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Maslab 2009 Kit
Students will be provided with all the materials they will need to construct their robots from scratch: a single board computer, a robotics controller board, sensors, motors, wood, plexiglass, bolts, screws - the sky is the limit and as always we expect students will constantly suprise us with clever ideas and smarter robots.
Electronics
The kit's most notable features include a 1.6 GHz x86 PC with 1 GB of RAM and a solid state hard drive, a robotics interface board allowing the PC to interface to sensors and actuators, and a color camera.
Maslab 2009 is seeing the debut of the uOrc (the micro version of Our Robotics Controller) The robotics interface board (named the Orc Board) was designed and manufactured for the Maslab staff and is an evolved version from previous year's competitions.
You can find documentation, firmware, and a community forum at the official orc board website: http://www.orcboard.org
Sensors and Actuators
In addition to the color camera, students can choose a number of other sensors and actuators. Some of the available sensors include short and long range infrared range finders, ultrasonic sonar rangefinders, break-beam sensors, and numerous types of switches. Actuators include servo motors, gearhead motors, solenoids, chain drives, and more.
Students are allowed to obtain other sensors and actuators which they think will be helpful, subject to approval by the staff and a $100 spending limit. A team might try to use a digital compass to enhance their navigation system, for example, or purchase a more powerful servo motor to construct a large robotic arm.
Programming Environment
This year's robots will run Ubuntu GNU/Linux. Students will work in Java and the Maslab staff will provide the following software:
- A hardware interface library to access the many featuers of the Orc Board.
- An image processing library for camera control, image storage, and basic image manipulation.
- A flexible telemetry package that allows students to view sensor data, images, maps, and any other program output remotely in real time.
Student are allowed and encouraged to modify and improve any of our software. We provide it to accelerate the design process and free students to work on the more interesting parts, like control systems, signal processing, and AI.
Construction Materials
A variety of construction materials and tools are available for students, including polycarbonate, wood, bolts, screws, casters, etc. Students are free to use any construction material they desire, and many take advantage of this: some robots have machined aluminum cases, or ABS plastic cases cut on a laser cutter.
While the staff tries to maintain an adequate stock of basic building materials, students are expected to locate and acquire additional materials and parts. Maslab also maintains a modest set of construction tools, but some teams will want to use their own tools.
Students are encouraged to take classes at the student shop or the Edgerton shop before Maslab begins so that they will have access to those facilities.