Project of Fall 2019: "Identify and shoot"

Mindstorms NXT(TM)/EV3 robots are robots made of a main unit and a set of sensors and actuators. They have been sold by Lego for several few years now, starting with the NXT version, and now with the ev3 version. Many very elaborate designs have been made using the standard kit (see for example "Mindstorms: Not just a kid's toy"). You may also watch interesting videos on youtube, such as a breakfast machine, marble conveyor, a car factory, a walking dog, a scorpion, a forklift truck, the "holononic drive", a rubik's cube solver, a printer, and a sumo game. You can also find some other nice systems on battlebricks.

The project you will work on might not be as complex as some aforementioned systems, yet it requires spending quite a lot of design and programming time on the robot and its interfaces (sensors, actuators).
Test your robot, motors, and sensors as soon as possible! We may be able to repair/order parts with a few weeks notice, but there is very little we can do the day before the competition.

Project description

The robot you have to build shall be the winner of an identify and shoot game. This section includes a description of the game and then a specification of the robot.

Note that the rules might evolve during the next weeks, along with the communication protocol, until the final competition. I will always inform you whenever a rule evolves.

General description

The main objective of the game is to score points by identifying objects and sending balls into the opponent's area. Each time you identify an object, you should inform the server about the identified object and about its position. A game is as follows.

• Two robots compete together in the same stadium. A side of the stadium is dedicated to one robot, and each robot starts in its own starting area. If during a game a robot enters at least one time the opponent's side, then the robot looses one point. "entering" means that at least a part of the robot touched the floor over the black line, e.g. part of a wheel.


• First, a game server is started. Each playing robot should register to the server. The id of the robot in the server corresponds to the id of the student group, see the group section


• Robots have 5 minutes at most - i.e. as soon as the two robots are stuck the game ends - to score points by identifying objects and sending balls into the opposite side as indicated below. The overall game area is delimited by a wooden fence on the four sides (see figure below).


• Two balls are placed at fixed position in each side of the stadium. You score one point for each ball present in the opponent's side at the end of a round.


• Three or four random objects are placed at random places of your side by your favorite teacher. Specification of these objects is given below. For each object you have moved at least one time, you lose 1 point. You don't lose two points if you move two times the same object.


• When a robot successfully identifies an objects and its position, and informs the server about this, it scores 3 points: 2 points for the identification of the objects, 1 point of its position. To inform the server, the robot should communicate to the server via WIFI: that information is sent back to the opponent robot by the server. A specific WIFI communication protocol will soon be defined in the project repository. This repository will contains the code of the game server. It already containsd example code for ev3 robots e.g. for using motors and sensors. The server is started and configured before each game starts.


• Robots also have the right to release obstacles, e.g. throwing an obstacle into the opponent's side is encouraged.


• The robot can be freely re-programmed between game rounds, but it is forbidden to remotely control your robot.

Tournaments will be organized, and medals (master, diamond, platinum, gold, silver and bronze medals) will be given to robots according to their ranking. The ranking is first determined with the score and the number of victories.

Stadium

The stadium is explained in the following picture.

Specification of the stadium

Objects

Objects are as follows. They will be better defined later, with photos. Objects below are listed according to their id (see the project repository).

1. Cube: 15cm on each dimension
2. 4-side Pyramid: 15cm on each dimension, 15cm height
3. 3-side pyramid: 15cm on each dimension, 15cm height
4. Cylinder: 20cm height, 11 cm diameter, with a base all around (2cm large, 1mm height)
5. Reversed 4-side pyramid: 15 cm height, 15cm on other dimensions.

Specification of the robot

• The robot must be contained in a cube of 35 cm maximum on each dimension at start-up.


• Robots can use up to four sensors and up to four engines. You are free to use the sensors you want to among the following ones: touch sensor, light sensor, color sensor, ultrasonic sensor (i.e., distance sensor), compass sensor, gyroscope sensor, magnetic sensor.


• The robot must contain a flag, on which the number of your group is clearly readable from at least two sides of your robot. The flag dimension is at most 10x10cm. It may also contain a logo, a drawing, and the name of the robot.


• The communication protocol between robots (via WIFI) will be given (you don't have to specify it). Basically, robots communicate to a server.


• A robot may change its shape (by deploying elements, or withdrawing them) during game phases, but it should fit in a 35cm cube at the start of the game.


• Destructive weapons are NOT allowed. For your information, a EMP can be constructed for ~300 dollars as shown here.


• It is forbidden to send orders - remotely or not - to your robot while it is playing, apart from the WIFI communication with the server: it must be fully autonomous as soon as the game starts, and until it ends. Trying to hijack WIFI messages, or other kinds of attacks is not allowed, and will result in a 0 grade (cheating rule).

Competitions and reports

There are two "competitions", as described after. Your project grade takes into account the two competitions (the one in December, the one in January).

1. The 20th of December, 2019: your website should be started with at least the name of your robot (I don't expect more in the website for this deadline). The six following tests will be performed alone in the stadium. Tests are used to test "basic" functions in order to understand how well their work. They are not taken into account for the final grade, apart if the final competition fails. Test #1 and #2 are useless if test #3 is perfectly validated.


• Test #1. Be able to find an object in your side (without identifying its shape). For this test, only one object is put in your side.
• Test #2. Be able to identify an object positioned in your side. For this test, only one object is placed in your side.
• Test #3. Be able to identify an object and estimate its position.
• Test #4. Be able to find a ball located at a predefined position.
• Test #5. Be able to shoot a ball in the opposite side. You can place your robot and the ball as you wish.
• Test #6. Be able to connect to the server and inform the server when an object was detected.



2. The 24th of January, 2019: final competition. For the final competition, the website must be fully completed. Also, during the final competition, I may interview each member of the group, so as to understand the contribution of each group member.

Your report consists of a website and the source code of your robot. The website shall contain the following information:

• Description of the architecture of the robot: sensors and actuators, etc. Pictures of your robot on the web site would be appreciated.


• Algorithms used for the two most important points: strategy to drop or throw balls, to find and pick up balls, competition with other robots, etc. Don't provide source code here, just try to describe the algorithms using a pseudo C language. Also, do comment those algorithms, and explain why you think they are efficient.


• Source code, and instructions on how to use that source code: how to compile it, how to download it on the robot, and how to start the robot. To protect you work, you can set a password to access to the code, but make sure to give us access in order to grade it (e.g., private git repository). You could even put a fake code on your website until the very last moment ;-). I strongly advise you to rely on a versioning system (svn, git, hg) to work on the code. Also, frequently backup your code.


• Videos / pictures of your robot in action [we may provide you with cameras and video recorders if necessary].


• How you have worked in the group, i.e., who made what. Be clear about that. Each member of groups will get an individual grade. All members of a team must contribute to the source code. You source code must clearly indicate, with comments, who programmed which function.

Groups

(Current total: 1 group of 4, 4 groups of 3. Remaining: 0 group of 4, 1 group of 3)
(The group leader is listed first).

0. Name of the members, name of robot and link to website.


1. Sanjeev Prasad SHASTRY, Adib RACHID, Prince AMANKWAH, Jean-Flavien BUSSOTTI. Sharigan


2. Youssef DOUBLI, Mokhles BOUZAIEN, Ruben VAN DER HAM. Mr Robot (source code)


3. Torstein LANGAN, Yann FERRY, Louis BARBE. Git Poule


4. Laila SALHI, Andreas LINDSTRÖM, Clara YAÏCHE, Gael AUDINET. Frosties


5. Matteo GUARRERA, Andrea TRUFINI, Riccardo TORRES. LegoOfLegends (source code)

How do I borrow a robot?

Please, take care not to lose parts, especially cables and sensors. Also, a microsd card and a wifi dongle comes with the robot. The procedure to borrow a robot is as follows:

1. Make a group of 4 or 3, and decide on a group leader.
2. The group leader sends me an email with the list of students of the group. List of: first_name, LAST_NAME, email. The leader shall be the first student in the list.
3. I will validate the group. If the group is not validated for some reason I will provide, go back to stage 1. Otherwise, go to next step. Note that I validate groups with a First Come First Served policy (Date of email sent).
4. Once I've answered your group with "validated", the group leader can go to Franck Heurtematte's office (327), in the IT Department. You will be granted an ev3 box. Only the group leader has the right to enter in the office of Mr Heurtematte, and only during the morning or the afternoon breaks (do not go during lunch break).

Access to stadium

• The stadium is located in room 52. You are free to use it whenever you want.

ev3

For the ev3 system, the idea is to flash on the provided SDcard a Debian GNU/Linux system. Then, you will be able to use the development language of your choice (C, python, etc.). But we ask you to develop in C.

Installing Linux on ev3

All information to install Linux on your ev3 is given here. This page also explains how to connect to your ev3 via the usb cable, bluetooth, and ssh. I do suggest to use the Debian JESSIE version, so not the most recent version. You should find the correct version in this webpage by selecting the most recent ev3dev-jessie image.

Using and programming ev3

• Connect to the EV3 from ssh
If you have difficulties to connect to your robot via BT ou USB, please contact us. Another option is also to use a WiFi dongle plugged into the USB port of the ev3. The Edimax N150 nano works fine, but we don't provide one (FYI: it costs around 8 euros).
Once your robot has access to Internet, it should display its IP address in the upper left corner of its display (let's assume it is 192.168.2.2). Then, you can try to ssh to the robot (the default password is maker):

$ ssh robot@192.168.2.2

The robot user is a sudoer, i.e. it can execute commands with root privileges when using the command sudo first.


• Now, update the robot with the latest packages

$ sudo apt-get update&&sudo apt-get upgrade



• Install extra packages you will need for the project:

$ sudo apt-get install gcc make



• You are now ready to compile a basic example, and to run it. To do so, you first need to install the development environment on the robot:

$ GIT_SSL_NO_VERIFY=true git clone https://github.com/in4lio/ev3dev-c.git
$ cd ~/ev3dev-c/source/ev3
$ make
$ sudo make install



• Now, you need to get the example. The tester file runs all 3 motors, then tests the color, touch, sonar, and compass sensors, and is provided on the project git. You can either clone the git with the code on the robot, or on your host computer.

$ GIT_SSL_NO_VERIFY=true git clone https://gitlab.eurecom.fr/ludovic.apvrille/OS_Robot_Project_Fall2019.git
$ cd OS_Robot_Project_Fall2019/

If you are on your host computer, you then need to copy the example files to the robot:

$ scp tester.c Makefile robot@192.168.2.2:



• Then, on the robot, you can compile the example main file, and then run it. You need tachos and sensors to be connected to the brick if you want the program to correctly execute.
To compile:

$ gcc -I./ev3dev-c/source/ev3 -O2 -std=gnu99 -W -Wall -Wno-comment -c tester.c -o tester.o
$ gcc tester.o -Wall -lm -lev3dev-c -o tester

or:

$ make

To run the code:

$ ./tester

or:

$ make run

Other examples

• Sample code is also provided in the ev3c-master repository. Samples of how to control the motors and sensors are included in tester.c. The Ultrasonic Sensor is described here.


• If your compass sensor does not correctly work with the test_sensor program, we provide a code specific to the use of this sensor. Use the "i2c" target of the provided Makefile to compile the file.


• Other examples can be downloaded from the ev3dev C library here. Examples are provided in eg/tacho and eg/sensor.


• rfcomm-client.c is an example of how to communicate with the server over wifi. Compile with gcc rfcomm-client.c -o rfcomm-client.


• If you can't get your robot working, bring it along to course staff.

Cross compilation

Basic

You may want to compile your source code on your laptop, e.g. to check the syntax of your code or to speed up the compilation process. Cross-compilation for ev3 is available as an ev3 docker image. Here is what I've made to make this work on my Debian GNU/Linux computer:

1. I have first installed docker, created a docker group, added myself to the docker group, and started the docker service. Installing docker may require more than a simple apt-get, so please refer to the document of your OS, e.g. for the one for ubuntu

$ sudo apt-get install docker-engine
$ sudo groupadd docker
$ sudo gpasswd -a ${USER} docker
$ sudo service docker start

You may have to log-out for the group modification to be effective.

2. Then, I have installed the ev3 docker image:

$ docker pull ev3dev/debian-jessie-armel-cross:latest

3. Once done, I've created a helloworld in C:

4. $ cat > /tmp/hello.c
   #include 
   
   int main(int argc, const char *argv[])
   {
       printf("OS is fantastic!!\n");
   
       return 0;
   }
   

   (do "CTRL D" at the end of this command).
   
5. I've compiled the file using the cross compiler provided within the docker image, and tested the generated file. The following command assumes that hello.c is located in /tmp on your host system (but you can place it wherever you want: update the following command accordingly). The following instructions are the one that I have used on my debian/jessie GNU/Linux PC.

$ docker run -e LOCAL_USER_ID=`id -u $USER`  --rm -it -v /tmp:/src -w /src ev3dev/debian-jessie-cross
[Shell in container]$ cd src
[Shell in container]$ arm-linux-gnueabi-gcc -o hello hello.c

Then, if you want to execute the generated ARM executable, you first need to install the ARM emulation environment. Then, you can execute "hello":

$ sudo apt-get install qemu-user-static
[Shell in container]$ ./hello
OS is fantastic!!

For handling the compilation for your ev3, you need to make additional stages (thanks to Paolo!):

1. Tag the docker image:

$ docker tag ev3dev/debian-jessie-cross ev3cc

2. Install ev3 lib, put them in the project directory, and start the docker image:

$ git clone https://github.com/in4lio/ev3dev-c
$ docker run --rm -it -h ev3 -v PATH/TO/PROJECT/:/src -w /src ev3cc /bin/bash

3. In the container, run the following commands:

[Shell in container]$ cd ev3dev-c/source/ev3/&&make&&sudo make install&&make shared&&sudo make shared-install

In the Makefile for compiling your code, do not forget to substitute “gcc” with "arm-linux-gnueabi-gcc”. For running your project, add "export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=~/ev3dev-c/lib”in the Makefile.

Another way to do

(Way suggested by Fredrik Flornes Ellertsen. Note: on our side, for the tester.c file, we had to put the exact location of included files such as ev3.h. And also we had to remove the lines that use 'ev3_brick_addr', which the compiler cannot understand)

This has been tested on native Ubuntu 17.04 and on Windows using the Windows Subsystem for Linux.

1. In an empty folder (here called robot_code/) on your computer, clone the ev3dev repository:

$ git clone https://github.com/in4lio/ev3dev-cs

2. Install the cross compiler (source: https://www.acmesystems.it/arm9_toolchain):

$ sudo apt-get install gcc-arm-linux-gnueabi

3. In order to compile code that links to the ev3dev-c and/or other libraries, we need to use the robot's own versions of these libraries e.g. libbluetooth.a and libev3dev-c.a. By linking statically we eliminate the need to install anything on the robot itself. Place these files in robot_code/libraries.


4. Create a Makefile to simplify the compilation process. The following example Makefile expects the project to be organized like illustrated below, but will naturally depend on the group's project:

	robot_code/
		Makefile
		ev3dev-c/
		libraries/
			libbluetooth.a
			libev3dev-c.a
		include/
			bt_client.h
			messages.h
			movement.h
			sensors.h
		source/
			bt_client.c
			messages.c
			movement.c
			sensors.c
			main.c

Running 'make' in the robot_code/ directory should yield an executable called 'main' in the same directory. Using a file transfer tool like scp, copy this file to the robot and run it.

Competitions results

First tests, January the 10th, 2020

Final competition, January the 24th, 2020

Points and evaluation criteria could be updated during competition to better reflect the capacities of robots.

Podium

to come :-)