Eddie Robot Platform - Contest and Other

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Everyone here should already know about Parallax's Eddie robot, heck we just posted an assembly video on the forums, but what you might not know about is the contest Microsoft is holding to promote the use of their Robotics Developers Studio 4 (RDS4) Beta.

Eddie was specifically designed to be the reference platform robot for Microsoft's Robotics at Home competition, which asks that robotics enthusiasts to conceptualize what they would do with a robot like the Eddie and then bring that concept to life. We want to see what you can think of; submit your idea in a PPT, PDF or Word Doc. If your concept is picked, you could be one of 10 finalists who will be loaned a real robot that you can use to bring your concept to life and record your project in action.

A grand prize winner will be selected and awarded up to $10,000!
For more information about the contest visit: http://www.roboticsathome.com.

This is a little video talking about a sample project to take pictures of people using a roaming robot platform operating with Microsoft's Robotics Developer Studio 4

Why not brainstorm here?
What else would you use a robot like our Eddie platform to do around your home? There are lots of uses to be sure... maybe an Eddie robot could greet people that enter your home with a personalized greeting after it recognizes them using the Kinect sensor for body shape and stored facial recognition elements...

Tom C

Here is the RDS Reference Platform Document that might give some insight into the robot's requirments.
Regards,
TCIII

Tom C

I have a homebrew version of Eddie (HDPE Robot Base/Position Controller-Wheel Kit on the bottom and the original Birch Base (hear that erco?) on the top) that is just waiting for the Parallax Eddie Propeller Controller board. So while I am waiting, I decided to purchase a Kinect and try it out on my big PC. I used the Sample Skeletal Viewer in the Kinect SDK and was very impressed with how well the skeletal frame followed my arms and legs as I moved. The depth and color camera worked well too. Too bad it takes a PC to be able to process the Kinect data at the moment. Here are some pictures of my basic, two deck Eddie clone robot:

Regards,
TCIII

NikosG

Tom C wrote: »

I have a homebrew version of Eddie (HDPE Robot Base/Position Controller-Wheel Kit on the bottom and the original Birch Base (hear that erco?) on the top) that is just waiting for the Parallax Eddie Propeller Controller board. So while I am waiting, I decided to purchase a Kinect and try it out on my big PC. I used the Sample Skeletal Viewer in the Kinect SDK and was very impressed with how well the skeletal frame followed my arms and legs as I moved. The depth and color camera worked well too. Too bad it takes a PC to be able to process the Kinect data at the moment. Here are some pictures of my basic, two deck Eddie clone robot:

Regards,
TCIII

Hi Tom and everybody,
Does Parallax sell the Eddie Control Board (#550-28990) seperately? how much does it costs? I would like to transform my rover to a MARK
robot and I olso decided to buy a Kinect sencor. Does Microsoft Robotic Developer Studio Support and other Parallax boards (e.g.) the Propeller proto board?

Publison

Nikos,

I don't think it has been finalized yet, per this post:

http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?135305-Eddie-Control-Board

I would also like to see it available seperatly.