Today we announced a fun 20% robotics project that resulted in three ways you can play with your iRobot Create® , LEGO® MINDSTORMS® , or VEX Pro® through the cloud. We did this by enhancing App Inventor for Android, contributing to the open source Cellbots Java app, and beefing up the Cellbots Python libraries. Together these apps provide new connectivity between robots, Android, the cloud, and your browser.
You can start empowering your Android phone with robot mobility by picking the solution below that matches your skill level and programming style:
App Inventor for Android Bluetooth client for connecting with many serial-enabled robots, and tight integration with LEGO MINDSTORMS . There are seven LEGO components in all, with NxtDrive and NxtDirectCommands used for driving and basic control while NxtColorSensor, NxtLightSensor, NxtSoundSensor, NxtTouchSensor, and NxtUltrasonicSensor are used for sensors.social components to connect with Twitter, and TinyWebDB for hooking up to AppEngine . All of these can be used together to make your phone a powerful robot brain.Cellbots for Android Cellbots Java application which currently supports four robot platforms and allows additional robot types and UI control schemes to be added using the standard Android SDK . It is entirely open source and available for free in the Android Market so you can try it out right away. Cellbots Python library Cellbots project , which is all open source code . The goal for the Python library is to allow developers an easy way to demonstrate the features on Android phones suitable for robots. There are commands to make it speak, listen, record audio, take pictures, get a geolocation, and of course provide the I/O to the bot.Scripting Layer 4 Android and enable the Python interpreter. Then copy over the Python and config files to the SD card and script away.We hope this gives developers, hobbyists, and students a head start in connecting the next generation of cloud apps to the world of robotics. Be sure to push your mobile phone’s processor to its limits and share the results with the Cellbots Google Group . Try using Willow Garage’s OpenCV for Android or the new Gingerbread APIs for gyroscopes, enhanced OpenGL graphics, and multiple cameras!
By Ryan Hickman, 20% Robotics Task Force
