First Robot!

[kl22]

To start off i'm to the robotics field. And this is what I want to be able to accomplish in the long run:
1. Build a Computer Controlled Robot (RC style)
2. Build a Computer Controlled Robot (with processing happening on a on board computer and viewing stats on laptop or via processing happening on a laptop and possible webcam/image processing)
3. Put it all together

The main thing is I'm trying to figure out if I should go with a "single board computer" or a microcontroller or a serializer.
The benefits I see are:
Single Board Computer (RoBoard):
I get very high processing power on board, can figure out a way to do it through wifi. The only problem is does the RoBoard support analog sensors without sister/break out boards (for example a light sensor? for line following or something)

Microcontroller (Axon/Arduino):
Pretty much standard I guess... Seems if I go Axon I can do bluetooth and have all the processing happening on the laptop and use a wifi cam if I have to.
Can i go wifi maybe with one of those router mods?
Con: slower processing?

Serializer Robot Controller by RobotConnection with XBee
So far seems like the best choice for me. Can supposed analog sensor. Wireless. Can you wireless cam. Can do all the processing on laptop.
But how slow is it? is there a big lag/latency between sensor/servo reads?

My questions are those above and if you have any other suggestions please let me know. I'm looking to build a robot that can process data quickly and retrieve data quickly. And might be a pretty complicated software so i'm looking to do it in a higher level language.

Thanks in advance

[Hawaii00000]

Sounds like you've done a bit of research.

1. Build a Computer Controlled Robot (RC style)

That shouldn't be to hard. I'm guessing you have  seen admin's bluetooth controlled robot?

2. Build a Computer Controlled Robot (with processing happening on a on board computer and viewing stats on laptop or via processing happening on a laptop and possible webcam/image processing)

Sure can, although you might want to see if your SBC has enough mucles for the job. Have you looked at roboreal yet?

The only problem is does the RoBoard support analog sensors without sister/break out boards (for example a light sensor? for line following or something)

From what i read it should work fine.

Con: slower processing?

The axon should be fine for any of the theings you've talked about.

[Soeren]

Hi,


You can do what seems like magic in a µcontroller, you just have to look like a magician when you code it 

If you wanna take the sloppy road in programming that lead us to GB RAM and TB hard disks   you might wanna look at the Pico-ITX, which is a complete PC on a 7cm x 10cm PCB (it has all the peripherals as well). The Nano-ITX is 12cm each side, so may be a bit cheaper.
Either one, you just add a screen and a keyboard and you're ready to program, right on the device and you can add whatever goes on USB to deal with sensors and actuators, some can even be used directly at the mic input. A WiFi USB module will set you up for data transfer.

[kl22]

Thanks Hawaii00000 & Soeren! Thanks for all the great information!

Soeren: I'm not looking at GB of RAM/TB of HD space for my coding. I'm pretty efficient with my code (studied it for 4 years  soft eng) so I'm looking for something with the power to deal with all the functionality that I want to put in the robot. What I mean by that is the raw power to read inputs
None the less I didn't know the Pico-ITX existed . But now my main concern is interfacing motors and sensors with it. Since the Pico-ITX are just tiny PCs they don't seems to help me with interfacing with the sensors/motors might as well get a standard MC and bluetooth with my laptop rather than going though the trouble of getting modules to interface with the Pico-ITX. I haven't done much research on the Pico yet but from what I read it seems to be almost like just having another PC on board.

If you have more information on interfacing with the sensors/motors directly to it (not really sure of the USB sensor/motors available)

Hawaii00000: Yes I've looked over the bluetooth controller robot that the admin posted. As for the second part did you mean RoboRealm? If so I've looked into it, I'm most likely going to be using that or OpenCV to handle image processing. As for the the SBC I've been looking at, it is the RoBoard.


The main thing is that I'm planing to use all the parts that I gather in my final project. Although, I'm looking into a RC style robot first, the main objectives of my current project is to first develop a hyper fast line follower (to learn about how to efficiently control the MC/SBC) then to move onto a Pool Playing Robot (which I've named PPL... even though I haven't started it yet )

This is what I've concluded. Please let me know if this is a good choice on my part. And I will list reasons why I've chosen to go with this option.

RoBoard + wifi... then in the near future add Axon.

Reason:
RoBoard: Hyper Fast (1000MHz processor), can use analog sensors, has built in h-board, use RoBoard to handle sensor/motor processing/controls and use laptop to processes images over a wifi enabled cam

Addition of Axon: Split control of motor and sensors. Have Axon do all the computation regarding calculating positions and moving the motors/servos while RoBoard handles all the sensor including webcam (webcam if it is able to handle it). The reason being from what I gather the Axon should be slower than the RoBoard. Am I correct assuming this?

What do you all think? Is this a good option?

The only problem I see (Hawaii00000) is that I was reading over the manual for RoBoard and it seems to only list 5 analog sensors I can use. I'm not sure if they just listed it as a suggestion or if I can only use those sensors.

Thanks again!!

[Soeren]

Hi,

Soeren: I'm not looking at GB of RAM/TB of HD space for my coding.

I didn't think so, I was merely referring to the fact that the Space Invaders I used in the seventies were just 2kB, my assembler was about the same and the largest program in my collection was around 8kB.
Then RAM and disk got gradually larger, while the programs got gradually sloppier coded.
Prove me wrong by making a Spade Invader in 2kB 

I'm looking for something with the power to deal with all the functionality that I want to put in the robot. What I mean by that is the raw power to read inputs

Short of image handling, a modern µcontroller is way faster than you need!
A slow controller, i.e. one with an instruction time of 1µs, will still gets through 450 of them for each mm you move at 8 km/h. You can read a port (8 direct one line sensors) in one instruction.
That's a 4MHz clocked controller - you can get them up to around 100MHz+ these days.
The Propellor is another option. It's a multitasking controller (don't recall it's clock speed).

If you have more information on interfacing with the sensors/motors directly to it (not really sure of the USB sensor/motors available)

You get USB interfaces - digital and/or analog I/O - that you connect your sensors and actuators to.
With a controller, you still need interfacing for actuators that takes more than 25mA.

The nice prospect of a PC onboard is, that you can use the range of tools you've got allready and you program directly on the 'bot (flash memory is a must though, due to bumps and vibrations that will kill off most HDs).

[kl22]

WOW thanks for all the great info Soeren. That cleared up alot of doubts I had.

Didn't think that the microcontroller would be able to process inputs that fast!

Could you give me an example of a USB interface.

Other than that I'm more confused than ever on deciding on a µC.
Any suggestions? I'm looking for one that is very versatile in that I can use it for many different application (must be able to go wireless either through some kind of mod or module that it includes)

Thanks again