# 301: Giant Novelty Check

- Show: [Embedded.fm](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm)
- Published: 2019-08-29
- Length: 1h 06m
- Episode: 301
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-29-301-giant-novelty-check
- Listen: https://makingembeddedsystems.libsyn.com/301-giant-novelty-check

## Summary

Carter Frost, president of the Cabrillo College Robotics Club, explains how his team won the 2019 NASA Swarmathon by solving critical localization issues that defeated other universities. The team overcame hardware flaws in the Swarmy robot, specifically IMU magnetometer interference from motors and GPS antennas, by developing a custom soft/hard iron calibration routine. They also implemented a correlated random walk algorithm and drove slower to avoid obstacles, allowing them to collect significantly more resources than competitors despite using the same limited hardware.

## Chapters

- [0:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-29-301-giant-novelty-check#t=6) Introduction: Carter Frost and Cabrillo College Robotics
- [4:12](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-29-301-giant-novelty-check#t=252) NASA Swarmathon Competition Overview and Rules
- [7:42](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-29-301-giant-novelty-check#t=462) Swarmy Robot Hardware and IMU Localization Failures
- [12:50](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-29-301-giant-novelty-check#t=770) Competition Mechanics: Collecting Cubes and Obstacles
- [18:49](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-29-301-giant-novelty-check#t=1129) Algorithm Design: Correlated Random Walk and Calibration
- [24:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-29-301-giant-novelty-check#t=1484) Open Source Collaboration and Code Sharing
- [29:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-29-301-giant-novelty-check#t=1795) Robot Sensors: Sonar, Camera, and IMU Suite
- [36:49](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-29-301-giant-novelty-check#t=2209) Club Structure, Funding, and Student Involvement
- [54:35](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-29-301-giant-novelty-check#t=3275) Community Outreach and Engineering Education

## Topics

- [Robotics & autonomy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/robotics-and-autonomy)
- [Sensors & measurement in products](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sensors)
- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- NASA (company)
- Cabrillo College (company)
- Swarmy (product)
- ROS (tool)
- Gazebo (tool)
- University of New Mexico (company)
- Kennedy Space Center (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Interview with IAC race winner Team TUM](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2021-10-26-interview-with-iac-race-winner-team-tum) (The Robot Report Podcast)
- [Episode Four - Robot Senses: perceiving the world](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2021-01-29-episode-four-robot-senses-perceiving-the-world) (Robot Talk)
- [Episode Ten – Robot Swarms: flocking together](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2021-09-24-episode-ten-robot-swarms-flocking-together) (Robot Talk)
- [Ep059: Hydraulic Rockets & Presses, Machine Vision Bounces & Stares, Smart Speakers Listen to You](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2020-03-19-ep059-hydraulic-rockets-presses-machine-vision-bounces-stares-smart-speakers-lis) (Hackaday Podcast)
- [Bonus Episode: Smart City Robotics Competition](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2025-10-13-bonus-episode-smart-city-robotics-competition) (Robot Talk)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-08-29-301-giant-novelty-check. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Embedded.fm.