Arduino and MK802 Robot, Controlled By Phone

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Arduino and MK802 Robot, Controlled By Phone

Posted by timothy on Saturday December 22, 2012 @08:18AM from the rubber-band-and-russian-accent dept.

beefsack writes "An engineer by the name of Andrej Skraba has combined an Arduino board and an MK802 mini PC running Ubuntu to create a robot which is controllable via its own node.js server and a mobile phone. Seen by some as products competing in a similar space, Andrej shows how the two devices can make the most of their unique features to complement each other, working together."

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Tape a phone on it by icebike · 2012-12-22 08:27 · Score: 1

Seems that the route to novelty and ingenuity these days requires you somehow cable a cell phone into your project.
Even when your computer-on-stick already has Wifi built in.

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Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
1. Re:Tape a phone on it by Threni · 2012-12-22 08:31 · Score: 0
  
  It could have been worse - this could have been another tiresome Raspberry Pi ("the cheap crap computer money can't buy") story.
2. Re:Tape a phone on it by 2.7182 · 2012-12-22 08:38 · Score: 1
  
  True. But instead we get another tiresome robot this-or-that story.
3. Re:Tape a phone on it by oodaloop · 2012-12-22 08:47 · Score: 1
  
  But instead we get another tiresome robot this-or-that story.
  Yeah. I'm tired of living in the future.
  
  --
  Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
4. Re:Tape a phone on it by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-22 08:53 · Score: 0
  
  I for one welcome our tiresome robot this-or-thats overlords.... provided they are well-armed and use their offensive capabilities to eliminate Slashdot editors.
5. Re:Tape a phone on it by crutchy · 2012-12-22 10:05 · Score: 1
  
  or another Windows 8 is Microsoft/Linux/Apple/Google FUD story... oh hang on this is slashdot; FUD stories NEVER get old :)
6. Re:Tape a phone on it by crutchy · 2012-12-22 10:06 · Score: 1
  
  ok i didn't proof read that one very well
I fail to see... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-22 08:37 · Score: 1

I fail to see how this is even remotely newsworthy. My undergraduate EECS projects were far more advanced than this.
Pointless by Animats · 2012-12-22 08:41 · Score: 5, Insightful

OK, so this guy has a dumb battery, motors, wheels platform, with no sensors. On this, he put a web server with WiFi, which he then controls from a cell phone. So all that this does is run two small DC motors under manual remote control.
This is lame even by amateur robotics standards today. There's enough compute power there for a full vision system. Running Apache and node.js is not useful. It might be worthwhile to get familiar with the technology, but you don't publicize it.
1. Re:Pointless by Noodlenose · 2012-12-22 08:57 · Score: 1, Flamebait
  
  Let me see your finished product and I will judge it for you. Sniping at somebody who might be an amateur roboticist and possibly wrote his first Java script is easy. Putting this into being isn't. Wanker.
2. Re:Pointless by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-22 09:00 · Score: 0
  
  Not to mention that you can buy Android/iPhone based drones that send video back to the phone today, which essentially does everything here and then a bunch more. That can be had for $299.
  But here is the difference - this is running Ubuntu! [/sarcasm]
3. Re:Pointless by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-22 09:07 · Score: 0
  
  This is lame even by amateur robotics standards today
  He was nice enough to include subtitles and point out each component. Most of the amateur showoff videos I've seen are full of random music (so you can't actually hear the robot), don't bother to explain anything, and sometimes go out of their way to make sure you can't tell if they're running in real-time or not. In that respect, this wasn't bad. Though I agree, running Ubuntu and Apache for a few simple commands is a complete waste of processing power.
  From Slashdot summary:
  
  Seen by some as products competing in a similar space, Andrej shows how the two devices can make the most of their unique features to complement each other [while] working together.
  No it didn't. Please stop lying.
4. Re:Pointless by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-22 09:12 · Score: 0
  
  >>Seen by some as products competing in a similar space, Andrej shows how the two devices can make the most of their unique features to complement each other >>[while] working together.
  >No it didn't. Please stop lying.
  But but.. but.. Ubuntu.. everything with Ubuntu deserves a hyped story!
5. Re:Pointless by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-22 09:26 · Score: 0
  
  OK, so this guy has a dumb battery, motors, wheels platform, with no sensors. On this, he put a web server with WiFi, which he then controls from a cell phone. So all that this does is run two small DC motors under manual remote control.
  This is lame even by amateur robotics standards today. There's enough compute power there for a full vision system. Running Apache and node.js is not useful. It might be worthwhile to get familiar with the technology, but you don't publicize it.
  It's fun. Let him enjoy his 15 minutes!
  Live and let live.
  Peace.
6. Re:Pointless by icebike · 2012-12-22 09:32 · Score: 1
  
  Sniping at somebody who might be an amateur roboticist and possibly wrote his first Java script is easy.
  
  Its Especially Easy, and certainly fair game when that person posts his first juvenile project on Youtube, then the maker of the computer SOC submits it to slashdot claiming its from an ENGINEER.
  
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7. Re:Pointless by icebike · 2012-12-22 09:38 · Score: 2
  
  It's fun. Let him enjoy his 15 minutes!
  The story was submitted by the someone associated with Miniand, the maker of the computer. This poor guy probably never dreamed it would end up on Slashdot. A blatant advertising ploy.
  
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  Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
8. Re:Pointless by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-22 10:13 · Score: 0
  
  Wow, John. Given some of your achievements I'd think you of all people would be supportive of people's technical projects big and small. Now if you were criticising Slashdot's decision to front page this...
9. Re:Pointless by VortexCortex · 2012-12-22 10:26 · Score: 1
  
  Let me see your finished product and I will judge it for you. Sniping at somebody who might be an amateur roboticist and possibly wrote his first Java script is easy. Putting this into being isn't.
  Wanker.
  Let me see your finished novel and I will judge it for you. Sniping at somebody who might be an amateur writer and possibly wrote his first critique is easy. Making snide remarks on Slashdot isn't.
  Hypocrite.
10. Re:Pointless by jerdnaabarks · 2012-12-22 11:18 · Score: 1
  
  Main thing is that combination of Arduino and MK802 removes the need for the cable as seen in this case: http://youtu.be/jf-cEB3U2UQ#t=11m28s And yes, by shown example all the computing power for machine vision etc. is now on board. Not to mention node.js javascript and firmata. Your observation about new computing power on board which becomes available is right. Lame? ... I'm sorry to hear that.
Sorry for being cheesy but... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-22 08:53 · Score: 0

I thought in Soviet Russia, robot control you!
Grammar by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-22 09:01 · Score: 0

"it's" means "it is"
"its" is the possessive form.
Ugh.
1. Re:Grammar by VortexCortex · 2012-12-22 10:34 · Score: 1
  
  "it's" means "it is"
  "its" is the possessive form.
  Ugh.
  Yes, and we all know this. However, we're just very complex sentient chemical reactions and thus we're prone to make mistakes. In fact one of the strengths of having such a large, inefficient pattern matching mind with many redundant information processing channels is that when said mistakes occur you can identify them and understand what the other communicator means -- Many time such errors are missed in the proof reading because the writer knows what they meant, and reads it as such, not because they can't follow the current iteration of the language's changing grammatic rules. Cyberneticists dream to one day achieve the level of comprehension that you now squander by balking at minor syntax errors like a dumb BASIC interpretor.
Beefsack is a business by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-22 09:11 · Score: 0

Specifically he sells the MK803 Android Mini PC: https://www.miniand.com/
Good attempt but not really worthy of a slashdot post...
This robot does illustrate the need for a common cabling standard for robotics.
1. Re:Beefsack is a business by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-22 09:44 · Score: 0
  
  Yep, not worthy!
2. Re:Beefsack is a business by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-23 10:00 · Score: 0
  
  Interesting the MK803 isn't that common, The mk802 is very popular and is being superceded by the mk808. These things are getting very powerful.
Not a Robot! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-22 09:19 · Score: 0

Please, please, remember this: it's NOT a ROBOT unless it drives by himself! This is just an expensive android controlled, half a meter high, rc car.
Sounds like FPS Russian! by Dr+Herbert+West · 2012-12-22 17:18 · Score: 1

The narrator's voice totally sounds like the FPS Russian's voice. Now I want an Arduino controlled 50-cal machine gun with explosive rounds!
Root Kit it for fun by epSos-de · 2012-12-22 21:29 · Score: 1

You can control it randomly too. The robot is controlled by address calls.

212.235.232.101:8080/1/100/1 - forward
212.235.232.101:8080/2/100/1 - stop
212.235.232.101:8080/3/100/1 - backward

100 is a parameter of speed of DC motor, it could go from 0 to 255.

Have fun messing around !

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~ Best man at your service.