Search: Mast

Since July 2022, the Mast Tower v.1 has had a cheap 720p webcam installed at the top, operating as the "Imager". When the time has come to choose the camera for the Mast Tower v.2, originally a 1080p camera or 2K camera was considered. However, the purchase has been delayed for several months due to a lack of budget. In the end, it was decided to adopt a different approach: instead of buying a new camera, the hardware used for Mast Tower v.1 was moved to v.2. This choice, apart from being partially obliged due to financial needs, carries an emotional aspect: the camera inside Mast Tower v.1 passed the last 6 months on the workstation, partially abandoned, "looking" at the rover slowly but progressively being built. Now, however, it got a new life, moving from Mast Tower v.1 to Mast Tower v.2.

• [Hours of work: 2]
• [People involved: Giorgio]

The assembly of Mimas using 3D-printed parts has finally started! Since the first working assembly of the structure made in the summer period was the Imager, that is also what was powered first! The new Mast Tower (hence the Imager) is almost entirely 3D-printed to reduce the weight: the heavier component is the 4-cables stepper motor located at the base. The stepper transfers its motion to the upper section of the tower using an M8 threaded rod connected to the motor pin using a springy metal coupler, allowing pan rotation of the cameras. This not-fully rigid assembly allows the upper section of the Imager to avoid vibrations coming from driving on uneven terrain. On the top of the tower, a 25kg of torque servo motor ensures an extremely stable tilt rotation of the cameras. At the moment, no other sensors are assembled on the Mast Tower, since their casings are still in the designing phase. The structure weight is almost the same as the previous version of the Imager, but the load is better distributed. Due to the modularity of the Python code, it is possible to control it using the same program code for the Mast Tower v.1, with just tiny changes.

• [Hours of work: 5h]
• [People involved: Giorgio]

Ten printed components and several weeks after the first version, the mast structure is finally ready! It is not fully assembled, though: some tiny brackets and holders for the cameras and sensors still need to be printed, and the electronics themselves is not wired yet. The empty space at the bottom of the mast will host a Nema 17 stepper motor to allow a pan rotation of the Imager, thanks to a threaded rod.

• [Hours of work: 1h]
• [People involved: Giorgio]

After several attempts, a stepper motor flange was installed on the structure, since previously the camera housing was attached to the motor only using a custom/adapted nut screwed tightly. The new flange ensures structural rigidity and increases rotation precision. The code accuracy has been increased, as well as the algorithm used to process panoramic pictures. The main improvement concerns a post-process step to remove the lens distortion when taking a panoramic picture: even if the results obtained are good, there is still a lot of room for further improvements. The two images below show the differences between a non-processed panoramic picture (top) and a processed panoramic picture (bottom): the second one lost some details around the frame of the image, mainly on the upper and lower part.

• [Hours of work: 15h]
• [People involved: Giorgio]

Commonly referred to as the "Imager", the mast is a tower-shaped component that elevates key camera systems and sensors, giving the rover a human-scale perspective on its environment. The first version of its structure was assembled, however, the design is not stable and the rotation mechanisms for the pan and tilt are not working smoothly. A webcam is positioned on top to start experimenting with OpenCV for photo capturing and image stitching.

• [Hours of work: 12h]
• [People involved: Giorgio]