Terry,
I have, perhaps, just the thing for you! I have been working with some
colleagues at the Institute for Personal Robots in Education (IPRE) on a
robot for just such a course. I didn't mention this one in my original
message to William (included below for those who are interested) because
it is a very different niche than the Aibo, but nice for CS0, CS1, and
maybe even CS2.
The basic idea is that we make engaging robots cheap enough so that
every student can have their own. We hope in the end that they will cost
about $150, but we are closer to $200 right now. But, the pieces are
mostly off-the-shelf. Here is what we currently have:
- the hardware
- Scribbler robot
- retails for about $80, but discounts for bulk purchases
- 2 light sensors
- 2 IR obstacle detector
- 2 IR line detectors
- stall detector
- bluetooth wireless
- plays tones (up to 2 at once)
- the software
- called Myro (based, in part on Pyro)
- written in CPython
- simplified for CS0, CS1
- adaptable, open source code
- modified IDLE
- runs on windows, linux and mac
- the materials
- in progress
- written in a wiki, add your own pages
- real textbook is also planned
The best thing about the materials is that it incorporates more than
just robotics. We have art-based lessons using the Scribbler's ability
to draw, we have music-based lessons using the tone generator, we have
an Instant Messaging library, for exploring communications, etc. Of
course, all of these activities do involve robots (for example, you can
send a command to a robot over the IM) but they involve activities that
make the robot more than just a remote-controlled toy.
Our plans are to support as many robots as we can for educational
purposes (including all of those mentioned to William: Hemisson, SRV-1,
ePuck, Roomba, Lego NXT, etc), and make an easy path from Myro to Pyro.
You can find a picture of the IPRE robot kit here:
http://wiki.roboteducation.org/wiki/index.php/Myro_Development
along with more details of the entire project. You can read a brief
description of the IPRE and the project here:
http://wiki.roboteducation.org/wiki/index.php/Appendix
and find out more about the IPRE here:
http://www.roboteducation.org/
Of course, I'd be glad to answer any questions. (There are also related
workshops at SIGCSE in a couple of weeks, at AAAI Spring Symposium in a
month, and more events this summer).
Take a look at see if this would work for your needs. We can also offer
assistance for getting started, and help on behind-the-scenes setup (how
to teach such a class).
-Doug
Terry Scott wrote:
Doug,
I have just become a pyro-users subscriber. I saw your posting to William
Yu about possible robots. I went to look on the web and got info about the
ones you mentioned. I have prices but many of the other criteria I have
are not listed there.
I am buying a robot for use in a CS-0 class (in case you aren't familiar
with that notation this is called a breadth-first computer science class -
in this case many of the students are not very technical.)
The students are learning Python and will be somewhat proficient with it
by the time we get to the AI section.
I am hoping you might help me figure out what might be the best robot for
my criteria. Here are my criteria
< $1000
battery powered would be nice.
can use Python to program it.
able to have a wireless card or an onboard interpreter and RAM/EPROM
I assume some sensors so that the robot can naviagate a maze or follow a
line
Also, I am wondering if I sent this correctly so that it is seen by other
members of the pyro-users group.
Terry
_______________________________________________
Pyro-users mailing list
[email protected]
http://emergent.brynmawr.edu/mailman/listinfo/pyro-users
William,
This is the $64,000 question!
Unfortunately, there is not a $64,000 answer. The answer will really
depend on the details of what you want to explore, what you value, and
how much money you want to spend.
There are pros and cons to all of the following options, and maybe other
will have their own opinions. But, here are some options (all of these
have some type of vision, and either work with Pyro, or soon will):
1. Roomba, from iRobot. This option is quite cost-effective, and with
some clever thinking, you can do a lot. I really think a modern robot
has to have a camera, and you can put a laptop with a webcam on the
roomba. My roomba is in the mail, so I can't personally can't comment
yet on the recent additions to Pyro by James Snow that allow Pyro to
control the roomba. (James's code looks excellent, though!) Also, Pyro's
vision code currently only works under Linux. This isn't a
self-contained robot though, so it will take a little work to get the
laptop, software, webcam, and needed parts.
2. ePuck, from GCtronic. I'm just starting to test this out. It is a
little pricey and small, but looks like a nice challenger to the
Khepera, if you like desktop robotics. Pyro support should be easy (may
use the exact same commands as Khepera, which is already supported).
3. Hemisson, from K-Team, and RoadNarrows. A little pricey (once you add
all of the needed attachments) and is missing odometry (which the Aibo
never had). The vision is done through a separate wireless analog
connection. I have had issues with dropped connections, but I know Kim
and Robin have been working on this for a couple of years.
4. Surveyor SRV-1, from Surveyor.com. I don't know very much about this
one, but it looks like it might be able to quite a bit. I have one of
these in the mail, too, so I'll know more in a week or two.
5. AmigoBot from MobileRobot.com. The smallest and cheapest (but still
pricey) from the company that produces many robots for research. It can
play wav files, has a wireless camera (like the Hemisson), and uses the
standard MobileRobot interface. Pyro should work with it through the
Player interface. I haven't had one for 8 years, so others might have
more to say.
6. Pioneer from MobileRobot.com. The standard in research robotics. Very
pricey, but very flexible. Comes in a variety of options (indoor,
outdoor, PeopleBot, gripper, etc).
There are some other options on the horizon (few months off), and this
will surely be a topic at both AAAI Spring Symposium, and at SIGCSE.
Any other ideas?
-Doug
William Yu wrote:
> Greetings,
>
>
>
> Can anyone suggest an alternative hardware platform to AIBO?
>
>
> I recently (actual, it’s been a few month now) received a small
internal grant to purchase 4-5
>
> AIBO for my AI class using the PYRO. Unfortunately, although this
seems a pretty good idea
>
> when I wrote the proposal in January, I can not get any AIBO now that
the money is available.
> I'm wondering if any of you could suggest an alternative to AIBO. I'm
looking for something that
>
> is relatively powerful and is supported by PYRO in the window's
environment. As for my AI class,
>
> I just wanted to do a few simple modules such as reactive control and
behavior-based control modules
>
> plus one other advanced module. Since it'll be just be a relatively
small part of the AI class, I'd really
>
> like to work with something that's sufficiently sophisticated yet
already supported by PYRO simulator
>
> so as to minimize the learning curve. That's also pretty much the
reason that I selected AIBO, besides it being so cool.
>
>
>
> Any help will be greatly appreciated!
>
>
>
> William Yu
>
> Computer Science
>
> Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
_______________________________________________
Pyro-users mailing list
[email protected]
http://emergent.brynmawr.edu/mailman/listinfo/pyro-users
