Neato Robotics XV-11 LIDAR Reverse Engineered

The bounty for hacking the Neato Robotics LIDAR has been claimed. The full 360 degree view of the sensor looks useful. Congrats to all!

In Stock: Nejisaurus PZ-58 Screw Pliers

I Heart Robotics is the robotics blogging division of I Heart Engineering and 'In Stock' is a new feature showcasing new products available from the I Heart Engineering store.

Today's product is the Neji-saurus PZ-58 Screw Pliers. One of the many great tools we found on our recent trip to Japan. These screw pliers are a unique high quality tool we have worked to import directly from Japan. Though the Neji-saurus is designed to assist in the removal of round, pan-head or truss screws, it is also capable of 'fixing' many other problems you may find.

We were about to record a video demonstrating the capabilities of this tool when we found this.




An English translation of the above video is also available.

Order now.

Playback: This month in delta robots

Another delta robot fighting against entropy.


Delta robots can also be used for 3D printing, bioengineering structures.


The carbon fiber is a nice touch, as is the nicely composited thumbs up making it look like the robot is really that fast.


Sometimes you need to put a lid on it.


A Lego model of an ABB Flexpicker Delta Robot. Hopefully the next version will be flex picking Lego cupcakes.

Update:
Over at BotJunkie they have more delta robot action.

Ceramic Printing Robot

Unfold has been continuing their work developing 3d printed ceramics and has recently collaborated and shared their techniques with an English potter Jonathan Keep.

Generously, Mr. Keep has started documenting these techniques on the Unfold ~fab blog. These results are exciting as 3D printed ceramics looks to be an area of open research both from an engineering perspective and from an artistic perspective.

AR.Drone + ROS + Vision

Updates to Brown University's ROS Software Repository should soon include the ardrone_brown driver which improve the AR.Drone's ROS performance with access to the front camera. The video above shows the system in action tracking an AR Marker.

Polling Interface: Sensor Taxonomy

Obviously you wouldn't classify a turkey as a bird, since they can't fly.
What would you classify the Kinect Sensor as?

Your suggestions in the comments, and your poll answers on the sidebar to the right.

ROS + Kinect: Turkey Day Treat a RGBIR-D Sensor for the Holiday

Here is some more great news on the ROS + Kinect front. The IR data is accessible from the Kinect. There are a lot of interesting implications of this in terms of performing tasks, starting with things like window detection and improved calibration. A robust glass detector would be very useful.

I want to test to see what kind of IR image this thing produces on the Kinect. Just need to find the person who borrowed it as part of some crazy scheme to track birds socializing at night.

Also today's treats cooked up by Willow Garage provide open source community developed Debian packages for the Kinect USB Driver, and Ubuntu Lucid and Maverick packages for installing the ROS Kinect drivers.

I heart Robotics is working on some tutorials and videos for the Kinect RGBIRD sensor and should have them up soon.

Update:
Look at this commit.

Progress on Kinect + ROS

It looks like ROS + Kinect is improving pretty quickly.

VP8 on Texai

This is a great video.

Here at I Heart Robotics, we believe in telepresense. Not only do we believe that it's real, but we also believe that it will change the world we live in. Imagine if instead of running the gauntlet of airtravel, you could just log into a robot and visit The Great Wall of China or the Pyramids or any of the other wonders of the world.

Imagine a shopping trip where if instead of clogging the streets of New York City by walking at the slowest pace possible, you could zip by teleoperating a robot going to visit a fancy SoHo boutique. Think of the hit you will make at a NYC night club when you drive up to the velvet rope with your entourage of technicians ready to hit the e-stop in the event of a malfunction or spilled drink. Also, I would like to point out the advantages of not having to take the subway, or a taxi or even worry about parking.

Imagine if you were stuck in a blizzard on a business trip unable to make it home for your son's or daughter's school play which you promised them on numerous occasions that you would not miss. Now imagine how happy they will be when they see you roll into the auditorium in a rented Texai. Now imagine how happy you will be when the video is not completely lagtastical. VP8 is a step toward making this dream a reality.

Beyond dreaming this will also help with the phase component of the teleoperation system control problem. There can be stability problems where the video feed is lagged 180 degrees out of phase, so that while the robot is actually turning to the right towards a wall, the video may be lagged to the point where it shows to robot turning left into the wall. The human operator does the obvious and turns the robot right into the wall. This could damage the wall and or the robot or worse. VP8 should help increase the phase margin.

Skybotix Flying with ROS

There seems to be something about Zurich and Micro Air Vechicles, maybe it's the alpine air. This video shows the Skybotix CoaX helicopter being tele-operated through ROS. On the software side of things the CoaX, appears to be running eRos, or something similar, on-board a Gumstix processor. It has basic support for running opencv on-board and is capable of transmitting images as a ROS topic. It's not clear how the IMU and optical flow data is made available in ROS, but overall their documentation looks good.

On the hardware side, the CoaX is equipped with both a pressure altimeter, for outdoor use, and a sonar altimeter, for indoor flight. It has two dsPIC microcontrollers, IMU and a Bluetooth or Zigbee radio. Optionally it can be purchased with a Gumstix Overo, WiFi and lateral IR sensors. The 340mm rotor diameter makes it capable of flight through small apertures and it's low center of gravity makes it aerodynamically stable.

I saw their live demo at IROS 2010 and can report that the aircraft had stable flights and seemed to hold up pretty well throughout the entire convention despite the crowds and near constant demos.

Update: I want a ROS Flag.

Robot Jobs: A change of seasons, a change of jobs?

For some reason or another, some of you may be looking for a job in the robotics field, and the Robotics Industries Association just posted some info about a position at Heartland Robotics.

Willow Garage also just announced new internship opportunities and don't forget to check the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society's Open Positions list which includes both academic and industrial robotics jobs.

Email us if your company has any positions open that you would like posted.

Virgina Tech's CHARLI walking

It's good to see that there are American research labs working on walking robots. While walking robots might not be the most thermodynamically efficient, they are capable of climbing stairs. Remember stairs are currently our only real defense against our future robot overlords.

More on CHARLI here.

Robot Experiment using Kinect

Great work on getting this running! This is probably the beginning of exponential growth in Kinect robot videos.

RobotBox: A Community Showcase for Robots

After you have spent hours/day/months/years building your robot and getting it working, what's next?

That is where RobotBox comes in as a gallery for robots and way to showcase your robot and the build process and also get feedback on your design.

We asked William Cox, the founder of RobotBox, to highlight some of his favorite robots that are on RobotBox. Here they are:

M&M Sorter by cakemonster
This mini robot sorts mini M&Ms into mini piles.

Peep by topazx2
A beautiful nano-sumo robot

TeamUR the Third by void_main
An autonomous desktop robot with personality

RobotBox is also offering free wheels and has posted a $200 $300 bounty on reverse engineering the Neato robotics XV-11 LIDAR.

Kinecting to ROS

This is the driver we have been looking for. The ability to the use the Kinect RGB-D Sensor with ROS is a complete game changer. 3D robotics is here and now hobbyists can afford a range finding sensor capable of implementing SLAM. Welcome to the future!

28 gram Machine Vision Camera + Gumstix Overo

First the Kinect driver comes out, and now this is coming out. A compact machine vision quality camera that connects to the DSP enhanced OMAP based Overo Gumstix will be a huge boost to using computer vision for UAVs and smaller robots where weight and rolling shutter are a concern.

Kinection Established!

The driver is now available! Congrats Hector and the EFF and thanks adafruit industries. Now we just need ROS Drivers.

Kinect Data Dump

The data dump is here. A demo motor controller is up here.

Work here at I Heart Robotics has started.
The device appears to enumerate under GNU/Linux without a problem.

[33826.600086] usb 2-1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 9
[33826.732779] usb 2-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[33826.733004] hub 2-1:1.0: USB hub found
[33826.733175] hub 2-1:1.0: 3 ports detected
[33827.520182] usb 2-1.2: new full speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 10
[33827.637958] usb 2-1.2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[33829.072178] usb 2-1.1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 11
[33829.184298] usb 2-1.1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[33830.608181] usb 2-1.3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 12
[33830.719777] usb 2-1.3: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice

lsusb

Bus 002 Device 012: ID 045e:02ae Microsoft Corp. 
Bus 002 Device 011: ID 045e:02ad Microsoft Corp. 
Bus 002 Device 010: ID 045e:02b0 Microsoft Corp. 
Bus 002 Device 009: ID 0409:005a NEC Corp. HighSpeed Hub

lsusb -v -s 2:10

Bus 002 Device 010: ID 045e:02b0 Microsoft Corp. 
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x045e Microsoft Corp.
  idProduct          0x02b0 
  bcdDevice            1.05
  iManufacturer           1 Microsoft
  iProduct                2 Xbox NUI Motor
  iSerial                 0 
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           18
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0 
    bmAttributes         0xc0
      Self Powered
    MaxPower              100mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           0
      bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
      bInterfaceSubClass      0 
      bInterfaceProtocol      0 
      iInterface              0 
Device Status:     0x0000
  (Bus Powered)

lsusb -v -s 2:11

Bus 002 Device 011: ID 045e:02ad Microsoft Corp. 
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass          255 Vendor Specific Class
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x045e Microsoft Corp.
  idProduct          0x02ad 
  bcdDevice            1.00
  iManufacturer           1 Microsoft
  iProduct                2 Xbox NUI Audio
  iSerial                 4 B44885108344043B
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           46
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0 
    bmAttributes         0xc0
      Self Powered
    MaxPower                0mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           4
      bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
      bInterfaceSubClass      0 
      bInterfaceProtocol      0 
      iInterface              0 
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               1
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               1
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x82  EP 2 IN
        bmAttributes           13
          Transfer Type            Isochronous
          Synch Type               Synchronous
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x020c  1x 524 bytes
        bInterval               5
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x02  EP 2 OUT
        bmAttributes           13
          Transfer Type            Isochronous
          Synch Type               Synchronous
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x004c  1x 76 bytes
        bInterval               1
Device Qualifier (for other device speed):
  bLength                10
  bDescriptorType         6
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass          255 Vendor Specific Class
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  bNumConfigurations      1
Device Status:     0x0001
  Self Powered

lsusb -v -s 2:12

Bus 002 Device 012: ID 045e:02ae Microsoft Corp. 
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x045e Microsoft Corp.
  idProduct          0x02ae 
  bcdDevice            1.0b
  iManufacturer           2 Microsoft
  iProduct                1 Xbox NUI Camera
  iSerial                 3 B00365604849043B
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           32
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0 
    bmAttributes         0xc0
      Self Powered
    MaxPower               16mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           2
      bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
      bInterfaceSubClass    255 Vendor Specific Subclass
      bInterfaceProtocol    255 Vendor Specific Protocol
      iInterface              0 
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            1
          Transfer Type            Isochronous
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0bc0  2x 960 bytes
        bInterval               1
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x82  EP 2 IN
        bmAttributes            1
          Transfer Type            Isochronous
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0bc0  2x 960 bytes
        bInterval               1
Device Qualifier (for other device speed):
  bLength                10
  bDescriptorType         6
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  bNumConfigurations      1
Device Status:     0x0001
  Self Powered

lsusb -v -s 2:9

Bus 002 Device 009: ID 0409:005a NEC Corp. HighSpeed Hub
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            9 Hub
  bDeviceSubClass         0 Unused
  bDeviceProtocol         1 Single TT
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x0409 NEC Corp.
  idProduct          0x005a HighSpeed Hub
  bcdDevice            1.00
  iManufacturer           0 
  iProduct                0 
  iSerial                 0 
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           25
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0 
    bmAttributes         0xe0
      Self Powered
      Remote Wakeup
    MaxPower              100mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           1
      bInterfaceClass         9 Hub
      bInterfaceSubClass      0 Unused
      bInterfaceProtocol      0 Full speed (or root) hub
      iInterface              0 
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            3
          Transfer Type            Interrupt
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0001  1x 1 bytes
        bInterval              12
Hub Descriptor:
  bLength               9
  bDescriptorType      41
  nNbrPorts             3
  wHubCharacteristic 0x002d
    Per-port power switching
    Compound device
    Per-port overcurrent protection
    TT think time 16 FS bits
  bPwrOn2PwrGood       50 * 2 milli seconds
  bHubContrCurrent    100 milli Ampere
  DeviceRemovable    0x0e
  PortPwrCtrlMask    0xff
 Hub Port Status:
   Port 1: 0000.0503 highspeed power enable connect
   Port 2: 0000.0103 power enable connect
   Port 3: 0000.0503 highspeed power enable connect
Device Qualifier (for other device speed):
  bLength                10
  bDescriptorType         6
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            9 Hub
  bDeviceSubClass         0 Unused
  bDeviceProtocol         0 Full speed (or root) hub
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  bNumConfigurations      1
Device Status:     0x0001
  Self Powered

The sensor head itself, not including cables, is about 430 grams. Expect a new lighter weight case design with a tripod mount on thingiverse soon.

Right now it uses a wall wart to supply sufficient power for the device without violating the USB spec. It should be possible to modify the device to use a USB Y-cable like one of the Hokuyo lasers.

[From: adafruit industries]

Kinecting...

More from KinectMan2. More info here.

Happy 3rd Birthday ROS!!

[From: ROS.org News Page]

Thing-a-month #11: HEXNINJAS

I Heart Robotics has a new thing this month and it's featured in our new movie entitled HEXNINJAS!

A week ago our development team was contacted by a reader requesting a casemod for the Hexbug Nano. The team launched into action and developed several prototypes, a week later this is what survived.

The prototypes are not super rugged, but some improvements will be tested and we hope to offer these in our shapeways store in the near future.

In the meantime, if you have a 3D printer the files can be downloaded from thingiverse.

More places to visit robots in Japan

Our pals over at Plastic Pals, found some more great places to visit in Tokyo.

Ready, set...

Kinect!

Updates:
Bounty is now $2000!
Teardown is here.

[From: HAD]

Playback: Last month in delta robots

Looking back at some of the delta robots of October.


I personally hate doing voice-overs for videos so it is nice to find this delta robot video by Filippo Sanfilippo with an excellent voice-over.


I'm tempted to say this is art. Despite the competition, this robot is I Heart Robotics' parallel manipulator of the month for October! Anyone want to make a logo for the award?


Simulador excelente!


いいです。 デルタロボットはロボコンマガジンNo.72。


Here is a nice parametric delta robot model in solidworks.


This one is made from a Novint Falcon!


Clearly, there are times where regular Legos are not big enough, for those times there are TETRIX elements.


Instead of ending this episode of playback with the usual snack/breakfast related video, we will take this opportunity to remind you to brush you teeth.

AUVSI Q&A

We found this video from AUVSI highlighting the work of the congressional UAV caucus building awareness of UAVs and other unmanned vehicles amongst congressional members and their staffs. This inspired us to ask AUVSI a few questions about what they do and why they do it.

Whats is AUVSI and why should we care?

AUVSI is a nonprofit organization representing the entire global unmanned systems community through advocacy, education and leadership. The organization serves more than 6,000 individuals from 55+ countries and 1,500+ organizations. AUVSI has grown to become the largest organization in the world representing this industry because we provide top notch information through our magazine, e-newsletter and website and also through social media sources now too. We also host events that bring industry leaders together including our annual convention which recently hosted 450+ exhibitors and more than 6,000 attendees. AUVSI also provides advocacy support, networking opportunities, information, studies and other resources to our members.

How does AUVSI see hobbyists and entrepreneurs fitting into the long term picture? Should they become members of AUVSI?

Hobbyists are already members of AUVSI! We would love to see more of the hobbyists and entrepreneurs get involved with our advocacy efforts. This is an industry where so much of the technology can be impacted by the efforts of small businesses and hobbyists who represent the grass roots of the industry.

Is shared airspace inevitable? Is it going to be safe?

We believe shared airspace will only happen when manned and unmanned aircraft can be integrated safely. Safety is priority one for all involved from FAA and similar organizations worldwide to manufacturers.

Does AUVSI have any estimates about possible jobs that could be created
by better regulations which allow commercial operation of UAVs for tasks
like real estate photography?

We recently put together a report for the Congressional UAV Caucus and it addresses your questions about job estimates.

If you are looking for a project for your schools robotics club, information about their student UAS (UAV) competition can be found here. A list of all the student competitions is also available.

AUVSI also has a call for papers up for AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems North America 2011 conference in Washington, DC. Abstracts are due November 10th so don't delay.

Here are some more videos from AUVSI

Micromouse News and Video

The 31st All Japan Micromouse Robot Competition is coming up on November 20th and 21st. Our friend, Lem Fuggit from Robots Dreams has more information here and will be leading a tour of Akihibara on the 19th for overseas visitors. Also check out his exclusive close-up look at Kato-san's Egg Torte micromouse.


Speaking of Kato-san, here is a highspeed test video troubleshooting Tetra's turning problems. Micromouse Drifting!!


Last weeks Egg Torte Video from Kato-san.


Last weeks Tetra Video from Kato-san.


This video is from the 2010 Taiwan MicroMouse Half-size competition with Ng Beng Kiat from Singapore.


Ng Beng Kiat from Singapore at 2010 Taiwan MicroMouse Full-size competition.


Ng Beng Kiat from Singapore at 2010 Taiwan MicroMouse Full-size competition.


Kato-san at 2010 Taiwan MicroMouse Full-size competition.


hidejr1053's Vacuum Mouse


hidejr1053's turn testing setup.


This is a great micromouse tutorial from San jose State University.

A Trip to Guang Hua Digital Plaza

While preparing for the trip to Taiwan I read about a place called Guang Hua Digital Plaza. This looked like an interesting place to visit, so on the last day in Taiwan I managed to make a quick trip.

The area near the digital plaza was filled with motherboards and scooters as far as the eye could see.

During the trip, someone told me that there are more scooters than people in Taiwan. For some reason I believe them.

This particular electronics store had a wide selection of components and tools.

Their website is here.

Bins everywhere filled with every type of electrical component imaginable.

Their selection of power resistors was quite impressive.

A wide selection of metal film and Kapton tapes.

Many more computer stores

Computer cases

More electronics stores

Gigabyte!

This is a computer hospital, it looks like a veterinarian's office to me.

This is what the main entrance to the Guang Hua Digital Plaza looks like at night.

Six floors of electronics and computer components.

Every major computer band is represented here.

Gun Heaven Automatic Electric Gun Specialty Store.

If you are visiting Taiwan I strongly suggest that you make time to visit the Guang Hua Digital Plaza as the total experience is hard to capture photographically.



To get there, first fly to Taiwan, take a bus from the airport to the Taipei Main Station, then take the MRT to the Zhongxiao Xinseng Station.

Exit the station via exit #4, and follow the green path shown above.

For some reason the exit numbers are clearly marked.

It was nice meeting you Taiwan, I hope to visit again soon. Now it's back to our regular programming and debugging.