Pi Robot: What Do You Think?

Is any detaield information online somewhere? Such as...

How does the Pi communicte with the Arduino

What programmng language is being used on the PI? (I assume that the Arduino is using the Processir based language native to it.)

How long does it run on the 4 x AA batteries?

I have pondered the idea of building a Pi powered robot, but hvae not found any conclusive information that I can run the Pi on batteries. I see that you used 4 AAs so this seems pretty straightforward. Some of the information that I found basically adviced against using batteries due to the Pi's high power comsumption and thatthe Pi was not designed to run on batteries.

I've also thought about the method I would use to interface the Pi to the external world and have thought about the Arduino, even thtough I have also wondered how necessary it really is to have a second controller board. I thought about experimenting with interfacing directly to the Pi using some sort of breakout board.

My objectives for the robot were to allow it to compete in a RoboMagellan competition. In this case, the chassis and drive system need to be robust enough to supoprt an outdoor terrain. The robot would have various sensors, specifically a rudimentary vision system, sonar, GPS and possibly a compass.Since te RoboMagellan competition is about avoiding obstacles and locating orange traffic cones given the GPS coordinates, the on board sensors described would do the job.

A good variation of line following is sidewalk following where the robot attempts to distinguish between the sidewalk and rougher terrrain such as dirt and grass. Feel free to consider any of these ideas, since my project at this time is delayed indefinitely. Regards, Salvador

PS: For those curious, here is some information I found about powering the Pi with batteries:

http://www.daveakerman.com/?page_id=1294

http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=46824

Is any detaield information online somewhere? Such as...

How does the Pi communicte with the Arduino

What programmng language is being used on the PI? (I assume that the Arduino is using the Processir based language native to it.)

How long does it run on the 4 x AA batteries?

I have pondered the idea of building a Pi powered robot, but hvae not found any conclusive information that I can run the Pi on batteries. I see that you used 4 AAs so this seems pretty straightforward. Some of the information that I found basically adviced against using batteries due to the Pi's high power comsumption and thatthe Pi was not designed to run on batteries.

I've also thought about the method I would use to interface the Pi to the external world and have thought about the Arduino, even thtough I have also wondered how necessary it really is to have a second controller board. I thought about experimenting with interfacing directly to the Pi using some sort of breakout board.

My objectives for the robot were to allow it to compete in a RoboMagellan competition. In this case, the chassis and drive system need to be robust enough to supoprt an outdoor terrain. The robot would have various sensors, specifically a rudimentary vision system, sonar, GPS and possibly a compass.Since te RoboMagellan competition is about avoiding obstacles and locating orange traffic cones given the GPS coordinates, the on board sensors described would do the job.

A good variation of line following is sidewalk following where the robot attempts to distinguish between the sidewalk and rougher terrrain such as dirt and grass. Feel free to consider any of these ideas, since my project at this time is delayed indefinitely. Regards, Salvador

PS: For those curious, here is some information I found about powering the Pi with batteries:

http://www.daveakerman.com/?page_id=1294

http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=46824

Yes, we have more detailed plans at on http://www.dexterindustries.com/GoPiGo

This has a few more pictures, and a link to our Github repo where we're keeping the code and the designs. 

We're looking at using 8XAA's.  AA's because they're cheap and ubiquitous, and because we've put a step down power regulator in there.  You're right though, the battery pack is heavy.

Also, I think it's really hard to use PWM with the Pi, hence the second microcontroller.  The PI doesn't have A/D either, so if you want to add any sensors that aren't I2C / Serial  ready then you need an outside chip.  I think?