Updated Videoray Control Gui

Videoray Control Panel with sonar displays, auto-depth and auto-heading.

We have been working on the new GUI for controlling and recording the videoray through ROS. The screenshot shows our most recent version operating on a recorded trial from our January visit to Cal Poly.

In addition to displaying the real-time data used to operate the VideoRay (sonars, motor speeds, depth, heading), the GUI can also record everything timesynced using the record buttons. You can choose to either record in plain text or in ROS format -- both of which have their strengths. You can easily stop and start recordings, separate each scan in individual files or have them all in one file. The plain text recordings can be opened up in excel for easy on-the-field data processing.

We have also implemented auto-depth and auto-heading controls, which if used correctly, should improve our 3D sonar readings by a lot. Since we plan to do more 3D scans this year, we cannot rely on stationing our robot on the ground to make a scan. Many scans will be needed to be done while hovering above ground.

The GUI is mostly complete. Some other features might be added, such as a more comprehensive recording utility (record all at once, renaming, adding bookmarks/notes along the recording), an automatic theshhold setting for the sonar display, a more compact display so the sonars can be larger.