Laptop-Webcam Robot for the real world

They may wireless webcams that don't need a laptop at all.
http://www.nextag.com/wireless-webcam/search-html

This might be what you need.  I don't think the web cam pans up and
down which might be a nice feature but it does have an arm.  Maybe you
could secure the eye to the arm?

http://www.evolution.com/er1/

This sounds like a good interim solution to see if the video link works.
No need to spend dozens or hundreds of hours developing a robotic base
if the video turns out to not be as useful as you'd like. Just place a
camera with an pan/tilt head on a dolly, and have a person move the
dolly as needed. The person controling the camera can operate the
pan/tilt head to change the immediate view.


Or the designer can just talk on the phone and have someone on the site
to do it.


Well, there are omni wheels of up to 4.7" from Omniwheel.com, which
might be large enough. Still, I think you'll want to experiment using
these on uneven surfaces, however. Given cables and other crud on the
floor a tracked vehicle might be better. You can always provide
additional degrees of freedom by using a pan/tilt turret for the camera.

-- Gordon

: Or the designer can just talk on the phone and have someone on the site
: to do it.

I would guess that the 'fun' part of his original question has a lot to do
with it. This could be a spirit-building exercise if people are into it. It
could also be a great PR tool -- get you on the local news, This Old House,
etc.

-Chris


--
==========================================================
Chris Candreva  -- chris@westnet.com -- (914) 967-7816
WestNet Internet Services of Westchester
http://www.westnet.com/

True, but in my experience remote video isn't very good for inspection
purposes unless the setup is well designed for it (lighting, angle, high
quality camera, etc.). Building teleoperated base may be fun, but
management (the "Big M") tends to get upset when things don't work out
as planned after money has been spent, and a simpler method would have
proved out the plan. Always good to take things one step at a time.

Should a teleoperated video robot not work out, eventually some bean
counter will ask why someone just didn't take some quickie digital
pictures and e-mail them. PR is fine, but looking good to the boss is
even better!

-- Gordon

Don't know if i already posted this.  This is a pretty sweet robot.  I
don't have one but I've read great things about it.  I don't think you
can pivot the web cam up or down but there is an arm, so you you may be
able to attatch the eye to the arm to give you a wider range of vision.

http://www.evolution.com/er1/

Hi,

For the camera controller, have a look at my site I have a AVR that accepts
commands from the network using UDP to drive several servos,LED's and a VFD.

--

Regards
Ian Dobson

Home of the Atmel based UDP mobile web cam http://www.planet-ian.com
All mails scanned with av-filter.pl (F-Prot / perl)

See my sig for one possible implementation.

I do think your cart idea is a good place to start, though. It can at
least give you a feel for how useful telepresence will actually be.

Hope that helps - m
--
(Replies: cleanse my address of the Mark of the Beast!)

Teleoperate a roving mobile robot from the web:
http://www.swampgas.com/robotics/rover.html

Coauthor with Dennis Clark of "Building Robot Drive Trains".
Buy several copies today!

I'd get a camcorder with a flip out screen, built in light, and
an analog video output. Camcorders have very good optics, zoom,
and focus capabilitys (up to touching the lens for small
objects). Just start with using a camera tripod for supporting
the cam. You can send the video back to a computer with a capture
card/device over a long piece of telephone wire (video and power
on the four conductors. Talk to those on the other end via
telephone (cordless or cell unit with a headset) and they can
tell you where to point the cam. Use a free or commercial webcam
program to send the video fames to those on the other end. Check
out the basic video setup before spending $$$ on the robotic
part.

  Thanks everyone for the replies.  I am replying to my own message so
I can consolidate my response to everyone.

   The MR1 was one I was considering for myself to play with, since I
have a spare laptop.  But, for this application it is just too short.
It would require significant modification (add height,  wider
wheelbase, larger wheels, etc.).


Gordon McComb said;

  The overall diameter of the wheel assembly is not the limitation.
Their 4.7" diameter wheels have only about 1.75" diameter at the
small wheel.  The fork-lift version I mentioned before had a different
configuration for the smaller wheels. The result was a larger diameter
for the small wheels, and the need for only one wheel, instead of the
pair the ones on Omniwheel.com require.  Here is the link if you want
to see; http://www.airtrax.com/   I've not seen these kinds of
omniwheels available.

   Today I spent more time thinking about dimensions and features that
I would want. There is no question that I would want the keyboard and
monitor at the remote site to be comfortable for a person standing to
operate.  This is because I want there to be 2-way sharing of the
display so they can bring up and view 3-d models and drawings.

  I also want the camera to be the viewpoint of a person standing, or
or siting in a chair, because these are easy positions to perceive your
view orientation.

  I did find one commercial base, which I think would meet my
requirements and allow me to build a sturdy elevated top shelf for the
laptop and camera.  I don't have a price back from there yet, but I
suspect sticker shock will rule it out.
http://www.aai.ca/robots/labo3.html


Regarding the video;  Si Ballenger wrote;


I know Gordon said similar things about video quality.  In our case, I
think we will be in excellent lighting, so that is not an issue. But, I
would think that 640x480 resolution would be minimum. The company will
be setting up a very high speed internet connection, and I suspect will
be able to get data pipelined so that standard internet delays would
not be present.  Thanks for those of you who have a web-controlled
robot... it really showed the need to keep the update fast and as close
to real-time as possible..

  As I continue to think about it, the perception of the objects you
are viewing through the camera is the biggest issue.  I draw these
structures in 3-d and have a good display with real-time rotation of
the shaded object. But it is still easy to mis an interference between
two parts, which is very plainly obvious on the shop floor.  Even a
photo-realistic rendering of the object isn't nearly as powerful as an
actual walk around the physical object.  This is my particular
motivation for the robot base.  However, maybe I can settle for a
compromise....

  It may be that the "prairie dog" motion of a viewer is more
important than stereo vision. By this I am referring to the left-right
head bobbing that a prairie dog does when he stands on his hid legs to
observe something.  If I don't move the base by remote control, perhaps
I can move [translate] the camera left and right, in addition to the
standard pan and tilt. In the past I tried out a program
"cam-to-pan" which uses a normal computer camera looking at the
operator.  As you move your head a bit left/right or up/down, it moves
the mouse.  Perhaps I can take that same data, and move the camera left
and right.

  I guess I will have to try it out to see how well it works.

  At the moment, I am leaning away from even suggesting a motion base.
I will let you all know of any results if we try it out.

Joe Dunfee

You may want to look at the Axis brand of cams. They are more
aligned for your type of commercial application, but they will
cost more too.