NSERC Canadian Robotics Network

Field Trials (June 12-14, 2023)

Gull Lake University  of Toronto Survey Camp, 1129 U of T Survey Camp Rd, Minden, ON K0M 2K0.  Map here.

Trials at a Glance

David Meger (DM)

Trial:

Husky for deep learning off-road driving with self-attention and information-guided exploration/recovery. Something marine, our boat or Aqua robot, depending on how the hardware develops and more scouting details on the water (visibility, safety for scuba).

Hardware:

One or two Husk(y/ies), chargers, batteries, many onboard sensors and compute. Pontoon boat built at McGill. Aqua.

Gregory Dudek(GD):  

Trial:

Water surface, off-road (land)

1. Applications of hybrid classical and RL based control on terrestrial vehicles (one or two types of vehicle) and underwater (simulation only). 2. Data collections for navigation in challenging (off road) environments. 3. Vision-based learning for manipulation (simulator only). 

Hardware:
Collaboration on off-grad driving with Dave Meger and his group, shared hardware with that group (mostly).  

Inna Sharf (IS):  

Trial:

1. Grasp planning for forestry log-loading 2. Rollover-free robotic manipulation 3. Implementation of shared autonomy on Jaco2 arm 4. Anti-sway trajectory generation for forestry

Hardware:

Kinova Jaco2 manipulator arm, laptops

Josh Marshall (JM):  

Trial:

1. Otter (boat) uncrewed surface vessel (USV) to do control and mapping runs in the lake. 2. Spot robot to walk on roads and in the woods and search for “sounds” via sound source localization (SSL).

Hardware:

Otter USV, Spot legged robot, and supporting computer and communication hardware. Small UAV for video/photos. Water safety gear. Portable chairs/table.

John Tsotsos (JT): 

Trial:

1. Active, vision-based fallen person detection. 2. Indoor navigation in dynamic environments for autonomous wheelchairs.

Hardware:

PAL TiaGo base, PTY, stereo cameras, custom autnomous wheelchair

Alexis Lussier-Desbiens (ALD):  

Trial: We would have drones. Maybe an indoor drone demo. Maybe landing on a roof. Otherwise, we'll have video footage of previous trials.

Hardware: drones.

Steven Waslander (SW):  

Trial:

SLAM Husky Ground robot autonomously manuevering on trails, human-robot interaction in the wild.

Hardware: Husky, power generator. 

Needs: Need electrical power, washrooms, shelter in the event of bad weather. 

Michael Jenkin (MJ)

Trial:

Aquatic robots (boat and underwater robot)

Hardware:

Blue Robotics ROV, two surface robots

Clearpath Robotics

Trials:

Will likely bring a Clearpath Warthog UGV with outdoor/Navigation software. Will attempt limited participation if course, obstacles etc. use by other teams. UGV can be made available for use by other teams if desirable.

Needs:

Open field, private trails: paved or dirt, general offroad. Water access where an ATV sized UGV can transit to the water, such as a beach.

Hardware:

Warthog UGV Base station Sunshade, desk, power bricks, laptops

Schedule for each day:

Breakfast: 7:00am-8:40am

Lunch: 1:00pm-2:00pm

Dinner: 6:00pm-8:00pm

Monday, June 12:  9:00 AM briefing

Tuesday, June 13:  9:00 AM briefing

Wednesday, June 14: 9:00 AM briefing

Wednesday, June 14: 2PM departure

Link to the Gull Lake camp instructions:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Hs24sPPTh7qwahCZ5S4Waks8nejQVw8nHEnaTlaalgs/edit?usp=share_link