Release 23.10 – Safety Improvements, Video Recording, and More

We are excited to bring ANYmal Operators a new Inspection Object to further add to ANYmal’s autonomous inspection capabilities. Operators can now configure ANYmal to take a video recording of a point of interest, enabling ANYmal to gather more information about objects in motion, scenes in the plant, other potentially transient behavior and more.

To configure this Inspection Object, simply follow the normal steps for setting up an Environment Object. For Inspection Type, select Visual Inspection Static Video Recording in either the Field Operator App or the OPC GUI. Note that the maximum recording length is 60 seconds. Operators can select from the Zoom camera, both Wide Angle Cameras, Thermal, and thermal_raw. Please note that the thermal_raw recording is not saved into a directly usable encoding. Please contact us at Support for further information.

To configure this task into a mission, create a corresponding task type, under visual_inspection_video_recording_behavior_plugins. Then, continue configuration as usual.

For more detailed instructions, please refer to the Operator’s Manual.

To advance the remote operation use case, Operators now have the option to stream a camera to Field Operator while manually controlling ANYmal. From the Steering Page, simply open the right hand menu to select from the Zoom Camera or either Wide Angle Camera.

In user testing and customer feedback, we have found that our Perception systems perform better with a couple of parameter changes on grated flooring and open stairs. If your ANYmal has exhibited poor performance on these surfaces, Operators now have an additional option available to improve the situation. These settings can be easily changed when configuring an Environment in the Waypoint Editor. Simply change the field NFM Preset while editing an edge. Especially for stairs, please take extra care while performing initial tests with this setting enabled, such as attaching a rope.

You do not have to select presets for all the edges, as the autodeduced configuration will, by default, apply the right preset. In the event of poor performance on grated floors with the default settings, we recommend that Operators first try the grated_surfaces_l0 preset to see if performance improves before using grated_surfaces_l1 preset. Upping the level reduces ANYmal’s ability to detect cliffs and dynamic objects, so please proceed with caution.

Similar logic applies to the open stairs settings.

Warning: These settings are not as well tested as our baseline. Please use caution and care when testing these changes. Feel free to reach out to Support with logs if you’d like an opinion on whether changing these settings might make a difference in your situation.

For further information, please refer to the Operator’s Manual.

During Environment setup, we’ve received feedback from customers that creation of Environment Objects can be limiting when Operators can only adjust coordinates. In the Field Operator App, we’ve added a movable item to make quick movement of Environment Objects easier. Simply start editing an object, and then in the visualization window, a slider will appear. Click and drag each corresponding axis to move the object in that direction.