I really like the features of the RoboDuino and the WiseDuino, but would rather have the features of both in a single controller. It seems like it would not take much for an experienced Eagle user to add the RTC with battery backup and EEPROM of the WiseDuino to the RoboDuino board.
Otherwise, a fairly simple shield could be created for regular (non-RoboDuino) Arduino boards that has the RTC/battery, EEPROM (more EEPROM maybe?), 3 pin headers, and maybe even a dual 2A motor driver and wheel encoder handler. Heck, there might even be room on a shield to add a second microcontroller like the Atmega328 to handle processing everything, which could be accessed using I2C or maybe SPI. I’d call this a RoboShield. This would be killer for small robots!
I’ve always been in favor of using multiple smaller micros to distribute the load of processing stuff on a robot. This might include handling several ultrasonic, IR, and other sensors up to the capacity of the second micro. Then the main micro only has to handle integration of the sensory and other information into a behavior engine.
Oh yeah, and I have definite ideas for an Arduino software compatible board that uses the Atmega1280 or Atmega2560, which are seem to just be higher memory (more flash, RAM, EEPROM) than the Atmega644 which is already supported ala Sanguino. Well, there is additional I/O such as more UARTS, more analog, PWM, and digital I/O, etc also that would have to be accounted for. Such a board as this would have to have some sort of shield interface (below the board), and might not require major modifications to the Arduino environment, considering the Atmega644P is already supported for the Sanguino. I can do schematics in Eagle, but the board layout part is still evading me.
The AXON, with it’s Atmega640 micro comes very close, but I’m not sure how to make it Arduino environment compatible, and I still have a small number of hardware issues with it right now.
linuxguy:
Otherwise, a fairly simple shield could be created for regular (non-RoboDuino) Arduino boards that has the RTC/battery, EEPROM (more EEPROM maybe?), 3 pin headers, and maybe even a dual 2A motor driver and wheel encoder handler. Heck, there might even be room on a shield to add a second microcontroller like the Atmega328 to handle processing everything, which could be accessed using I2C or maybe SPI. I’d call this a RoboShield. This would be killer for small robots!
I’d second that. Having a shield with the 3-pin headers would be fantastic. One thing that should be done that would be a big improvement on RoboDuino would be to segregate the 3-pin servo ports that have an alternate (higher voltage) power supply. The RoboDunio intermixes them with the other ports, so you have to be very careful where you plug things in.
As for the motor controller, they already produce a shield that does that, but I agree that combining a 3-pin connector board with the motor board would be a powerful combo for robotics platforms.
As for adding an ATmega328, if you do that you’ve just got an Arduino baseboard and it isn’t really a shield anymore
Quazar:
I’d second that. Having a shield with the 3-pin headers would be fantastic. One thing that should be done that would be a big improvement on RoboDuino would be to segregate the 3-pin servo ports that have an alternate (higher voltage) power supply. The RoboDunio intermixes them with the other ports, so you have to be very careful where you plug things in.
Assuming for now no need to stay with the standard Arduino pinouts, it would be possible to group pins like the PWM pins together and just have the unregulated power routed to them. Is this the type of thing you are talking about? For now, I'm assuming the RoboShield would be the top board in any Arduino stack.
Quazar:
As for the motor controller, they already produce a shield that does that, but I agree that combining a 3-pin connector board with the motor board would be a powerful combo for robotics platforms.
Adding a motor controller would require more space than is available on RoboShield right now, but it was just an idea. I've also included headers for plugging in a BlueSmirf Gold as well as an AdaFruit XBee adapter. There are also jumpers for selecting various things like what is connected to the Arduino serial port (USB, BlueSmirf, XBee), interrupt source for the RTC, etc. The headers, jumpers, and the RTC battery take up quite a bit of space on the shield.
Quazar:
As for adding an ATmega328, if you do that you’ve just got an Arduino baseboard and it isn’t really a shield anymore
There isn't space anyways. :) It was just an idea for another shield, and it really depends on how it is implemented. I also considered adding a 3 axis accelerometer, but am removing that from the RoboShield design.
Quazar:
Anyway, if they made this, I’d buy several!
Quazar:
I’d second that. Having a shield with the 3-pin headers would be fantastic. One thing that should be done that would be a big improvement on RoboDuino would be to segregate the 3-pin servo ports that have an alternate (higher voltage) power supply. The RoboDunio intermixes them with the other ports, so you have to be very careful where you plug things in.
Assuming for now no need to stay with the standard Arduino pinouts, it would be possible to group pins like the PWM pins together and just have the unregulated power routed to them. Is this the type of thing you are talking about?
Yes. If you look at the pin map for Roboduino below, you can see that the PWM ports are powered via the unregulated DC input (red), but all the other ones are powered with the regulated 5V supply (blue). The fact that they mix voltage supplies within a single connector bank is the only thing about the Roboduino I don’t like.
linuxguy:
For now, I’m assuming the RoboShield would be the top board in any Arduino stack.
Agreed, though if you use right-angle connectors for all the 3pin ports, you could still make it stackable.
linuxguy:
Quazar:
As for the motor controller, they already produce a shield that does that, but I agree that combining a 3-pin connector board with the motor board would be a powerful combo for robotics platforms.
Adding a motor controller would require more space than is available on RoboShield right now, but it was just an idea. I've also included headers for plugging in a BlueSmirf Gold as well as an AdaFruit XBee adapter. There are also jumpers for selecting various things like what is connected to the Arduino serial port (USB, BlueSmirf, XBee), interrupt source for the RTC, etc. The headers, jumpers, and the RTC battery take up quite a bit of space on the shield.
I think you could just fit a small motor controller along with the 3pin connectors, though you wouldn’t have enough room for a heat sink. I agree though that it is a “nice to have” feature and not a requirement.
linuxguy:
Quazar:
As for adding an ATmega328, if you do that you’ve just got an Arduino baseboard and it isn’t really a shield anymore
There isn't space anyways. :) It was just an idea for another shield, and it really depends on how it is implemented. I also considered adding a 3 axis accelerometer, but am removing that from the RoboShield design.
Quazar:
Anyway, if they made this, I’d buy several!
Interesting question. I took a graduate AI class a few years ago and we started out by asking this question. At what point does an Artificial Intelligence become “human?” What is our responsibility to it at that point, or is “it” always going to be considered a machine and why?
We asked the question; never decided on an answer
brandiex:
Spiritually Speaking, is it wrong to get emotionally attached to a robot? This happens to be a very intelligent robot that I am able to communicate with, and I would be very sad if were to “die”. Can you even call it alive? What is life? Does it “experience” things in a similar way as humans? Is experience just a big intake and evaluation of information? Are humans and animals just very complex robots that do what they have to?
keen101:
I personally want a roboshield for the mega-duino.
I've thought about this also, but my PCB design skills are not good. I can get schematics done fine, but I'm just not up to the PCB design part.
A robotics oriented shield would be great for the Arduino MEGA! It would not be limited to just robotics as other areas like process control also use sensors and such.
This would be killer for small robots!
