Talk:List of Tasks

About Magnetic Compass

Is this actually necessary to be mentioned in our list of tasks? I'm confused as to whether this was meant seriously or not.

Seriously. I mean, I think it's worth it. During the GPS course, if we suffer a GPS outage, it is another piece of information that can keep us driving with very little development or cost (I'm told we own the hardware) --AndyB 14:23, 11 Oct 2005 (EDT)

Sorry about not signing before. Alright, I was just looking for a little explanation. Do you think maybe you could put a short description of the goal (just something along the lines of what you said above)? Thanks. Michael 12:31, 12 Oct 2005 (EDT)

About SICK

After browsing through the various sensors provided by SICK and looking at price quotes, I think it's safe to say that it's a dead end. The cheapest relevant equipment I could see there was machine vision stuff, which has a maximum range of about 25 inches, and costs a minimum of about 3 grand. The distance scanners they sell cost a minimum of 7 grand. I think that creating our own systems will be a considerably better option. Spencer 12:06, 10 Oct 2005 (EDT)

Well, respectfully, I think you're wrong. Check out this link for some info, we would probably use one LMS 200 or LMS 292 Sick LMS data sheet They retail for between $2-3000, and we may very well have access to several of them through the CS department (or they could be donated). They require no development time, have Linux drivers, are very accurate, and are field proven (they were used by all 4 of the teams that finished the DARPA Grand Challenge)(See my info page for links to successful DARPA teams that used them). I think that stereo vision is certainly not necessary, and I think we can do much better, (much simpler and cheaper) with the sonar array, and one camera if we cannot get a hold of one of the SICKs (which I maintain are the best option). AndyB 18:09, 10 Oct 2005 (EDT)

In that case, I think we should split SICK and stereovision into two different articles, since they seem to be mutually exclusive. Spencer 01:02, 11 Oct 2005 (EDT)

Ok AndyB 01:18, 11 Oct 2005 (EDT)