[Dprglist] Fwd: LF intersection angle rule

David Anderson davida at smu.edu
Sun Dec 10 09:51:45 PST 2017


I did see Ron's robot demo, and interesting contrast between his 
approach and Carl's, though Carl's is admittedly a simulation at this 
point.

Carl says that this year he is going to "get physical" so I was about to 
post a link to Olivia Newton-John's "Let's Get Physical" as a theme 
song.  But then I went back and read the lyrics, and all the thinly and 
not-so-thinly  veiled innuendo from 1980's disco seem oddly discordant 
in today's cultural environment ("I've been patient, I've been good.  
Trying to keep my hands on the table").

So instead I offer the following, in keeping with the line-following 
theme and the observation that all robot contests eventually devolve 
into races.   Even if the requirements are, say, that only 
line-following WALKING robots are allowed:

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XiRxNkZleY>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XiRxNkZleY

cheers!
dpa



On 12/10/2017 11:32 AM, Doug Paradis wrote:
> David,
>        From watching actual robots run the stain elements, I know that 
> it very possible for the robot to follow the outside edge of the stain 
> and recover the line on the opposite side (my robot did this for one). 
> Following this path the robot would be considered not following the 
> line. Again after watching multiple robots navigate the S curves, it 
> is easy to see if the robot is following the line (I.e., swaying with 
> the S curve) versus just cutting across the center line (i.e., not 
> following the line). I agree that bigger robots, those with wheel 
> bases larger than the maximum radius of curve used in the course 
> (i.e., 6 inches), might not be as responsive as the smaller robots. 
> However, I still believe that you can tell when they are not following 
> the line.
>
>      BTW, did you see Ron's robot demo on Saturday? His robot was 
> doing pretty well. I think the course he was running had a S curve 
> which he handled without issue. The practice course didn't have any 
> stains, if I recall right.
>
> Regards,
> Doug P,
>
> On Sun, Dec 10, 2017 at 10:49 AM, David Anderson <davida at smu.edu 
> <mailto:davida at smu.edu>> wrote:
>
>     Thanks Doug,
>
>     I'm not sure I follow your examples (pun intended!).
>
>     For the segmented S curves, the difference between following the
>     arc and following straight line approximations of that arc are
>     pretty small, and likely to be indistinguishable from Ron's
>     robot's path, for example.   Similarly, each of the stains on the
>     published "challenge" course is on a straight line segment between
>     the entry point and exit point, so the paths would be identical in
>     both cases.
>
>     For a robot with a base the size of the tiles, I'm not sure there
>     would be any difference at all, unless the rules require that the
>     "exact center" of the robot must remain on the line, in which case
>     I don't see how either Carl's approach or Ron's would qualify.
>
>     This is just an intellectual exercise, I'm not planning on
>     fielding such a 'bot.
>
>     cheers!
>     dpa
>
>
>
>     On 12/10/2017 10:06 AM, Doug Paradis wrote:
>>     David,
>>           Going from entry point to exit point is not considered
>>     enough. You have to follow the line. For example, the segmented S
>>     curves, the robot needs to follow the curve  and make an S type
>>     movement. Another example is the stain elements, the robot needs
>>     to follow the line across the stain not follow the outside edge
>>     of the stain.
>>
>>     Regards,
>>     Doug P.
>>
>>     On Sun, Dec 10, 2017 at 1:11 AM, David Anderson <davida at smu.edu
>>     <mailto:davida at smu.edu>> wrote:
>>
>>         Great meeting today.
>>
>>         Doug, I have a question based on Ron and Carl's
>>         presentations, perhaps it has already been answered, to wit:
>>
>>         As I understand, the line following course consists of an
>>         assembly of square tiles, each of which has an entry and exit
>>         point.
>>
>>         Is it sufficient for the robot to just identify the entry and
>>         exit points, and drive directly from one to the other?
>>
>>         That is, it would not follow the line per se, though with
>>         sufficiently large robot the differences would probably be
>>         pretty negligible, but it would follow the course.
>>
>>         thanks,
>>         dpa
>>
>>
>>
>>         On 12/09/2017 08:18 AM, Doug Paradis wrote:
>>>         John,
>>>             Currently, the intersecting lines are always straight
>>>         and all intersections are 90 degrees. Curves lines at an
>>>         intersection would be a possible addition to further
>>>         challenge courses (interesting idea). The link to the course
>>>         layout is at
>>>         https://www.dprg.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/DPRG-Roborama-2011b-Challenge-Level-LF-Course.pdf
>>>         <https://www.dprg.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/DPRG-Roborama-2011b-Challenge-Level-LF-Course.pdf>
>>>         If you have any additional questions, let me know. I would
>>>         love to see your work on the tests that you are developing.
>>>
>>>         Regards,
>>>         Doug P.
>>>
>>>         On Sat, Dec 9, 2017 at 12:36 AM, John Swindle
>>>         <swindle at compuserve.com <mailto:swindle at compuserve.com>> wrote:
>>>
>>>             Doug,
>>>
>>>             I'd say the crossing in your drawing was about either 30
>>>             degrees or 150 degrees, and since it could come in on
>>>             either side, I'd have to look for both. I am not asking
>>>             that the rules state which side the angle is measured
>>>             from. My issue is that I am developing a two-step test
>>>             that covers all the conditions in the Challenge, but in
>>>             the steps I need to include something that rejects the
>>>             intersections. I am OK with rejecting any line that is
>>>             70 degrees to 110 degrees on either side. If the
>>>             intersecting line is straight, the test is a bit more
>>>             robust. If each side is 70 to 110 degrees (a bent
>>>             intersecting line), my two-step test might fail.
>>>
>>>             Doing it "that's just wrong" way,
>>>             John Swindle
>>>
>>>
>>>             -----Original Message-----
>>>             From: Doug Paradis <paradug at gmail.com
>>>             <mailto:paradug at gmail.com>>
>>>             To: John Swindle <swindle at compuserve.com
>>>             <mailto:swindle at compuserve.com>>
>>>             Cc: DPRG <dprglist at lists.dprg.org
>>>             <mailto:dprglist at lists.dprg.org>>
>>>             Sent: Fri, Dec 8, 2017 11:52 pm
>>>             Subject: Re: LF intersection angle rule
>>>
>>>             John,
>>>                 In the challenge course, all the intersections are
>>>             90 degrees. The rule was written to allow crossing
>>>             variations in the future. I'm thinking that  70-90
>>>             degrees would represent the smallest angle of the
>>>             intersection. I not sure that is right, just the way I
>>>             would interpret the angle.
>>>             if you saw an intersection that was like this:
>>>              |   /
>>>              | /
>>>              /
>>>                      / |
>>>                     / |
>>>                    /  |
>>>
>>>             What angle would you say the intersection was?
>>>
>>>             Regards,
>>>             Doug P.
>>>
>>>             On Fri, Dec 8, 2017 at 9:03 PM, John Swindle
>>>             <swindle at compuserve.com <mailto:swindle at compuserve.com>>
>>>             wrote:
>>>
>>>                 Doug,
>>>                 The Line Following Challenge rules say
>>>                 "Intersections may cross with angles of 70 - 90
>>>                 degrees." Doesn't that really mean 70 to 110
>>>                 degrees? Is the intersecting line straight, or can
>>>                 it bend at the intersection?
>>>                 Thanks,
>>>                 John Swindle
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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