Author: Yu Hang He, Email: hey6@unlv.nevada.edu
Date Last Modified: 10/23/2019

This week, I volunteered at another FRC workshop. The workshop was conducted at Academy for Career Education, a charter school in Reno. John, the assistant coach for the new FRC team that I will be help mentoring hosted a class to teach student about CAD software. Specifically, he showed students the basics of using AutoDesk Inventor. Unfortunately, only 4 students from the new FRC team was able to make to the meeting. However, I was able to meet them and get to know them a little. Since ACE is a technical school, the students already have many experiences with using CAD software such as AutoCAD and Inventor (They may actually have more experience modeling than me). The students are mostly from the machine shop and CAD class, so they have a lot of experience and resources for manufacturing. The main concern is for lack of programming and computer science experience. Hopefully, I can help fill that gap and mentor these students on programming. The students are very excited to form the new FRC team.

Going back into the FRC community after 4 years, I am reminded why I loved participating in it during my high school. It is very nostalgic to be able to talk about all the different competitions again. I am very eager to help these students as much as I can before returning to Vegas.

I was able to successfully integrate Ricoh Theta V's API with the GUI that I created for Spot. The GUI has the commands to remotely take 360 image and record 360 video. It has the option to view the image and video, though not in 360 format. In addition, the operator can start custom plugins for Ricoh Theta V that can further extend the camera's capability. For example, one of the plugins that I have been focusing on was Wireless Live Streaming. The plugins was used to live stream to YouTube, Facebook and other similar streaming services. Of course, we cannot stream Tesla factory over the internet, therefore, I focused on finding alternative options. After learning about different streaming protocols I was able to setup a simple RTMP (Real-Time Messaging Protocol)server to stream live video feed. Unfortunately, on further testing, the streaming service has a latency of 3 seconds which is too slow for reliable real time control of Spot. I researched about possible solutions, however, there is no system in place for real time wireless live streaming over local network. A lot of software development needs to be accomplished to implement this type of system.

I have successfully integrated D435 camera with ORB-SLAM algorithm. However, the results are not too promising. The algorithm lost track of its current localization very easily during fast movement and rapid rotation. I have not mounted the RGB-D camera on Spot yet, but I imagine that ORB-SLAM will lost its localization quickly while mounted on Spot. There are a lot of optimization that I can try to improve its performance. However, I need to focus on the BIM team presentation at Tesla next Friday.

Next Friday, the BIM team that I am a part of will be presenting for a large group of Tesla engineers and managers. The presentation will be split between Reno and Fremont. The team is planning to live demonstrate Spot during the presentation. I focused on designing the mount for the 360 camera and make sure that I can capture 360 videos while mounted on Spot. I will be operating Spot during presentation as well.

I finished prototyping a design for the 360 camera mount and Blake ordered the material. Next week, I will mount the 360 Camera on Spot to test its performance and make sure the sensor integration works properly. I will prepare for one Spot to be shipped to Fremont factory and make sure that both Spot is ready for the presentation next Friday. In addition, we will meet with HoloBuilder team to discuss potential for using their software for construction monitoring with Spot.