I'm just wondering if anyone has updates to this information sent out back in October of last year. I'm looking to purchase 1 robot for use in an AI class. The idea is to use it for demos and so that students who have written Pyro programs to run under simulations can test their programs on a real robot.
Has anyone tried Pyro with Erratic. I'm wondering how Erratic compares to the AmigoBot and how useful it is to have an onboard processor. Rich -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, October 13, 2006 8:06 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Pyro-users] (no subject) Here's another option designed by Kurt Konolige that I did not know about: 7. Erratic, http://www.videredesign.com/robotics/. Looks to be an alternate platform to the Pioneer. Runs Linux and Player, so Pyro should work straight away. Videre Design specializes in Vision, and I may have to get their stereo vision option ($1400); that looks quite amazing and fast. (I also agree with Grant's warning about Ebay and Aibo... almost happened to me. Just don't send any money through Western Union, nor do any activity outside of Ebay and you should be safe.) If you want to see some reviews of some of these 7 mentioned robots, you should follow http://blog.roboteducation.org/ -Doug _______________________________________________ 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 _______________________________________________ Pyro-users mailing list [email protected] http://emergent.brynmawr.edu/mailman/listinfo/pyro-users _______________________________________________ Pyro-users mailing list [email protected] http://emergent.brynmawr.edu/mailman/listinfo/pyro-users
