Abotics - Mobile Robotic Services
http://www.abotics.com/abotics_projects.htm
by Abe Howell and Dave Sersen
Mobile Robotic Services (MRS) is a unique software application and architecture that allows
end users to create, compile, upload and store programs for a low-cost mobile robot using a
web capable mobile device (notebook, tablet pc, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)) using Bluetooth
and a Web Service. In addition, users can manually control the robot with and/or without a
network connection and interrogate attached sensors using a mobile device. A Web Service has
been leveraged to take advantage of a desktop/server computing power for the robot program
compilation and database storage. This project started out as an entry for the Microsoft sponsored
2004 Imagine Cup Competition, but has expanded and was recently presented at the 2004 IEEE
Electro/Information Technology Conference (EIT).
At the start of this project we were targeting the Imagine Cup Competition and had
approximately 6 weeks before the first round of the local competition. This 6-week time frame
also included the initial brainstorming sessions for our basic project idea. Our team consisted of
(2) Computer Science students, (1) Electrical Engineer and (1) Mechanical Engineer.
With all the technical bases covered we figured that this project was feasible.
From the beginning we knew that access/control of the serial port on the mobile
device was going to require a significant amount work and coding. Our team’s previous
mobile device serial port experience has been with Metrowerks Code-Warrior for the Palm OS.
We knew in advance that going this route would eliminate us from the competition due
to the time constraint, so we decided to look into using a Pocket PC running
Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 software with the .Net Compact Framework. After some
additional research it was discovered that the .Net Compact Framework doesn’t
provide any high-level serial port functionality and that we would need to
code/develop this ourselves. Finally, after numerous Internet searches we
came across the Franson SerialTools website and decided to download a 14-day
trial copy. Literally within minutes we had created a fully working simple application
for an HP iPaq4155 using the supplied sample programs.
Needless to say, we successfully finished in time for the local round of the
competition and were lucky enough to take first place and move onto the East
Coast Regional Round. Unfortunately, we were up against strong competition
during the Regional round and didn’t make it to the National Round, but
had a great time throughout the entire process. Currently, the project
is still under development, but we intend to move forward and eventually
release a beta version for testing in the classroom environment. Since the
competition, Abe Howell’s Robotics has purchased the Standard SerialTools
for both the .Net Desktop Framework and the .Net Compact Framework so
that we can continue to enhance and fully develop MRS and also investigate
new applications. Below you can see several screenshots of our final application
as it appears on the Pocket PC and also a picture of the low cost robot.
Main Screen
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Code Panel
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Manual Mode Screen
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Local Program Storage/Retrieval
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Low Cost Mobile Robot
For additional information and updates please visit the following web site
http://www.abotics.com/abotics_projects.htm
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