Cheap Android tablet for Robotics (especially ROS)?

[Pi Robot]

Hello HBRC'ers,

I'm one of the few living creatures that doesn't own a smart phone but I am thinking I could use a small tablet for teleoperating Pi Robot and otherwise keeping an eye on his various ROS processes.  Can anyone recommend a brand/model that is inexpensive and will be used only for this purpose?  In other words, I don't care about watching movies, surfing the web, checking e-mail or running OpenCV.  Really just a simple monitoring/control device?

Thanks!

patrick

http://www.pirobot.org

[Alex Bravo]

Patrick,

At $200 - $25 credit, I think it's hard to beat brand new Nexus 7 that Google sells. You also get the latest version of Android and will future-proof yourself somewhat. It also does all those things you don't want to do (yet). My wife just got me one and I like it so far.

Alex Bravo

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[William Garrido]

You could get the nexus 7 for $199 or any eReader. Maybe some of the cheap <$100 tablets. Tigerdirect has some. Just remember they don't have Google Play Store. 

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-William

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[Pi Robot]

Thanks Alex and William,

I was reading some reviews on the Nexus 7 and the Galaxy 2 Tab came up for comparison.  Apparently the Galaxy as a camera on the back (which might be good for video recording the robot on the move), an SD card slot for extra storage, an IR transmitter that might come in handy for robotics (let alone remote controlling the TV) and supports Flash, all of which are lacking on the Nexus.  I also read that it might be possible to upgrade the Galaxy to "Jelly Bean".  Would you guys still recommend the Nexus over the Galaxy?

--patrick

[Alex Bravo]

You _might_ be able to upgrade Tab2 to JB, but will you be able to upgrade it to the next Android K and then L? Probably not.

Nexus 7 has quad-core CPU, vs dual-core, plus Bluetooth 4 vs bt 3.

The lack of 3.2 mpix back camera could be a deal breaker for you.
I use my 12 mpix Nokia N8 phone for that. :)

Price was your concern, which reminds me of a Russian saying:
Greedy person pays twice. ;)

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[blackstag]

"Really just a simple monitoring/control device?" To what you ask now. Holy requirement change batman. 

If those extras are key for you then the choice is obvious. If you want a badass android tablet that is more future proof(updates provided by google) and runs fast then the nexus if you need a tablet back camera which I have never used on the 2 i own with it. Or a SD card which i have used on the 1 have with that to store movies/music.. Not robot stuff. Flash has not been important to me for quite a few years so opinion on that and not really robot stuff.

For the record I own 5 android tablets. Nook color was not the greatest with ROS. 10in galaxy tab Worked well with ROS and turtlebot. 10in chinese apad which was slow with ROS stuff also. Asus transformer excellent tablet/convertible great with ROS/Turtle bot. Nexus 7 used it for 10 hrs driving the Turtlebot without a recharge at a local STEM event.  

As for android devices attached to a ROS robot itself for usage in the robot i have only used phones. Those being the OG droid which cost 50 bucks and makes a great IMU/GPS device on a robot. One i was waiting for to use as a camera on the robot was when maybe the evo 3d comes down in price to cheap enough used since it might make a nice stereoscopic camera. 

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[Pi Robot]

On Monday, July 30, 2012 5:32:20 PM UTC-7, RobotAtlas wrote:

Price was your concern, which reminds me of a Russian saying:
Greedy person pays twice. ;)

As far as I can tell, the Nexus and Galaxy are about the same price.  But yes, I do usually pay twice. ;-)

 On Monday, July 30, 2012 5:37:36 PM UTC-7, Black Stag wrote:

"Really just a simple monitoring/control device?" To what you ask now. Holy requirement change batman. 

Yes, guilty as charged I suppose.  But I was really just looking at "what else could I use if I put out $200 for one of these things."

For the record I own 5 android tablets. Nook color was not the greatest with ROS. 10in galaxy tab Worked well with ROS and turtlebot. 10in chinese apad which was slow with ROS stuff also. Asus transformer excellent tablet/convertible great with ROS/Turtle bot. Nexus 7 used it for 10 hrs driving the Turtlebot without a recharge at a local STEM event.  

This is EXACTLY what I wanted to know.  So it looks like it'll be a Nexus 7.  BTW, how were connecting between your tablet and the TurtleBot?  Through an infrastructure Wifi router or ad hoc?

Thanks!
patrick

[blackstag]

At the last event with the nexus 7 I used the wifi they had throughout the airplane hanger. It was the Moon Day event held here in Dallas at a museum by Love Field. If I do not have that available I used a couple enterprise class wifi APs which which cost about 99 each EnGenius EAP9550. I did not pay for them or I would not have used them. 

In place of those I will be trying this out http://www.ebay.com/itm/190680855406 about 4 of them should do to cover most buildings I am in. One by the robot one by me and tablet and 2 others in the event floor bridging them. I am not suggesting those yet as it has been untested. I may end up using other ones as i experiment. If you are intereested I can update you on how that works out. 

As for the tablet choice both are fine. At the same cost its up to you. If you want to play with the extra features by all means get it i am sure it will do fine with ROS. The work you have done with Pi so far is amazing so I would guess where you go with it maybe farther then i would think possible. Which of course i will enjoy reading about on your blog. I can see you doing remote voice commands and communication through it. Hmm that would be cool.

Jason

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[Pi Robot]

Many thanks Jason.  Yes, using the tablet for voice control of the robot would be a great use of the device!

--patrick

[Patrick Goebel]

Regarding the Nexus 7 and ROS, do I need the 16Gb model or will the 8Gb model be sufficient?

Thanks!
patrick

[William Garrido]

The 8gb is probably fine. 

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-William

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[Patrick Goebel]

Thanks!

--patrick

[William Garrido]

Just remember you can't upgrade later, since there isn't a MicroSD Card slot. 

[Pmonroe]

Mars curiosity only has 2gb of storage. :p

Seems you'd only be using very little storage space. 8 is enough. (80's TV reference)

Sent from my iPad

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[William Garrido]

Unless he starts to use it for other stuff later on. 

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-William

http://mobilewill.us

[Chris Palmer]

Does this include the local storage that each of the 17 cameras has, too?

-Chris