GotABot for the ER1

[Chewy]

Hello?

Helloooooo     <echo>   <echo>   <echo>   

Is there anyone still interested in ER1s?  Surely there are one or two lonely souls who remain interested in these ‘years ahead of their time’ robots.  You there in the back – you look like an intelligent chap who appreciates a bot that could stomp a rovio flat.  If you would be so kind, I need some feedback on a new program for the ER1. 

GotABot is a navigational program that can:
-   Plan a path between the robot and a destination
-   Issue commands to the robot to drive the route
-   Localize using  odometry and image recognition

GotABot may be downloaded from www.gotabot.weebly.com (sorry for the poor website design – it’s my first one).  GotABot is currently at version 1.0 so you know there is room for improvement.  It’s slow (so very slow), the RCM locks up frequently, and it’s ugly.  However, even in these early stages it can navigate my house and thread the ER1 through some tight spaces between the furniture.

I would appreciate any feedback you could provide.
                           Thanks

[Ro-Bot-X]

Hey Chewy!

You should have posted to this thread: http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=5904.0 but it's welcomed anyway. I still have my ER1 built as a version of the original kit with a Mini ITX onboard that I can try out your program. I can't promise you I'll do it asap, but I really want to give it one more shot before I kill the beast (just kidding).

Questions: does the ER1 need one or two cameras? If needs two, can one be used for both purposes and be set by the program to the current purpose and a command be given to a microcontroller over a serial line (USB) to tilt the camera?

Thanks!

[Chewy]

Hi Ro-Bot-X

Thanks for the reply (and sorry for posting in the wrong forum).
In answer to your question, I am using only one camera - pointed straight ahead with no need for tilting.  If I need both localization and video streaming functions then I use Microsoft Messenger’s application sharing utility to view the webcam.  It works well but it’s a strain on my poor netbook’s CPU.  There’s undoubtedly better programs to use than this and searching for an alternative is on my ‘to do’ list.

        Cheers

PS – Nice blog, I’ve added it to my Favorites list.

[Chewy]

GotABot, the ER1 path planning and visual navigation program, now has an API (see www.GotABot.weebly.com for download).  The API commands are in a simple ASCII format and allow any script or program that can access a socket to control GotABot.   With this capability, a developer can concentrate on providing higher level behaviors without the need to reinvent navigation functions.     

Please give it a try!  All feedback, comments and suggested improvements will be gratefully accepted.
      Cheers