This is a repository of all the internally-made scripts and applications for the lab of Prof. Volcic at New York University Abu Dhabi. While these are intended for internal use, someone out there may find a use for it as well.
When you come visit the lab, the wiring on the truss may not look like much, but there are more than 120 metres of Ethernet cables routed in it. Here is why:
All the local networks inside the lab are isolated from the outside world by default. The camera network is connected to the Netgear 24-port switch, with the subnet of 192.168.69.x. The Volciclab network as two WiFi access points: Volciclab-2.4G and Volciclab-5G. The lab computers, the 3D printer, and the Optotrak SCUs are all connected to this. This network's IP addresses are on the subnet of 192.168.42.x. For particular IP addresses, check the hardware in the lab, or refer to the network map.
Blue cables: The OptiTrack camera network
The OptiTrack cameras are connected to the Netgear PoE (Power over Ethernet) switch. While these are sitting on the network, they don't actually care about a DHCP server at all. They just assume various addresses, seemingly in bootup order or serial number order. They will cause an IP address conflict if the DHCP range is within the camera addresses. To counteract this, the router is configured to have a DHCP range from 192.168.69.101 to 192.168.69.199.
Note that the OptiTrack computer that runs Motive is connected to this network via a dedicated PCI-E network adapter.
If you have an own device or anything that doesn't support IEEE 802.1X, you can connect to this network. The password for this network is not disclosed here, ask for it. There are certain things that have to be on a fixed IP. These are:
- The Optotrak SCUs:
192.168.42.2(on the truss), and192.168.42.3on the desk, but can be portable - The OptiTrack computer,
192.168.42.5. This one has a Samba share, so you can download and store your recordings (You should also make backups as well. No data should ever be lost!) - The Ethernet 1 port, as labelled on the back, not as per Windows of the experimental computers:
192.168.42.6and192.168.42.7 - The Universal Robots UR3e robotic arm, which is on
192.168.42.10 - Everything else (3D printer, your gadgets, IoT stuff) can be on DCHP, and will have an IP address from
192.168.42.35onwards.
For the purpose of software development and firmware upgrades, the Volciclab network is connected to ResNet, which is essentially a general-purpose network to access the internet. NYUAD resources are not available through this connection. The Ethernet 2 port (as labelled on the back, and not necessarily as per Windows) on Volciclab Server is permanently connected to the NYUAD network, for the purpose of automated backups to a NYUAD-operated shared drive.
Since there are disjoint networks, and some of the hosts are on fixed IP while others on DHCP, packet routing can be an issue. For example, when a request is sent to the robot, but the OS routes it to an other network, the connection cannot be made. For this reason, on Windows, the interfaces are prioritised: the interface metrics are not assigned automatically, they are manually set.
This is the legacy motion tracker. It's no longer sold by the manufacturer, mostly because the internal components have been discontinued about a decade ago and they finally ran out.
This one is the fancy new one with the copious number of cameras. There is a simple matlab interface available, and is much easier to use than the Optotrak.
While you can control the robot directly using TCP commands and send it scripts, nobody expects you to go through 600 pages of documentation and cryptic error messages. This server, along with the software on the robot's controller, implments a simple plain text-based protocol, and added some extra features that normally would require a PLC.
The Velmex Thing is a contraption of two linear stages and a 'rotary table'. It is controlled over a serial port.
DMX512 lights, which can be driven with the cheap USB adapter using this software.