Fat and Bloody (Greasy) – iRobots playing Sumo…

Follow up to the post Coaching iRobots to play Sumo. B-)

:-)

On the 31st Jan the submission SDK of the Imagine Cup Robotics & Algorithms challenge was published. And… this time the opponent – RCChallenger is no more a newbie in the game and really offensive. This causes fast battles between the robots and in most cases one goes other or both topples over. So I had to spend about 2 days testing some new methods to take care of my robot toppling over. Even though almost all the methods that I tried out were incapable of handling the speed the things happenes in a battle, I could turn the odds to my side.

So at the end I decided to go for a submission run hoping that the luck will be on my side. Fortunately during 1st round I could recover from a toppling over situation and push the opponent out. The impact caused a bumper in the opponent to malfunction and on 2nd round it goes out itself. With the 3rd round also going well it was a 3-0 win.

Following is the playback of the match from the recorded file. My robot is the blue colored tagged one.

Any sumo masters to take up the challenge???

[Posted using Windows Live Writer on Windows 7 Beta]

Almost Screwed up!… - Upgrading KU250 Firmware.

While browsing trough the LG site on Monday for the LG KU250 user manual I got to know that they have released a LGMobile Updater Application for downloading Manual documents(PDF), Software and Phone Firmware Software.

Even though it appeared that the manual for KU250 is not available to download and the PC software version is also a bit older than the one I got on the CD came with mobile I noticed that this software supports firmware upgrading of KU250 to newest firmware. So I decided to do a firmware upgrade to my mobile.

In fact wanting to firmware upgrade despite the possibility of loosing user data such as SMS, Configuration data etc. is another story. The original s/w version available in the mobile was KU250_V10d. But as I have pointed in a previous post this has a problem when transferring files with long file names from a PC. At that time I tried to resolve this with local LG agent and failing to resolve, went ahead with a Full flash myself using LGMDP flashing software (Use LGMDP_Open) and v10c firmware (Credit goes to Dengel) found from some GSM community site. Of course at that time I had to try two or three times with a great risk of ending up with a bricked phone before getting the mobile flashed correctly. Even though this freed up blocked memory due to files transferred to phone, J2ME engine in v10c had some issues that prevent normal operation of Opera Mini 4 browser.

That is the story of my previous experience of flashing KU250. This time with new LGMobile Updater Application it seemed that the firmware is an straight forward operation. I removed MicroSD, SIM and connected phone using normal data cable and selected Start Upgrading…

And.. Well It completed all right without any errors. But…

Houston, We have got a problem… Not a single character is displayed now…

I tried again the same procedure but the same result. This time I copied .DZ file from the LGMobile Updater application’s data directory (This file is deleted as soon as upgrade completes) and flashed using the old LGMDP program yet the same result.

So then I tried flashing the old firmware back in order to rectify the problem.

It goes on Backing up NV…

Writing QCBL, AMSS bla bla.. rebooting and restoring NV..

And erasing media…

But there is a problem erasing media files (Since some already open to display Battery charging up/ Battery Full display?) So tried again. This time battery charging is not displayed in mobile and There is a Yellow box over the LG logo saying Refreshing… (Media file missing to boot further?)

However this goes trough all of the above steps and ultimately up to media downloading…

And Module downloading…

If my memory is correct last time everything went well and flashing completed. But this time luck is definitely not on my side… Module download breaks in middle and phone keeps rebooting again and again… Seems no chance of re-flashing as it is now not even detected in the flasher. So now I’m in a situation that until I flash those modules, it is not detected and without it’s being detected I can’t flash it…

However, fortunately I can yet go to Emergency download mode with 2+5+Power key combination.

However this time only subset of files is there and No Media Image/ Module Image selection option. So even though flashing completes the problem is not resolved. Then I did Selected Erase EFS option from the dropdown box (There is nothing else I can try right?.. ) and that time it fixed the problem of rebooting. Then I again flashed in normal mode with Erase EFS option On. That time it went all well. and previous Firmware was restored but there was yet a problem that No Wallpaper files or any default media files. (Possible caused by incomplete NV backup - I noticed one with less number of entries in the NV backup directory)

However now I was pretty much sure that you have to delete the EFS in order to flash correctly and I went ahead with .DZ file with Erase EFS option. Phew.. Thank god everything went OK and I got my good old lovely mobile back again with original firmware… Wow.. now Opera Mini 4 works with no problem..

Guide to upgrade firmware in LG KU250 (Probably other models as well)

Try new LGMobile Updater Application. But this may end up your mobile screwed up if you are an unlucky person like me. Remember to copy .DZ file while the flashing is in progress.

If above step had any issues, try re-flashing using LGMDP program with Erase EFS option in NV backup/restore. This will definitely erase SMS, Contacts, Other configuration settings etc. from the phone.

Files:

KU250-V10d-AUG-13-2007-MLY.dz

LGMDP_1_1_.5_Build_12.10_Release.zip

[Posted using Windows Live Writer on Windows 7 Beta.]

[Drum Roll…] Here Comes Windows 7…

:-)

On January 9th Microsoft has released Beta version of it’s next version of Windows operating system, Windows 7(formerly codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna). In fact I did received the news a bit later and was lucky to download the ISO within 2~3 hours thanks to the high-speed link in LEARN ;-) and since the rush hour was gone…

Well the installation experience was similar to the Vista installation. (And of course ended up with around 8GB used for base OS installation just like in Vista)

New Features in Windows 7 (Build 7000)

A new feature in the productivity is the jump lists in frequently used programs. In this way it is easy to jump into the most recently open document straight away in a single click from the start menu.

Now it’s much easy to organize the windows by just a mouse gesture. (I suppose it would be much more initiative and fun on a touch sensitive screen as Windows 7 is multi touch enabled) Just drag your window to the top edge of the screen to maximize, drag down to restore, drag to the side corner to fill that half and drag from the bottom to maximize vertically.

The taskbar is also improved. Now it’s height is increased and only the window icon is displayed making it is possible to display more groups/programs opened. The It is also possible to temporally highlight a hidden window by hovering the mouse pointer over a full screen thumbnails in taskbar. This works for the minimized windows as well.

Note: It seems that the screen casts recorded with Windows Media Encoder 9 has poor quality though the recording was really easy.

It also seems the Sinhala Unicode works straight out of the box. (Of course Vista had only minor issues if there was any)

There are more features with the Windows 7. for more information you may read, What's new in Windows 7: Faster & easier

And this is my first experience with the Windows Live Writer it seems lot more easy and fun blogging with it. (In fact I prefer desktop applications to web applications. B-) ) Let’s see whether it works correctly with my blogger account.

Coaching iRobots to play Sumo. B-)

:-)

Since the Algorithms and Project Hoshimi Invitationals has been removed from Imagine Cup -the world’s premier student technology competition, a new theme, named Robotics & Algorithms which is based on Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio products has been introduced. The task during Round 1 is to program a simulated robot entity simulated based on iRobot Create to successfully defeat an opponent in a Sumo ring.Even though it was not clear at first what to do. A clear step-by step guide has been published on Apps Community for MRDS. After meddling trough the code and changing few parameters and algorithms I was able to successfully modify the sample project provided with challenge kit to compete in a more reliable fashion.

Wow it's a win by 3-0. Well It was just luck in 1st round that my robot win. And during next rounds opponents goes out of the ring by itself :-P Anybody dare for a Sumo round?

Memories of Kerala

:-)

ACM ICPC Regional at Amritapuri site was held during 5th December - 7th December at Amrita University, Amritapuri Campus, Kerala, India. I got the opportunity participate in this fabulous event for the 1st and last time in my life.
The event was well organized (Compared to the Kanpur regional for which I fortunately did not participated), Hospitality, Acomodation, Food and other facilities were superb. It was a great experience participating in this contest and I wish I'll have another chance in future to participate as a coach as well (Of cource then it becomes all about having fun without the burden of the contest ;-) )

December 4 - Day1

We reached at Amrita University, settled down and had a brief visit around the campus village.

Amrita Vishwa Vidya Peetham

Let's play some TT

December 5 - Day2
Official commencement of the On site regional and Practice Sessions and Visit to 'Asram'.

A Heartiest Welcome!

Practice Session - What?! 1 is prime in India?!!

On the way to the Asram

A Snooker round. Aim it and Pocket the Glory B-)

December 6 - Day 3

The big Day. Battle of Brains, Cultural Program

The Big Battle.

All relaxed after the hefty battle. Well We also scored a balloon B-)

Awards Ceremony

Cultural program. - The legend of Rama.

Cultural program. - Rock'n Roll Sonia. ;-)

All's Well. Ends Well.

December 7 - Day 4
Visit to Tenmala.

On the way to Tenmala.

Shoot 'em Up! - Bang! Bang!!. B-) :-P

Let's have a ride.

December 8 - Day 5
Back to motherland.

Glad to see the motherland again. :-)

Links:
ACM ICPC 2008 Amrita Regional
http://icpc.amrita.ac.in
ACM ICPC Amrita 2008 Blog (Photos)
http://amritaicpc.wordpress.com/icpc-2008-regionals-photo/
Onsite Problem Set.
http://acmicpc-live-archive.uva.es/nuevoportal/region.php?r=as10&year=2008

JBenchmark - Benchmark your J2ME mobile

:-)

Benchmarking is the act of running a computer program, a set of programs, or other operations, in order to assess the relative performance of an object, normally by running a number of standard tests and trials against it. It's more popular among computer enthusiasts as a method of comparing there workhorse with others. B-) B-) 3DMark and PCMark by Futuremark are popular benchmarking tools for PCs.
So why not have your mobile also benchmarked? Well now you can benchmark J2ME enabled mobiles as well. JBenckmark suite, developed by Kishonti Informatics has few benchmark tools to measure the CPU performance, Graphic performance and Multimedia capabilities of the device.
I have used JBenchmarkACE - ARM CPU Estimator and the result was a ARM9 Family processor running at 105MHz for my LG KU250. So how about yours?

Links,
http://www.jbenchmark.com/index.jsp

Regards,
Aravinda D.P.

Anexure

Test results
MIDP2 Imaging - LQ	173 Frames | 190 Frames (91%)
XML parsing	17 | 350 (4%)
Business math	76 | 556 (13%)
MIDP2 Game - MQ	771 Frames | 2884 Frames (26%)
Audio - MIDI	833 | 8333 (9%)
Route planner	165 Frames | 1783 Frames (9%)
Image Processing	10 | 122 (8%)
Game Physics	108 | 859 (12%)
Composite MIDP2 Game - MQ	624 Frames | 1763 Frames (35%)
JAR reading	120 | 2083 (5%)
Video - 3GPP	55 | 1234 (4%)
ZIP compression	13 | 194 (6%)
MIDP2 Game - LQ	998 Frames | 4836 Frames (22%)
Composite Business - MQ	173 Frames | 936 Frames (18%)
RMS read-write	12 | 400 (3%)
Composite Business - LQ	328 Frames | 1607 Frames (20%)
MIDP1 Game	504 Frames | 1522 Frames (33%)
Composite Business - HQ	Failed / Not supported
Composite MIDP2 Game - LQ	807 Frames | 2619 Frames (30%)
MIDP2 Imaging - MQ	161 Frames | 179 Frames (89%)
Audio - MP3	88 | 1724 (5%)
Business Charts	266 Frames | 1390 Frames (19%)
Image loading (JPG)	9 | 106 (8%)
Image loading (PNG)	21 | 265 (7%)
Composite MIDP1 Game	354 Frames | 1270 Frames (27%)
Chess	11 | 164 (6%)
Shortest Route Search	21 | 197 (10%)
Map	261 Frames | 2137 Frames (12%)

* Data Shown as, Score obtained | Best Score (Percentage)