Pool Trial Cheat Sheet

A Day Before The Trial

  1. Get everybody's experiment plans and put together an agenda to make sure you have time and manpower for everything. This should be done over the week before.
  2. Bench test everything that's going to be run at the trial, as best you can.
  3. Verify that you have all the materials needed for the next day (silicone grease, etc.)
  4. Freeze codebase (no changes overnight, or you risk causing unexpected issues).
  5. Charge batteries.

Day of Trial

Before the Trial

  1. Run Minnebot on the bench testing startup and basic functions. Do this at least twice from the powered off state.
  2. Charge batteries if necessary (basically never necessary, just if you forgot to).
  3. Apply ballasting configuration appropriate for the water type, batteries, and any additional sensors.
  4. Pack Minnebot and all relevant equipment, following the Pool Packing List at IRVLab_home_drive/Checklists/. Bring everything, even if you don't think you'll need it. The time you leave it behind is the time you'll need it.
  5. Make sure you're packed and everyone is changed by 15 minutes before you travel to the pool.

At The Pool

  1. Find power, and set up near it. 
  2. Set Up:
    1. A team of 2 for robot setup :
      1. Remove battery doors, wipe down gaskets and apply a small bead of silicone grease. Rub around the gasket.
      2. Put batteries into battery doors, then slide the doors in. Make sure to lightly press the clips of the doors in before putting them in, so that they come out when you pull out the doors.
      3. Attach flippers to the robot. the metal plates go on the top (where the screw heads are).  The flat edge of the flipper should face out for the front and back flippers, while the middle flipper should be the opposite. Ensure that the flippers don't hit one another. If the battery door screws are getting hit by the flippers, tape them down.
      4. Test the tightnesses of all screws that were unscrewed.
      5. Check to make sure that the little black O-ring is in the fiber connector on the robot.
      6. Connect fiber to Minnebot (if using). There is a correct orientation for the connector. Either way, make sure that gasket is in the connector and screw on fully. 
    2. All others, set up:
      1. Connect power spool.
      2. Lay fiber cable out on deck (if using). Be careful not to kink it or step on it.
      3. Unpack any experiment equipment needed.
      4. Unpack laptop, and connect fiber mux.
  3. Water-tightness, buoyancy, and connectivity check.
    1. Drown Minnebot. Place in water, and remove all unnecessary air: 
      1. Run hands over top and bottom of Minnebot to remove bubbles.
      2. Rotate flippers.
      3. Run hands over heat sinks.
      4. VERY CAREFULLY unlock battery door flaps. DO NOT PULL DOORS OPEN. The flap (or handle) will come loose, and you can release the air from inside. 
      5. Rotate Minnebot entirely.
      6. If at any point you see bubbles from an unexpected source, bring Minnebot up and check water tightness again. If water gets inside, abort trial.
    2. Check buoyancy. Minnebot should float very slightly, but mostly remain where it is put. Should not list heavily in any particular direction. If the configuration is bad, bring Minnebot up and re-ballast.
    3. Power on and test connection. If the connection is bad, try reconnecting mux, then try reconnecting the fiber cable. If the connection is good, but ROS hasn't started up, check the most recent roslogs under /data/roslog/recent on vision. You can also run the launch file aqua.launch in the aqualaunch package to see the output of the startup of the robot. 
    4. Test operations
      1. Test cameras by looking at the images in rqt_image_view.  User rqt_dynamic_reconfigure to change settings if necessary.
      2. Test movement by first calibrating (rosservice call /aqua/calibrate), then operating the joystick (rosrun joy joy_node, roslaunch aquajoy aqua_joy.launch).
  4. Begin Experiments.
  5. 15 minutes before your time is up, start packing up.  Minnebot can be packed with the ballast and batteries still in, you just have to take the flippers off and wipe Minnebot down.

After The Trial

  1. Unpack Minnebot and equipment.
  2. Remove batteries, wipe down door gaskets, and check the interior of the robot for leakage.
  3. Remove ballasting and wipe down all ballasting plates. Make sure to put in regular screws right away.
  4. Move data off Minnebot and upload to Google Drive.
  5. Take a well deserved lunch break.