Running the Kinect on the Robot.

[1711Raptors]

Does Rule 52 (cRIO control of the robot) even allow the use of a supplemental processing device on the robot platform?

If we use the Classmate on the robot itself (all vibration and power management considered) and integrate via a network connection to the CRio plugged into the Bridge, is this even legal in 2012? Agreed the image processing is not 'controlling' the robot per-se, but it is certainly 'influencing' the control mechanisms of the robot.

We have found that with the Kinect shape game using the Classmate, it is very laggy (2 secs) and have freed up the little PC for something with more power as the DS. This was post-reimage, so it's the best its going to get.

AirRaptor

[sjspry]

The concern of the rule you mention is that all motor, solenoid, and peripheral control go through the cRIO exclusively so that the field management systems can shut it down and enable certain functions during the different match phases. Seeing as all of the discussion seems to assume the cRIO and digital breakout board will still be the source of all controlling signals, there shouldn't be any problem.

While I can't point you to an official ruling, this topic was brought up before and I am almost positive someone found an official comment/asked themselves.

[mwtidd]

One thing people should not forget about utilizing kinect to auto aim is that the kinect cannot see the clear poly. So team built fields will look very different from the actual field. Also there is a good chance that the practice fields at comp will look different too.

Reference the field tour video to get an idea of what items you might pick up. Also remember there will be people behind that glass.

Right now I'm thinking of using the outside cross formed by the second rows red border and the top player station beam.

I am curious to see what object the kinect can pick up from the front of the key (12') and the top of the key (16').

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JrLR...ilpage#t=30 s

[Greg McKaskle]

The range of the Kinect IR is 4' to 11' -- the read me refers to this as the optimal range, but in my experience this is the range.

The RGB camera is a camera. It has a fixed focus lens, and its range for processing is essentially limited by its resolution.

Greg McKaskle

[rbellini]

The classmate on the robot as an interface between the Kinect and the cRIO seems the best option to me. It has all of the interfaces and a full version of S/W that can communicate "processed" information to the cRIO. For example, although it may be slow, the vision processing S/W supplied in the FRC examples could run on the classmate and then just provide "pointing" information to the cRIO.

Since the CRIO already has packet processing utilities to communicate with the classmate (as a driver station), they could also be used to send the "pointing" information. Then the cRIO simply reads that information and controls the motors as needed.

[Austinh100]

Our team is going to attempt to get this working for the 2012 season, we are ordering a panda board and will keep you guys updated.

[mwtidd]

Originally Posted by Austinh100

Our team is going to attempt to get this working for the 2012 season, we are ordering a panda board and will keep you guys updated.

Sounds great! I'm working on a getting a pipeline working with the MS SDK and OpenCV. A couple of my notes on tests run with the MS depth view:

Depending on the thickness of the hoop netting, the kinect may be able to see it. I used a fairly thick net and it was able to see it fairly well.

It may have issues with the retroreflective tape. The depth sensor tends to through errors with items that reflect.

My hope is to use a combo RGB and depth to see the Red and Blue squares, and thus being able to filter out background colors. Remember the depth sensor will see the rectrangles and the support beams on the field roughly the same, and the poly it will see straight through it.

Also the kinects motor is limited to about 15 angle changes so if you are planning to use it to pick up balls, you may want to take this into consideration. Also at 5' and its max downward angle it can only see within about 3 feet of itself. I am considering the idea of 2 kinects, one for balls and one for hoops. Where one would work for both, I think it may be easier to capture using a second.

Hopefully my notes are somewhat helpful.

[spying189]

Honestly, our team is having issues with Java & Kinect implementation. Does anyone have a program that will convert Java code to C++????

[jhersh]

Originally Posted by spying189

Honestly, our team is having issues with Java & Kinect implementation. Does anyone have a program that will convert Java code to C++????

The code is so similar it should be pretty trivial to just do it by hand. It shouldn't take much time. Just use the compiler's errors to guide you.

[catacon]

Preliminary testing with the Kinect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ5IupU1fpY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9h4F9Ay5-4

[realslimschadey]

are there any drivers that we need to use the kinect with the driver station. it says i need a server. does the new driver station come with it. when i plug the kinect into the classmate it doesnt recognize it????????

[RoboMaster]

Originally Posted by catacon

Preliminary testing with the Kinect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ5IupU1fpY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9h4F9Ay5-4

Wow, those are really interesting, thanks. I assume the Kinect is just hooked up to a computer. How did you program it? Microsoft Visual Studio with Kinect SDK? Any FRC resources or crossovers?

[RufflesRidge]

Originally Posted by RoboMaster

Wow, those are really interesting, thanks. I assume the Kinect is just hooked up to a computer. How did you program it? Microsoft Visual Studio with Kinect SDK? Any FRC resources or crossovers?

Looks more like Libfreenect, my guess would be hooked up to OpenCV.

[realslimschadey]

how do get driver station to recognize the kinect?

[RoboMaster]

Originally Posted by realslimschadey

how do get driver station to recognize the kinect?

realslimschadey, please look at some other threads, resources from FIRST, or start your own question thread. This thread is about using the Kinect on the robot, like a camera.