robot robot robot HOP

[gfish]

For the first time in a year and a half, GYRE is fully assembled. And it's looking good. I mean, check out the new thrusters! neuro42 did an amazing job on them. And three permanently mounted onboard computers, one for each camera, each one more powerful than the old laptop we used to have kludged on. The hardware is getting damned nice.

Safety docs due Friday, then plenty of time for working on the code. For once, I think we're doing this right.

Comments

[adularia.livejournal.com]

I found a replacement camera for us on eBay. The auction closes tomorrow; we know what to do.

[allanc.livejournal.com]

Where's the racing stripes? Where are the fuzzy dice? Where, I ask you, is the bling bling?

--AC

[adularia.livejournal.com]

If you look real hard you can see the Type R sticker on one corner...

(I didn't know Acura made space robots, but damn is it fast!)

[randomdreams.livejournal.com]

Dude: those thrusters are bling all by themselves.

I must have missed a post...

[johno.livejournal.com]

What is it? {besides cool looking?}

Re: I must have missed a post...

[gfish.livejournal.com]

It is GYRE, aka the space robot, aka that damned space robot. Centerpiece of an opportunistic research project (http://depts.washington.edu/gyre/) I've been involved with for several centuries at this point. It lets us fly on the vomit cometweightless wonder.

Re: I must have missed a post...

[grinninfoole.livejournal.com]

I presume that this is a job, and not a hobby, but who pays for this? Where do you work?

Re: I must have missed a post...

[gfish.livejournal.com]

Well, I work at the University of Washington Medical Center, but this is an unrelated research project (also at UW). It has been funded through a couple small grants when we can get them and out of pocket when we can't. Everyone involved works in related fields, and we'll probably get a couple publications out of it eventually, so it isn't entirely a hobby. But no one is paying us for it either, so we're certainly not professional.

Re: I must have missed a post...

[grinninfoole.livejournal.com]

Wow! That's really cool. So, what will your robot do? What scientific questions are you trying to answer with it? And who will put into space?

Re: I must have missed a post...

[gfish.livejournal.com]

The research goals are just to test the visual navigation system. This year we're focusing on the feedback algorithm to deal with the sometimes very noisy data we're getting from the motion estimation code.

Sadly, GYRE will never fly in space. It was designed and built for the Weightless Wonder, which is much easier to get stuff on. NASA runs a program to fly undergrad research projects, if you can jump through all the paperwork hoops.

Even should some miracle happen and NASA came to us and said 'We love GYRE! Make us one to put on the space station!' the current hardware could never be flight rated. This year is probably the end of the project. It's been going on and off for four years now, and we'll all pretty ready to move on to something else. I'm pushing for a sea floor exploration bot next, but we'll see.

Re: I must have missed a post...

[grinninfoole.livejournal.com]

And will it actually be watching the movies with Joel, or helping Gypsy keep the ship running? What sort of comic timers are you using?

[vixyish.livejournal.com]

Aww! It's so *cute* with the primary colors!

After we talked about t-shirts, I was actually planning to see what I could whip up in Corel Draw... using all its nifty assemble-shapes-together features...

I was going to surprise you...

*sigh*

[damiana-swan.livejournal.com]

So! Cool!

I've got a silly non-geek question for you ... are you going to set it up so that the computers are backup for each other in case one fails?

[corivax.livejournal.com]

No. In the short timespans we're running it, that's pretty unlikely. Also, each computer has a dedicated purpose (runs one of the cameras) and needs all its resources for that.

[gfish.livejournal.com]

As the bird indicated, each computer is being used completely. We're right at the space and weight (mass!) limits already. We couldn't add redundant computers even if we needed to.

Basically, the vision code will eat as many cycles as we can throw at it and still be hungry for more. We have three cameras, trying to run as close to 30 frames a second as possible, with a very consiserable amount of processing to be done on each frame. In 2003 we were lucky to get through a complete cycle of all three cameras ever 1.5 seconds. This year, hopefully, that will be closer to 250 milliseconds, which will still be a long way from the target of 33.

[maribou]

Woot! Shiny.

[jadine.livejournal.com]

Wheeee!!