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Sat, 26 Sep 2009
Update on the new 4WD motor controller -
We have working prototypes of the ARM7-based 4WD motor controller for next-generation Surveyor Blackfin robots as previously discussed here. There were a couple of design issues which we think we have resolved, so next step is to do some stress testing. If we don't encounter any more problems, we will start a first production batch in October.
Posted Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:04 | HTML Link | see additional stories ...
Sat, 12 Sep 2009Finally - the navigation board is shipping !
We teamed up with another company - Ryan Mechatronics - to get the new navigation board into production. We will be carrying other Ryan Mechatronics products, including an AHRS, in the future !
As discussed before, the board includes GPS + compass + tilt + 8-channel A/D board with uBlox5 GPS, the new 3-axis Honeywell HMC5843 compass, ST LIS3LV02DQ 3-axis accelerometer and Analog Devices AD7998 8-channel 12-bit A/D. I2C interfaces are provided to all onboard devices, plus uBlox5 GPS supports UART and a time pulse. Final board dimensions are 1.25" x 2.25" (35mm x 60mm). Weight is 0.7oz (20gm). Mounting holes are on 1" x 2" centers.
Online orders here - surveyor-corporation.stores.yahoo.net/srnabo.html
Posted Sat, 12 Sep 2009 16:41 | HTML Link | see additional stories ...
Tue, 08 Sep 2009HTTPD experiment - a web app approach to smart phone (e.g. iPhone) robot control
We have been experimenting with a different approach to SRV-1 interface with smart phones and browsers, building a very basic HTTPD capability into the SRV-1 firmware. It employs just HTML and javascript, using image mapping for the robot controls, so no special application is installed - it just uses the built-in web browser. This is NOT robust (put your robot up on blocks, not on a table top, if you plan to test this), and performance will be lower that what will be achieved with native apps for iphone, android, etc, but it is simple and stability will likely improve.
Basically, there is now a minimal HTTPD function in the SRV-1 firmware that parses the HTTP GET command, and there is minimal knowledge of filenames, specifically '/', '/index.html', '/00.html' (same as /),'/01.html' ... '09.html'. These files correspond to flash sectors, where 00.html is stored in sectors 10-11, 01.html is stored in sectors 12-13, etc. An HTML file in this system can occupy up to 2 sectors (128kB), and a couple of console commands have been added to read ('zAxx') and write ('zBxx') these double sectors. The HTTPD parser recognizes two other special names - '/robot.cgi?' which is used to send robot commands for motion and laser on/off, and $$camera$$ which signals the insertion of a live captured JPEG frame. Perhaps the most important line of code in the following html is -
<img src="data:image/jpeg;base64,$$camera$$" width=320 height=240 usemap="#map1" />
which shows how the jpeg frame from the robot is embedded in the web page.
Assuming you have a new version of httpd.c and /index.html shown below is stored in sectors 10-11, you would point your browser to http://robot-ip:10001/ and the robot should start to serve live frames (approx 3fps). If you click on different areas of the image, different robot commands should be executed.
===============================================
<html>
<head>
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0;">
<script language="JavaScript">
<!--
var time = null
function refresh() {
window.location.reload();
}
setTimeout('refresh()', 333)
//-->
</script>
<title>SRV-1 Robot</title>
</head>
<body>
<map name="map1">
<area href="/robot.cgi?l" alt="laser on" shape=rect coords="1, 1, 25, 120">
<area href="/robot.cgi?L" alt="laser off" shape=rect coords="296, 1, 320, 120">
<area href="/robot.cgi?+" alt="faster" shape=rect coords="1, 121, 25, 240">
<area href="/robot.cgi?-" alt="slower" shape=rect coords="296, 121, 320, 240">
<area href="/robot.cgi?4" alt="left" shape=rect coords="26, 1, 100, 80">
<area href="/robot.cgi?8" alt="forward" shape=rect coords="101, 1, 220, 80">
<area href="/robot.cgi?6" alt="right" shape=rect coords="221, 1, 295, 80">
<area href="/robot.cgi?0" alt="spin left" shape=rect coords="26, 81, 100, 160">
<area href="/robot.cgi?5" alt="stop" shape=rect coords="101, 81, 220, 160">
<area href="/robot.cgi?." alt="spin right" shape=rect coords="221, 81, 295, 160">
<area href="/robot.cgi?1" alt="back left" shape=rect coords="26, 161, 100, 240">
<area href="/robot.cgi?2" alt="back" shape=rect coords="101, 161, 220, 240">
<area href="/robot.cgi?3" alt="back right" shape=rect coords="221, 161, 295, 240">
</map>
<img src="data:image/jpeg;base64,$$camera$$" width=320 height=240 usemap="#map1" />
<br>
<a href="/index.html">reload</a>
<br>
</body>
</html>
===============================================
This is approximately how the image map is configured based on the above HTML code -
Note that there are issues - the javascript seems to be very sensitive to timing so links break pretty easily and you have to refresh to get things restarted. The frame rate is low, and I don't know how much it can be improved. Also, Android G1 support for embedded JPEGs is broken, though we have reported the problem. In any case, this DOES work on an iPhone.
This code has been posted to code.google.com/p/surveyor-srv1-firmware/. There is not yet a zip download version. You can track progress on this project on the Surveyor Robotics Forum.
Posted Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:12 | HTML Link | see additional stories ...
Mon, 07 Sep 2009Now offering choice of OV7725 low-light VGA or OV9655 SXGA camera with all SRV-1 / SVS controllers
As first discussed here, we have been offering the Omnivision OV7725 low light camera sensor as an add-on option to the SRV-1 Blackfin controllers for several months, and have received a number of requests to offer the OV7725 as an alternative to the OV9655 in standard controller configurations. The OV9655 has higher resolution (1280x1024 max) and very good color in full lighting at lower frame rates, while the OV7725 is limited to 640x480 resolution with very good low-light performance and ability to capture at up to 60fps.
In response to these requests, we are now offering the choice between OV7725 and OV9655 on orders of SRV-1 Blackfin Cameras, SRV-1 Blackfin Robot, YARB and SVS. Standard lens on both cameras is still the 3.6mm f2.0 with approx. 90-deg field-of-view.
Posted Mon, 07 Sep 2009 12:46 | HTML Link | see additional stories ...