Ethernet and wifi

RL600

Hello,

I'm new in the world of Ethernet and wifi. I have 1 boe-bot and
I want to control him over 60 km with Ethernet. But I have no idea
which product on parallax I need.Can somebody tell me which set
I must take which can give me the 60 km. And the set must also
be for beginners. With constructions in a book for example.

RL600

John R.

The "beginners" part will be tough at this time, as Parallax doesn't have the products you need, and I am not aware of anyone else that would have a product useable at that level.

Setting that aside, there are still some challenges to overcome. 60km is out of range of any single solution, meaning you're going to have to either build, or use, some sort of "infrastructure". What the heck does that mean?

• WiFi is not going to cover 60km (37 mi for us imperialist Yankee pigs) from a single access point.
• UTP (unshielded twisted pair) is limited to 100m.
• You could probably find some type of fiber that could run the 60km, but unless you have very deep pockets, this is not practicable, and the BOEBot would not be able to pull that around anyway.
• So, you're going to need to either build up a long haul network (not practicable in most cases) or use an existing network, meaning either The Internet, or Cell phone.

In order to use The Internet, you'll need to use some type of "dynamic DNS" service, unless you can snag a public address from someone on the bot's end of the network. You'll also need access to The Internet on both the bot side, and your control station side. You'll also need to select a WiFi module for the BOEBot from another vendor. Parallax has been working on a module that will be great for what you're after, but the release date has not been determined yet. There are a number of vendors that offer modules, you'll need to look at how they would interface with your system on the bot side, as well as how you would need to send commands to them from your control side. Lots of options are available.

If you want to go cell phone, you'll need an appropriate modem or cell phone interface for your area.

Depending on what "bandwidth" you need, and where you live (regulations play a roll), you may also be able to use some form of radio.

If you'd like more specific help, we'll need to work with you to nail down your environment, and get more specifics on what you're trying to do (Control, feedback, video or not, etc.)

Leon

I'd use Ethernet with a Wi-Fi local connection to the Boe-Bot. MIcrochip makes suitable hardware with Ethernet and Wi-Fi capability:

http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=2504

http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/DeviceDoc/01181f.pdf

Free software libraries are available.

This sort of project isn't suitable for a beginner, however.

mindrobots

RL600,

First off, you have two threads discussing this topic, thsi one and your thread "Communicate Worldwide", please close one down if you could.

Secondly, this isn't something you are going to find a kit for or a beginner level solution. John R. gave a good overview of some of the issues you are facing and some of the technologies you are looking at.

I think you need to better define your goals so we can address it piece by piece. There are current and near-term Parallax solutions that could accomplish what you want to do but they will all take some time, effort and hardware and software glue to get them all to work together.

My understanding is you are trying to make your BOEbot a device on what is becoming known as the Internet of Things. There is a new book out by Cuno Pfister called "Getting Started with the Internet of Things". It is a good overview of the problems and solutions you need to address to get some electronic "thing" connected to the Internet and how it can interact with a server or client at some remote location. The methods in this book aren't the only way to do this, the hardware isn't from Parallax and the software may be considered obscure choices but the ideas and techniques are sound and can be applied to various hardware and software platforms once the ideas are understood.

I think a number of us on the forums have either working projects or in-development projects heading toward a similar goal as yours: how can I remotely via IP or RF interact with this thing I just built. For as many projects and ideas as there are, there are probably as many ways to accomplish the end result. This is an exciting area for combining all the skills and technologies we have at hand.

Parallax currently has RF and Ethernet components in the xBee and Spinneret that can allow you to accomplish your goals. Parallax will soon have a wifi enabled device to provide the missing piece for a pure IP path from you computer through your network to your remote "thing". This will be very exciting for us Parallaxians!

You just need to start small learning about the technologies involved and build on that with each step. Although I personally don;t intend on using the particular hardware or software used as examples in the book I mentioned, it did provide me with some great ideas and understanding as to how to make all this work better!

Keep us posted with your progress and bring questions back as you run into problems!