Optional Programming Assignment 2: Instructions

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Start by downloading the robot simulator and update manual for this week:
1. simiam-coursera-week-2.zip (Updated: 2014-01-24)
2. manual-coursera-sp14.pdf (Updated: 2014-01-23)

Instructions
Before wec can design and test controllers in the simulator, you will need to implement three
components of the simulator:
1. Implement the transformation from unicycle dynamics to differential drive dynamics, i.e. convert
from (v, ) to the right and left angular wheel speeds (vr , vl ).
2. Implement odometry for the robot, such that as the robot moves around, its pose (x, y, ) is
estimated based on how far each of the wheels have turned. Assume that the robot starts at
(0, 0, 0).
3. Read the IR Range Sensors section in the manual and take note of the table in Section 2.1,
which maps distances (in meters) to raw IR values. Implement code that converts raw IR values to
distances (in meters).
Remember to read the section for Week 2 in the manual for details that will help you
complete this assignment!

Submission
This week's automatic grader will test:
1. Unicycle to differential-drive transformation: Is the transformation from the linear angular velocities
to the left and right angular wheel velocities correct?
2. Odometry:Is odometry implement correctly, such that the robot's estimate of its position is close to
its actual position (within ~10% due to low-resolution encoders)?
3. Converting raw IR sensor values to distances: Were the raw IR sensor values converted to
voltages and was polyfit used properly with the table of voltages to distance to estimate the actual
distance measured by the IR sensor (no error greater than 10%).
Run the submit script (from the simulator package) in MATLAB to submit your solutions.