Now it is time to build a robotics application with a useful purpose. This chapter will expand on the last chapter by using a modified ARobot, an onboard laptop, and a Web camera to create your very own security monitor robot. You or someone you know might have experience using a Web camera to monitor a home while away. Although it can be quite useful to view images from a Web camera remotely, typically the camera is static and does not move. A Web camera attached to a mobile robot can be moved around an area, thus allowing the observer to change the area being observed.
In this chapter, we will build an application that you can use to operate an ARobot both remotely and by streaming images from a Web camera attached to an onboard laptop. The application will also be used to detect motion and send an e-mail that notifies the owner of the movement. This can be very useful as a security monitor that allows owners to observe areas in their home remotely.
The ARobot, which was introduced in Chapter 7, is a three-wheeled mobile robot available from Arrick Robotics (http://www.robotics.com). This expandable robot allows you to add attachments via pre-drilled holes in the metal chassis. To accommodate the application created in this chapter, you will need to add an onboard laptop (see Figure 8-1). The use of a laptop is necessary because we will be using a USB-enabled Web camera. The camera will be connected to the laptop and not the robot.
Tip
One alternative to using an onboard laptop is to use an embedded personal computer (PC) that runs the Compact Framework. You can purchase an embedded kit that includes all of the software and hardware you will need through the following URL: http://www.embeddedpc.net/ebox2300MSJK/tabid/111/default.aspx.
The cost of the kit is $250 U.S. dollars, and it includes an embedded system built on Vortex86 System-On-Chip technology, with 128 MB system memory, integrated audio, Ethernet, two serial ports, VGA, and 256 MB Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) bootable flash storage. The Microsoft Robotics Studio (MSRS) team used this kit to create the sumo robot that was used in the Microsoft Mobile and Embedded DevCon (MEDC) 2007. Developers can get more information on how to assemble their own sumo bot from the following Web site: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/robotics/bb403184.aspx.
The important thing to note in this chapter is that you are not limited to working with what comes in a robotics kit. Most robot kits are expandable and allow you to add sensors or actuators. Additionally, you can assemble your own custom robot using various electronic components. For example, one Microsoft employee from the Windows Mobile development team created his own robot using a smart phone, a LEGO NXT base, and MSRS (see the sidebar titled Profile: Brian Cross).
Profile: Brian Cross
Brian Cross has worked in the Windows Mobile group at Microsoft for several years. Cross, who earned a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Washington, is responsible for developing new application programming interfaces (APIs) for developers and for enhancing the developers’ experience. He earned this title because of his tenacious spirit, which was boldly demonstrated when he took it upon himself to build a robot using a Windows Mobile device.
In part, Cross built the robot he named WiMo (pronounced "Wee-mo", see http://www.wimobot.com/) because he has always been interested in robotics and electronic hardware. However, he specifically chose to use a Windows Mobile device because he wanted "...a fun way to show off many of the different features our phones offer in our software developer kit (SDK)." Cross also told me the following:
At some point, everyone will upgrade to a newer device. When someone does upgrade, what usually ends up happening to the device that they replaced? Often it sits on a shelf, gets lost, or even thrown away. What I wanted to show was that, while this device might be older, it is still quite a powerful little processor that can still be put to good use. At the very least, older devices could still be valuable in education.
In addition to demonstrating the features in the Mobile Developer SDK, WiMo uses MSRS. Cross continues to add new features and build new versions of the mobile bot. Besides the original "home brew" version (see http://www.wimobot.com/robots/WiMo), there is a LEGO NXT version (see http://www.wimobot.com/robots/NXT). WiMo itself uses a smart phone and can optionally be controlled remotely using a PC.
Cross likes using MSRS because, after the services have been created, additional programs can be easily written using VPL. He likes the modular design and use of generic services that MSRS provides. Cross said that in addition to the use of generic services, "WiMo has a service that manages the camera of the Windows Mobile device. With that service, anyone could take their Windows Mobile device and add it to their robot (WiMo or not) and use the camera just by plugging in the WiMo Camera Service."
Cross believes that the field of robotics is exciting and only just beginning to emerge. He can see a bright future in which robots will become ubiquitous with daily life. In terms of the immediate future, he believes that:
With personal robotic vacuum cleaners being somewhat normal nowadays, it is only a matter of time before more of our daily tasks are automated by a robot. Telepresence is also an area that I think could grow in the coming years. The ability to "be" somewhere else without having to travel can be quite compelling, especially as the mechanics and hardware of these telepresence robots advance.