Subject:
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Off the subject question...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics.handyboard
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Date:
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Wed, 10 Mar 1999 15:37:28 GMT
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Original-From:
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Bob Kelly <rkelly@firstunion-reit.SPAMLESScom>
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Viewed:
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1045 times
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Hi all,
The Handyboard is a wonderful piece of equipment. Lots of fun and simple and
easy to use from a newcomers standpoint. I have learned much from messing
around with it and plan on doing so for some time. I am by no means
finished. Right now I am planning a new, more permanent and more functional
base.
I was thinking though that it might be interesting to know if a laptop can
be used (without permanent modification) as a controller for a robot. I have
seen a few examples of this but no useful detail or information.
How does the laptop control motors and read sensors?
What is the best interface? The serial port? A fast modem to a
microcontroller? A network card?
Are there products out there that cater specifically to this type of
application?
What would be the right software? (Hopefully a "C" derivative as I'm not
quite ready to try and tackle a new programming language).
Would an older 486PC work with about the same functionality as a newer
Pentium? (I might be able to get an old laptop extremely cheaply through my
work).
I've seen Zagros(?) robotics platforms out there with a laptop on top, are
there any other companies with large prototyping bases that I can use for
ideas, if not to actually by the kit?
What types of electronics besides motor controllers would be necessary with
the laptop as the only "brain"?
Why aren't there more examples of laptop autonomous robots out there? Is it
inherently an inefficient setup? Is it just the costs of laptops (I doubt
this as the older ones are getting REALLY cheap)? Ar the technical
difficulties too much for only a modest payoff? It would appear to me that a
laptop could offer some huge benefits such as large data storage, much
faster processing speed, possibly easier programming and maybe greater I/O
capability (not too sure about this one).
Thanks to all of you undergrads, MBAs and engineers out there. I, an
unschooled technical moron, thank you very much for your input.
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Off the subject question...
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| (...) Yes it can. (...) Well, without modification, the parallel port can probably do a lot of what you need, although, there are only 8 (12) bits for you to use. A separate processor could communicate through a serial port, and do some of the same (...) (26 years ago, 10-Mar-99, to lugnet.robotics.handyboard)
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