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VIA-based Mobile Robot Design For Download
An anonymous reader writes "This article at DeviceForge introduces the "PC-bot" -- a new mobile robotics demonstration platform design that is being made available for free download from Roboteq. PC-bot was designed to be highly flexible and extensible so that it can serve as the basis for a wide range of customized mobile robot designs featuring web cameras, motion detection software, and more. Details on the mechanical, electronic, and software design are available at Roboteq's website. Currently the bot runs Windows, but Roboteq expects that one of the first enhancements from the user community will be Linux support." Unfortunately, there's no way to download the RoboteQ motor controller the design requires -- that will cost you about $500.
I was startled to see a new and unpredictable form of joke in these comments, implying that the robot would crash because it's powered by windows. You see, Windows crashes. So the robot will. Aha. So funny. I had not heard those implications before.
It was especially good when somebody implied that your screen would turn blue and the robot would begin a killing rampage. A robot rampaging and crushing Windows users is something I would have thought Linux users would cherish. Oh well.
Anyway, had you heard the joke about the cutting-edge Linux device driver for the new hardware?
No? Neither have I.