pdmarsh Posted June 25, 2021 Posted June 25, 2021 If you are familiar with the GyroBoy project, you might be aware that there are, at least, three versions of pre-written programs for the robot. At first I could only find a pdf file showing the Lego-written program for the Mindstorms EV3 Home Edition software. You have to write the program yourself using the pdf as a guide, but not all detail is shown and you have to figure out some things on your own--even some of the initial variable values are not clearly shown. More on this in a minute. A second Lego-written version can be found on the EV3 Classroom app and is ready for download. Finally, there is the version found on the Robotsquare.com web site. Of the three, I have only had success with the latter version. I tried to write the Home Edition version from the pdf file, but it did not work at all at first. The robot wouldn't balance at all, let alone move and balance at the same time. I tried using the EV3 Classroom app version as a guide to fix the Home Edition file, but, while the programs appear to function the same, the individual program steps are fairly different. After a great deal of searching, I found an "official" pre-written version of the Home Edition file and had a bit more luck with it, although I am still having problems. Finally, I ran the EV3 Classroom version and can't get it to work either, although its initial behavior is quite similar to what I see with the Home Edition program I downloaded as noted above. Immediately after startup with these two versions, the robot will balance a bit but quickly gets into an over-control state and falls. I played around with some of the gyro variable settings and had marginal success, i.e. the robot will balance but is wobbly and slowly goes in a tight circle. Any attempt to use the color-controlled actions will cause it to fall. Unlike tuning a PID loop, I have no idea what settings to tweak to get these programs and the robot to work as they should. As mentioned, I had a good experience with the Robotsquare file, but I'd like to get the Lego programs to work as well. I would appreciate any guidance anyone can provide on what variables or settings to tweak to properly tune the robot. As an aside, I added line-following capability to the Robotsquare version with success. However, it moves painfully slow. The balance loop, I think, inhibits attempts to speed up the forward motion. A better programmer could probably eke out better performance. Here's a video of the line-follow version: Line Following GyroBoy Thanks, Paul Quote
David Lechner Posted June 26, 2021 Posted June 26, 2021 The EV3 Classroom program works fine for me. I would guess that there is something physically wrong with the robot that could be interfering, like wires pushing on something. Quote
pdmarsh Posted June 26, 2021 Author Posted June 26, 2021 10 hours ago, David Lechner said: The EV3 Classroom program works fine for me. I would guess that there is something physically wrong with the robot that could be interfering, like wires pushing on something. Hi David. Thanks for the response. No physical issues that I can see. I removed the additional sensor I added between the motors for the line-following exercise noted in my post. Still no-go. I'm hoping someone will point out what parameters can be adjusted to tune performance. Paul Quote
pdmarsh Posted June 27, 2021 Author Posted June 27, 2021 On a whim, I decided to try GyroBoy on carpet instead of a smooth floor to see if the added resistance helped with balance--it did. So, at least I knew it could work. I started playing with some of the variables that affect power, or both speed and drive in the parlance of the program, and found that changing a multiplicand of speed from 0.08 to 0.11 in the EQ block allowed the robot to balance on a smooth surface without falling down. It's the "a" variable in the attached image. I'm making progress... Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.