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==Screen dumps==
Back to [[regbot | Regbot]] main page


The user interface can configure and run the robot, as well as inspecting almost all values on the robot. Written in python using Qt GUI library.
==Overview==


The interface looks like on figures below.
Connection is either using USB or network if the robot has wifi.


[[File:regbot_gui_robot.png | 800px]]
On Windows USB is com3, com4 or any higher, see the device-list in the control panel.


Figure 1. The general settings for the robot. The left panel is the general connection status and space for some messages from the robot. The central tab is mostly for configuration of the robot and some sensor and calculated values like pose and tilt. To the right is a fast graph of the last mission.
On Linux USB is /dev/ttyACM0 or /dev/ttyACM1 if /dev/ttyACM0 is used for other devices.


[[File:Gui_rev0.png]]


Figure 2. The data logging options. A number of sensor values and interface points in the robot software can be logged. The window text window shows loaded data from a mission. The log format is designed to be directly compatible with the 'load' function in MATLAB.
The user interface can configure and run the robot, as well as inspect almost all values on the robot. Written in python using Qt GUI library.


The GUI allows to make step responses for velocity and turn (and most of the other controllers). The step response is recorded in a buffer on the robot and is fetched in a MATLAB style file (as shown).
The interface looks like on figures below.
Interface points that are recorded can be switched on and off to better utilize the limited buffer size on the robot (35kBytes).


[[File:Gui_ctrl_rev_1.png]]
In general:
* Yellow fields are read-only (updates from the robot when connected).
* White fields are editable
* Editable fields require (in general) that an "edit" button be pressed first and a "save" button after the edit.
* Many check-boxes get implemented as they are checked/unchecked, but not all.
* Data is updated from the robot at a relatively low update rate; if data is to be used for documentation, then use the onboard log function.


Figure 3. This is a page to make a step response and insert controller values for velocity control. The same controller is used for both wheels.


[[File:regbot_gui_show_menu.png]]
[[File:Gui_robot.png | 800px]]


Figure 4. Other tab pages are available from the "show" menu.
Figure 1. The general settings for the robot. The left panel is the general connection status and space for some messages from the robot. The central tab is primarily for the configuration of the robot and some sensors and calculated values like pose and tilt. To the right is a fast graph of the last mission.
NB! The data rate is low, so to get an overview, use the log function for more details.


==Mission==
=== Data logger ===


Mission specification consist of mission lines, each line consist of two (lower case) parts divided by ':'
[[File:Gui_rev0.png | 800px]]


drive values : continue conditions (conditions are OR'ed)
Figure 2. The data logging options. A number of sensor values and interface points in the robot software can be logged. The text window shows loaded data from a mission. The log format is designed to be directly compatible with the 'load' function in MATLAB.


e.g.:
Use a script like this in MATLAB


vel=-0.2, acc=3.0 : dist=1, time=12
clear
close all
% Liv (36)
%  1    time 2.005 sec
%  2  3  4  5  (mission 0), state 2, entered (thread 1, line 1), events 0x0 (bit-flags)
%  6  7 Motor voltage [V] left, right: 0.49 -2.11
%  8  9 Encoder left, right: 4294967021 25
% 10 11 Wheel velocity [m/s] left, right: -0.0885 0.0759
% 12 15 Chirp amplitude=0, frequency =0 rad/s, phase=0 rad, value=0
%%
data = '''load('log_position-liv36_b.txt')''';
%% plot motor voltage and velocity
figure(100)
hold off
plot(data(:,1), data(:,6), 'linewidth', 2)
hold on
plot(data(:,1), data(:,10), ':', 'linewidth', 2)
grid on
legend('left voltage [V]', 'left vel [m s^{-1}]', 'location','northwest');
xlabel('Time [sec]')


Drive backwards at a speed of 0.2m/s, accelerate with 3m/s2 for 1 meter (or max 12 seconds)
The top text lines of the log file are copied to the MATLAB script to ease the identification of data to plot.


=== Drive values ===
====ACC and gyro====


* VEL is velocity in m/s - positive is forward, 0=stop. uses last value if omitted.
Acceleration logs the acceleration values in m/s^2 on all 3 axes (x (forward if in balance),y (left), z (up if in balance))


* ACC is acceleration limit in m/s2. Uses last value if omitted.
Gyro is rotation velocity around the same 3-axis. Unit is degrees per second (after calibration offset).


* TR is turnradius in metre - positive, 0 is turn on the spot. straight if omitted
====Encoder====


* LOG is log interval in milliseconds. Once started it continues until buffer is full.
Encoder values for wheel rotation (left, right) 48 values per rotation, increases on forward.


* BAL is balancing, uses last value if omitted.
====Motor voltage====


* LABEL is a label number that can be used by GOTO.
Is the motor voltage - before conversion to PWM, compensated for changes in battery voltage.


* GOTO is a jump to the label number given. This can be limited to COUNT use of goto, the count is then reset after the first skip. The goto can also be skipped if any other conditions are true when this line is reached. A line with a goto will never wait.
====Motor current====


====Line-sensor====
Filtered current sensor values. zero current is calibrated just before the start of a mission - this calibration sometimes makes a mistake, resulting in a wrong offset of the logged current. Value is in Amps. The value is filtered to match the log interval if the interval is > 2ms.


If a line sensor is installed, then the following should work too:
====Wheel velocity====


* EDGER is following Right edge of line at -2..2 (in cm), positive is right
Based on the time between encoder tics. If more tics are within 1 ms, then the interval time is averaged. When there is a long time between tics (>50ms), then the time since the last tick is used to calculate velocity, i.e. velocity goes towards zero with time if no encoder pulses arrive.


* EDGEL is following Left edge of line at -2..2 (in cm), positive is right
==== Turn rate ====


* WHITE set to 1 if follow-line tape is white, else 0
The turn rate is based on encoder tics (not the gyro), the unit is radian/sec


====Distance sensor====
==== Robot pose ====


If IR distance sensors are installed, then these should work:
The robot pose is position since the start of the mission (odometry coordinates), x,y,h,t where h is heading in radians (positive counterclockwise), and t is a tilt in radians (zero is in balance, positive is forward).


* IRSENSOR is IR-sensor to use (1 is distance to a wall, and 2 is distance in front).
==== Line sensor ====


* IRDist is IR-distance to hold.
All values related to the line sensor, including AD value from each sensor.


====Threads====
==== IR sensor ====


A command sequence may be divided into threads. The default thread has number 1.
Is distance converted to meters for each sensor (default is sensor 1 to the right and sensor 2 is forward).
==== Battery ====


* THREAD=3 means that this and all following lines are handled by one thread (with number 3). All threads are activated at time 0.
Battery voltage in Volts.


Example
==== Extra ====
thread=2
    edgel=0.0, white=1, log=20.0: time=4.5
    : time=3.5
thread=8
    vel=0.4: time=1.0
    vel=0.2: time=1.0
    vel=0.0: time=1.0
    vel=0.3: time=1.0
thread=9
    bal=1: time=3.5
    bal=0   


Here the first thread controls drive method, first 3.5 seconds follow a line edge, then go straight for 3.5 seconds.
Debug feature for log of extra values.
The second thread (with number 8) controls the velocity over the first 4 seconds.
The last thread (with number 9) controls when to use balance.


The mission is finished when all threads has ended.
==== Mission ====


Two threads may controls the same setting (the last one is in effect), however this should not be attempted with drive mode (i.e. follow edge or follow wall or turn, this can give unpredicted results).
State, Thread, Line, Event. Where State is mission state (should always be 2 or 8 when stopping), thread number and line number in that thread, for the latest line activated (if more than one is activated in the same log interval, then the latest is logged. An event is a 32-bit integer where each bit corresponds to an event number, and events are accumulated over the logging period.


The thread number is pt. not used to determine the execution order of the threads (uses script order).
==== Motor ref ====


====Events====
Is the desired motor velocity (input to velocity controller) - in m/s


Events can be generated if an event=X command is entered in the drive value side of the colon. The event is activated when the line is activated.
==== Control time ====
More than one event can be activated in the same line, e.g.:


* vel=0.2,event=7,event=12:time=1
Is the time taken to handle sensor data, calculate control values and advance in mission lines - this should be finised within 1ms. Value is in microseconds, so it should be below 1000 to ensure valid control calculations.


Here event 7 and 12 are activated at the same time as the velocity is set to 0.2.
==== Control details ====


===Continue conditions===
Value order: r, m, m2, uf, r2, ep, up, ui, u1, u


':' is separation of parameters and continue condition.
The control details give details at data points connected to or inside the general PID controller design used for all control settings. These control data points are illustrated in the figure below.


* DIST is driven distance in this mission line - positive meters
===Controller configuration===
* TURN is angle turned in this mission line - degrees, positive is Left (CCW if forward speed)
* TIME is max time in this mission line - positive seconds
* COUNT is used with GOTO and GOTO will be ignored, if this line is executed more than this count
* XB,XW,LV is conditions relevant for the line sensor (if implemented) - see below
* IR1,IR2 is conditions relevant for IR distance sensors - se below
* TILT is tilt angle (especially useful if not in balance.
* EVENT is testing for events
* LOG is true when log is full (value is ignored but must be set)


The equal (=) sign can for some values (dist, turn, xb, xw and tilt) be replaced by '<' or '>', for most values (except xb and xw) an equal sign means equal or greater. NB! '>=', '==', '<=' and '!=' are not valid.
All controllers can be configured from the "control" tab. See the [[Control]] page for more control details.


Example: Drive 0.2m then turn 30 deg to the right (turn radius=0, but will be more with acceleration being only 1m/s2) then drive another 1 second at a higher speed (or maximum 0.4m).
[[File:Gui_control.png | 800px]]


vel=0.2,acc=1 : dist=0.2
Figure 4b. All control values are set from this page; click on the relevant controller and enter the relevant values in the dialogue window shown below.
tr=0 : turn = -30
vel=0.5 : dist=0.4,time=1


Example Zig-zag sideways: drive 0.2m backwards and then turn 45 deg left, 45 deg right and a bit forward, repeated 2 times more with a goto (to label=6).
[[File:Gui_control_dialog.png | 500px]]


vel=-0.2, acc=2.0: dist=0.2
Figure 5. This dialogue configures the wheel velocity controller - shown as a PI-Lead-controller with feed-forward and an output limit at (+/-) 9V. All other options are disabled. The blue frame boxes indicate a traditional PID controller with lead in forward (and)/or in the feedback branch.
label=6:
tr=0.15: turn=45.0
tr=0.15: turn=-45.0
vel=0.2:dist=0.18
vel=-0.2,goto=6: count=2


==== Line sensor ====
When "enable controller" is disabled, then the control is disabled.


This section is valid if a line sensor is installed and calibrated. Use "Edge" tab for calibration (put edge sensor "ON" and on a dark background and press "Calibrate no reflection" and then on a bright background and press "Calibrate white reflection", then "save on robot").
To use feed-forward only (i.e. set output directly from ref), enable controller, but set Kp=0, and enable feed-forward with some value for Kf (when Kf = 1, then ref is used directly as output).


* XB, XW is test for crossing black/white line, value is 0..20, 0 is true on no crossing, 1..20 is confidence in crossing (20 is highest)
NB! As velocity measurements are rather noisy, the filter in the feedback path (Lead/Lag feedback) could be implemented as a low-pass filter with tau_zero = 0 and tau_pole = 0.005 (recommended).
* LV is test for valid line 0=true for no valid line, 1=true for valid line. NB! A wooden (or dirty) floor is likely to give a valid line at times.


Example: Drive until a crossing black line is found or 2.5m is driven, then continue until the crossing line is gone (reached other side of line) and stop
=== IMU===


vel=0.2, log=5, acc=2: xb>16, dist=2.5
The IMU page shows data from the IMU and is used for tilt measurement for the balance controller only.
:xb < 4,dist=0.2
vel=0:time=0.1


Example find white line and follow edge: Drive until (white) line is found - as before - then turn to the right and follow line for 0.5 m.
[[File:Gui_IMU.png | 800px]]


vel=0.2, log=5, acc=2: xw>16, dist=2.5
Figure 5.1 IMU data. The graph shows calibrated values, and the gyro is calibrated by keeping the robot stable and pressing the "calibrate" button. (remember to save the result in robot flash). The servos drift slightly, so repeat if needed.
:xw < 4,dist=0.2
vel=0:time=0.3
tr=0,vel=0.2:turn=-90
edgel=0, white=1: dist=0.5


==== Distance sensor====
A new feature has been added to set the orientation of the IMU board, but it is not shown in the image.


IR1, IR2 is test for distance measured by IR sensor.
=== Menu ===


@todo Distance sensor is not tested much, and is therefore assumed not to work properly.


==== Tilt balance angle ====


TILT is test for tilt angle (0 is balance point)
[[File:regbot_gui_show_menu.png | 600px]]


Example:
Figure 6. Other tab pages are available from the "show" menu.
@todo


==== Events ====
===Mission===


An event can be a test condition in a mission line, and can be generated by a mission line.
Missions are entered through the mission tab:
Up to 32 events can be used, they are named "event=N", where N is a number in the range [0..31].
An event is valid for one sample period only (1ms).


Events can be created from the communication interface with the command like
[[File:Gui_mission.png | 700px]]
<event=5>


An example could be like this (a not very functional example)
Figure 7. Missions are entered in the left (white) area, and can be syntax tested with the button above.
The result of the check is shown in the yellow area (right).
The mission of the robot can be fetched to the right area.
Missions (the left area) can be saved and loaded from text files with the buttons below.


thread=2
If you copy-paste from another application, so make sure not to include any formatting; 7-bit ASCII characters are allowed only.
  vel=0.2:time=1          # driving at speed 0.2 m/s for 1 second
  vel=0,event=7:event=5  # set speed to 0 and generate event 7, then wait for event 5
  vel=0.2:time=1          # speed back to 0.2 m/s in 1 second
  vel=0                  # stop this thread
thread=8
  label=1:time=5,event=7  # wait for event 7 (generated after 1 second by thread 2) or for maximum 5 seconds (should never happen)
  event=12:time=1        # generate event 12 (and wait for 1 second)
  event=13:time=1        # generate event 13 (and wait for 1 second before ending this thread


The mission will not end before the user has generated event 5 (by sending "<event=5>").
Missions are not saved to the robot before you press "save to robot".  
Every time an event is generated a message is send to the client line, for this mission the following messages will be generated:


# event 7
The mission is lost for the robot after a power cycle unless you save the configuration to robot flash - using the "save to robot flash" in the left pane.
# event 12
# event 13
# event 5    (this in response to a user event)


===Examples===
==== Mission lines ====


Example drive-turn-drive-turn at 20cm/s:  
Mission specification consists of mission lines; each line consists of two (lower case) parts divided by ':'


  vel=0.2, acc=1.5 : dist = 0.5, time=5
  drive parameter: continue condition
tr=0.15 : turn=90
: dist = 0.5
tr=0.15 : turn=90
vel=0 : time=1


Example wait 5 seconds:
continue conditions are OR'ed.


vel=0 : time=5
e.g.:  
 
Example balance and follow line: Go on balance and follow left edge of white line for 0.5m, then follow line for another 0.5m without balance.
 
vel=0.2,edgel=0,white=1,bal=1: dist>0.5
bal=0,edgel=0,white=1:dist=0.5
 
NB! Most examples - and especially balance - requires valid controller parameters and calibrated sensors (tilt offset for balance).


===Save ===
vel=-0.2, acc=3.0 : dist=1, time=12
Transfer the mission to the robot RAM by pressing "Save" (top right), the mission will be lost by a reboot or power off, unless saved on robot!


Save the mission on the robot flash memory (EE-prom) by pressing "save on Robot" (left panel). NB! The space is limited (about 100 lines)!
Drive backwards at a speed of 0.2m/s, and accelerate with 3m/s2 to this speed until a distance of 1 meter is driven or 12 seconds have passed.


The mission can also be saved in a text-file using the bottom right save button
See [[Mission]] for more details.

Latest revision as of 09:09, 17 November 2023

Back to Regbot main page

Overview

Connection is either using USB or network if the robot has wifi.

On Windows USB is com3, com4 or any higher, see the device-list in the control panel.

On Linux USB is /dev/ttyACM0 or /dev/ttyACM1 if /dev/ttyACM0 is used for other devices.


The user interface can configure and run the robot, as well as inspect almost all values on the robot. Written in python using Qt GUI library.

The interface looks like on figures below.

In general:

  • Yellow fields are read-only (updates from the robot when connected).
  • White fields are editable
  • Editable fields require (in general) that an "edit" button be pressed first and a "save" button after the edit.
  • Many check-boxes get implemented as they are checked/unchecked, but not all.
  • Data is updated from the robot at a relatively low update rate; if data is to be used for documentation, then use the onboard log function.


Figure 1. The general settings for the robot. The left panel is the general connection status and space for some messages from the robot. The central tab is primarily for the configuration of the robot and some sensors and calculated values like pose and tilt. To the right is a fast graph of the last mission. NB! The data rate is low, so to get an overview, use the log function for more details.

Data logger

Figure 2. The data logging options. A number of sensor values and interface points in the robot software can be logged. The text window shows loaded data from a mission. The log format is designed to be directly compatible with the 'load' function in MATLAB.

Use a script like this in MATLAB 

clear
close all
% Liv (36)
%  1    time 2.005 sec
%  2  3  4  5   (mission 0), state 2, entered (thread 1, line 1), events 0x0 (bit-flags)
%  6  7 Motor voltage [V] left, right: 0.49 -2.11
%  8  9 Encoder left, right: 4294967021 25
% 10 11 Wheel velocity [m/s] left, right: -0.0885 0.0759
% 12 15 Chirp amplitude=0, frequency =0 rad/s, phase=0 rad, value=0
%%
data = load('log_position-liv36_b.txt');
%% plot motor voltage and velocity
figure(100)
hold off
plot(data(:,1), data(:,6), 'linewidth', 2)
hold on
plot(data(:,1), data(:,10), ':', 'linewidth', 2)
grid on
legend('left voltage [V]', 'left vel [m s^{-1}]', 'location','northwest');
xlabel('Time [sec]')

The top text lines of the log file are copied to the MATLAB script to ease the identification of data to plot.

ACC and gyro

Acceleration logs the acceleration values in m/s^2 on all 3 axes (x (forward if in balance),y (left), z (up if in balance))

Gyro is rotation velocity around the same 3-axis. Unit is degrees per second (after calibration offset).

Encoder

Encoder values for wheel rotation (left, right) 48 values per rotation, increases on forward.

Motor voltage

Is the motor voltage - before conversion to PWM, compensated for changes in battery voltage.

Motor current

Filtered current sensor values. zero current is calibrated just before the start of a mission - this calibration sometimes makes a mistake, resulting in a wrong offset of the logged current. Value is in Amps. The value is filtered to match the log interval if the interval is > 2ms.

Wheel velocity

Based on the time between encoder tics. If more tics are within 1 ms, then the interval time is averaged. When there is a long time between tics (>50ms), then the time since the last tick is used to calculate velocity, i.e. velocity goes towards zero with time if no encoder pulses arrive.

Turn rate

The turn rate is based on encoder tics (not the gyro), the unit is radian/sec

Robot pose

The robot pose is position since the start of the mission (odometry coordinates), x,y,h,t where h is heading in radians (positive counterclockwise), and t is a tilt in radians (zero is in balance, positive is forward).

Line sensor

All values related to the line sensor, including AD value from each sensor.

IR sensor

Is distance converted to meters for each sensor (default is sensor 1 to the right and sensor 2 is forward).

Battery

Battery voltage in Volts.

Extra

Debug feature for log of extra values.

Mission

State, Thread, Line, Event. Where State is mission state (should always be 2 or 8 when stopping), thread number and line number in that thread, for the latest line activated (if more than one is activated in the same log interval, then the latest is logged. An event is a 32-bit integer where each bit corresponds to an event number, and events are accumulated over the logging period.

Motor ref

Is the desired motor velocity (input to velocity controller) - in m/s

Control time

Is the time taken to handle sensor data, calculate control values and advance in mission lines - this should be finised within 1ms. Value is in microseconds, so it should be below 1000 to ensure valid control calculations.

Control details

Value order: r, m, m2, uf, r2, ep, up, ui, u1, u

The control details give details at data points connected to or inside the general PID controller design used for all control settings. These control data points are illustrated in the figure below.

Controller configuration

All controllers can be configured from the "control" tab. See the Control page for more control details.

Figure 4b. All control values are set from this page; click on the relevant controller and enter the relevant values in the dialogue window shown below.

Figure 5. This dialogue configures the wheel velocity controller - shown as a PI-Lead-controller with feed-forward and an output limit at (+/-) 9V. All other options are disabled. The blue frame boxes indicate a traditional PID controller with lead in forward (and)/or in the feedback branch.

When "enable controller" is disabled, then the control is disabled.

To use feed-forward only (i.e. set output directly from ref), enable controller, but set Kp=0, and enable feed-forward with some value for Kf (when Kf = 1, then ref is used directly as output).

NB! As velocity measurements are rather noisy, the filter in the feedback path (Lead/Lag feedback) could be implemented as a low-pass filter with tau_zero = 0 and tau_pole = 0.005 (recommended).

IMU

The IMU page shows data from the IMU and is used for tilt measurement for the balance controller only.

Figure 5.1 IMU data. The graph shows calibrated values, and the gyro is calibrated by keeping the robot stable and pressing the "calibrate" button. (remember to save the result in robot flash). The servos drift slightly, so repeat if needed.

A new feature has been added to set the orientation of the IMU board, but it is not shown in the image.

Menu

Figure 6. Other tab pages are available from the "show" menu.

Mission

Missions are entered through the mission tab:

Figure 7. Missions are entered in the left (white) area, and can be syntax tested with the button above. The result of the check is shown in the yellow area (right). The mission of the robot can be fetched to the right area. Missions (the left area) can be saved and loaded from text files with the buttons below.

If you copy-paste from another application, so make sure not to include any formatting; 7-bit ASCII characters are allowed only.

Missions are not saved to the robot before you press "save to robot".

The mission is lost for the robot after a power cycle unless you save the configuration to robot flash - using the "save to robot flash" in the left pane.

Mission lines

Mission specification consists of mission lines; each line consists of two (lower case) parts divided by ':' 

drive parameter: continue condition

continue conditions are OR'ed.

e.g.: 

vel=-0.2, acc=3.0 : dist=1, time=12

Drive backwards at a speed of 0.2m/s, and accelerate with 3m/s2 to this speed until a distance of 1 meter is driven or 12 seconds have passed.

See Mission for more details.

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