These small robots were designed to be a much smaller replacement for robots that are typically used to teach the ROS (Robotic Operating System). This compact form factor allows educators to develop multi-robot systems that can fit on a desktop, removing the burden of having to arrange a classroom specifically for teaching robotics concepts. The robots are quite capable despite their diminutive stature, features include:
- Stepper motor drives, providing open loop odometry
- Infrared uplink and downlink communications
- On-board charger and contact charging points for in-experiment charging.
- Two front facing IR proximity sensors
- Downwards facing IR line detector
A ROS stack was developed to control the robots from a central work station, allowing real world demonstration of the power of the ROS system, while keeping cost to a minimum. These robots have been used successfully in teaching robotics concepts and low level microcontroller programming in our private tutoring sessions. A detailed set of logs regarding the development of these robots can be found here and some further details here.
Below is a crude playlist of un-edited videos that demonstrate the robots.