My summer experience at the University of Minnesota ~ Sara Lahr
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 3: June 7 - June 13Journal
Despite the less than perfect weather, I had a wonderful weekend. I was able to see many of my family members, some whom I haven't seen in years. I arrived back to my dorm Monday night. The next morning we had our second Scribbler meeting. We discussed the paper "Efficient Boustrophedon Multi-Robot Coverage: an algorithmic approach" by Rekleitis et al. We then discussed some of the issues with the Scribblers and decided that we would allow one more week for exploration to determine what kind or algorithm we could design based on their capabilities. I wanted to look into image processing because the camera seemed like the most reliable tool the Scribbler had. My goal was to make a Scribbler recognize another Scribbler. Unfortunately I had little success due to the fact that the Scribbler's light blue color made it blend in with the environment. My next plan was to make the Scribbler more noticeable by using some fluorescent colors. Hopefully this will help.
Wednesday we had a look at the Aibos. We went over a tutorial that Elizabeth and Maitreyi, a PhD student, had written. Next week we will be working with high school students and the Aibos, so we needed to make sure that everything was prepared. I finished my program, and I was ready to see the Aibos in action. Unfortunately they weren't charged! I guess we will have to come back later...
On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I attended activities related to the Safety Security Rescue Research Center Spring Meeting. I met many other graduate students and listened to many talks related to their current research. They were all very interesting, but there were so many that it was quite an information overload! As part of the meeting, there was a dinner on Lake Minnetonka. There were a reserved number of seats, but I was lucky to be able to come along. We had dinner aboard the Paradise Destiny II. The weather was gorgeous, and the food was great. I had a wonderful evening on the lake; it was one of the best evenings of the summer so far.