I've just recently become interested in robotics. Went to a friends house, and he showed me some video-clips of very advanced robots, and also built a simple robot with Lego mindstorm. Anyway, I got hooked, and now want to build one myself. The one thing I'm wondering about now, is what I should use to control it? Lego mindstorm naturally comes to my mind, but I don't feel like learning a Lego-language (or whatever they use). What I think would be fun, was to use a board from Soekris. This one for example: http://www.soekris.com/net4501.htm. That would be cool, cause having a full Linux operating system at my disposal would give me lot's of freedom. I could choose nearly any programming-language and would have access to several hundred libraries/programs. Internet-access through wlan would also be nice :)
The other option I've thought of so far, is using a Palm Tungsten T as it's "brain". I haven't done much reasearch on how the hotsync-port on the Palms work, but from how much extra-equipment you can buy, that connects through it, I guess it's possible to get detailed information about it. Hopefully without paying PalmOne for it.
Both these options would give me the benefit of using C++ which I already know. Going for the Soekris-option would even give me the benefit of using high-level script-languages like Perl/Python for trying out things "quick and dirty".
The third option I can think of, is buying a ATMEL AT90S8515 (or similiar) CPU. Some years ago we did som assembly-programming for that CPU at school.
So what do you guys use/recommend? I think I'll go for the Soekris-solution, since I know Linux very well, but I would like to hear what you guys thought.
I'm using a OOpic which i bought at www.totalrobots.com. I've got the oopic-r which is a very easy to start board. Simple programming language in syntact style you choose (basis, C of java), easy connection to PC (rs232) and easy connection to servo's etc. Includes about 30 I/O ports including 8 A/D convertors. Very much samples (code and technical) for interfacing with sensors.
Big problem with PC boards like the soekris or via mini-itx or whatever is the lak of i/o possibilties and the big power consumption.
> I've just recently become interested in robotics. Went to a friends house, > and he showed me some video-clips of very advanced robots, and also built a > simple robot with Lego mindstorm. Anyway, I got hooked, and now want to > build one myself. The one thing I'm wondering about now, is what I should > use to control it? Lego mindstorm naturally comes to my mind, but I don't > feel like learning a Lego-language (or whatever they use). What I think > would be fun, was to use a board from Soekris. This one for example: > http://www.soekris.com/net4501.htm. That would be cool, cause having a full > Linux operating system at my disposal would give me lot's of freedom. I > could choose nearly any programming-language and would have access to > several hundred libraries/programs. Internet-access through wlan would also > be nice :)
> The other option I've thought of so far, is using a Palm Tungsten T as it's > "brain". I haven't done much reasearch on how the hotsync-port on the Palms > work, but from how much extra-equipment you can buy, that connects through > it, I guess it's possible to get detailed information about it. Hopefully > without paying PalmOne for it.
> Both these options would give me the benefit of using C++ which I already > know. Going for the Soekris-option would even give me the benefit of using > high-level script-languages like Perl/Python for trying out things "quick > and dirty".
> The third option I can think of, is buying a ATMEL AT90S8515 (or similiar) > CPU. Some years ago we did som assembly-programming for that CPU at school.
> So what do you guys use/recommend? I think I'll go for the Soekris-solution, > since I know Linux very well, but I would like to hear what you guys > thought.
Peter wrote: > I'm using a OOpic which i bought at www.totalrobots.com. I've got the > oopic-r which is a very easy to start board. > Simple programming language in syntact style you choose (basis, C of > java), easy connection to PC (rs232) and easy connection to servo's > etc. > Includes about 30 I/O ports including 8 A/D convertors. Very much > samples (code and technical) for interfacing with sensors.
> Big problem with PC boards like the soekris or via mini-itx or > whatever is the lak of i/o possibilties and the big power consumption.
Guess you got a point. Isn't mini-ITX the "full"-fledged computers with (physical) small motherboards, used in the shuttle (and others) products? If so I think the Soekris uses a lot less power than that one. It's run by 5V DC at least, using ~ 11 Watt if I don't remember wrong. But since I'm new to this, I don't know if 11 Watt is a lot or not for robot-building. Lack of I/O could of course be a problem. It got at least one (possible with two) standard serial (COM) ports. It also supports both a mini-PCI and a standard PCI-slot. I don't know shi*t about PCI-boards, but I figure some time into the future, when I get skills for it, it might be very well possible to pull my own PCI-board to use for I/O extensions? What kind of, and how many I/O ports I'll need, I don't know much about yet. I'm sure gonna start out with a simple robot. So in the beginning, this won't be a big problem I guess. But if I'm buying the Soekris, I'll hope to use it in projects further into the future. Some of the big reasons for why I want a full Linux-system on it, is that a lot of things can be done real simple. For example I can use the Festival-program to give the robot speech-abilities with minimal effort. I have a full System-logger for logging every possible error I might be interested in, and so on. But I understand that power-consumption and I/O ports might be a problem. Some good information in helping me choosing a controller-unit would be much appreciated. It must be programmed in C/C++. I don't feel like learning/programming Basic.
www.mini-box.com Q) How much power do I need for my mini-itx board? A) The EPIA-800 board consumes an average of ~10W while the EPIA-M can consume an average of ~15W.
> > I'm using a OOpic which i bought at www.totalrobots.com. I've got the > > oopic-r which is a very easy to start board. > > Simple programming language in syntact style you choose (basis, C of > > java), easy connection to PC (rs232) and easy connection to servo's > > etc. > > Includes about 30 I/O ports including 8 A/D convertors. Very much > > samples (code and technical) for interfacing with sensors.
> > Big problem with PC boards like the soekris or via mini-itx or > > whatever is the lak of i/o possibilties and the big power consumption.
> Guess you got a point. Isn't mini-ITX the "full"-fledged computers with > (physical) small motherboards, used in the shuttle (and others) products? > If so I think the Soekris uses a lot less power than that one. It's run by > 5V DC at least, using ~ 11 Watt if I don't remember wrong. But since I'm > new to this, I don't know if 11 Watt is a lot or not for robot-building. > Lack of I/O could of course be a problem. It got at least one (possible > with two) standard serial (COM) ports. It also supports both a mini-PCI and > a standard PCI-slot. I don't know shi*t about PCI-boards, but I figure some > time into the future, when I get skills for it, it might be very well > possible to pull my own PCI-board to use for I/O extensions? What kind of, > and how many I/O ports I'll need, I don't know much about yet. I'm sure > gonna start out with a simple robot. So in the beginning, this won't be a > big problem I guess. But if I'm buying the Soekris, I'll hope to use it in > projects further into the future. Some of the big reasons for why I want a > full Linux-system on it, is that a lot of things can be done real simple. > For example I can use the Festival-program to give the robot > speech-abilities with minimal effort. I have a full System-logger for > logging every possible error I might be interested in, and so on. But I > understand that power-consumption and I/O ports might be a problem. Some > good information in helping me choosing a controller-unit would be much > appreciated. It must be programmed in C/C++. I don't feel like > learning/programming Basic.
I'm using a PCM-4825 (AMD 586 with CRT/LCD controllers, HDD FDD, COM: LPT: ports etc, a fully fledged PC). This draws about 15W.
Power is a problem. I'm using 2off 12v 2.8Ah batteries to power it + everything else. My rover robot runs for about 20-25 mins before it needs a recharge. Just long enough to see if my latest tweaks work, but that's about all.
As you say, it does have the advantage that it can run Linux etc, so the development tools are good.
