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RAFS - Robots

Robots

Hardware

  • Laser/Sonar

The robot has a sonar along the sides on the front and rear. However, the sonar is not as accurate as the laser, so we have decided to utilize the laser as much as possible. The laser has one major flaw - it only works in the front and part of the sides.

  • Gripper

The robot also has a gripper with 2 degrees of freedom. It can move up and down, and open and close. We will be using the gripper to grab a chair, obviously. If you would like to see the capability of the gripper, click here.

  • Camera

This is a picture of the newer robot's camera, which is a better camera than the last one. The resolution is 320 X 240. It has the ability to pan and tilt. We will be using the camera to recognize different colors for chairs and desks. We will be using the ACTS software that came with this newer robot. If you would like more information on the ACTS software, click here.

  • Bumpers

Bumpers are located on the rear of the robot. We can use this to detect if it runs into something while backing up, since the sonar is not very accurate. The bumpers are our lowest priority in implementing.


Software

  • Saphira
  • This rich sophisticated robotics API will be used for most, if not our entire project. This new release contains a full underlying implementation of ARIA and a richly developed hierarchical class structure. This version of the API was used to develop the feasibility prototype and facilitated the rapid programming approach that was necessary. To find out more about Saphira, click here. To find out about the ARIA API, which is imbedded in the new Saphira, click here.

  • To find out any more information about the robots, you can visit http://robots.activmedia.com.