Eve Quest Book - Spring 2025 (S25)
The Great Objective: Level 5 Robo-taxi Around Campus
WATonomous aims to achieve a fully autonomous Level 5 robo-taxi capable of navigating the University of Waterloo campus by the end of Spring 2025. This involves integrating hardware, software, and cognition systems to enable decision-making directly within the car. Achieving this milestone establishes the groundwork for advanced autonomous vehicle research and real-world applications.
Term Objectives Summary
The objectives for Spring 2025 focus on integrating hardware, developing software modules, and preparing the platform for autonomous operation.
-
Hardware Integration
- OSCC boards
- Sensor drivers
- Mounts
- Electrical Safety & Stability
-
Software Modules
- Perception Stack
- Local Plan and Controller
- HD Map and Global Plan
- Behavior Tree
- Localization
Term Objectives and Scoring
Hardware Integration
- OSCC Boards
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 10/10 | Joystick command passes through ROS2 stack to OSCC → verified motion with hard & soft e-stop systems functional. |
| 7/10 | One or more OSCC control drivers implemented and verified with test motion (but not all subsystems functional). |
| 4/10 | Boards are wired and installed; no verified movement or joystick input. |
| 0/10 | No integration, wiring incomplete or testing blocked. |
Minimum Requirements: Boards are wired and installed; no verified movement or joystick input 4/10.
- Sensor Drivers
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 10/10 | Drivers for all LiDARs, radar, GPS/IMU, and camera implemented, functional, and recorded in rosbags. |
| 7/10 | Majority of sensors interfaced and tested; partial or intermittent rosbag data. |
| 4/10 | 3 cameras and 1 Lidar interfaced with static rosbag recording. |
| 0/10 | No progress. |
Minimum Requirements: 3 cameras and 1 Lidar interfaced with static rosbag recording 4/10.
- Mount Fabrication & Installation
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 5/5 | All mounts (LiDAR mirrors + radar) installed on vehicle and road-tested with weatherproofing in mind. |
| 3/5 | Partial fabrication/installation completed, or totally completed but not suitable for natural outdoor conditions. |
| 1/5 | Basic fabrication but no installation. |
| 0/5 | No progress. |
Minimum Requirements: At least one mount fabricated for a score above 1/5.
- Electrical Safety & Stability
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 5/5 | E-Stops, OSCC, compute rack, top rack and relay wiring fully implemented and enclosed and documented where necessary. |
| 3/5 | E-Stops wired and partial enclosure/organization complete. |
| 1/5 | Wiring is completed but enclosures incomplete or unsafe. |
| 0/5 | No e-stop implementation, car presents electrical hazards to a regular user. |
Minimum Requirements: Wiring is completed but enclosures incomplete or unsafe 4/10.
Software Modules (All must be on the main branch)
- Perception Stack
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 20/20 | Fully functional pipeline including anomaly detection running at around 30fps with all sensors, rigorously tested on the car under diverse scenarios. |
| 15/20 | Pipeline with tracked 3D bounding boxes, lights and sign detection, using all sensors, tested on the car with minor issues. |
| 10/20 | Pipeline with tracked 3D bounding boxes with almost all sensors, tested on the car with minor issues. |
| 5/20 | Partial pipeline with only 2D-3D bounding boxes from the 3 cameras and Lidar tested on the car. |
| 0/20 | No progress. |
Minimum Requirements: Basic pipeline functionality (tracked 3D bounding boxes with signs and lights detection) running at least 20fps with at least 3 cameras and 1 Lidar tested on the car for a score above 5/20.
- Local Plan and Controller
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 20/20 | MPC (or MPPI) Fully functional, rigorously tested on the car, capable of turning. |
| 15/20 | Intial testing of MPC on car completed |
| 10/20 | Full working integration of MPC (or MPPI) and Local Planner with world modeling in simulation |
| 5/20 | Integration with World Modeling started but not done. |
| 0/20 | No progress. |
Minimum Requirements: Full working integration of MPC (or MPPI) and Local Planner with world modeling in simulation for a score of 10/20.
- HD Map
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 10/10 | Successfully load custom maps (non-simulation) and initial testing with car |
| 7/10 | Insertion and handling of any Perception detection |
| 4/10 | Insertion of regulatory elements detected by Perception stack |
| 0/10 | No progress. |
Minimum Requirements: Insertion of regulatory elements detected by Perception stack for a score of 4/10.
- Behavior Tree
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 5/5 | Expanded behaviour tree with full integration with local planner |
| 3/5 | Basic integration with local planner |
| 1/5 | Initial tree design fully implemented and tested with HD Map |
| 0/5 | No progress. |
Minimum Requirements: Implemented tree tested with HD Map for a score above 1/5.
- Localization
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 10/10 | Fully tested on the car and functional with GPS/IMU and car odometry. |
| 7/10 | Implementation of localization module integrating GPS/IMU with car odometry, tested in simulation |
| 4/10 | Testing setup for car odometry in simulation |
| 0/10 | No progress. |
Minimum Requirements: Localization must be functional in simulation for a score above 7/10.
- Blog Posts
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 5/5 | Blog post every month |
| 3/5 | Three blog posts |
| 1/5 | Single blog post |
| 0/5 | No progress. |
Minimum Requirements: At least one blog post 1/5.
Scoring Template
| Quest Name | Description | Due Date | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| OSCC Boards | 2025-07-6 | ||
| Sensor Drivers | 2025-06-15 | ||
| Mounts | 2025-06-15 | ||
| Electrical Safety & Stability | 2025-08-10 | ||
| Perception Stack | 2025-07-6 | ||
| Local Plan and Controller | 2025-08-10 | ||
| HD Map and Global Plan | 2025-08-10 | ||
| Behavior Tree | 2025-08-10 | ||
| Localization | 2025-07-6 | ||
| Blog posts | 2025-08-17 |