CBRN Crime Scene Modeller (C2SM)
For the majority of my Professional Experience Year (PEY) with MDA, I worked in the Research and Development Group, specifically on their CBRN Crime Scene Modeler (C2SM). This is a tele-operated mobile robotic unit used for emergency response situations in which it would be dangerous to send humans. These are situations with chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) hazards. It has multiple sensors in its head, mounted on a pan-tilt unit, that are able to generate 3D maps of its environments. In addition, it has an optical odometer unit mounted to the back, which enables the robot to navigate and localize without use of GPS.
Upon my arrival to the team, we were working on the second iteration of this robot and shipping out five to clients. I was made responsible for the assembly of the five robots and the development and testing of the second generation optical odometer unit. In order to test this unit, I learned how to program a Programmable System-on-a-Chip (PSOC) from Cypress Semiconductors. These chips are reconfigurable to the users requirements and was the processing unit that went into the optical odometer unit. Sensors were sampled from the PSOC and data was sent serially to the computer mounted on the back of the robot.
The most important role I had with this project was in debugging and improving the software to achieve desirable performance of localisation. This involved the testing of the inertial algorithms that had been developed and fine-tuning of various parameters. The 3D mapping technology depended on accurate localisation in order to place the many pieced of the 3D map and the end performance enabled us to map out various environments with great accuracy.
I was fortunate to be involved in every aspect of this project in an electro-mechanical role. I learned how systems are interconnected from both a mechanical and an electrical perspective, while also being exposed to some of the software running on the PSOC and the host computer. The successful delivery of five C2SM robots to the clients was one of my proudest moments with MDA.
Upon my arrival to the team, we were working on the second iteration of this robot and shipping out five to clients. I was made responsible for the assembly of the five robots and the development and testing of the second generation optical odometer unit. In order to test this unit, I learned how to program a Programmable System-on-a-Chip (PSOC) from Cypress Semiconductors. These chips are reconfigurable to the users requirements and was the processing unit that went into the optical odometer unit. Sensors were sampled from the PSOC and data was sent serially to the computer mounted on the back of the robot.
The most important role I had with this project was in debugging and improving the software to achieve desirable performance of localisation. This involved the testing of the inertial algorithms that had been developed and fine-tuning of various parameters. The 3D mapping technology depended on accurate localisation in order to place the many pieced of the 3D map and the end performance enabled us to map out various environments with great accuracy.
I was fortunate to be involved in every aspect of this project in an electro-mechanical role. I learned how systems are interconnected from both a mechanical and an electrical perspective, while also being exposed to some of the software running on the PSOC and the host computer. The successful delivery of five C2SM robots to the clients was one of my proudest moments with MDA.