ROBOTMAK3RS Blog

Willow Garage seems to be a really cool place to work at -- if you remember the video of the PR2 robot fetching a cold one from the fridge you'll know what i mean -- and with the recently announced NXT-ROS software stack, based on NXT-Python, their days now include playing with LEGO Mindstorms!  Check out the recent announcement here: Willow Garage recently announced that it designed code to link the popular Lego Mindstorms NXT to the formidable Robot Operating System (ROS) Once a robot is connected to ROS, you can start running applications such as the base controller, wheel odometry, keyboard/joystick teleoperation, and even assisted teleoperation using the ROS navigation stack. The NXT-ROS software stack includes a number of example robot models for users to play with and to get a feel for using NXT with ROS. One part that caught my attention is the use of  LEGO LDD files in ROS’s 3D visualization display. If any of you have tried out this package plea...

Philo, one of the European MCPs, has published a new robot for odometry , the art of estimating the own position during wheeled vehicle navigation. It's called Odin and "it measures as precisely as possible distances travelled and orientation of displacement. Its mechanical structure is well suited for that: when travelling it rolls on four parallel wheel so it is able to go very straight. For turning, it raises itself on a central pivot, turns around it and goes down, ready for the next move" , as the author states. On the associated web site you'll find ample documentation, images, videos, programs and building instructions for it. What's more: you can build it was one single NXT Retail kit!