An interview with our very own RobosapienV2-4mem8 is featured in today's Parallaxian Newsletter. Parallax is perhaps best known for the hugely popular BASIC Stamp, a low cost microcontroller with embedded Basic interpreter. Parallax is also the maker of the BOE-bot which is a handy off-the-shelf platform for robotic education and experimentation.
Coming out Really Soon (March 2008) is the QuadRover robot platform, powered by a 4-stroke gasoline (petrol) engine and hydraulic drives. The QuadRover is controlled by the Propellor microcontroller, which is an 8x CPU 32 bit core microcontroller. Each core or 'cog' runs at 20 MIPS, allowing superfast parallel processing in a small, hobbyist-friendly package.
I have used the Prop Proto Board to do experiments with a Robosapien V2 camera. While the V2 camera looks at test patterns on my computer screen (secondary LCD display), the Prop reads the memory of the camera controller chip, and simultaneously displays the data as hex code on an NTSC video monitor and transmits the data via USB to my laptop. I'd be happy to share more info on this set of experiments if anyone is interested, but to put it simply, there is no evidence that any detailed image data is being stored in the V2 camera controller. The image data from the CMOS camera sensor appears to be analysed and 'parsed' as it is being read, such that the camera controller is only aware of a 3 x 3 array of color blocks. It is able to track objects by noting which of the blocks change color value, but does not percieve any detail of shapes or shading.
One last note, the $25 Prop Plug USB to 3.3V serial adapter, that is used to connect the Prop Proto Board to your PC, is also extremely simple to use as an interface to the RS Media serial console port. More on that in an upcoming Hacks & Mods blog post!
'til then, Adios!
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He's on the scene, with the latest in growth of and happenings in consumer robotics, highlights from science/research in robotics and artificial intelligence, even coverage of amateur robotics events like Lego FIRST, Sumo, soccer competitions and more. You won't want to miss, as our very own Milw digs up the dirt and serves it out on a robotic platter.
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