Deeper in BLUE

Abstract

Despite the progress that has been made with simulators and the existence of datasets, real experimental platforms are, and will continue to be necessary. Well-designed research platforms that produce reliable results and are easy to operate and debug make all the difference in research productivity. In this paper, we show the works that turned a stock electric cart into a research robot called BLUE. It provides a ROS interface that allows real-time control, monitoring, and adjustment of the system. We provide a quantitative performance evaluation, and a GitHub repository that contains all the information required to replicate the process.