communications, command and server-information packet processing, cycle timing,
and multithreading, as well as a variety of accessory controls, such as for the PTZ robotic
camera, the PeopleBot Gripper, scanning laser-range finder, motion gyros, among many
others.
What’s more, it comes with source code so that you may examine the software and
modify it for your own sensors and applications.
Saphira
Figure 5. ACTS extracts color blobs from a
video frame and sends localizing information
to the client for tracking.
Saphira
, including the Colbert language, is a full-featured robotics control environment
developed at SRI International’s Artificial Intelligence Center. Saphira and its ARIA
foundation form the robotics-control and applications-development foundation for
much of the
Activ
Media Robotics Basic Suite and many other ventures. The complete,
licensed Saphira robotics development environment, including C/C++ libraries, GUI
interface and Simulator, comes
bundled with your
Activ
Media
robot.
ACTS
Activ
Media Robotics’ Color Tracking
System (
ACTS
) is a GUI program that
works with your color camera and
video framegrabbing hardware to
identify and track colored objects in
its field of vision. The software comes
with your Performance PeopleBot’s
vision system and interfaces with your
robot-control client software. Please
consult the
ACTS Manual
for
operation and programming details.
Laser Navigation and Localization
A separate
Laser Navigation and
Localization
package is available as a Saphira add-on. It is a comprehensive suite of
software tools and applications by which, with your laser-scanning/range-finder enabled
robot, you automatically create, edit, and use maps and floorplans for advanced
robotics applications including localization and gradient navigation.
T
HE
P
IONEER
L
EGACY
Commercially introduced in the summer of 1995, Pioneer 1 is the original platform. It
came with a single-board 68HC11-based robot microcontroller and the Pioneer Server
Operating System (PSOS) software. Its low-cost and high-performance caused an
explosion in the number of researchers and developers who now have access to a real,
intelligent mobile robotic platform.
Pioneer 1 and AT
Intended mostly for indoor use on hard, flat surfaces, the Pioneer 1 has solid rubber tires
and a two-wheel differential, reversible drive system with a rear caster for balance. The
Pioneer 1 came standard with seven sonar range finders (two side-facing and five
forward-facing) and integrated wheel encoders.
Software-wise, the Pioneer 1 initially served as a platform for SRI International's AI/fuzzy
logic-based Saphira robotics applications development. But it wasn't long before its
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