Getting a Ubisense CellData schema

I posted this on the Ubisense forum...I'm running into many quandries about getting at different parts of the Ubisense architecture. I'm trying to build a service to age out Ubisense tags. The issue is that Ubisense 'remembers' the last sensed location of a tag. This makes sense when the tag is on a pallet in a warehouse, but causes a problem detecting when Elvis has left the building, in other words, when a person walks out of range of the sensors, he's still 'in the building'. This can cause issues depending on the application.

I am working on code based on this forum exchange..., and it seems to be working, though I'm getting sporadic exceptions:


System.NullReferenceException was unhandled
Message="Object reference not set to an instance of an object."
Source="UbisensePlatform"
StackTrace:
at UPrivate.au.a(Byte[] A_0, EndPoint& A_1)
at UPrivate.am.j()
at UPrivate.am.k()
at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart_Context(Object state)
at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)
at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart()


I think this might be for some underlying thread collision, or a subtle bug in my own code, so I'm trying to add additional instrumentation to my code. The current code is using the multiCell and RemoveObjectLocation. I am still working to debug that, but at the same time, I'm looking at addressing the CellData schema directly, using the remove_object method. I want to see if this clears up the problem.

I'm also doing burn-in testing of the code, right now there's a robot running around the Social Computing Room carrying around a few Ubisense tags to drive the system...quite fun!

Sun Worldwide Education and Research Conference

Here's an item that I'll probably check on this week...

Sun is moving fast on many fronts in 3D worlds - but
focusing on education. I hear they will have an
important announcement this week at their Worldwide
Education & Research Conference in SF:
http://www.events-at-sun.com/wwerc08/agenda.html

The agenda shows SUN Founder Scott McNealy speaking
wedged between the Immersive Education Forum and Lunch
the second day. I'm GUESSING that this placement is
intentional and hints that Sun has BIG news for
educators interested in immersive environments.

I played a bit with MPK20 (the Sun virtual environment).  It still has limited features, but it's open, and among the ones to watch, along with Croquet.  I may put up the feed in the Social Computing Room as availability permits, if anyone is interested in viewing it there, let me know.

Other than that, I'm wrestling a bit with UbiSense again! 

Back to better habits

I've neglected the blog, but trying to do better.

It has been a busy few months, largely spent putting together talks and demonstrations of the Social Computing Room, as well as the other spaces in the RENCI UNC Chapel Hill Engagement Center.

I'm into a lot of different things right now, which I'll describe in greater detail later. I'm:

• Working more with UbiSense, which is a real-time 3D location sensing system. I've been concerned with bridging UbiSense using their .Net API to something called VRPN, which is an abstraction layer developed in the Computer Science department at UNC Chapel Hill. Eventually, we'll have a full-blown UbiSense server implementation. I'm working on handling button press signals from the tags right now, having some C# fits.
• I began working on a tag ageing service for UbiSense, and ran into some code on the UbiSense forum that got me started (the UbiSense forum has been very helpful).
• I've been learning OpenGL and GLUT, which I'll need as we develop new applications for the Social Computing Room.
• Between VRPN and OpenGL, I'm having to use C++, which I've dabbled with in the past. It's not been my language of choice in the past, but it's becoming more useful.

Geez, that's enough for now.