Richard's Blog

A code-level tour of IGNIS-8's LiDAR-inertial odometry: a FAST-LIO-style error-state Kalman filter fusing the L1 PM's 250 Hz IMU with its 20 Hz point cloud into a 6-DOF pose, plus a keyframe-based loop closer that detects revisits, confirms them by scan match and rebuilds the three-level voxel map without drift.

Why IGNIS-8's drive starts disarmed like a drone: a fail-safe-by-default arm gate that only lets the vehicle move after the operator deliberately enables it, and that re-disarms automatically on every watchdog timeout or emergency stop.

Why IGNIS-8's emergency stop is a latched, multi-source system that never resets itself: two independent latches, battery and operator triggers, a manual-only release, and a stop that is selective — the drives release while the camera gimbal and sensors stay live.

Why my reconnaissance UGV kept throwing OVERLOAD, and how a lookup-table palette, a frame-rate cap and an offscreen raster blit took the thermal stream and the SLAM map from a saturated CPU to a smooth ride.

Comparing the Samsung PHEV1 prismatic 6S2P pack against a 6S21P LG INR21700M50L cylindrical candidate for IGNIS-8: OCV and power-limit curves, weight and space, and how both cell models are selectable in the VCU config.

The problems between the drawing board and a working vehicle: a browser-fed watchdog that flipped the OVERLOAD badge, a palette filter that ate nine cores, a camera that refused to follow orders, and a map that stalled the handheld.

How IGNIS-8 came to be: a swollen cell on a battery production floor, a phone call, and the idea of a remotely operated platform that could look at it from a safe distance.

Hand sewn notebook cover made from goat skin leather

To directly go out of harms way with legal problems, I changed the name of the project.

Create PCB; Do measurements; Use QMK; Have Keyboard! 😎