Society of Robots - Robot Forum

Mechanics and Construction => Mechanics and Construction => Topic started by: dunk on March 07, 2008, 07:20:34 PM

Title: how dunk built his bot.
Post by: dunk on March 07, 2008, 07:20:34 PM
been meaning to document some of this for a while:
http://mrdunk.googlepages.com/home (http://mrdunk.googlepages.com/home)

so far the web page just documents the construction side, not the work i have been doing on mapping and localisation.
you'll have to wait for that. a long time probably as i usually get side tracked building rather than documenting.
ho hum.

hope it inspires someone.

and sorry about the crappy quality of the vids. my camera sucks and i can't be bothered setting up a webcam to film it.


dunk.

[edited title to be more descriptive.]
Title: Re: dunk's bot.
Post by: izua on March 08, 2008, 02:50:59 AM
access to wireless network, and interfacing a wlan card with your mcu, now that's pretty cool.
Title: Re: how dunk built his bot.
Post by: dunk on March 10, 2008, 02:10:29 PM
update:
i have included info on using USB webcam and laser modules as a laser ranging and mapping system.

http://mrdunk.googlepages.com/sensors (http://mrdunk.googlepages.com/sensors)

no vids of the mapping process yet as i have to wait for the bot's batteries to recharge.

Quote
access to wireless network, and interfacing a wlan card with your mcu, now that's pretty cool.
not really an MCU. the NSLU2 is an embedded computer in it's own right. i'm runnining the Linux OS on it which is why i can implement USB host ports for the wlan card and webcam.
i agree it's cool though. thankyou.


dunk.
Title: Re: how dunk built his bot.
Post by: superchiku on March 26, 2008, 06:57:56 AM
how do u get those computers and how do u use them??
Title: Re: how dunk built his bot.
Post by: dunk on March 26, 2008, 12:07:55 PM
Quote
how do u get those computers

to buy one, JFGI:
http://www.google.com/products?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q=nslu2&um=1 (http://www.google.com/products?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q=nslu2&um=1)
i think i got mine from Amazon. can't remember for sure.

Quote
and how do u use them??
did you see the page on the bot's processor?
http://mrdunk.googlepages.com/processor (http://mrdunk.googlepages.com/processor)
the NSLU2 community page (http://www.nslu2-linux.org/ (http://www.nslu2-linux.org/)) is linked from there.
as i said on my bot's website, the NSLU2 community page explains how to flash an NSLU2 with Linux.

the NSLU2 is just a small, low power computer.
once it is flashed you would still need to add some hardware before you could use it to control a robot.
this is all explained on my bot's website.


dunk.
Title: Re: how dunk built his bot.
Post by: Asellith on March 26, 2008, 02:21:31 PM
dunk,
   If doing this all over again would you just buy a TS-7260? I was thinking of getting one or the NSLU2 but the NSLU2 is cheaper. I haven't decided on a cpu for my new project. I am still working on the structural members but I want to toy with navigational sensor and some video stuff. It's going to be an experimental platform for navigation algorithms and other things. I was considering going with Admin's new board and using my laptop but I might go with the TS-7260 just so I can learn linux finally.

Jonathan Bowen
Title: Re: how dunk built his bot.
Post by: dunk on March 26, 2008, 03:29:44 PM
hi Jonathan,
to be honest i have not found the perfect option. all of the SBCs i have found have some trade off.

so i'm currently experimenting with the Hammer board from TinCan tools. http://www.tincantools.com (http://www.tincantools.com)
it uses Embedded Linux as it's OS.
while it's a great option if you know what you are doing, i would *not* recommend it for a complete Linux noob.
at the moment there is little in the way of documentation or support so you are largely on your own when you want to do anything other than install a basic OS.
it looks like it might develop into a great product once a few people document how to do some of the more complex tasks though.

one of the advantages of the NSLU2 is it has a huge developers community and it runs the Debian Linux distribution which also has a huge user base so any problem you run into and there should be an answer on the internet somewhere.

on the other hand, the TS-7260 is a commercial product and you can buy it with Debian pre-installed so in theory you should have a very stable platform there with the manufacturer and Debian community for support.

there are a few on the forum who use the Gumstix boards. like the Hammer board these use a somewhat obscure linux distribution so you will have to rely on the Gumstix developers community for support.
i believe there is a reasonable selection of pre-built packages available for the Gumstix so it may be an option if you don't need any obscure software.

as you are new to Linux and want a Linux based board personally i would recommend going with something that has a mature Linux distro (like Debian) as this will make installing packages far easier. you will be able to just download and install most of what you need.
i would also recommend installing Debian on an old PC so you have something running the same OS to develop on. this way you can work out how things work on something with a monitor and keyboard....

so yea, i guess i'd recommend either the NSLU2 or the TS-7260 for ease of use. (the word "ease" being relative...)
the TS-7260 has lower power consumption and more I/O options so if you need any of those features that would be the best bet.
having not used the TS-7260 i don't really know but it looks good on paper.


dunk.
Title: Re: how dunk built his bot.
Post by: Asellith on March 26, 2008, 09:36:31 PM
Thanks for the info dunk.

I have been toying with the idea of buying a sbc for a long time. I have mixed feelings about learning linux but I'll probably start by getting something like admins axon and using the USB port and learn that way something easy but robotics related. I can then use my old PC as a development platform and work out most of the code there. Then transfer it to the a SBC when my base gets ready to go mobile. Course the fun part will be debugging on the SBC after I transfer the code.