The iRobot Create should get here sometime today when UPS makes it's delivery to our company. I am pretty much excited about the prospects with what I can do. Looking back at older videos and pictures of previous Beyond BotBall and KIPR Open matches, the Create is a pretty good choice for a platform. Even though I have ordered the iRobot Create with its own processor, I still feel that the things the Chumby brings to the table will make it a more formidable platform for next year's KIPR Open match. I have been looking around at various open source software sites and it would seem that ROS has a fairly large following. I am not sure that I can stuff the primary ROS into the Chumby however. ROS has some pretty cool elements that can be used, including some AI and planning algorithms that work within the system. ROS uses a multi-threaded operating kernel and I have been led to believe that it has been compiled before on an ARM processor, the type that runs the Chumby. There is a growing library in ROS for interfacing with the iRobot Create. I still need to get the development system for the Chumby up and running on my Ubuntu Laptop. Seeing that I have chosen to use the Chumby for the processor, I will still need to have interface points to any servos or additional sensors that I may decide on using. I am pretty sure that I will be trying to get a camera or two working to provide sensory input to the system. In addition, I would like to try my hand at building an arm or two. I would like to keep the USB interface as the tie in point between elements of the system. Again, I am not sure about the Chumby and what I will be able to do with it. If I cannot get some of these elements in place, I may be forced to use a netbook as the processor. On the other hand, what transpires with the KIPR Open rules may keep the robot simple. I am probably thinking overkill here. Looking way out there, I may have time for my initial goal of building a spiderbot but that will have to wait for a while.
No comments:
Post a Comment