Society of Robots - Robot Forum

Electronics => Electronics => Topic started by: saba_rish91 on July 29, 2012, 07:33:12 AM

Title: Processor for robotic application
Post by: saba_rish91 on July 29, 2012, 07:33:12 AM
Hello,

I'm going to build a robot which senses the world using camera. Since cameras can't be interfaced with arduino uno, I've to go for a microprocessor.
So, suggest me a microprocessor that can handle image processing and control robot.

Thanks in advance
Title: Re: Processor for robotic application
Post by: mstacho on July 30, 2012, 09:21:08 AM
Well, if you want LOTS of power, get something like a Gumstix.  They are basically fully featured, tiny computers.  I suggest gumstix instead of something like Raspberry Pi because I know for sure that Gumstix has an IO expansion board specifically for robotics.  Not too sure about the other small computers.

Alternately, hook up a small netbook to do the image stuff and control the robot through an arduino, say, over the serial port.  no one ever said you have to do it all in once place.

MIKE
Title: Re: Processor for robotic application
Post by: saba_rish91 on July 31, 2012, 08:21:47 AM
Is ARM 8 processor good one for robotics application??
http://www.armkits.com/product/devkit8500d.asp (http://www.armkits.com/product/devkit8500d.asp)

I need to connect 2 cameras!
And is it possible to burn MATLAB code directly into the processor?
Title: Re: Processor for robotic application
Post by: mstacho on July 31, 2012, 10:32:21 AM
Well, ARM A8 processors are pretty cool.  They are what is inside of Gumstix and the like.  the problem with the one you showed me is that it isn't set up for robotics applications.  For example, there don't appear to be many ADCs or PWM outputs.  It is likely, though, that as long as your cameras are small enough and your framerate can be low enough, an A8 can probably handle 2.  Just don't expect frame rates much about 1 or 2 frames per second!

You'll almost certainly need a secondary piece of hardware to actually interface with the robot, especially if you want to do vision.  So, an A8 based computer is fine, but you still have the problem of moving the motors and the like.

Yes, it is possible to burn matlab code directly.  This requires the MATLAB Embedded Toolkit, which I'm not too familiar with.

MIKE