On Thu, 2 Mar 2006 00:25:30 -0500, "Jason Rogers" <jacaetevha at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Wow!  Do you mind if I submit a link to your site on the LinuxRobot Wiki?

I'm already listed on http://www.linuxrobots.org/wiki/Hobbyists

> Do you have a rough estimate of how much this think costs to build? 

Well, it didn't cost me very much, but I already had most of the parts,
including the rather expensive 3-axis digital compass, and the
lathe/milling machine to shape the metal and plastic parts.

> Is your software available for download?  

No, not at this time. I'm still not sure where I'm going to go with it, so
I don't want to release it quite yet.

> My goal is to take a working
> robot into a homeschool classroom (of about 5 or 6 kids, 7 and 8 years
> of age) and have them "plan the missions" as you say.  I would like
> them to use E-Toys to script the robot's movements.

You could build a much simpler robot than I have - mine is intended more
for outside use, and is fairly rugged, and was designed from the outset
with a bunch of components I already had. A very simple, somewhat smaller
robot would be quite possible, based on one of the cheap robot bases that
are available.

Check out http://www.budgetrobotics.com for a few cheap and simple robot
bases designed more along the lines of what you're after. Scooterbot looks
like a good example of a simple "putter around the floor" robot for
educational use.

Use a controller like this:  http://www.bdmicro.com/mavric-iib/ to handle
the hardware interfacing, add in a gumstix connext with a CF-stix for Wifi
access, and you're ready to have some serious fun.

Later,
Jon
--------------------------------------------------------------
   Jon Hylands      Jon at huv.com      http://www.huv.com/jon

  Project: Micro Seeker (Micro Autonomous Underwater Vehicle)
           http://www.huv.com