Arctic Miner – Part 4

Blog Series Recap

Part 1 (click here to read): Becoming acquainted with Dr. Lawlor’s robotics experiments at UAF.

Part 2 (click here to read): Writing a C++ script to collect data from the robot and insert it into the PostreSQL database.

Part 3 (click here to read): Creating a Jupyter Notebook script to display the database content in real time.

Connecting the Robot to the Database

Dr. Lawlor and I met today to finish adjusting the C++/Python scripts as necessary to the story of our robot using real-time data.

Some of the changes included updating the ip address in the C++ script so that the robot would connect not to a database on its own computer, but rather search across the lab’s wifi connection to put the data on my machine.

We also needed to play around with the settings in the PostgreSQL files. Dr. Lawlor’s experience in these tasks was palpable.

A Successful Connection

After about an hour of troubleshooting, we made first contact. What a thrilling moment.

A Big Moment for Me

What’s displayed here may look like a simple connection between two machines. However, for me, it’s much bigger.

Up until now, my programming and data analytics knowledge has always been an aside in my career. I had to scramble, constantly, to find ways to incorporate my desire to understand computers and data while fulfilling other employment responsibilities.

For example, while I worked at Komodo Platform as a technical writer, I was constantly looking for ways to use C++ on the job to automate my writing and website management tasks. C++ wasn’t in my job description, but I made it essential.

What you see here, however, is the opposite. It is the first time in my life that I was tasked solely to focus on using my programming knowledge to be useful while on the job. The work I’m doing here relies on my experience using C++ at Komodo, as well as dozens of courses I have taken in statistics, calculus, Python, data analytics, and many more topics.

My background as a writer is also coming in useful, but instead of it being the focal point of my occupation, it’s a secondary skill set.

What a great moment. I’m feeling hopeful for the future.

Link to Part 5 – Arctic Miner