Update: Robotics, Thumb Hypoplasia, Algorithms, etc.

I've been busy recently with school work, Robotics and working on the thumb hypoplasia app.  My homework load is manageable, but it keeps me busy (thank you, AP classes).

As far as Robotics goes, we've been having double workdays so that we can get in the water a little early, and we're making the most complex ROV we've ever had.  We are designing and making many parts that we used to buy commercially, and we are packing more electronics onboard the ROV than we *ever* have before.  This ROV is going to have more processing power than my first computer (a Win98 SE hand-me-down).  To top it all off, we have the absolute COOLEST electronics canister.  It honestly belongs in a Sci-Fi movie!  I wish I could post some pictures, but you'll have to wait for our team's official tech report.  Sorry!

The lab that I'm working with for the thumb hypoplasia app recently got a Samsung Galaxy Player, so I've been busy optimizing the app for their screen size and making changes as they report issues discovered during their field testing.  For example, on my A500 (10.1" tablet), there were no accidental touches by the palm on the edge of the screen, but on the Galaxy Player it is quite easy to accidentally touch the edge.  I worked out a function last night to remove one outlying point.  I need to modify the algorithm because it only works for a single outlying point and it needs to be able to remove many.  Here's an explanation of the function:

It takes a little time to execute when there are many data points to check, but that doesn't really affect the user experience as it is only run when the user tells the app to analyze the data.

This summer, I plan to work on many projects.  I want to finish the Git client during summer vacation, and I'd really like to finish porting Monterey to Android.  I also want to tweak ROV-Suite to add in some Raspberry Pi fun (probably on the bottomside).

Thanks for stopping by!

Chris Konstad