Initial robot pickup and setup with the group. Helped update the Raspberry Pi software (which took a while because the Pi hadn't been touched in ages and the lab wifi was slow) and worked on getting remote connections going via VNC so we could code from our laptops instead of plugging in a monitor every time.
Helped develop the hardware test scripts (camera-test.py, sensor-test.py, wheel-test.py) to verify the camera, steering, wheels, and grayscale sensor were all behaving. Started early calibration work, mostly zeroing the steering servo and centering the camera pan/tilt.
Continued calibration work. Spent time on getting consistent reference values out of the grayscale sensor and trimming the natural steering drift the robot had when told to drive straight.
Group line-following testing session. Lots of issues with 90° turns, Prince kept losing the line and failing to recover. Started rewriting our line-following approach with Pri based on what we were seeing in testing.
Long session on final-calibration.py. Worked with Pri on the PID controller: tuning Kp/Kd to reduce oscillation, adding the dynamic speed control so the robot slows on sharp turns. Built out the recovery logic (drift mode vs. corner mode) for when Prince overshoots the line. Tested between iterations.
Designed and 3D-printed a small crown for Prince (yes, our PicarX has a name; we started calling it Prince during testing and the name stuck). Mounted it on top of the camera mast for the final demo.
Final testing session. Ran Prince through multiple line courses with curves and 90° turns, made small parameter tweaks between runs, and helped record the final demo video.