Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: brunix!uunet!nic.unh.edu!mermaid.msel.unh.edu!rdm
From: rdm@mermaid.msel.unh.edu (Richard Miller)
Subject: Re: Need Info about Compass for Mobile Robot
Message-ID: <1992Jun18.032415.1550@nic.unh.edu>
Sender: news@nic.unh.edu (USENET News System)
Organization: UNH Marine Systems Engineering Laboratory
References: <1992Jun16.222627.22241@leland.Stanford.EDU> <1992Jun17.013928.14321@cs.cmu.edu> <1992Jun17.034905.12289@cs.cornell.edu>
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1992 03:24:15 GMT
Lines: 24


While working at the Marine systems engineering lab, where autonomous 
underwater vehicles are built and operated, a collegue of mine was looking
into using a KVH compass.  One scenerio which we were faced with was an
automatic re-calibration sequence which occurs when a 360 degree circle was 
completed within a certian time frame.  

The compass designed with small surface craft in mind, and a 360 degree circle
within that time frame would be intentional. However, our AUV could easily 
complete a 360 degree circle as a routine panning manuver.  This would be a
problem if the vehicle were in imediate area of a ferrous structure or even
non-uniform magnetic field.  This would skew the magnetic north direction and 
require an additional re-calibration circle after clearing the anomaly.

It may be possible to defete this feature.  In land based robots, I would
assume that this could also be a problem.  

===============================================================================
Rick Miller: Student of Mechanical Engineering|	 Amateur Radio station KA3BZX
	      The University of New Hampshire |	   rdm@mermaid.msel.unh.edu
==============================================|      R_MILLER@unhh.unh.edu
If my employer knew I had an opinion          |       rdm@kepler.unh.edu
they would claim it for their own anyway.     |
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