Looking for an IFI mobile RF modem

[MrHappy]

Okay, I bought a bunch of 2003 era IFI First Robotics loot on eBay a while back. When I bought the stuff I was told (by the seller) that if I ever needed any help with it that this was the place to get it. So, I have two RF modems and they are both Operator units, I need a Mobile unit to get them working. I see that I can purchase a new one for $145US+, but that is more then I spent on all the loot put together. I was hoping that someone would be willing to sell or swap their Mobile RF modem for my Operator RF modem. Or if anyone can hip me to another compatible brand that's not quite so *gulp* pricy, that would be fine too. Please drop me an email if you are interested, thank you.

This is my first post and I didn’t see a Buy/Sell/Trade forum category so if this is the wrong place please feel free to bump, thank you.

[Greg Needel]

welcome to the CD forums....there is a place called the CD-swap http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/parts.php? i would post a listing there with your email address and most likely someone will get back to you.

just for curiosity's sake what are you making?

[MrHappy]

Originally Posted by Greg Needel

just for curiosity's sake what are you making?

Bear in mind this is my first attempt at anything related to robotics. I bought a few RC cars from eBay as well as a wireless camera and a set of Virtual I/O head gear. The head gear has a head tracker built in so I thought "wouldn't it be great if I could control the car(s) with my computer and use the head gear to 'look around'?" So far i have a joystick that sorta controls the car, and the wireless camera/headgear combo works great. Still need to tie the head tracker into the operator module and make the mobile module "mobile". Just FYI, without knowing much about the topic I chose the IFI Robotics controller because it is supposed to have a saw tooth pulse rather than a stepped pulse and that (so I've read) is what the RC car's speed controller prefers. Were it up to me I would rather have a OOPIC controller because I already know C++ and would not have to mess with PBasic. Although I see that the newer IFI models support C++. Advice welcome!

[Greg Needel]

Originally Posted by MrHappy

Bear in mind this is my first attempt at anything related to robotics. I bought a few RC cars from eBay as well as a wireless camera and a set of Virtual I/O head gear. The head gear has a head tracker built in so I thought "wouldn't it be great if I could control the car(s) with my computer and use the head gear to 'look around'?" So far i have a joystick that sorta controls the car, and the wireless camera/headgear combo works great. Still need to tie the head tracker into the operator module and make the mobile module "mobile". Just FYI, without knowing much about the topic I chose the IFI Robotics controller because it is supposed to have a saw tooth pulse rather than a stepped pulse and that (so I've read) is what the RC car's speed controller prefers. Were it up to me I would rather have a OOPIC controller because I already know C++ and would not have to mess with PBasic. Although I see that the newer IFI models support C++. Advice welcome!

After using the oopicII for some of the control circuits on my team's darpa grand challenge car, i will never use them again. The IFI system is great for it's simplicity of use but for heavy video processing you might want to look for a stand along micro controller card that utilized a bus that supports higher speeds. It does sound like a cool project and be sure to post some photos here to the boards when you get done. Also if you need tech advise or anything these boards are great for that as well. good luck

[MrHappy]

It's funny that you mention the darpa challenge because that is what motivated me to get into all of this to begin with. Just seemed too cool of an idea. But when I started looking at the logistics I decided to keep my goals realistic. I am taking a college course in VB.NET in order to have my computer analyze the video feed for me, so for now I have to control the car myself. My little 1:10 scale RC car would have to go up to 17.5 miles without crashing or veering off course for me to be willing to shell out any money for an actual car. Are you attempting a run at darpa in October?