Embedded Systems Bernd Finkbeiner, Swen Jacobs

Dear students,

a couple of updates and reminders:

• We updated the referee: the position tracking is now significantly more accurate and stable than before. This should fix some out-of-bounds issues where robots were disqualified for moving too much despite standing perfectly still.
• Please do not forget to fill in your preferences in the doodle! (Link)
• You have to upload five artifacts for the final inspection until July 23, 8am: Your source code as .zip, and four compiled .hex files, two for each robot. Use id 24 and 26 for the Scout files and id 25 and 27 for the Collector.
  The respective hardware addresses are:
  
    24: 0xc2356069e9
    25: 0xb7a56873cd
    26: 0x5f9c4ab08c
    27: 0x670671cd97
  
  Hex files can be generated by using the `collector.hex` / `scout.hex` targets in CLion or `make collector.hex` / `make scout.hex` in your terminal.

Good luck for the final inspection,
Your Embedded Systems Team

Dear students,

a quick clarification regarding the collision resolution mentioned in the last milestone presentation:

So far, we define a collision as two Collectors colliding frontally and pushing each other in opposite directions.
We might extend this to cover both Collectors and Scouts, so implement the respective routine for both robots.

In any case, this does not mean that you can no longer push enemies out of bounds.
On the contrary: We encourage you to do so and try to keep the amount of collision messages as low as possible without damaging the motors.

Have a nice weekend,
your Embedded Systems Team

Dear students,

we uploaded a sample project in the rCMS under Materials → D - Milestones → RF Example Code.

In this project, you can find code for both robots: The Scout regularly samples its photo sensors and transmits the resulting values to the collector.

If your RF communication already works, we recommend to have a look at the project, but continue working with your own implementation. Otherwise, you can either compare your code against our project to find bugs, or re-implement your controllers on top of the reference project.

Please note, however, that the project behaves similar to a library you can find online and thus comes with similar pitfalls w.r.t. timing constraints.
Further, the controller code was designed for demonstration purposes and is thus not optimized for quick communication.

Best,
your Embedded Systems Team

Dear students,

there were repeated reports of defunct dev cables with ripped off contacts. 

Please keep in mind what we initially said when distributing the hardware:
The cables are self-made and not as robust as off-the-shelf cables.
Do not pull on the cable to remove them, but grab the USB connector. This way, the contacts remain intact. 
Since there is only a limited supply of replacement cables, we strongly encourage you to be gentle with the cables for your own sakes.
 

Moreover, the referee is currently unreachable.
Unfortunately, neither the cause, nor the fix is in our hands. We will take care of the problem asap.

Please do not send http requests to any address but "http://134.96.239.79" and do not add queries or fragments to the url.
This might be deemed suspicious behavior resulting in the network monitor blocking requests to the referee altogether.

In any case, we already took precautions: You can use your Relay Scout to continue developing.

Best,
Maximilian

Dear students,

we uploaded a revised version of Problem Set E to the rCMS.

Changes:

• The CFG did not have a specified source/sink nodes (Node 1 and Node 6, resp.).
• Two atomic propositions were missing: flower_in_sight (fis), and trash_in_sight (tis).

Have a nice week,
your Embedded Systems Team

Dear students,

We will merge the tutorial at 4pm in SR 2.06 with the other two tutorials.
You are free to join either one:

• Tutorial 1: 2pm by Maximilian Schwenger 
• Tutorial 2: 4pm by Jens Kreber 

Both take place in SR 1.06.

Have a nice weekend,
your Embedded Systems Team

Dear students,

we uploaded a brief recap of how you can connect, flash, and communicate with your robots. You can find the document under “Materials → Hardware” in the rCMS.

Moreover, your grade for the Scheduler is available on your personal status page.
You can review your submission on Friday, June 08, 3-4 pm in SR 106 in E1.1.

Have a nice week,
Your Embedded Systems Team

Dear Students,

you can find your mark for the Virtual Prototype on your personal status page. You can review your submission on Monday, May 28, 10-11 am, in Seminar Room 106 in E1.1.

Due to the public holiday next Thursday, we will present the fourth milestone already on Tuesday, 13:45, right after the lecture. The respective milestone inspection will not be affected.  
The submission date for Problem Set D will be postponed to Friday, June 01, 10:15. Please submit your solution to the letter box in E1.3 labeled “Embedded Systems SS 2018”. 

Have a nice weekend,
your Embedded Systems Team

Dear students,

Due to the public holiday next Monday the tutorial will be shifted to the lecture slot on Tuesday, May 22 in lecture hall II. The additional milestone inspection will take place on the same day.

Please send your project tutor an email with three proposed half-hour time slots.

Your Embedded Systems Team

Dear students,

you can find your grade for the first milestone on your personal status page.
You can review your submission on Friday, May 11, 10-12am in seminar room 106 in E1.1.

Please note that the first five milestones will each account for 10% of your overall project grade, and the best grade for the first milestone was 8.5 points, roughly representing a 1.0 so far.

Have a nice week,
your Embedded Systems Team

Dear students,

you can find the new problem set in the materials section. Please submit your solution on Thursday, 10am, in the lecture hall. 

Moreover, please do not forget to upload your solution for the first milestone in the rCMS until Monday, 2pm. Make sure only one member of your group submits a solution.

During the project session on Monday, please go to your room and meet your tutor there. Since each tutor visits their groups in order, you might have to wait a couple of minutes.

Looking forward to seeing you on Monday,
Maximilian

Dear students,

you can find the hardware assignment and your group's room below.
Each day starts at 9am and ends at 8am the next day. You will find your robots in your rooms.

Please always leave your hardware in your room!

Have fun!

20.04.:
koehlma, 2.17
Photon Fighters, 2.07
The Engineers, 2.15
APN, 1.06
Embedded Systems 101, 2.08
SRS, 1.06

23.04.:
Schmüde, 1.06
cherrypi, 1.06
Sonnendeck Robotics, 1.06
Jeraldino, 1.06
Kevin&Jacqueline, 1.06
TMM>TMS, 2.9.1

24.04.:
SS&S Systems, 2.17
Sköll, 2.17
Fast & Curios, 2.10
0x415353, 2.16
Sanny&Clyde, 2.9.1
NoNameGroup, 2.9.1

25.04.:
Group313, 2.14
EarthSlide, 2.08
D.A.L.E.K., 2.10
Group 42, 2.07
Jafeya, 1.06

26.04.:
Carnivoreblasters, 2.16
MAGC, 2.15
Mavericks Hunters, 1.06
Team Rocket, 2.12
Team HSG, 2.12
Minze, 2.07

27.04.:
Honulunic, 2.16
Team Schwifty, 2.14
Zumo Ringers, 2.14
/|\(;,;)/|\, 2.08
Improved Potato, 2.15

Dear students,

please note that there was a mistake in problem A3. For x < 0, f(x) = √(-x) to avoid taking the root of a negative number. You can find the revised version in the materials section.

Moreover, please do not forget to upload your group name and group members until tonight, even if your group has only one or two member(s) so far.

Have a nice weekend!