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Anyone have a brookstone rover 2? — Parallax Forums

Anyone have a brookstone rover 2?

rwgast_logicdesignrwgast_logicdesign Posts: 1,464
edited 2013-02-05 20:57 in Robotics
I came across this rover looking at hackable pre built robots. The thing looks like a NICE platform, since it can be had for 80 dollars new! Its basically an IP Cam with a 2wd tank chassis and an embedded linux system. The motherboard has console access through TX/RX pins, along with some gpio it would appear. I think this could be a really neat starting point for someone wanting to get in to machine vision, via processing the images PC side. Hooking a micro up to it should be a breeze via the TX/RX pins.

For 79 bucks you get a chassis, a cam, and a wanna be rasPI!

The product
http://www.amazon.com/Rover-App-Controlled-Tank-Night-Vision/dp/B005OQYOB6/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1360101122&sr=1-4&keywords=ac13+rover2

A little teardown and hack
http://www.openipcam.com/forum/index.php/topic,261.0.html

Comments

  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2013-02-05 14:50
    Get a used Rovio for $80-100. Mo' bettah.

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rovio-Wowwee-Dock-And-Charger-/271147114835
  • rwgast_logicdesignrwgast_logicdesign Posts: 1,464
    edited 2013-02-05 15:46
    Wow the thing looks cool, cant find a nice tear down showing all the sensors, but this article was pretty informative

    http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7101

    Do you have one of these bad boys? Is there any way to interface your own hardware with its main board? It sure looks cool and the north star system looks totally cool, and im guessing it has wheel encoders on it. But like the article said you cant get any info on the northstar navigation signaling, and you cant find extra beacons very easily either.

    Both of these look like really neat products to play with and pipe in to robo realm, but alas lack of documentation on stuff like this spooks. If I were to pick up one of these instead of build a bot from the ground up, im afraid it would end up coming to a halt due to expand ability or protocol issues.

    I only stumbled accross this stuff because I was checking out some projects by a guy named DJ Sure who has some EZ Robot system he uses to hack toys. The brookstone platform was listed on his site. But he had hacked an old robot called the omnibot 5000 which looks so cool, it was an olde 80s toy (I love 80s bots, I truly pine for the days of the commodore and 8088 some times), it had a nice drive train already and plenty of space to add servos/sensors and micro controllers. I figured a platform like this might be really cool because you can get super creative with the whole ordeal and make a neat bot. But alas I couldn't find that model omnibot for sale anywhere, I searched ebay for some old 80s robot toys with drive trains, but most of them weren't spacious enough or well out of my bugdet.

    Erco I know your in to the whole retro bot thing too, maybe you know where to pick things up like this on the cheap, or exactly how to find the on ebay. Im assuming the search retro robot only returns 600 buy it now because anyone calling there toys Retro thinks they have something made of gold. Ive always liked the Heros but there wayyyyy to much, even if I had the cash. Thats kind of why I want to mount a trash can on a roomba base, I think it will give it that old 80s kind of bot look if done correctly. But even that is still no comparison for beige plastic :), Im even typing this on my 1980s IMB 15lb keyboard that clicks so loud you can hear it across the house, just love the feel and look of the computers I grew up with that were so Hi Tech looking at the time.
  • rwgast_logicdesignrwgast_logicdesign Posts: 1,464
    edited 2013-02-05 15:51
    Oh wow one just went up I guess, but the opening bid is 200 bucks

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/omnibot-2000-tomy-5405-with-box-and-shipping-carton-/150990643355?pt=Electronic_Battery_Windup_Toys_US&hash=item2327be609b
  • NWCCTVNWCCTV Posts: 3,629
    edited 2013-02-05 18:32
    I still think for what you are trying to achieve your best bet is going to be the Stingray platform. It is expandable and can be built the way YOU want it. If you start spending money on these types of bots and then fry something in the process of hacking it, where is that going to leave you? Back at the starting gate again. At least with the Stingray you know where to get extra parts if needed. Just my 2 cents worth.
  • rwgast_logicdesignrwgast_logicdesign Posts: 1,464
    edited 2013-02-05 20:57
    Ya I totally agree with this, it was just an option I was looking in to. I had no idea these were so cheap. Im probably going to be doing a rover 5 setup though, there are some things about the platform I dont like to much but I intend to pick up all the stuff I need for it at once. Ive watched a video of a guy who set one up with the same wheels etc, and it works really well. I really love the sting ray, it looks nice, its solid, and its parallax :). But I wont be able to get the thing driving around outside very easily. Im basically pegged between the sting ray and the rover 5 with some extras, they both have the up and down sides.

    I was just amazed to see how cheaply some of these bots with cams in them cost, You can barely pick up a 2wd rover5 a cheap IP Cam for 80 bucks, let a-lone all the electronics for it! Just looked like I neat, but as you said im sure these these ip cam bots arent the most suitable choice for a durable robot.
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