Society of Robots - Robot Forum

General Misc => Misc => Topic started by: JonnyAlpha on January 26, 2009, 01:11:42 PM

Title: Smartphone SPV C550 Robot Controller
Post by: JonnyAlpha on January 26, 2009, 01:11:42 PM

Hi,

Haven't dabbled in robotics or electronics for several years now (work took over) but before I every throw anything away or spot something electrical i always consider adding it to my robotics/electronics collections.

I upgraded my phone last year and now have an HTC P3600 (Orange SPV M700) so my old smartphone is laying idle, not worth selling on E Bay but i was wondering if it had any use in my robotics collections.

Could this smartphone be used as an onboard controller? It runs Windows CE (I think) and has a usb and headphone connector and obviously a speaker so its got a couple of inputs and outputs.

If you can run a PC using a STAMP or PIC then surely with this onboard mini computer it should be possible or is windows CE the restricting factor.   

Just a thought??

Ta

Title: Re: Smartphone SPV C550 Robot Controller
Post by: msprague on January 26, 2009, 02:07:14 PM

You might get some ideas from here:
http://www.wimobot.com/

I think they interface the smart phone to a microcontroller using a UART.

Michael

Title: Re: Smartphone SPV C550 Robot Controller
Post by: Admin on February 04, 2009, 08:58:46 PM

This question has been asked a million times, controlling robots with phones and calculators.

The reality is that you don't want to cut steel with a pocket knife. Use the right tool for the right job.

A microcontroller has tons of I/O such as PWM and ADC and I2C thats perfect for controlling robots . . . a camera or a calculator has none of that.

Plus, a microcontroller (non-augmented) costs like $3!

That being said, those who did get a camera to control their robot (google for them) still had to use a microcontroller as an interface. ;D