I’ve completed the topics_quiz (Unit 3), and when I run the launch file for the quiz I see the robot accomplishes it’s task of entering the wall opening. I’ve run this multiple times without any issues, with the robot always landing within the target square. So I submitted the code for grading, and I was very frustrated when the results were a 8/10, the test says it failed the last part. The testing dialog says that it would give the user details regarding why it failed. More frustration since the “details” were a list of a number of things that could have gone wrong (didn’t finish is 90 seconds, or didn’t go through opening, or crashed into wall) that doesn’t help at all.
Since the test never failed when I ran it, and the “clues” were not useful I needed to guess why my robot failed the last step.
- First run, fails last step, don’t know why, was it a crash, timeout, or miss target. It’s hard to troubleshoot without information.
- Second run, I assume maybe it’s taking too long, so I speed up the motion of the robot. Re test several times on development, still working 100%. Re-submit, still fails on last step.
- Third run, still no clue, so I adjust some of my conditional statements to make the tolerances tighter, to make sure I’m right on the target mark (which isn’t marked in the simulator, more frustration). Still fails last step.
- Fourth run I increase my timer frequency so that I have tighter resolution of ‘odom’ checks and reacting to that data. My testing still works 100%, so I re-submit. Now I fails during confirming reading of odom data! And I get a 4/10. What? Why? I increase the rate at which I read and use the odom data and now gradebot says I’m not even reading it! By now my head is exploding, I’ve run this thing countless times without fail, but gradebot disagrees.
- Fifth, final run, Ok I don’t understand why gradebot is failing me, but I know my first run earned an 8/10, so I revert all my code to that state. I re-test myself again a few times without any failures. I submit, and wait… FAIL agian, on the odom step!! what, I have not changed how I read the odom data at all and now it’s failing for that. No, gradebot you are wrong!
Now I can’t see the solution, and I’ve got a poor grade of 4/10 for my first quiz. On a project that is not failing at all when I test this.
Very frustrated with gradebot. I’ve done good work, and I’m happy with the course thus far, since I am learning. But now I can’t see the solution, so I can’t learn what gradebot sees that I don’t see. How does gradebot test for final step? My robot is on the target position. Does it expect so logging message? I just stopped the robot at the position (sending 0 cmd_vel), was I supposed to exit the class somehow? How does gradebot calculate the time taken? Simulation time? Time from when launch started? How can I clock how long the robot took? What is gradebot looking for when I run my tests I see the robot stop at the target position. I’ve done all the requirements described in Grading Guide, yet gradebot still fails.
Now what? I’ve got a 4/10 on my first quiz, so I’m on track to fail the requirements for the certificate for this course because the stupid gradebot machine isn’t working. I don’t care that much about the certificate, I’m taking the course to learn, no for collecting certificates. But I would like the certificate once I earn it. So, now what? I’m concerned since now I have to average better than 8/10 on future quizzes to get my total average above 8 and gradebot won’t give out scores better that an 8.
Very frustrated, please advise what criteria gradebot uses to score these so that I can prepare for the future.