@KonstantinosFragkoulis – Hack Club Scrapbook

Mon, Jul 1

Today I made quite some progress in DroneCtrl (and DroneSim). I improved blackbox logging, making sure that only necessary info is logged and creating each time different log files. Also, I added the --virt flag to DroneCtrl that makes it get the image from the camera in DroneSim (in Unity). This way I can fully test DroneCtrl within DroneSim. Tomorrow I will be testing and fixing stabilized hover - hopefully finishing it entirely. Here is are the github repos: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/DroneCtrl, github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/DroneSim

https://scrapbook-into-the-redwoods.s3.amazonaws.com/d2058ad6-bf14-4f8f-a458-10d95219ab2c-2024-07-02-004005_1920x1080_scrot.png

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Sun, Jun 30

Today I made quite some progress in DroneCtrl. After taking a break for a week or two, I'm back at it! First, I split the code into many files. Having just one file with 1200+ lines of code was not manageable. Secondly, I improved the way debug info is printed. The information is structured in a table and the terminal doesn't get cluttered as when the table is updated, the previous one is erased. Also, the program logs debug info to csv file (in addition to the terminal) which can be plotted using the new blackbox.py program (included in DroneCtrl). Finally, I updated the README.md of the github repo to reflect the changes that I made today. Here is the github repo: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/DroneCtrl

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Sat, Jun 29

I could definitely say that my 3d function plotter is ready to ship. After polishing and a bit of testing it works quite well. The only issue is performance - that's why I don't post on #ship (Also it doesn't work on mobile. Technically it works but you cant move around and the performance is even worse). I will continue to work on it and hopefully I can fix that issue. For now, you can plot you own equations at plotter.konstantinos.me The source code is available at github: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/FunctionPlotter

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Sat, Jun 29

Today I can finally say that my function plotter is done (almost). I added support for all 3 and 2 variable equations! Still the performance is really bad and there are some small known bugs. I will continue working on them, but I'm not sure if I will be able to fix the performance issues... Also, I need to fix the way that you move around, as being level with the xz plane makes almost impossible seeing the plots of functions that lie on that plane. Anyway, here is the live website: plotter.konstantinos.me And here is the source code: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/FunctionPlotter P.S. I also added my plotter on my portfolio. (konstantinos.me)

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Fri, Jun 28

Today, I also worked on extending the functionality of the default text field widget for flutter. It is not ready yet, but I am working on it. Here is the repo: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/customTextField

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Fri, Jun 28

Yesterday, after finding a new math library that could parse all 2-variable equations I used it in my website despite it's extremely slow performance. Today I drastically improved it, though! No, I did not use a faster math library - nor did I write my own. I decided that the best solution was not addressing the root cause, but just throwing more cpu cores at the problem. By creating as many web workers as there are cpu threads, I have reduced the time to plot an equation by up to 85%! This is not as impressive considering that now instead of waiting for 30 seconds, you will have to wait for 5. Also, for simpler equations like y=x which were already plotted quite fast, there is no noticeable speed increase. In fact, the speed might have decreased slightly because due the overhead of using 24 web workers. Anyway, you can visit the website at plotter.konstantinos.me And find the code at github: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/FunctionPlotter

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Thu, Jun 27

Today I made a lot of progress in my equation plotter. Using a different math library the website can now plot all 2-variable equations. However, there is a major issue with the new library - it's very slow. (up to 40+ seconds for a complex equation). I'm still working on fixing the performance. I would also like to be able to plot 3-variable functions but given the already terrible performance that's not feasible at the moment. You can visit the website and plot any equation you like at plotter.konstantinos.me You can find the source code at github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/FunctionPlotter (If you visit the website and it says that it is unresponsive, click wait. After some time the equation should be plotted)

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Wed, Jun 26

Today, I didn't make much progress. Aside from the small amount of time that I spent, I couldn't find a good enough math parser for javascript. I found mXparser which was originally for java but has also been ported to typescript. I tried to use it but there were some persistent issues which I didn't manage to solve. So, I will try again tomorrow to see if I can integrate it into my 3d website to plot 3-variable equations. For now, you can visit the website and plot only functions: plotter.konstantinos.me And see the source code at github github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/FunctionPlotter

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Tue, Jun 25

Today I started creating a 3d website using A-Frame! I had the idea to create a function plotter. Using mathjs I could relatively easily plot 2d functions of x. Currently I'm trying to expand the functionality to support 3-variable functions and other equations like y^2 +5x = 0 which are not currently supported. You can visit the website at plotter.konstantinos.me And you can find the source code at github: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/FunctionPlotter

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Mon, Jun 24

Today I didn't do much - just some very small changes to my personal website. You can visit it at konstantinos.me

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Sun, Jun 23

After the concerns that arose yesterday, I decided that creating a new, more conventional, website would be best. So that's what I did today. You can see my new website at konstantinos.me. The source code is at github: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/website.

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Sat, Jun 22

Today I improved quite a bit my personal website. I fixed various bugs, improved the design and added new features. Also, I designed a favicon and improved the mobile version. Still there are many known issues... and I'm having doubts about the design. I'm thinking of keeping this website as a fun concept and creating a more conventional website. Or that could be just for mobile... but then again it's not right for the mobile website to be a totally different thing from the desktop one. Anyway, here is the website: konstantinos.me And here is the repo: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/portfolio

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Fri, Jun 21

Today, I made great progress on creating my personal website. I fixed a lot of bugs and small issues, and I improved the functionality and design. There's still a lot of work required, though. Here is the live website: konstantinos.me And the github repo: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/portfolio

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Thu, Jun 20

Today I made great progress on creating my personal website with React. I improved the design (a lot) and added some content. Still there is much more work to do. There are some minor bugs, the mobile version of the site is still a mystery, and I haven't actually spent the time to add all the content that the website should have. Well... that's something that my future self will do - not a problem that I have to deal with now. Here is the github repo: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/portfolio And here is the live website: konstantinos.me

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Wed, Jun 19

Today I worked a bit on my personal website. It is not live yet as there is a lot more development needed. I am designing it to mimic macOS, with each "app" on the dock being a different page of the website. When clicking on an "app" a window - which behaves like any other window in macOS - opens which displays all the info. Here is the github repo: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/portfolio

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Tue, Jun 18

Today I made significant progress. I adjusted the way that the drone is controlled to allow rolling for sideways movement. Using this, I implemented stabilized hover - that is the drone will use a marker placed somewhere on the room as a reference point and stay fixed in place (roughly). I cannot guarantee that it works - I haven't tested it with the actual drone as I had some problems with the vtx - however the simulator results don't look very promising. Anyway, most likely it's an issue with the simulator. I will resolve the problem with the vtx tomorrow and I will post a clip of stabilized hover - if it works. DroneCtrl: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/DroneCtrl

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Mon, Jun 17

Today, I made the drone hover relatively well. The accelerometer is not calibrated perfectly - that's why the drone is drifting a bit - but otherwise, it works! Here are two clips, one with the drone just hovering, and the other with the drone moving forward while remaining at the same height. DroneCtrl: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/DroneCtrl

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Sun, Jun 16

Today I did a bit of testing and concluded that the scratched propellers have caused the big reduction in thrust, although the visible damage is very minor. Until new ones arrive I will have to continue using them, so some adjustments in DroneCtrl are needed. DroneCtrl: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/DroneCtrl

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Sat, Jun 15

Today I still did not manage to implement object tracking. However, I fixed some bugs both in DroneCtrl and in DroneSim, and did some more testing with the actual drone (I'm happy to report that there have been no new crashes!). Tomorrow I will look into object tracking as well as investigating whether there is an error in the logic that calculates throttle based on acceleration or just the scratched propellers produce less thrust at the same RPM. DroneCtrl: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/DroneCtrl DroneSim: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/DroneSim Here's the screenshot of DroneSim that I didn't post yesterday. It's not the best, but it is certainly better than the default skybox.

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Fri, Jun 14

Today, I didn't make any significant progress, just some testing. Drone Ctrl: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/DroneCtrl

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Thu, Jun 13

Today I made some progress with DroneSim. While I didn't improve the functionality, I used some assets from the Unity Asset Store to make a somewhat good looking environment. Also, I fixed a small bug in DroneCtrl - now the throttle is set to zero when launching the program (before it was low enough for the drone not to take off, but the motors were spinning quite fast). DroneCtrl: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/DroneCtrl DroneSim: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/DroneSim (Unfortunately I can't send a video of the simulator right now... I will send it a bit later)

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Wed, Jun 12

Today was a great day! The issues that occurred yesterday gave me one more reason to create a simulator for my drone, and so I did. While it still needs some polish, the basic functionality of the simulator is done. This means that I don't need the actual drone to test DroneCtrl. In turn, because of the ability to run as many tests as I want, I was able to fix multiple major bugs. (Now that I am writing this, I realize how dumb I was - I should have created the simulator before even starting to create DroneCtrl.) Anyway, I fixed bugs, corrected documentation, completed the transition to a new way of controlling the drone, created the simulator (which as far as I know works), and also got my nest account approved! Website coming soon™. DroneCtrl: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/DroneCtrl DroneSim: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/DroneSim Website: konstantinos.me P.S. I know the simulator looks terrible - I was focused on getting it to work. Tomorrow it will look good as well, possibly with different sceneries to change around.

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Tue, Jun 11

Today not everything went according to plan... There was a major bug with led to the drone not landing, but rather continuing to climb. Thankfully, the drone was not damaged (only the propellers were scratched, and the casing of the camera a bit). So today I fixed this bug, and also I made sure it won't happen again by catching all exceptions when calling functions and immediately disarming the drone if there is one. It's a bit late for me now so I will not continue the testing. More crashing tomorrow! Here is the github repo where you can find all the code: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/DroneCtrl P.S. I also fixed another bug which didn't allow the drone to land after taking off for a second time without quitting the program.

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Mon, Jun 10

Well, the drone now should be able to follow the biggest object that it sees with a specific color. I haven't tested it yet though 😞 (I'm too scared to crash it). Here is a clip from earlier today, my genuine reaction to the first takeoff ever (got a bit scared at the end) 👍 Just to be clear, I stopped the drone mid air, I don't know what I was expecting other than it falling straight down... Once again, here is the repo where you can find all the work that I have done: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/DroneCtrl

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Mon, Jun 10

Today I did the first test flight for my autonomous drone. As of now, I have implemented autonomous takeoff, landing and I am making progress towards full autonomous flying. However, I didn't fully test autonomous takeoff as I didn't really want to find out that it doesn't work when my drone is heading towards the ceiling at 5m/s 🙂 I will post again when I make some more progress. Once again, here is the github repo: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/DroneCtrl

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Sun, Jun 9

Today, it was another day without much progress. Still you can see what I have done at github github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/DroneCtrl

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Sat, Jun 8

Today, not much progress was made. Still, however, I improved DroneCtrl, mainly adding some helper functions that will make my life easier when implementing autonomous flight. You can see the progress at the github repo: github.com/konstantinosfragkoulis/DroneCtrl

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Fri, Jun 7

Today I finished the design of my autonomous drone. The drone was able to fly before, but now the battery is properly attached with a redesigned battery holder and not just left hanging. I also made some very significant improvements to the program that controls the drone. While not enabling any new functionality yet, I fixed some very important bugs which already created minor issues with takeoff and landing (the only features implemented as of today). Besides of that, I also ordered my NFC-enabled PCB business cards (#electronics - OnBoard), and added my game for Sprig to the library (sprig.hackclub.com/gallery/BlockPuzzle)! In the next couple of days I expect great progress towards creating a fully autonomous drone - the hardware is done, no more excuses.

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Thu, Jun 6

For #hack-hour and for #electronics I just created my first PCB business card following the tutorial by Maggie Liu. I will be submitting a pr and hopefully, I will get my cards soon!

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Thu, Jun 6

For #hack-hour and for #sprig Just finished my simple puzzle game. You can play it here: sprig.hackclub.com/share/QOYYdHaf3QzXlWLRm2YI. You must reach the end without running out of moves and without letting the enemy catch up to you.

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Wed, Jun 5

For #hack-hour I almost finished my simple puzzle game made for Sprig, BlockPuzzle (sprig.hackclub.com/share/RpLPBiQRWJFSiG6qWCew) I will be definitely polishing some things and also adding a level or two.

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Wed, Jun 5

For #hack-hour Today I completed my first goal! My autonomous drone is now able to takeoff and land autonomously. While it can't do much yet, work has been put into making the implementation of other autonomous actions relatively simple. Here is the github repo where you can see what I have done: github.com/konfrag4/DroneCtrl/tree/main. I will update when new features are done.

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Wed, Jun 5

For #hack-hour Yesterday was day 1 of creating an autonomous drone. I almost finished automatic takeoff and landing. Later today I will be working on fixing some minor issues and will continue with autonomous flight. Here is the github repo: github.com/konfrag4/DroneCtrl It doesn't look nice yet - I didn't have time, but will fix shortly

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