robot News - Page 5 of 5 - CNX Software

July 21, 2012July 21, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Gumstix TurtleCore Expansion Board for iRobot Create

Last month, Gumstix announced the TurtleCore expansion board for iRobot Create Programmable Robot, featuring 3 USB ports, several male-header pins with GPIO access, as well as standoffs and screws to support the TurtleCore in the Create cargo bay.. The TurtleCore is a baseboard for TI OMAP3 and Sitara based Overo COMs or Overo STORM series of COMs that replaces the Command Module on iRobot Create to provide a more flexible and powerful solution. Overo COMs have very good Linux support (OpenEmbedded) with source code, tools and documentation available, including support for the Robot Operating System (GumROS) for high level programming. They released the hardware early so that the community could work on the software, and there have been some good progress as you can see from the video below. You can already download the schematics and PCB layout file, but the software and instructions do not appear to be available […]

July 14, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

WiFi Tank Based on EEE PC, Arduino, Ubuntu and Node.js

Eight computer and electrical engineers built a WiFi Tank (Node.js robot) as part of a senior design project at Northeastern University, in Boston, Massachusetts. The robot brain is an EEE PC running Ubuntu, together with an Arduino board and is programmed using node.js. Each tank is equipped with a camera and 2 customized Wi-Fi repeaters (which it can drop it extend range), and it’s targeted at military operations or disaster-affected areas where network infrastructure is not available. Here are the key characteristics of this robot Robot controlled over WiFi 102 cm long, 71 cm wide, 41 cm tall, about 68 kg. Custom-built (except for treads) out of aluminum Range: 1 km with one on-board router and two droppable long-range repeater modules Running time: ~12 hours On-board webcam with microphone, night vision, pan and tilt On-board GPS for location tracking Custom-made remote user interface, works on any device with a web […]

May 31, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Willow Garage Launches The Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF)

Willow Garage announces the formation of the Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF), an independent, non-profit organization founded by members of the global robotics community whose goal is to support the development, distribution, and adoption of open source software for use in robotics research, education, and product development. The OSRF Board of Directors is composed of the following members: Wolfram Burgard. Dr. Burgard, a professor at the University of Freiburg, heading the Laboratory for Autonomous Intelligent Systems. His major research interests lie in mobile robotics, state estimation and control, as well as artificial intelligence. Ryan Gariepy, co-founder and CTO of Clearpath Robotics. Clearpath Robotics is a company specializing in the design and manufacture of unmanned vehicle solutions for industrial R&D. Brian Gerkey, Director of Open Source Development at Willow Garage who has worked on the open source Robot Operating System (ROS) since 2008. Dr. Gerkey will be CEO of the OSRF. Helen […]

March 26, 2012May 5, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

FSLBOT: Freescale (Dancing) Robot Kit

Freescale unveiled the FSLBOT prototype last year (and I missed it!), and today, the company has announced further improvements to the Freescale Tower System mechatronics robot and board, a bipedal robot and development board that allows designers to write software for a variety of sensor applications while making a robot walk and respond to touch, motion, vibration, tilt and other external stimuli. The new version of the robot uses a new programming language based on StickOS, has wireless capabilities and adds an Xtrinsic MAG3110 magnetometer. This robot has been designed with the collaboration of StickOS and CPUStick.com with the goal “to create a tool that would enable casual users and consumers of technology to become creators and innovators”. The Freescale FSLBOT Robot Kit comes with the following: Freescale Tower System mechatronics board powered by a 32-bit ColdFire MCU with 64K of RAM and 512K of flash. Leg mechanics and associated […]

December 8, 2011May 5, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Archos Is Working on a 300 Euros Asimo-like Robot

Archos is known for its Android Tablets and MP3 player. But Henri Crohas, Archos’s CEO, would like to release a human robot with the height of a child for 300 Euros, a bit like a small version of Asimo, the Honda human robot. In an article about Henri Crohas, published by Liberation (French Newspaper), it is mentioned “No, Crohas rejoices when we mention the evolution of Archos advances: thinner and thinner tablets and on the domotics (Home Automation) side, a robot of the height of a child sold for less than 300 Euros”. Archos has since then confirmed to PC World France, they worked on this type of products, but would not provide further details at this point. But such robot could be used as a toy or it could be programmed to do some simple tasks. Rumours are that they work with another French company, Alrebaran Robotics, which designed […]

November 24, 2011November 24, 2011 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

“Romo” Robot Controlled by Android or iOS Smartphones

Romotive startup has designed “Romo”, a tank-like Robot controlled by Android or/and iOS mobile devices. Peter Seid and Phu Nguyen – Romotive’s co-founders – have raised over 114,000 USD on KickStarter website from more than 1,100 contributors looking to buy the Romo robot. The company has reached its founding target (32,000 USD) and can now move forward on production. You can still get the Robot for 78 USD (+12 USD shipping if you live outside the US) on KickStarter. You’ll need two Android or iOS devices to play with it: one acting as a camera that sits on the “Romo” and the other to control the robot’s movements and receive the camera stream via Wi-Fi. The motors are interestingly controlled by audio signals coming from the smartphone. Romo’s Hardware is composed of the following: A motorized, acrylic base with an accessory port that can be controlled by any smartphone (or […]