Video: Driving Miss Daisy...with a Kinect
 

http://forums.usfirst.org/showthread...2782#post52782

:ahh:

Re: Video: Driving Miss Daisy...with a Kinect
 

I shudder to click this link, anticipating the carnage that lies ahead.

.....the horror! Wait, that was a trailer for "The Thing".

Thanks for sharing.

I presume we are seeing fixed-speed commands - not any analog "go faster....I said faster.....FASTER DANGIT!....Wait!....Slow down!....Slower!....Not the Grandma in the front row!.......STOOOOOOOOOP!" stuff. Right?

Maybe that should be the benchmark for ever using this on a competition field to control a drivetrain. Put a grandma covered in copious amounts of pool noodles and protective gear at one end of the field. Have the robot drive at her at full speed, then turn away at the last moment, do 10 complete circles around her in each direction, and return. If grandma remains upright and/or doesn't run away screaming in terror, then roll with it.

You may substitute any member of the GDC for Grandma, if you like. :-P

I think it would be really cool to see the sensor control an arm to hang tubes - seems like a more natural fit. Can't wait to see the vid for that!

Re: Video: Driving Miss Daisy...with a Kinect
 

They are analog commands, but we capped the maximum output at 20% (so it's only analog until your arms are 20% above or below horizontal). Functionally very similar since the motors don't begin to move until ~10-15% throttle has been applied.

Re: Video: Driving Miss Daisy...with a Kinect
 

Very cool!

How is it practically? Lag time, user error, multiple people/interference, etc?

Re: Video: Driving Miss Daisy...with a Kinect
 

You can get a sense of lag time from the video (both best case and worst case - Netbeans was just finishing opening up on the netbook as we began this trial and was hogging some CPU cycles; by the middle of the video you will notice latency was in the half a second range).

User error was a bit of a factor. The "stop it right now!" command is basically folding your arms, but you'll notice me reminding the student at one point not to simply drop her arms to her side - that is full reverse! With a few minutes of practice it becomes more natural.

We plan on doing some stress testing over coming weeks to examine the "multiple people/interference" issue, as well as to see if we can further reduce the lag with a more powerful computer.

Re: Video: Driving Miss Daisy...with a Kinect
 

(You Ninja-edited while I was typing my response)

It's coming. I agree that that will be a much more natural fit.

Re: Video: Driving Miss Daisy...with a Kinect
 

I'd definitely want to see a simulation of the competition experience with background movement, etc. to see how it "rejects" everything but the actual movements of the person controlling it. Don't forget to add the neon shirts, facepaint, glitter, and metallic wigs for a genuine experience. Oh, and flowery foam headgear. :)

Re: Video: Driving Miss Daisy...with a Kinect
 

Awesome stuff! 341 never disappoints.

When did you guys receive this, and how many hours did you spend making it work? I am very curious to see the ratio here.

Re: Video: Driving Miss Daisy...with a Kinect
 

At this point in testing, do you see it as a viable control system for a competition? Or at least for anything in the competition?

Re: Video: Driving Miss Daisy...with a Kinect
 

Quite cool. Seems a little awkward to be just waving your arms about though. Have you looked into anything else? See for example this Youtube video, which shows a hybrid control solution, with a Xbox controller combined with the Kinect in a FPS-like environment. He seems a little stiff at the beginning, but watch towards the end; he becomes a lot more natural with his movements and it looks quite fluid.



Also, does anyone know if you can embed youtube videos in posts? That'd be really cool.

Re: Video: Driving Miss Daisy...with a Kinect
 

This is really cool. I'm gonna have a hard time waiting 84 days until I get my own kinect to play with. In the meantime, keep up the good work!

Seconded. Brandon, if you get the time, this would be great.

Re: Video: Driving Miss Daisy...with a Kinect
 

We got the Kinect a little over a week ago. I installed the drivers and updated the software a couple days ago, and last night was the first time we took the Kinect out of the box. In about a half an hour of concerted testing we were able to go from a brand new, blank Java project to what you see in the video.

Re: Video: Driving Miss Daisy...with a Kinect
 

It's better in "airplane mode" than sticking your hands in front of and behind you. Certain upward-swept arm angles in front of the operator would lead to some rather upset uninformed spectators, I'd imagine. :rolleyes:

This is a good point though - seems like this control method requires a lot of room, which isn't typically in ample supply behind the glass.

Re: Video: Driving Miss Daisy...with a Kinect
 

As soon and you guys mentioned this earlier Jared, I knew the team was going to actually do it. Props to you and 341 for showing the actual community what the Kinect will most likely be used for during the season.

Re: Video: Driving Miss Daisy...with a Kinect
 

It seems to me that joystick (or Xbox controller or whatever) operation for the drive train would be much more intuitive, but that Kinect could be really, really cool for operating some kind of arm or lifting device!