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Post by Dingo on Aug 6, 2004 15:56:33 GMT 10
So Bones, what operating system is your beast going to use?
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Post by Bones on Aug 6, 2004 19:46:23 GMT 10
I'm going to use Windows XP for the moment.
Yes I know!!!! I will be using linux later but I need to learn that first. Just the ease of connection to everything with XP and the ammount of info out there to connect to the real world. ( and viruses F#@%#@%*).
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Post by Dingo on Aug 6, 2004 19:57:05 GMT 10
using what works is better than using something that doesn't  BTW there is a version of Linux for Robotics called....umm...I think LinuxRT (for Real Time). It has interupts within the Kernel (or something) that allows it to react faster. Might be worth having a look at. BTW I run Fedora 2 at home so if I can help I'm more than happy.......but I'm no Guru by any means. |
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Post by Bones on Aug 6, 2004 20:19:30 GMT 10
Thanks that would be good. I just need to get time to have a look at it. Working full time and doing UNI externally takes up all my time. (And the girlfriend oops).
Hopefully soon
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Post by donburch on Jul 24, 2006 22:20:27 GMT 10
Hi Bones,
I am also interested in robotics OS because, lets face it, a Basic Stamp isn't going to have the grunt to do any worthwhile image recognition (which is the direction I think I'm interested in).
I am also using WinXP at home & work - though I am keen to get away from the M$ monopoly. I started dabbling with linux last year, but got put off by the dual boot limitations. I'm now using VMware so I can hotkey between WinXP and linux ... sooo much more convenient ! Currently using Ubuntu and it installed easily and seems a good system, at least as far as my learning has gone.
Can't say I'm looking to the next level of learning linux - writing and compiling programs - with all of the unix terminology.
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Post by Dingo on Jul 24, 2006 23:29:30 GMT 10
yeah, I think Ubuntu is a watershed in Linux, is only with it that I've started to use Linux more than Windows. Don't forget that an ARM9 with a couple of megs of ram can run all the linux you need for some things The new AVR32 from Atmel (so new it is only prototypes at this stage) runs Linux on very little power etc - so I think Linux will be the focus of most future robotics - at least for a while yet with things like LinuxRT etc. |
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Post by donburch on Jul 25, 2006 17:05:51 GMT 10
Unfortunately when you get away from the late linux distributions (e.g. Ubuntu and Mandrake), the unix/linux market still seems fragmented and excessively technical.
I haven't looked at LinuxRT yet, but would expect it to be a step back to the cryptic command line, writing device drivers, and having to port to specific hardware. That is not the sort of detail I'm interested in - I want a platform that just works, and lets me work on the higher level functions like artificial intelligence and machine vision.
I guess there are really 2 different robotics markets. LEGO, Parallax, etc are in the hobby market; for whom a bot with 4-bit CPU, wheels and sensors is a big deal - and the commercial / academic robotics market uses 32-bit processors on real-world applications, but assumes Engineering degree background. The only product I have seen which seems to bridge these two markets was the ER1 (http://www.evolution.com/er1/) - however this is no longer available except with their US$7500 Software Development Kit.
So what's the answer ? I guess that hobbyists train themselves to a point where they can join the professional market, and get a job in the industry, whereupon they get to work with 'professional' tools.
If companies can sell their 'advanced' tools for big bucks to universities and commercial clients, why would they want to support individual hobbyists at give-away prices ?
So that leaves Open Source projects with lots of different objectives and choices of environment, and utilizing the 'spare time' of few developers.
Now enter Microsoft Robotics Studio.
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