Using an Arduino as a robot controller (2010 and beyond?)

[keen101]

I'd really like to do this. The current arduino's are a little small in terms of memory and i/o ports. But, it would be fairly easy to port the arduino bootloader to a bigger AVR processor, and pretty easy to design a ifi "clone" board of sorts. I am working on a design like this in eagle cad, but it is kind of on hold right now. email me if you want the eagle files.

the difference between the IFI systems and the compac rio is betty big. one is capable of running embedded linux.

But, i still think a cheap Robotics based Freeduino should be attempted. It could be used to drive simple robots around from previous competitions. But i think it would be possible to make a freeduino controller that could be just as good as the IFI controllers.

keen101 [at] gmail [dot] com

[EricVanWyk]

Originally Posted by keen101

I'd really like to do this. The current arduino's are a little small in terms of memory and i/o ports. But, it would be fairly easy to port the arduino bootloader to a bigger AVR processor, and pretty easy to design a ifi "clone" board of sorts. I am working on a design like this in eagle cad, but it is kind of on hold right now. email me if you want the eagle files.

I'd strongly recommend using Altium instead of Eagle. Altium is the best EE cad package I've used by far (and I've used quite a few of them) AND is in the kit of parts.

If you do need help with a design captured in Altium, just ask. I'd be happy to help convert you.

[AndrewN]

Umm, Altium might be in the kit but I cannot get a PCB manufactured from the design and I don't have $12K to spend to get the license. I'll withdraw the comment if you can tell me how to do this for a reasonable cost.

[EricVanWyk]

Originally Posted by AndrewN

Umm, Altium might be in the kit but I cannot get a PCB manufactured from the design and I don't have $12K to spend to get the license. I'll withdraw the comment if you can tell me how to do this for a reasonable cost.

Andrew -

Your post confused me, so I chased it down with FIRST's Altium Rep. She told me that the Altium you receive in the Kit of Parts is the full blown Altium Unified Licence with a 12 month timer. This can export your board to many standard formats, including Gerbers. Gerbers are accepted by all of the board houses I've worked with, although I hear that some of the super-low-end houses only accept their own proprietary format.

If you need any help with the export/fab process, feel free to PM me or post here. Alternatively, we can set you up with the Altium Forum - the community there is on par with Chief Delphi for helpfulness (dare I say better? ).

- Eric

[AndrewN]

Thanks Eric, I'll check Altium out again when we get our KOP in Jan.

[keen101]

I found this today. Pretty useful actually.

http://www.curiousinventor.com/kits/roboduino

however, it still has limitations, and and i am still set on attempting on creating a larger version similar to this with a more powerful AVR processor. Maybe a sanguino based version. I don't know if it's practical, but I'm still going to keep working on it, even if it only turn out to be for my benefit.

[chmp09]

The only reason why the IFI board was so expensive is because it was made specifically for FIRST. If it were used by a wide variety of people and produced on a larger scale, then it probably would have been a fraction of the price.