Contest time !!!
Matt Gilliland
Posts: 1,406
Yesssirrrreeee ARLO!!! It's time for CONTEST!!! (thanks to the gentle urging of Publision
Here's the deal...
You all know about our Arlo Robot System - we're getting him into schools and homes and businesses and on and on and on.
To expedite the proliferation of Arlo's, he needs to have a full complement of add-ons, extensions, expansions, do-hickeys and giz-me-doos.
What do you think we should add to the Arlo System next?
Be specific... - "robot arm" ain't enough. What should the device be, what should it be able to accomplish, and what should it enable the robot to do.
Special consideration may be given to those ideas that have an Educational leaning.
UPDATE: END TIME IS THURSDAY THE 24TH AT 9AM PST!
The end of the Contest is Scheduled at 2PM, Friday, July 20th, 2014, Parallax Standard Time
UPDATE: END TIME IS THURSDAY THE 24TH AT 9AM PST!
Prize(s)??? Of course, Yes! What are they? I have no idea...but have we ever steered you wrong in a Contest yet? As always we can change the rules at any time - but probably won't unless some of you mis-behave
Ready...Set...Go!!!
-Here come da' Judge MattG
Here's the deal...
You all know about our Arlo Robot System - we're getting him into schools and homes and businesses and on and on and on.
To expedite the proliferation of Arlo's, he needs to have a full complement of add-ons, extensions, expansions, do-hickeys and giz-me-doos.
What do you think we should add to the Arlo System next?
Be specific... - "robot arm" ain't enough. What should the device be, what should it be able to accomplish, and what should it enable the robot to do.
Special consideration may be given to those ideas that have an Educational leaning.
UPDATE: END TIME IS THURSDAY THE 24TH AT 9AM PST!
The end of the Contest is Scheduled at 2PM, Friday, July 20th, 2014, Parallax Standard Time
UPDATE: END TIME IS THURSDAY THE 24TH AT 9AM PST!
Prize(s)??? Of course, Yes! What are they? I have no idea...but have we ever steered you wrong in a Contest yet? As always we can change the rules at any time - but probably won't unless some of you mis-behave
Ready...Set...Go!!!
-Here come da' Judge MattG
Comments
Ray
http://www.dodocase.com/products/google-cardboard-vr-goggle-toolkit
Did you mean Friday, July 18th?
Maybe an add-on calendar would be a good idea! ;-)
C.W.
I don't know about this contest, but he'd be the kind of robot I'd want..
Come on Parallax, you guys have the engineering skills (looking at you Matt) and fabrication machines to make this happen.
I keep editing this, and had one more very important thought. PLEASE KEEP ALL MEASUREMENTS IN METRIC.
Another idea would be a switch plate that is flush with the exterior of Arlo allowing you to switch it off if it is running away without fear of your hand getting caught between the decks. I also added a missile-style safety switch in place of the existing motor switch so i could stomp on the switch in an emergency. Plus it feels like I am handling something more dangerous when I flip the safety cover up first
AFAIK Rovio and ER-1 were the only robots who could figure out where they were, thanks to Evolution Robotics' fabulous Northstar system which projected an IR constellation up on the ceiling. That would actually be my first choice, although it's definitely proprietary and probably pricey. It would be well within the Propeller's capability to process that geometric info in real time. So that's one IR projector in each room and the camera plus some hardware on Arlo.
Next best would be IR beacons or laser reflector stickers which would give Arlo line-of sight pathways. Each beacon emits a unique pulsing IR code on 38 kHz, or better yet 56 kHz to reduce interference with standard consumer remote controls. Arlo knows which beacon is which and simply follows the IR signal to navigate to the beacon. There could be umpteen to 255 unique beacon codes to traverse complicated paths in large areas. Alternatively, Arlo emits a pulsed laser signal (low and parallel to the floor for safety) which detects a passive reflective sticker affixed to a baseboard. The duty cycle used by my beloved Hamamatsu S6986 system is very low (better for safety). That coupled with a PIR sensor shielded in a narrow optical baffle, to shut off the laser if human motion is detected directly ahead for safety reasons.
The Pololu IR beacons are transceivers for two-way communication, which adds some nice features.
Optical encoders are used periodically for dead reckoning in order to maintain course if Arlo's view of the beacon or reflector is momentarily interrupted by someone walking between them. A full complement of IR, ultrasonic, and bump sensors are used for collision avoidance.
All very doable with cheap hardware, I've laid the groundwork for you, Matt:
IR Beacon tracking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rHuFFe6HRc
Laser reflectors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beoNr5vsbGw
Dead reckoning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX0IhUqnwrk
As Arlo is no longer tied to the MS robot platform, with its Kinect, a robot of this size and application needs a vision system, even if it's just a blob tracker. Maybe you can adapt the latest CMUcam that Kwabena did, writing a layer for Arlo's control board to make good use of it. I'm not saying you should use the CMUcam 4, as I think its form factor is as an Arduino shield, so this may need a custom board. SimplyTronics here?
Vision, even simple blob and color tracking, is a very important aspect of school lab robots. While not knocking some of the other ideas, things like Emic and VR are already standing products in the Parallax lineup, and can be ordered at any time.
Oh, that reminds me, you need to get crackin' and write C wrappers for all these things. I think Andy has Ping, 2-axis accelerometer, and a few others for the Boe-Bot Activity Board, but really, Arlo needs wrappers for every major sensor yuze guys sell, and that would be applicable to school settings for this robot.
Northstar is/was patented, and now the patents belong to iRobot, which bought out the assets to Evolution. iRobot may have a licensing structure, but I recall it was pretty steep under ER.
What iRobot calls "Northstar" on its consumer robots is not, I think, the same celestial navigation system ER developed. They talk about "channels" so I think it's radiometric or IRmetric. The robot it's used with was developed under ER, so maybe they just borrowed the cool name.
Looking at the bot from an educational point of view. First step make it move then turn it to a balancing platform. A small add on gyro/acc board would be cool.
I think being able to convert the tail dragger version of the robot to balancing bot has a huge learning curve. Not to mention the sensors that could be added on to steer it along its way in the processs.
Even if it's just a couple of 8x8 LED matrixes.
There's not much that's better for debugging a robot than a display with realtime status updates.
Two lines getting closer and closer as it approaches a wall, flashing '-' signs when it needs a recharge...
Switching between '+' and '-' while charging...
Recharge equipment should be wireless.
LOL! Yes, it's FRIDAY THE 18th! (shame on me)
-MattG
Shortest contest ever. Pourquoi?
It would also allow those with slower moving brain-cells (you know who you are) to come up with some spectacular suggestions too.
After conferring with myself - the Contest is officially extended to Monday the 21st with a finish-line time of 9am PST.
-Matt "changing the rules again" G
The good ones are $5,000
The cheap ones are $1,000,
but there is this a new one out for about $400 that has ROS (Robot Operating System) drivers:
http://www.robopeak.com/blog/?p=278
It is a little more cumbersome than the fancy ones, but it appears to do the job well from the tests so far.
ROS Drivers:
http://www.ros.org/news/2014/06/robopeak-announces-ros-drivers-for-the-rplidar.html
This is serious stuff because now you are doing the same thing that Google does to create self driving cars, just on a lower budget scale. No pretending with sonar/IR, or even Kinect, it is real Laser scanning with high enough resolution to create maps and localize the robot within them.
Here is a quarter million dollar robot: https://www.willowgarage.com/pages/pr2/order
It also runs ROS and relies on laser scanners.
The Arlo can basically do the same thing as that $280,000 robot, using the same software stack, if it has a laser scanner and some time put into engineering a well thought out mounting system.
$400 is dirt cheap for a Laser Scanner right now, and if Robopeak can do it, it is amazing. It seems like an expensive accessory, but a fully built Arl is $1000, so it is within the same budget category.
I know this isn't something Parallax gets to build, but you could certainly work with Robopeak to license and distribute it, or maybe they do need some manufacturing mojo?
Their Laser Scanner is not unique, it appears to be a near replica of one found in the Neato Vacuum cleaner robot, so the design may be open? Maybe?
Certainly, what Parallax could do is engineer and produce a quality mounting system for the Robopeak laser scanner for the Arlo.
Or just create a nice mount for the Kinect or ASUS Xtion so our robot's can watch Star Trek:
Please note that while the computer model is a TurtleBot, that is really running on an ActivityBot (connected to a computer running ROS of course). I just hadn't gotten around to building a new robot model file yet when I was at that point.
And as you can see from my other post, the ActivityBot is really a poor mount for the Kinect: http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/156480-Arlo-s-got-the-Power-Distribution-Board-and-you-can-too!?p=1279101&viewfull=1#post1279101
P.S. When my Alro parts arrive it will navigate with a Kinect/ASUS Xtion 3D camera, but I'm keeping my eye on that Robopeak Laser Scanner and saving my pennies.
Robert
Since when is the Stingray old, Mr. HERO Robot?
Proof we need to have more contests specifically for the date-impaired. And MattG is the perfect contest master for it!
-MattG
Golly! a power-distribution system for such a bot would be great! .... oh wait....
There are so many cool things already available that I would consider a line of adaptors and holders that make those existing gadgets easy to mount to the arlo body. (Similar to the various ping holders that are availalbe but for the prop cam, gas dectors, VPN1513, etc.)
Im sticking with my stingray for now, but the arlo sure is neat.
Your'e kiddin', right?
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/156480-Arlo-s-got-the-Power-Distribution-Board-and-you-can-too!?highlight=ARLO
Old as in old, no. Old in that Parallax no longer sells that kit... Here are a few pictures that shows what I did to the Stingray and something similar could be done for the ARLO chassis. It could be done as an optional add on kit for it.... That is my suggestion and something I could help Parallax with... You can click on any of the images to get larger pictures. The first one shows the base, the next the top part of the body, and the last shows what it will look like once I make the plastic lower panel. You'll be able to read all the details on the robot once the August issue of SERVO is out...
Robert
I'll post more details and some extra information about it on my site here:
http://www.robotworkshop.com/robotweb/?page_id=628
My suggestion is somthing very simple but very functional especially for indoor use.
A kind of fender with spring with elasticity (see the next image )
For the Arlo Robot this fender could have 4-parts or 2-Parts.