Robustly constructed
The three drive modules of the Robotino® are integrated in a sturdy, laser-welded stainless steel chassis. The chassis is protected against collision by means of a rubber protective guard with integrated switching sensor. Numerous additional components such as sensors, handling units or shooting devices can be mounted on a platform using prepared threaded holes.
Robot dimensions:
- Diameter: 370 mm
- Height incl. housing: 210 mm
- Overall weight: approx. 11 kg
Fast mover
With its omnidirectional drive, Robotino® moves quick as a flash forwards, backwards and sideways in all directions and also turns on the spot. Three sturdy industrial DC motors with optical shaft encoders and gears with interchangeable pinions permit speeds of up to 10 km/h. These are the best prerequisites for successful use in sporting competitions.
Everything in view
The chassis contains nine infrared distance sensors. An analogue inductive and an optical sensor is also available by means of which the Robotino® can sense an aluminium strip or a coloured line, for example.
The Robotino® is supplied with a colour webcam without jpeg compression and a second camera with jpeg compression. The compressed webcam image can be transmitted to the PC via the WLAN for image evaluation by Robotino® View or used as a live camera image.
An extremely powerful decompression module enables you to additionally use the images from the webcam for standalone control. The Robotino® may not be able to find a needle in a haystack, but it can see what's going on around it with a high degree of accuracy.
Uninterrupted use
Power is supplied via two 12 V lead gel batteries which permit a running time of up to two hours. The scope of delivery includes a further set of batteries for even more uninterrupted learning pleasure!
The scope of delivery likewise includes a charging station which also serves as a maintenance station. The wheels remain freely movable on the charging station, which means that they can also be used during the charging period for experiments in electrical drive or control technology.
Embedded PC for high-level performance
The Robotino® features a high-performance embedded PC consisting of:
- PC 104 processor with real-time Linux kernel
- 64 MB SDRAM
- 256 MB Compact Flash card
- Ethernet, 2 x USB, 2 x RS232, 1 x PS2, 1 x IDE, 1 parallel port and 1 VGA port
- Wireless LAN in accordance with 802.11 g and 802.11 b
- Expansion with additional firewire, CAN bus card or a PCMCIA adapter possible.
The Robotino® server, a real-time Linux application, forms the heart of the controller. It controls the Robotino® drive units and can communicate with external applications in two different ways:
- An open Linux library of C++ basic functions is available for direct programming of the PC 104 under Linux.
- A TCP/IP communication interface is provided for communication with the control computer via wireless LAN. You can write C++ applications for activation of Robotino® via WLAN on the basis of a Windows C++ function library.
Motor activation
Activation of the three motors is performed via an additional board with digital and analogue inputs and outputs which is connected with the PC 104 via the serial interface:
- Power outputs for 3 motors incl. PID controller
Expandability
The control board contains the following additional modules for future expansion:
- 10 analogue inputs 0 – 10 V, 50 Hz
- 8 digital inputs and outputs (24 V, short circuit proof and overload proof)
- 2 relays for additional actuators
The free interfaces ensure future expandability at any time.
Direct access
The membrane keyboard integrated in the controller housing enables you to also access the Robotino® directly without a WLAN:
- Start the boot process for the control computer
- Select the language (DE, EN, ES, FR)
- Status information (e.g. sensor data)
- Display the status of the batteries
- Configure the network connection
- Select permanently programmed standalone demo programs
You can also connect a monitor and keyboard to the embedded PC 104 for programming and diagnostic purposes.