Communicating with the Kayak
The kayak has two computers installed in the computer box:
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The bottom computer runs ubuntu:
ip address: 192.168.1.101
username: ruser
password: moos-ivp
Running an Experiment
Collecting Sensor Data
First, connect to both the ubuntu and windows computers on the kayak.
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All other sensor data is collected with the ubuntu machine. At the terminal in the home directory, run:
pAntler kayak2.moos
A bunch of messages should be output to the terminal. This necessary process runs in the background. Open up another ssh terminal with Putty. In this second terminal, run:
zLoggerNG
This starts logging data from all of the sensors (except pressure) and stores them in a single binary file in the current directory named with the starting timestamp.zlog. To stop recording data, type:
control-c
to end the zlogger process. Running zLoggerNG again will start a new log file. If the pAntler process is not running in the background, no data will be logged with the zLoggerNG app.
Operating Thruster
The thruster is currently setup to be operated with a radio controller. There are moos applications for computer control of the thruster and even autonomous control, but these have not yet been set up for la petite Orange.
There are matching pairs of crystals (which about .5cm square components with two contacts) for a radio controller and its receiver. The kayak receiver is located in the stern compartment in a waterproof box. The crystal in the receiver must match the crystal in the radio controller for radio control to work. The battery must be plugged in, but the computers need not be booted up to control the thruster.
Retrieving Data
The zlogtool application is used to convert the binary zlog files stored by the zLoggerNG command into ascii data. Running ./zlogtool -h will bring up a description of how to use the application and what options are available. By default, the output is printed to the terminal. To store the data in a text file, add >> fileName.txt at the end of the command.
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The data then needs to be transfered out of the kayak. This can be done by opening the computer box and using a usb drive, or with scp.
Other details
The kayak2.moos file includes the processes that are executed when the pAntler kayak2.moos command is run. As of July 2011, this file includes commands to collect data in the background from GPS, compass, DVL, and imu. If other processes are to be run in the background, they must be added to the kayak2.moos file.