Portland Area Robotics Society

Regular Meeting Minutes

Feb 3, 2007, 10:30AM

Agenda:

  1. PDXBot Update

  2. Presentations

    1. Line Maze Challenge

    2. Embedded Linux programming for RoboMagellan

  1. News & Reports

    1. Show-and-tell

Announcements

  1. PDXBot dates are set %G–%@ May 19 and 20 2007. Indoor events will likely be on Saturday, outdoor events will be on Sunday.

  2. Annual membership renewals are due -- $12.

Presentations

Line Maze Challenge

The current challenge is a simple maze. The robot must negotiate intersections and find the end-point of the maze. You may still try earlier challenges %G–%@ ’¡Èright angle challenge’¡É and ’¡ÈThird turn challenge’¡É. Monty Goodson demonstrated his line follower, and a good discussion of his robot design ensued.

Embedded Linux programming for a Robomagellan.

Robomagellan from Open Source tools:

Ubuntu linux, Open Embedded, JAL, python, Mark-III, and NHLU2


Overall Strategy is to use a NSLU2 network-attached device for high-level processing, and use it to command a Mark-III board that commands the robot. Programming on the NSLU2 is written in Python. The programming on the Mark-III board is written in JAL.


The robot platform will have motor control, accelerometers, rotational sensors, proximity sensors, steering servos, USB camera, etc..


Challenges:


Next Steps: