Michel Trahan's Content

#11632 Selected Sensors for a Quadcopter project

Posted by Michel Trahan on 04 April 2011 - 01:46 PM in General Discussion

Hi Everyone, I want to post here all the sensors that I will select for my quadcopter project. I want suggestions for the following : - 3D Gyros : ITG-3200 - Accelerometer (tripple axis) : ADXL345 or BMA180 - Compass (tripple axis) : HMC5843 - GPS : LS20031 or Skytraq or ??? - Altimeter - Battery Monitor - Barometric Pressure : BMP085 - Temperature (oups, it looks like the Gyro has it included ...) : LM335A - Range finders (for autonomous flight, anti collision) Anything missing ? Mike.

#11642 Selected Sensors for a Quadcopter project

Posted by Michel Trahan on 04 April 2011 - 04:22 PM in General Discussion

- 3D Gyro : ITG-3200
- Accelerometer (tripple axis):ADXL345 or BMA180
- Compass (tripple axis) : HMC5843
- Temperature Sensor : LM335A

Thinking of using this for GPS : LS20031

#11660 Selected Sensors for a Quadcopter project

Posted by Michel Trahan on 04 April 2011 - 09:19 PM in General Discussion

LOL Well if you want to make it really special add a Kinect like these guys at MIT:

I have to find the link again but I saw something using laser doing the same lol I like the Kinect idea but first lets make it fly

(read hover) then we'll add mode (follow path, return home, land from here, etc...)

#13147 MFDeploy: Deployment Status "Executing Application"

Posted by Michel Trahan on 12 May 2011 - 12:19 AM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

Several people have mentioned using a "hold button down" technique to unfreeze MFDeploy.

This one ?

#13168 MFDeploy: Deployment Status "Executing Application"

Posted by Michel Trahan on 12 May 2011 - 12:37 PM in Netduino Plus 2 (and Netduino Plus 1)

You guys are too fast lol ... I clicked on the #x and copied the url it points to

And welcome to the community !

#12732 RFID Reader

Posted by Michel Trahan on 01 May 2011 - 03:44 PM in Project Showcase

At this point we should change the song to "Nothing gonna stop Stefan now"!...

He's the best

#12949 LCD question

Posted by Michel Trahan on 08 May 2011 - 03:35 PM in General Discussion

You did say 16x2 so why do you set it to 16x4 in the code ? And I did it using 1K potentiometer for the brightness and it works fine

#12009 My first netduino experience

Posted by Michel Trahan on 12 April 2011 - 01:12 PM in Project Showcase

Still wondering about the i2c board...

Will it eliminate the need for pullup resistors ?

#12003 My first netduino experience

Posted by Michel Trahan on 12 April 2011 - 12:56 PM in Project Showcase

Your code makes me think about some code I wrote some 25 years ago ... using punch cards ... tedious work

I had written : Computing is easy ! Which was not then LOL

#12954 LCD question

Posted by Michel Trahan on 08 May 2011 - 07:26 PM in General Discussion

I am having difficulty connecting the LCD through a 74HC595 ... Problem solved ... usb froze and the potentiometer I was using was too strong ... lol cool !

#11169 Anyone have a Windows Phone already?

Posted by Michel Trahan on 22 March 2011 - 01:45 AM in General Discussion

Imagine this setup : - a FPV quadcopter equiped with long range radio transmitter/receiver - a ground station with follow the drone equipment (up to 15km) - receiving video signal and telemetry - recording both - sending video signal and telemetry to windows phone - receive control information from phone - Transmit control information to drone - a windows phone to view the FPV video from the drone and control it ! You might need a couple microprocessor in the drone and a bigger system in the base station (multimedia based) First, get the quadcopter built ...

#11788 Using Forward Star structure and algorithm in autonomous robots

Posted by Michel Trahan on 08 April 2011 - 01:40 AM in General Discussion

Wanted to give you a peak at an XML Schema for the Forward Star Network file representation but I can't upload an XSD file ... why ? (Tried XPS too to no avail ...) In the XSD file I separated the graphical info from the rest since if it only run in code, no graphical information is attached (only used when designing the directed network through a specialised editor). I ask for comments from those interested. How do I show this type of file here ? XSD, or XPS Here is a look at what a file would look like ...

Attached Files

FSNetworkTest20110406.xml 4.38KB 0 downloads

#11741 Using Forward Star structure and algorithm in autonomous robots

Posted by Michel Trahan on 06 April 2011 - 09:17 PM in General Discussion

There will be 6 versions - one main class with no file access - one with one type of file access (suggestions on csv or else?) - one with xml files (defining my own schema for it ... suggestions ? I'll post it here when defined OK ?) In two programming languages VB.net and C# The VB.net version with XML access is for my needs and will take priority. Any takers for that version ? Who wants to have a C# version ? With file acces or not ? If so, which one, XML (might not be appropriate for .net mf) ? Mike.

#11300 Using Forward Star structure and algorithm in autonomous robots

Posted by Michel Trahan on 26 March 2011 - 04:15 AM in General Discussion

As anyone thought of using the Forward Star data structure and algorithm (to find the shortest path) for autonomous robots ? I have implemented a VB version many years ago (1995) and I could rewrite it for C# to use in autonomous robots ... Everything in .Net MF ... any interest in such an algorithm ? very very efficient data structure (minimalistic, one node per node and one link per link, no wasted structure) and it is a very very fast algorithm. Example of usage : in a defined environment resembling a network of connecting nodes, allow a robot to find the fastest way to get there (emergency, security (using cameras on a quadcopter), etc). You can recalculate new paths when encountering closed paths ... could probably be used to repath power just like in Terminator movie lol Mike discovering quadcopters and netduino ! p.s.: I'll also work on a Kalman Filter using a complete set of sensor data as well as user commands. Everything in .Net MF

#11415 Using Forward Star structure and algorithm in autonomous robots

Posted by Michel Trahan on 29 March 2011 - 03:06 AM in General Discussion

The only word of warning would be that the read buffer in the above code could overflow on a platform with limited memory such as the Netduino. The code really needs to check the file size before allocating the buffer and then chunk the data if necessary.

Thanks ! I'll check that in april ... work load too heavy but wow ! Thanks !

And I am right in assuming that the FLASH memory access is automatic ? or do we need to do some special access to read/write to it ?

Mike away from the computer for the next few days ...

#11407 Using Forward Star structure and algorithm in autonomous robots

Posted by Michel Trahan on 28 March 2011 - 09:50 PM in General Discussion

Small Update :

- The code was transfered to VB.Net like a charm
- Now trying to translate to C# (Full .Net first, then .Net MF ... but with the N+ since there is file access)

Question : how do we write/read files in C# ?

Here is the code using the Microsoft.VisualBasic assembly that I want to remove the dependency ... to write the Nodes and Links to files and loading them from files

filenum = FileSystem.FreeFile();
FileSystem.FileOpen(filenum, s, OpenMode.Input, OpenAccess.Read, OpenShare.LockWrite, -1);
FileSystem.Input(filenum, ref k);
FileSystem.FileClose(filenum);

int filenum = FileSystem.FreeFile();
FileSystem.FileOpen(filenum, s, OpenMode.Output, OpenAccess.Write, OpenShare.LockReadWrite, -1);
// Write the number of nodes and links.
FileSystem.WriteLine(filenum, bGraphicalInfoAttached, iNumNodes, iNumLinks);
FileSystem.WriteLine(filenum, Nodes[i].Name, Nodes[i].FirstLink, 0, 0);

And I have to verify why I am using this ...

s = Strings.Left(s, s.Length - 2);

And this ...

Conversion.ErrorToString()

I Think I can replace the last one with a catch (Exception e) in a try catch and using e.Message ... I am right ?

Keep you posted.

#11670 Using Forward Star structure and algorithm in autonomous robots

Posted by Michel Trahan on 05 April 2011 - 02:24 AM in General Discussion

Haven't used it myself, so I have no idea if it will suit your needs but there's the free version of the Serna XML editor at http://www.syntext.c...cts/serna-free/

My Prefered tool for XML / XSD (Schema definition) is XML Spy but it is not given ... I'll buy (when budget permits) the professionnal version ... I used to do a lot of XSD and XML with it, very efficient.

#11320 Using Forward Star structure and algorithm in autonomous robots

Posted by Michel Trahan on 26 March 2011 - 01:14 PM in General Discussion

I'd be interested in the code as well.

I just started to learn .Net (I know so many languages ... and yeah, I know, late learning) so give me time.

My project is to build a complete quadcopter from scratch and include in it the Kalman filter (KF). Once done, I'll work on it being autonomous ... and add the Forward Star (FS) data structure and the label setting shortest path algorithm.

If someone already has an autonomous quadcopter (or anything autonomous that would need such a fonctionnality) and would like to add the FS data structure, please contact me and I'll rewrite it sooner. If only newbies like me, then I'll take the time to learn first

If I wait long enough, we probably could have it in VB.Net on .Net MF lol (I'm a VB fanatic, so easy to program) but I'll try it in C# ...

Mike surprised about your fast reply !

#11550 Kalman Filters

Posted by Michel Trahan on 01 April 2011 - 01:56 AM in Netduino 2 (and Netduino 1)

Has anybody implemented a Kalman filter on the Netduino that runs with good performance?

Planning to ... but just started !

Mike.

#11354 Using Forward Star structure and algorithm in autonomous robots

Posted by Michel Trahan on 27 March 2011 - 01:48 AM in General Discussion

- make sure you develop the code in a .NETMF (Netduino) project and not a regular .NET project.

Don't worry, I also program for the windows phone 7 in silverlight (vb and c#) and I always get confused LOL

I tested my old vb program and it works like a charm ... 1995 code ! wow !

I tried to convert using Artinsoft Visual Basic Upgrade Companion (free for msdn member) but only the c# translation worked ... so I'm ok for the netduino

I have to test the class a bit before posting the code

Keep you posted ... now is time to get out and play pool !

#11598 Using Forward Star structure and algorithm in autonomous robots

Posted by Michel Trahan on 02 April 2011 - 08:25 PM in General Discussion

Thinking of modifying the saving to file functionality to write xml file instead of an old coma seperated values (didn't find a way to read it and store it in variables yet ...). I prefer XML files ... anyone argue ? Anyone know of a XML Spy equivalent on the open source community ?

#12012 Read Debug.Print() output without Visual Studio

Posted by Michel Trahan on 12 April 2011 - 01:28 PM in Netduino 2 (and Netduino 1)

You can also hook into the MFDeployEngine (the same thing that MFDeploy does) and tap into the Netduino's Debug.Print USB output stream.

Chris, I want to know how to do that ...

I want to start playing with Accel/Magneto/Gyro sensors and display on screen the resulting position/velocity ... (saw it many times but still wonder how to do it) ... graphically at that too ... any suggestions ?

#12147 *.brd file ?

Posted by Michel Trahan on 16 April 2011 - 01:58 PM in General Discussion

BTW, we're working on a little something "Mega-style". More on that later.

I want to know

#12404 Netduino to windows phone 7 ? Can it work ?

Posted by Michel Trahan on 22 April 2011 - 01:09 PM in General Discussion

Hi Guys (and Girls wherever you are lol),

I just saw this cool project: an adroid phone talking to a netduino through bluetooth.

It made me wonder : is this feasable on the windows phone 7 and the netduino ?

I have both so I could try ... but I read that windows phone 7 has no bluetooth API support ... can someone confirm this ? Any other means of communication (other than IP) with Windows phone 7 ?

Mike wondering !

#12431 Netduino to windows phone 7 ? Can it work ?

Posted by Michel Trahan on 23 April 2011 - 01:01 PM in General Discussion

If I understand, It cannot be done because there is no API for it and we have to use the internet to do it ?

So the phone will speak to a router that will speak to the netduino ... is that it ? Cause I wanted to talk to the netduino directly through the wifi/bluetooth mechanism ... but no API for it on the windows phone side ... pity.

I also read about it on the msdn forums that we don't need such a function ... it sounds like an engineer that knows exactly what we need without even talking to us ... he was a real sob about the fact that we don't need such a functionnality ... he should loose his job on the spot. His name is Jim Perry. Read thisthen weep ... look for a "Really"

Mike happy not to work for a jackass like Jim Perry

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