My primary objective this week was to create a minimal working model of the exercise that displays the webcam output. To achieve this, I first added an academy.py file to the code directory inside the python-template folder. This file contained simple code to obtain the image from the HAL file and display it using the GUI file.

The next steps involved making necessary modifications to the HAL and GUI files. In the HAL.py file, I removed redundant variables related to the line-following exercise and renamed the node to reflect its new purpose as the webcam node, which would provide the image data. I then made adjustments to the GUI file to align with the requirements of our exercise, ensuring a seamless integration between the webcam output and the graphical user interface.

After these changes, I proceeded to test the exercise. When I ran it locally, the GUI websocket connected successfully. However, I consistently encountered an error message stating, “Gazebo instance not running.” To troubleshoot this issue, I rechecked the configuration to ensure that the exercise was set to run on the ‘gazebo-rae’ visualization instead of ‘physical-rae’ visualization, but it was not. I also attempted to determine whether the HAL or GUI files had any inherent dependency on Gazebo, but found that they did not.

Therefore, my next task for the coming week is to discuss this issue with mentors and community members in order to find a solution as soon as possible. Addressing this challenge is crucial for proceeding with the remaining aspects of the project and ensuring that we can achieve our overall goals.