[ros-users] north pacific gyre robotic sampler

[Andrew Harris]

Dear colleagues,

   I just wanted to announce I recently conducted a test of a robotic
ocean sampler in the Chesapeake Bay, with the help of a couple good
friends of mine.  As I mentioned in the email below, the sampler runs
ROS, and uses an Arduino for the lower level control board using the
pmad ROS module (http://www.ros.org/wiki/pmad) I released a handful of
months ago.  Here is a video from the test:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJcC1JvVMMg

regards,
-andrew

On Sun, Jul 18, 2010 at 12:29 AM, Andrew Harris <andrew.unit at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear colleagues,
>
>   I am using ROS to build a robotic ocean sampler that can sample sea
> water and use computer vision to count and characterize plastic
> debris.  Plastic is collecting in our oceans at an alarming rate and
> this robotic sampler is designed to float in the North Pacific Gyre
> for several months, taking samples periodically.  It is still in an
> early stage, but here is a link to the video of playing back a bag
> file that has telemetry and imagery inside:
>
> http://www.vimeo.com/13424611
>
> For context, the images are of backlit transparent tubing that is
> about 1cm in diameter.  You'll see plastic particles go by
> occasionally.  On a related note, if anyone has a hint on how to
> calibrate a camera that has a field of view of about 1cm x 1cm at a
> distance of 25cm, I'd appreciate any hints :)  I have been thinking
> about making a teeny tiny checkerboard, but I'm not really sure of the
> best way to do that yet.  Also, I am using the camera1394 node with a
> Point Grey Chameleon and it is working nicely.
>
> regards,
> -andrew
>