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
