Vision Update We got some good data in the pool yesterday, and I spent today getting the vision system controlling the motors. Tomorrow, I will try to do a complete end-to-end test in the lab with a dummy target, and then it'll be time to test the control systems in the pool. Vision looks to be on schedule, and barring any major catastrophe, should be operational to the point that it can actually score us points by the end of next week.  ¶ kd5bjo @ 17:31, 0 comments

  Water tests Late yesterday morning, Wes and I took the hull down to the pool for some final leak tests. When we got back up to the lab, Michael was there working with the compass AVR code. The three of us worked most of the day fitting the electronics into the sub and getting everything working. (Side note: DMMs with low batteries read voltages higher than reality). We picked up a few things at Fry's to complete the last few connections, and spent another hour or two debugging problems with the wireless Ethernet equipment and power circuitry. Collin also showed up and got the light detectors working.

At around 21:30, we took the AUV down to the pool for a live power test. Full of electronics and batteries, it was heavy enough to sink until we removed 10 pounds of dead weight that had been attached to the frame. We were also still having some wireless connectivity issues. After about 15 minutes, we squashed the communications bug and put the sub in the water to test the systems. It maneuvers quite well around the pool, and will basically go straight on its own (open loop) if there aren't any significant currents in the water. After an hour of runtime, we pulled the AUV out of the water and took it back up to the lab.

The weight seems about right; the vertical motors can drive the sub underwater without a lot of effort. Most of this test was on the surface, but we did also perform some underwater maneuvering. After the test, the drive motor battery reported a 3/4 charge and the dive motor battery reported a 4/4 charge. The computer and logic battery reported a 2/4 charge, but it was powering the AUV for an hour and twenty minutes instead of simply the hour that the motors were running. All in all, it appears that our runtime for tests will be somewhere between 1.5 and 2 hours.  ¶ kd5bjo @ 02:18, 0 comments

  Compass, Player, Sonar, Things are really coming together now. Most of the pieces work, and I think we'll actually get this thing in the water today. Michael got the compass reporting values, Wes and Ian got the DAC on the sonar board working, Collin has successfully detected light color and frequency, and I got most of the interior wiring done.

Today's agenda (for me, at least) is to get the computer on the sub back up, and talking to everything. Then, get this thing in the water.  ¶ kd5bjo @ 11:48, 0 comments

  Compass I managed to get the compass attached to the i2c bus without causing the AVR to hang, but I couldn't read the compass without the RS-485 protocol timing out. I attached the compass via the PWM signal, but have not been able to get satisfactory results. The theoretical resolution of the compass as it is currently configured is 2.7 degrees. This change also seems to have broken the motor controller status notification on boot; the motor controller still works fine. I haven't checked in any of the new code, because it still works less well than what's in the repository.  ¶ kd5bjo @ 03:21, 0 comments

  Leaks, Motors, News After a few minor fixes, the hull appears to be watertight again, as it didn't leak after a 1 hour test. Michael and I dubugged the RS-485 bus, which is now working between the testing PC and the AVR. We have successfully controlled the motors with the computer, and I seem to have stamped out the i2c bug (I hope). I am currently trying to get the compass working on the same bus as the motor controllers, which will probably take the rest of the night. Also, I got this news feed integrated into the front page of auv.utdallas.edu, the official website.  ¶ kd5bjo @ 22:44, 0 comments

  Lots of progress Lots of work got done yesterday. I got the vision system mostly set up; it is generating values suitable to be fed into a control system for both pipeline recognition and bon detection. Pretty much all of the AVR code is written, but untested. The electronics are wired together on the plate that goes inside the sub, but there are some bugs that still need to be worked out. The sonar system seems to be going well, but I don't know any specifics on that. The hull got tested with various connectors on the bulkhead, and leaked a few mL of water over twenty minutes. Mike thinks he's isolated the problem, and we will be testing again today.  ¶ kd5bjo @ 13:15, 0 comments