durin 0.0.59

Python control interface for the Durin robot

Durin control system

This repository contains Python code that interfaces with the robot Durin, built by the Neurocomputing Systems group at the KTH Royal Instititute of Technology. Please note that this is only the reference implementation for our interface. See below.

Installation

We require a working Python installation with access to pip. After that, installation is straight-forward:

pip install git+https://github.com/ncskth/durin

Usage

The interface is meant to be used via Python. More examples can be found in the durin/examples folder.

from durin import *

# The ip address to Durin is 172.16.223.9X, where X is the number of the robot (1, 2, or 5).
durin_ip = "172.16.223.91"

# This connects to durin and displays a user interface (UI)
with DurinUI(durin_ip) as durin:

    while True:
        # Get observation
        (obs, dvs, cmd) = durin.read()

        # Do clever things...

        # Move durin 100 units left with 0 forward/backward motion and 0 rotation
        command = Move(100, 0, 0)

        # Send a command to Durin
        durin(command)

        # ... this loop continues forever!
        # You can exit it on your computer by pressing CTRL+C

Sensory data

The durin.read() method will give you access to

1. An Observation from the robot sensors object containing
   • .tof Time of Flight sensors
   • .charge Battery charge
2. A 640x480 DVS PyTorch tensor
   • This tensor has buffered/stacked events since the last .read() command.
   • Note that this is only available if the Durin has a DVS sensor installed
3. Replies from the robot, following any Poll commands
   • This is specified in the protocol datasheet below - feel free to ignore

Commands

The most important command is Move(x, y, rotation). the x, y, rotation values should be in the interval between [-500, 500].

Custom implementation

You can interface to the microcontroller (sensor + wheel actuation) and DVS microcamera with TCP and UDP. A complete specification is available via Google Drive: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11jD30J00-03ygZ6zJaVTnjJRQKfczT-wMIdBdpYMxD4/edit?usp=sharing

Each robot has two IP addresses - one for the microcontroller and one for the DVS controller. The robots are numbered 1, 2, or 5. Insert those numbers where X is written below:

• 172.16.223.9X: Microcontroller for sensory data and motor commands
• 172.16.223.10x: Raspberry Pi for streaming DVS data

Contact

Reach out to Juan or Jens if you need anything.