square, 3m per side. How far away from the start point does the turtlebot end up? Is this better or worse than when you used inverse kinematics, and why?
6. For extra credit, as the turtlebot drives towards an object, display the turtlebot's view of the object. Draw the midpoint of the object on this image and update it as the turtlebot moves. Also add some text saying 1) whether the robot is to the right, to the left, or centered on the object and 2) the estimated distance from the object.

1. Your name
2. The name(s) of any teammates, if any
3. Any on-line references / websites you found particularly useful. Include the addresses of pages you copied code from, if any.
4. The answers regarding how close to the start state the turtlebot ended for both controlers, and your speculations about why one is better than the other.
5. A link to the video or screen capture of your turtlebot tracing the square via inverse kinematics and via a reactive vision controler.
6. The calculations you performed for the inverse kinematics.
7. The world file you used.
8. The code you wrote for the assignment and any instructions needed to execute it.

1. Text file content: 10
2. Inverse kinematics calculations: 10
3. Code for kinematics-based driver: 20
4. Code and world file for vision-based driver: 30
5. Videos of robot tracing out both squares:30
6. Extra Credit: 20