The Devalbo Robot Angle

This robot thing is starting to come together. I should be able to run a robot I built, from components, and drive it from my couch.

I've got some early software commits - see https://github.com/devalbo/roboplexx-bot-python.

I've gotten parts delivered.

I've been connecting electrical components.

I've been putting all of the pieces into a single package, untethered, like this - now I am getting it to work.

As I've been doing these things, I've been thinking about what this "Devalbo Robot" is. This is what I've come up with so far as a feature list:

• The robot provides a user interface via web-browser/WiFi: users can connect to the robot via their WiFi network and navigate via camera and virtual joystick
• Each sensor and actuator on the robot can be addressed individually via WiFi/HTTP, making REST-clients possible - a robot is essentially a group of sensors and actuators in close proximity to one another
• Electrical assembly/connections are minimal effort (I'm using USB and terminal blocks for connections as much as possible - power connections are the most challenging at this point), and hopefully no soldering will be required; a Plug-and-Play mindset should be respected and valued
• USB has simplified integrating sensors/components; the server software will make exposing them to web clients possible - hopefully this will continue to be the case as more devices can be supported

Once these goals are met, this version of the "Devalbo Robot" will be complete and ready for some shake-down cruises. With a couple of nights' effort (after all physical parts have been procured), it should be possible to run your own robot - in your own home - from your own couch.