Activ
Media Robotics
and goes RS232-level high when the robot’s batteries drop below a set (nominally 11
VDC) voltage level.
PC Control Panel
User-accessible communication and control-port connectors, switches, and indicators for
the onboard PC are on the Computer Control Panel, found on the left strut below the
User Control Panel described earlier in this chapter. There also are switches and
connectors associated with the Performance PeopleBot’s wireless Audio/Video (A/V)
system (see below).
The computer’s controls and ports use common connectors, such as the standard
monitor DSUB and PS/2 connectors for the mouse and keyboard. The Ethernet is a
10/100Base-T standard RJ-15 socket.
The
ON/OFF
slide switch directly controls power to the onboard PC—through
Main
Power
. Unlike some earlier versions which included a delayed power shutdown, this
computer power switch’s effects are immediate. The
PWR
LED lights when the computer
has power.
The
HDD
LED lights when the onboard PC accesses the hard-disk drive. The RESET button
warm-restarts the PC.
Operating the Onboard PC
This is a brief overview of operating Performance PeopleBot’s onboard PC. Please
consult the
Computer Systems Documentation
and the OS manufacturer’s
documentation for more detail.
Activ
Media Robotics’ software runs over either Microsoft
Windows (currently Windows 2000®) or RedHat® Linux (currently version 7.x).
Accordingly, we prefer (the latter, in particular) and support those OSes on the onboard
PC.
When we perform the installation and configuration, we install our robotics and
accessory software typically in
/usr/local
on Linux systems, or in
C:\Program
Files\ActivMedia Robotics
under Windows. Of course, we install the appropriate
drivers for the various accessory expansion cards, such as for a framegrabber or sound
card. Please consult the respective
Activ
Media Robotics application software manuals,
such as the ActivMedia Color Tracking System (ACTS) for the video framegrabber or
Festival for the sound card.
The first time you access the onboard PC, we recommend that you put the robot up on
blocks so that it cannot inadvertently move and wreak havoc with external connections.
Then attach a keyboard, monitor, and mouse to their respective sockets on the
Computer Control Panel. Switch
Main Power
and then the computer power switch on.
After bootup, log in to the system. We’ve already created two users: one with common
systems and file read/write permissions (
guest
) and one with full-access to the PC
software and OS—
root
(Linux) or
administrator
(Windows). If there is a password
(usually not) it’s
activmedia
. When connected directly, we recommend you log in with
full-access capabilities so that you can do systems setup and maintenance, such as
change passwords, add users, and set up the network. Do note that with Linux systems,
you cannot log in remotely over the network as
root
; you must log in as a common user
and use the
‘su –‘
command thereafter to attain superuser (root) status.
Once logged into a Windows system, it’s simply a matter of clicking the mouse to select
programs and applications. With Linux, use the ‘startx’ command to enable the X-
Windows desktop and GUI environment. You might perform some of the QuickStart
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