This is the framework of the SSL-Team ER-Force named "Ra". In addition it includes a log player which replays games recorded by Ra.
The autoref is found at https://github.com/robotics-erlangen/autoref .
This document will explain some basic functions of Ra, ball speed measurement using the plotter built into Ra and usage of the log player.
See COMPILE.md for instructions on how to build Ra. On Windows the bin folder
containing Ra and all other components can be move to any location. For Linux
and Mac OS X it is required to leave the source folder in its current location
as the generated binaries required the config/ and data/ folder located there.
In order to remove this dependencies modify the config file src/config.h.in
The log player is always built alongside Ra.
Execute the ra executable
./ra
The vision port can be configured in the settings dialog.
Ra can either use the builtin simulator or use the data provided by SSL-Vision. There's also small builtin refbox, which can be enabled.
The main window of Ra shows the playing field in the center. The field can be moved by holding down the right mouse button and moving the mouse cursor. Zooming is possible by scrolling. On Mac there's also support for the usual gestures. Right clicking brings up a menu that allows to show the field in a default "vertical" or "horizontal" orientation. Left of the field is the "debug tree" which can display debug information provided by the loaded AI modules. Below the playing field is a textbox containing log output of the AIs. This is also the place where the Autoref decisions are displayed.
On the left and right side of the window are several docked subwindows which will only be partially explained.
The "Robots" subwindow (initially in the top left corner) allows loading an AI module for each team. Beneath the AI selection is the robot list. In there you can configure which robot is assigned to which team. (-> See Autoref explanation)
On the top of the window is the toolbar providing some central configuration switches.
The first button shows a radio antenna which enables the transceiver for robot communication. In the context of this release it is only important while the simulator is active. The capacitor next to it allows to enable charging in order to allow the robots to kick the ball.
The fourth button which shows a computer display is used to switch between the internal simulator and SSL-Vision. While the simulator is enabled it's possible to move the robots and the ball by left clicking on them and dragging them around.
The whistle button is used to disable and enable the "Internal RefBox" subwindow. The plotter can be started using the button representing two plots on a white background. The red circle starts recording of everything display in Ra into a logfile which can be viewed using the log player. The logfile (.log) is placed into the current working directory of Ra using.
Open the plotter (white icon with two plot lines). Select Ball/v_global (only available if a ball is/was visible). This will display the absolute ball speed. Set the Y axis to min: 0, max: 10 When the ball is shot check whether its speed is higher than about 8,5 m/s. In order to take a clear look at the speed curve the plotter display can be freezed by pressing the "Freeze" button. The plot display keeps the last 60 seconds.
Nearly everything is internally passed as a protobuf object, these are dumped for replay in the log player.
Processing pipeline:
- Receive SSL-Vision data / Internal simulator
- RefBox input processing
- Data association and Tracking with an Extended Kalman filter
- Pass process data to controller and AI modules
Controller:
- Use input from AI to generate robot commands
- Send commands to robots / simulator
AI modules:
- Basic runtime is included along the Autoref (see strategy/base/)
- Protobuf-to-LUA and vice versa conversion
GUI:
- Debug tree + log
- AI control
- Robot configuration (double click on robot in list for parameters)
- Field display + AI visualizations
- Simple internal RefBox
- Plotter
The log player is built alongside Ra. Start it by running the logplayer binary. Then open a logfile recorded by Ra. (Log files from the SSL-LogTools can't be used).
The log player window contains most subwindows also present in Ra, except the robot and AI configuration. In addition it contains controls to allow seeking to an arbitrary position in the logfile. The playback speed can be changed by changing the 100% scroll box. The playback can be controlled using shortcuts, look at the menu entries for a complete list. Toggling play/pause is possible by pressing Space.
The plotter and the log window is also included. As both require continuous data their data is deleted when restarting playback after seeking. Thus only the last timespan which was played back without interim seeking is displayed.