Good news on the Autonomous Challenge as the UDM vehicle is in first place after the morning heat. Under bright sunlight and glare, none of the vehicles is doing well and none has made it over the first ramp. But there are two more "heats" so UDM's position is not secure.
On the navigation challenge, UDM is in second, right behind Hosei University from Japan. They both got through seven checkpoints before hitting the edge of a fence.
Now the bad news. For the first run of the second heat in Autonomous, µCERATOPS was at the starting block when the vision system stopped working. Kevin and the team worked frantically to restart the main computer while pulling out the backup laptop. Fingers flying on the keyboard, laptops sliding in and out on their tracks, grim looks on everyone's face. Once called, you have a minute to get on the field and a minute to start your vehicle. They timed out. Ouch.
The team retreated to their field tent to check out the system. Meanwhile, to make things more nerve-wracking, the generator stopped working, and the vehicle needed to be charged. Someone ran for the backup generator, got it out of the trailer, and fired it up.
Dr. Paulik: "Is it working now?"
Kevin: "Yes, but I don't like this."
Dr. Paulik: "Remember, we were plugging and unplugging a lot of things. IO (input-output) can be tricky."
Kevin: "I don't like it."
They'll be running another heat soon. Hoping for the best.
1 comment:
2 p.m. update. They switched out the main computer and ran the autonomous course again, going over the infamous first ramp and getting farther than any other team. So they are still solidly in first place in that part of the competition.
Over to the navigation challenge and they rocked that one, too. Hit all eight waypoints but the poor confused robot couldn't find its way back to the starting point. Still, they knocked Hosei out of first place.
So they are first in both events, for now. A good place to be.
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