Intel combines Robots, WLANs, and Linux

An anonymous reader writes "This article by a researcher in Intel's Emerging Platforms Lab details some of Intel's current research into wireless, mobile robotics technology. A key goal of the effort, according to the article, is to efficiently combine the two technologies -- mobile robotics and wireless networks -- so that mobile robots can serve as gateways into wireless sensor networks. The Intel project is providing robotics researchers with a robotics development package that includes standardized silicon, a Linux-based open-source operating system, and open-source software drivers for robotics applications. Additionally, Intel has released a test version of a technical library for building Bayesian networks, which will help advance the ability of robots to navigate their environments, and pilot systems based on Intel's open-source packages are already being deployed in a variety of flexible environments in agricultural, security, and military applications."

Comments

The Three Laws of Robitcs

[march]

The Three Laws of Robotics....

1. A robot may not install Windows products, or, through inaction, allow a Windows products to be installed.
2. A robot must obey the orders set forth in the GPL except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect the open source initiative so long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

:-)

Looks interesting

[Timesprout]

I'm wondering though since they are not actually all that interested in the physical capabilities of the robots, concentrating instead on group intelligence why do they actually build the robots?(OK I know geeks and their toys).

Surely the robot controller code could be emulated purely in software to determine how the robot will respond, a much more sophisticated version of the recent Java battle bots if you will.

Is there some benefit to physically building the robot when researching group intelligence ?

Research cool, not consumer cool

[JasonFleischer]

So everyone's first instinct is to make some disparaging remark about how combining buzzwords --> profit!!!! I don't think that's what this is about. This has nothing to do with consumers, and presumably therefore little in the way of profit for Intel. This is about adapting a consumer technology for a research area in a highly useful way.

Mobile robotics has been hard hit recently, when one of the main companies making robots (Nomadic Technologies) was acquired by 3COM in 2000 for their wireless networking technologies. Obviously 3COM had no interest in research robots that cost thousands but sell only hundreds of units. Since then there's been a bit of a hole in the market for somebody to sell prepackaged wireless robot stuff to researchers, especially those that work in the software/AI/algorithms end of things don't care to spend effort developing hardware.

Intel's Centrino blah blah is supposed to make connected mobile computing easy and increase battery life. Well guess what drives my ancient Nomad Scout robot? A laptop connected to the robot's power supply in a hack'd fashion, communicating using a USB-driven RF link. This platform could have saved a couple of months development of things which aren't exactly shining examples of engineering anyway.

This hardware isn't the sort of thing that the average /.'er is going to drool over and plot how to justify purchasing it to their spouse. But it is very useful for the couple of thousand mobile robotics researchers around the planet.

Intel Stayton boards

[CTho9305]

These boards are really cool (Stayton is used on the CMU TagBots). We (CMU Robotics Club) normally use a board designed by robotics club members to control robots, but they are based on 20MHz PICs, and don't have and wireless support (at least presently). When combined with the Intel board, however, the big processing can be done there, and the Cerebellum can just be used as a smart motor driver and sensor interface board.

This lets the robots run more complex code and communicate with each other wirelessly. Intel has provided CMU with enough boards for a LOT of cool projects.

Intel + WLAN + Linux == unsupported

[SilverSun]

I find this article very interesting, especially since I just recieved an e-mail from Intel custumer support, telling me that my centrino based laptop's wireless network adapter (Pro100) is not supported with linux. After asking when I can expect drivers, I got a friendly e-mail, telling me that linux support is not planned in the near future....

I think this is symptomatic for many big companies. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand does...

Cheers, Peter