Subject:
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Re: 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 19:23:46 GMT
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Original-From:
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Phil <THEHAHNS@NETWURX.stopspamNET>
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Viewed:
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1198 times
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Ja, a laptop would work. Even better, cheaper, why not use a good old
desktop coputer? Then you could just have the components you need, IE a
motherboard, a removeable video card, sound card, the amount of memory you
like, etc. Best of all, the HDD's are much cheaper and much more
drop-resistant that a laptop. Some of the newer drives boast being able to
accelerate to 70g's without any damage to the drive. You could pull the
motherboard out of the case too... add several parallel port cards, the
computer can adress more than one. Add a few serial cards, and a
computer-run video camera, etc. It should wind up a *LOT* cheaper than any
laptop out there, and you don't have an expensive LCD screen to bust (just
hook a monitor up to the Motherboard whil eprogramming it, detatch it
while the 'bot is running. Need something to monitor the computer?
Interface a 20x4 screen to the serial port....)
--phil
On Wed, 10 Mar 1999, Tom Brusehaver wrote:
>
> > 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.
>
> Yes it can.
>
> > How does the laptop control motors and read sensors?
>
> 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 things.
>
> There are PCMCIA cards with more IO pins.
>
> > Are there products out there that cater specifically to this type of
> > application?
>
> Sure there are lots of parallel port things, and the handyboard can
> talk serially to any other computer.
>
> > What would be the right software? (Hopefully a "C" derivative as I'm not
> > quite ready to try and tackle a new programming language).
>
> Whatever language you want. You could even modify lib_hb.asm to run on
> a PC, and use IC just the same.
>
> > 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).
>
> What's your goal? If you want a cheap PC just for robotics, then yup,
> the 486 will do just fine. If you want the best most top of the line
> PC to do vision, and speech processing while mowing your lawn, then
> you might need more than a 486 :-).
>
> I don't know how complex your application is, but a 8bit micro (like
> the hc11) isn't working very hard running most small robots.
>
> Once you get into vision, and more advanced processing, you need more
> powerful CPU's usually only for the larger memory (32bit address
> bus).
>
>
> > What types of electronics besides motor controllers would be necessary with
> > the laptop as the only "brain"?
>
> Some kind of motor controllers, various sensors and interfaces. Also,
> probably some kind of power distribution (are you going to run your
> motors and sensors off of the laptop battery? can you buy a battery
> for the robot that will power the PC also?).
>
> > 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).
>
> What's your goal, and how does a laptop meet that goal? Laptops are
> more fragile than a handyboard. Mount a laptop on you mobile robot,
> and drive the robot around near a stairway. They handyboard will
> probably survive; the laptop will probably have a busted screen, and
> the harddrive may have a few dings in the platters.
>
> You have less IO from a stock PC than the handyboard.
>
> Batteries will dictate some additional limitations. Most Laptops that
> are cheap have weak batteries, and will last only a short time. Then
> you'll need a teather to power the laptop while developing things.
>
>
> Look at picking a computer as picking a hammer. It is only a tool. If
> you only have a cheap claw hammer (nice general purpose) you can do
> many jobs, some better than others. Decide what kind of project are
> you gonna build, and pick the best hammer for the job.
>
>
> good luck with whatever you decide.
>
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Message is in Reply To:
| | 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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