Distance Record and Initial Autonomy

Last Thursday I was able to get AMOS loaded into the van and deployed again at Woolastook by 9:15 am, which allowed enough time for a nice 2.75 hour test, covering nearly the entire length of Kelly's Creek and back again. Below is a map depicting the route that it took:

The total distance covered was 10.85 km, which smashed AMOS's previous single-trip distance record of 6.12 km. This was encouraging, since it meant that a fully autonomous AMOS, operating in this relatively closed area might have some hope of reaching the goal of 1000 km of total traveled distance before the end of the year. There are fewer hours of available sunlight each day, so I really need to get it running on its own soon.

I was able to get the new LiDAR module hooked up, and finished debugging the software that I had written for it. It seemed to work pretty well. The software has two basic modes of operation when using LiDAR data:

1. Safety Mode: Stop moving the boat whenever an obstacle is encountered.

2. Avoidance Mode: Try to turn the boat until it finds a direction without an obstacle, then proceed in that direction for 60 seconds before returning to the previous navigation plan.

Here is a picture showing the new LiDAR module:

It is the small black device with two lenses bolted into a blue plastic piece that was 3-D printed and velcroed to the visual camera enclosure.

The last few days have been a bit of a scramble, trying to add some new features to the software for going into a "rest" mode where the boat just sits there, but is still connected to the Internet with GPS access, and also a "sleep" mode, where the boat is almost entirely powered down, except for the RFU220 wireless module and a few other components. These other components could also be switched off, but I haven't had time to do that yet. The clock times for going into these modes can be set from the same text script that is used to specify the GPS waypoints for sampling. There is also now a means for setting the "wake up" clock time for when AMOS can go on its way and begin sampling, provided its battery voltage is high enough (> 12.4 V). If the battery hasn't been charged enough, it goes back to sleep for another hour, and then tries again.

After some slightly rushed backyard testing, I was able to deploy AMOS back to Kelly's Creek again this evening, but this time I left it there. If all goes as planned, it will wake up tomorrow at 9:00 am and repeat the course shown above. At 3:00 pm it will go into rest mode, and then at 11:00 pm it will go into sleep mode. I'm kind of nervous about people tampering with it. I laminated she following sheet and duct taped it to the front deck of the boat:

AMOS – Autonomous Mini Observation System

This robotic vehicle is collecting water quality data over the area indicated in the above map. Please do not interfere or tamper with it! For more information, visit www.innaturerobotics.com or email info@innaturerobotics.com.

THANK YOU

If somebody does steal the boat, here is a picture indicating its last known whereabouts:

I put it in the grossest, swampiest place I could find to deter would-be thieves and vandals. 😊