OOPIC and GPS Straight Line Algorithms?

I am working on a GPS test project with my kid which we hope will eventually be a school project. We just ordered a OOPIC and plan to experiment with it but are not sure if it has the CPU cycles or storage to meet this projects needs. We will see.

We are also searching for some very straight forward algorithms to accomplish part of the test. It should work work like this: A Robot begins by moving in a straight direction and using GPS data determines the straight line vector. Using continuous feedback from the GPS unit, the Robot must then maintain the straight line vector as closely as possible for an infinite distance until another action causes it to stop or turn. We have a good handle on the GPS data stream and know the limitation levels in various GPS gear.

If you know of any good links or books on this topic or of any college research projects that we could investigate. Please help.

Thanks for any suggestions!!!

Musicman snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com

Reply to
MusicMan
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Good luck with the OOPIC. It is very handy for some things - like throwing together a quick servo controller. It may be a bad choice for what you are doing - processing strings of serial data. No doubt you will use BASIC to process the strings, which is VERY slow on the OOPIC. Hopefully you can afford a loop execution time of several seconds.

BRW

Reply to
Bennet Williams

Thanks for the feedback. I used to do Assembly programming on x86 devices for PC based hardware cards so I have a pretty good feel for the variables here but NO feel for the OOPIC execution model. I was planning to do the work in 'C' but have little understanding of the execution model for the OOPIC so I thought I would give it a try. My alternate choice is the JStik from Systronix which I have no doubt will have all the horsepower I need but it is more costly and requires me to learn a new development environment.

My parameters are roughly as follows in CPU usage order:

- Read, Parse and Store the GPS values 1 time per second.

- Process the point data per the directional vector.

- At the beginning of the track the vector must be extablished.

- Other, non critical housekeeping performed prior to start of run or after.

My other desire is to add a Compact Flash card later that can be written in a PC compatible file format (FAT16 or FAT32 would work) so that I can save reference information and use it to check, test accuracy and enhance the model a little.

I have looked at the Rabbit but I always seem to be trying to figure out how to provide a power supply for it.

If you have any other controller suggestions that are programmable in 'C' or Java I would appreciate the input.

Thanks

Reply to
Rob

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