Page Comparison

This document covers the regular use and maintenance of the BenchBot Version 3.0 in the semi-field image acquisition application.

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Hardware Setup

What needs to be done before the system can be powered on and used.

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1. Be aware of your surroundings and of the terrain the BenchBot will traverse on.

2. On the Dashboard, click start.

3. On the 1st tab on the left sidebar: Set speed limit to 3 or 4 bars.

   1. MUST KEEP IT LOW or else the bot MAY FALL OVER. THE DEFAULT SETTING IS TOO HIGH.

4. Do two preliminary E-Stop tests.

   1. Test that E-Stops are preventing Pendant-controlled movement from beginning:

      1. Press in an E-Stop.

         1. Do not press two E-Stops in at once. We are testing each one to make sure it works individually.

      2. Attempt to move the BenchBot forward or backwards using the Pendant (make sure it is a direction where you have room, in case anything goes wrong). The BenchBot should NOT move.

      3. If this test fails, that E-Stop is faulty and this issue should be resolved.

      4. If this test passes, clear that E-Stop and repeat the test for other E-Stops.

   2. Test that E-Stops are preventing Pendant-controlled movement that has already begun:

      1. Move the BenchBot in a direction where you have room.

      2. As you are moving it, have someone press in an E-Stop. The BenchBot should stop.

      3. Clear the E-Stop and repeat the test for other E-Stops.

5. On the Amiga dashboard, click on the 3rd tab on the left sidebar. Turn on auto-control.

   1. The icon will turn from gray to orange/yellow. Now the Amiga is ready to be controlled by the BenchBot App on the BenchBot Brain.

   2. Auto-control may reset each time an E-Stop is used.

6. On the Brain, click on BenchBot App on the Apps screen.

7. Start on the 1st tab: Manual Control tab.

8. We will check for 5 things to be working properly (X axis, Y axis, Z axis, image capture, and the Emergency Stops (E-Stops)).

   1. Before moving anything, make sure you have enough room to safely operate, so that even if you accidentally move the BenchBot in the wrong direction or if you press the movement buttons a few too many times, it will not go off course or hit something.

      1. Sometimes you will need to give yourself some more breathing room, especially for Y-axis movement.

      2. Tip: If a movement on a specific axis was set to too high of a distance, and let’s say the bot is moving too far in the Negative Y-axis to the point where it may hit something: another way to stop it (besides using an E-Stop) is to just click the opposite direction of that axis (for instance, 50cm in Positive Y if the bot is moving too far in the Negative Y direction). As of 7/18/24 for the NCSU BenchBot, this will stop the movement in the current direction, and go the newly specified distance in the other direction.

   2. Test the app-controlled X-axis movement a small amount: add 10cm, then click +X (positive X). Then click -X to check the negative direction.

      1. Note: Getting very close to the end sensor may cause problems, so you may want to move it a few centimeters away.

      2. Now test each E-Stop for the X-axis.

         1. Move the X-axis a decent distance like 50cm.

         2. Press in an E-Stop as it moves. It should stop.

            1. It should stop because of the E-Stop, not due to an error that has been found where sometimes Z-axis movement will stop short of the specified distance, or because you did not press the E-Stop in-time.

         3. Then clear the E-Stop and repeat the test on each E-Stop.

   3. Test the app-controlled Y-axis movement. Do a small amount like 20-30cm. Too small of a Y-axis movement will not work well. Check both directions.

      1. Now test each E-Stop for the Y-axis.

         1. Move the Y-axis a decent distance like 50cm.

         2. Press in an E-Stop as it moves. It should stop.

         3. Then clear the E-Stop and repeat the test on each E-Stop.

   4. Test the app-controlled Z-axis movement as well at a small amount like 5cm or 10cm. Check both directions.

      1. Now test each E-Stop for the Z-axis.

         1. Move the Z-axis a decent distance like 50cm

         2. Press in an E-Stop as it moves. It should stop.

         3. Then clear the E-Stop and repeat the test on each E-Stop.

   5. Finally done testing E-Stops. Now we know that Amiga Pendant-controlled movement (any direction in the Y-plane) and BenchBot App-controlled movement (X, Y, and Z axis) are stopped by each E-Stop individually.

   6. Check the camera by clicking “Take Image.” The flash should go off and the image should appear on screen in a few seconds.

      1. Check that the image exposure looks correct.

9. If any E-Stops are not working, be sure to alert others who may be in the vicinity during operation. And those who may use/work on the BenchBot in the future.

10. Make sure the X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis are in correct locations as well before beginning.

    1. The Z-axis should be adjusted to where the camera lens is 1.8m above the dirt in the pots. Bring a measuring tape if needed.

11. Skip over the 2nd tab.

12. Go to the 3rd tab “Species Map”

    1. Adding more rows of species will add them on top of the previous rows. So plan accordingly by adding rows that are closest first and move further out.

       1. You can also add empty rows (use the “none” selection for species).

    2. Set pots per row, row spacing (Y-Axis), pot spacing (X-axis) and other settings.

    3. Click add species and the map will update.

    4. On the map, you can make some individual changes to pots.

       1. UNDO only works for entire rows, not individual pot actions.

    5. Verify everything by swiping and checking the screen.

    6. Click save to save map. “Species map saved!” will appear on screen.

13. Go to 4th tab “Traversal”

    1. The map is shown in its final version on the right. It is uneditable on this screen.

    2. STARTING TRAVERSAL:

       1. Before starting, confirm there are no errors on the dashboard, that auto control is ready, and the speed is still 3-4 bars.

       2. Click Start on the traversal tab.

       3. Text logs will begin appearing. Images will show as they are taken on the bottom and on the map. If there are errors, it will show on the map.

       4. Watch and listen to make sure the bot is operating normally as it moves across the X-axis and traverses for the first time in the Y-axis.

    3. DURING TRAVERSAL:

       1. Make sure to check the bot every few minutes. Setting a timer may help. You may need to make sure the bot is not going off-course (to the left, right, or too far forward when the bot is almost complete with the run for the day) or that there are no errors.

       2. Check that the camera is taking photos (it will appear on screen) and flash is working.

    4. PAUSING:

       1. The bot will finish taking its last action before pausing.

       2. To confirm the bot is paused, after clicking pause, the log will show “Traversal paused” and the corner will show it is paused. 

       3. Clicking start after pause will start from where it left off.

    5. STOPPING:

       1. Stop will take some time like the pause button to finish the last action.

    6. LEFT AND RIGHT NUDGES:

       1. Left and right will provide small directional correction when the BenchBot is a bit off. 

       2. It will only take effect when the Y-axis is moving next. You can confirm that the left nudge was registered by looking at the logs. 

       3. No matter how many times you click, it will only nudge a single time. 

       4. If accidentally clicked left instead of right, just click right and it will move to the right (it acts according to the last selection). 

       5. However, if left or right is clicked, it cannot be deselected. The bot will nudge. In the future it will be updated.

    7. EXITING:

       1. Click exit to launcher. 

14. To pause BenchBot for a short amount of time:

    1. Click “Pause” on Traversal screen.

    2. Press in an E-Stop. WARNING: For NCSU, only the carriage-mounted (middle) E-Stop fully works. Left-side E-Stop is not plugged in, right-side E-Stop does not function for the Y-Axis, and BenchBot App E-Stop does not function. This is a current error as of 6/25/2024.

    3. Have somebody trustworthy watch the bot.

15. To restart in the middle of a run after stopping and exiting (not the same as pausing):

    1. Stop soon after a photo is taken on the right-most side of a row. Please try to not stop in the middle of a row. This is to limit duplicate images as the BenchBot will only restart after stopping/exiting on the right-hand side.

    2. Leave the Y-Axis as it is.

    3. When you come back, move the X-Axis to begin taking photos from the right-hand side. Match the starting X-Axis value from the beginning of the run so photos are all aligned correctly.

    4. Check other startup procedures (dashboard (speed and auto-control), species map, etc.).

    5. Start the BenchBot.

16. To stop and exit the BenchBot for the day.

    1. Click “Stop” on Traversal screen.

    2. Click “Exit to launcher” on Traversal screen.

    3. Turn off Auto-Control on dashboard.

    4. Make sure the speed is low and move the BB to a good place.

    5. Press in a physical E-Stop. WARNING: For NCSU, only the carriage-mounted (middle) E-Stop fully works. Left-side E-Stop is not plugged in, right-side E-Stop does not function for the Y-Axis, and BenchBot App E-Stop does not function. This is a current error as of 6/25/2024.

    6. Turn batteries to LOCK and take them out.

    7. Return batteries, battery keys, cover USB ports on box, and remember to take the camera and other equipment as detailed other sections (such as hardware setup).

    8. Make sure irrigation is back on if it needs to run.

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1. If it is safe to do so, press in an E-Stop that is functional (as of 7/2 for NCSU, this is only the carriage-mounted E-Stop (the one moving across the middle of the BenchBot)).

2. If the BenchBot is moving quickly and it is safe to do so:

   1. Hold and pull the remote control in the opposite direction of the BenchBot.

   2. If this snaps the coil, this should trigger an emergency stop.

3. If it is safe to do so, turn off all the batteries.

4. Warn bystanders.

CAMERA CHECKS WHILE BOT IS RUNNING:

• When capturing images the user should inspect a test image collected at the time of image acquisition, and make change to the aperture F10-F13 to make sure we get an appropriate exposure.

• The image should also be inspected to make sure that autofocus and the flash is working as intended.

Quickly turning off the Quickly turning off the BenchBot and bringing equipment indoors:

1. Stop the BenchBot traversal using the BenchBot App. Wait for it to stop.

2. If there’s ample time, move the BenchBot halfway between sprinklers or to the spot it usually rests at so it doesn’t block irrigation. Otherwise, skip this step.

3. Get the non-waterproof equipment (you may have to move the Z-axis down using the Manual Control tab in the BenchBot App).

   1. Camera USB cable, SONY Camera & Flash.

   2. Screw back in the cover for the Sony Camera USB Cable on the box.

   3. The batteries and keys. This will power off the BenchBot.

4. Turn on irrigation.

5. Close the fence (at NCSU).

CAMERA CHECKS WHILE BOT IS RUNNING:

• When capturing images the user should inspect a test image collected at the time of image acquisition, and make change to the aperture F10-F13 to make sure we get an appropriate exposure.

• The image should also be inspected to make sure that autofocus and the flash is working as intended.

Removing overlapping plants for data collection:

• In single pots, if there are two independent things sprouting, if they begin to overlap, take one of them out.

• If this spreads across pots, where growth is getting to the point of one pot's plant overlapping with a second pot's plant, then remove one of the overlapping plants so that pot is empty.

  • At some point, you may need to arrange the pots so that every other pot is an empty pot.

• This is to help with the imaging process.

• If there are any weeds that are not a part of the species, that will need to be pulled.

• Other green things such as random leaves need to be removed as well, as not to mess with the data collected.

Debugging Issue: BenchBot App Not Loading

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