[Robostang 548]

I worked with the adambots coprocessor solution over the summer. I'm working on a new kind of autonomous code that needs the added processing speed, memory, and floating point capability. I strongly recommend you take a laptop running Linux and hook it up to your RC just to try the code out before you buy anything. The adambots code is difficult to understand when you download it. The RC code is more like a bunch of files. The workspace file doesn’t include protocol.c and .h so you need to modify the workspace and files to get it to compile. Also, their python code that you put on the coprocessor takes a while to work. You have to install pyserial to get it to work. You also have to remove their code that lets you use a fake-ifi script because for some reason it just wants to use the fake-ifi. You can execute their example code on your desktop. I hooked up my computer to our RC and hooked up the camera servo assembly. I moved the joysticks and the camera moved. That may not seem like much but all the work was being done through my pc. I then bought a gumstix. I got the code to run on the gumstix but I accidentally fried mine. We eventually decided on a micro-itx motherboard (6.7 square inches). It includes an onboard power supply. We got a flash memory stick that plugs right into the IDE port on the motherboard. We loaded the flash up with the base install of Debian. On power-up Debian retrieves our code from a thumb-drive we have plugged in. It works great so far. Now we in the process of putting together a lightweight case for it so we can mount it on our bot. We are also working out the details of the legality of our coprocessor. The adambots explained what rules it needs to comply with but I’m working on a document that shows everything the coprocessor does (taking on the processing, using the serial port) is perfectly within the bounds of the rules in case anyone has any concerns about whether it breaks any rules.

-Don