Here are some of the components I'm thinking of for The Open Robotic Reference Platform (TORRP):
The chassis for TORRP will be created out of extruded aluminum (or at least the prototype will be) available from 80/20 Inc. I've chosen extruded aluminum because of its strength, weight, and flexibility in configuration. I'd like to final prototype to be fully reconfigurable and scalable so that it can be retrofit into any research role -- think a robotic erector set. Motors: I'm currently interested in either NPC gear motors, MagMotors, or just the standard NPC motors. These motors powered some of the most successful Battlebots (for those who remember that show). I'm currently leaning toward magmotors because of their excellent product reviews, but they are a bit expensive and may be a bit more power than we need (3hp+). Motor Controller: I'm still thinking about this component. It will depend primarily upon which motors we purchase. Regardless, I'm currently leaning toward the RoboteQ ax2550. Battery: Our current robots have 3x 12V 7Amp/hr sealed lead acid batteries. They can keep the robot moving for about 1.5hrs. I'd like at least a 55Amp/hr SLA battery in the prototype. Not only should we be able to power it for longer, but I'd also like enough juice for more sensors. Controller: Pentium-M based Mini-itx. I need low-power computational horsepower! The pentium-m architecture will be a huge step up from the pentium-III onboard our current robots. With support for more sensors, and more available compute horsepower we'll be able to run more complex algorithms onboard. Since the chassis will be scalable, an onboard cluster of mini-itx systems is also an option. TORRPs initial design will probably demonstrate this capability. Sensors: This is a very flexible area. Initial support will include basic sonar, laser measurement systems (Sick LMS 200 or LMS 291), pan-tilt-zoom cameras (currently using Sony Evid 70, but would like to go with a usb or firewire option instead), and simple bump sensors. I'd like to add later support for GPS, LADAR, RADAR, FLIR, stereo vision systems, and microphones. This will depend on funding... of course. Those are most of the critical components. I'm expecting the overall weight of the prototype to be 75-100lbs. Not the lightest vehicle, but it has wheels and can drive itself! Most of the weight will be from batteries, which can be removed if it needs to be moved around. There are some other key features I can go into if you'd like to hear more. Most of the components (save the high end sensors) can be found at the following site: http://www.robotcombat.com/store.html - Sebastian On Sat, 3 Dec 2005, Paul Brower wrote: > > > On Fri, 2 Dec 2005, Sebastian Smith wrote: > > > If you're interested in the hardware I'm currently thinking of using > >let me know and I'll send you some links. > > I would be interested in seeing what you have planned. > > Thank you, > Paul > _______________________________________________ RLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.rlug.org/mailman/listinfo/rlug
