Smashing Robotics

Raspberry Pi 4 Review: Performance, Tweaks and User Experience

The Raspberry Pi 4 model B is the latest of this very popular series of single-board computers. Gigabit Ethernet, lots of RAM, HEVC video decoding or USB 3.0 and similar entry price point as before add great value to the platform.

Of course the figures seem very interesting so today I will go through these eye-catching features. I will also explore a few tweaks which can improve general user…

CORE2 and CORE2-ROS boards side by side | Image credit: Husarion

CORE2 was showcased earlier this year at the Hannover Messe trade fair, and just like previous generation it is part of Husarion’s robotic development platform which is focused on making robot building more accessible for everyone.

What can Husarion CORE2 do?

CORE2 comes in two flavors. There’s the standalone low-power real-time connected computer with on-board ESP32 WiFi module for energy efficient or cloud-based projects.

Robot Operating System

CORE2-ROS harvests the processing power of an attached single-board computer such as the Raspberry Pi 3 or ASUS Tinker Board, while retaining real-time capabilities. This combo can run an Ubuntu based ROS image and lets you develop more advanced projects such as the ROSbot autonomous robot.

Everything is on-board, this makes things easy primarily because no additional hardware shields or interfaces are required for connecting motors or sensors. There are 4 DC motor ports with integrated H-bridges, 6 servo interfaces, a DC/DC converter for selecting voltage independently for each servo, 42 I/O pins, WiFi and other communication interfaces.

Husarion CORE2 robot controller | Image credit: Husarion

CORE2 is compatible with Arduino libraries — for every sensor or peripheral you want to connect there’s already a library written for it you can use without modifications.

Real-time processing. CORE2 controllers do not use up CPU cycles for high frequency data polling, relying instead on dedicated timers, DMA channels and interrupts, all driven by a RTOS (real-time operating system) and optimized libraries.

CORE2brick is an optional add-on interface and accessory kit for easily connecting LEGO Mindstorms hardware, accepting 4 LEGO motors and 6 LEGO sensors.

CORE2 servo controller module can control up to 12 servos delivering a selectable output voltage of 5-8.6 V, and 4 A maximum current. Each CORE2 or CORE2-ROS accepts up to 4 such servo controllers.

CORE2block is an adapter kit with required electrical connections for the Makeblock platform.

Here you can find several interesting projects made with CORE2 and CORE2-ROS controllers.

And there’s also the programming.

Programming the CORE2 controller

The easiest method to start programming is of course through the online web-based IDE. Simply log into your Husarion Cloud account, and create a script using templates in a few easy steps. Build the generated code and download it to the CORE2 controller.

Husarion cloud IDE workflow

You can also create a web-based control interface with video streaming and WebRTC support in no time. Simply select your project, define access rights and everything will be in place at the generated URL. A secure SSL connection is established between your robot and the cloud.

Program your CORE2 robot offline either by installing the Husarion extension to Visual Studio Code, or simply use the Husarion SDK in any mainstream IDE.

The powerful hFramework open-source real-time library lets you write some pretty advanced code in a very efficient manner.

CORE2 controller board specs

CORE2 controller board features | Image credit: Husarion

Real-time MCU: STM32F4, ARM CORTEX-M4, 168 MHz, 192 kB RAM, 1 MB Flash;

hRPi – expansion port for add-ons depending on version:

CORE2-ROS: optional SBC – either Raspberry Pi 3 (ARMv8, 1.2GHz, 1GB RAM, 16GB Flash) or ASUS Tinker Board (ARMv7-A, 1.8GHz, 2GB RAM, 16GB Flash);

CORE2: included ESP32 based Wi-Fi module;

hMot: 4 DC motor outputs + 4 quadrature encoder inputs 1 A cont./ 2 A max. current per output (2 A/4 A current in parallel);

hServo: 6 servo ports with selectable supply voltage (5-8.6 V) 3 A cont./4.5 A max. current total;

hSens: 6 sensor ports (4xGPIO, ADC/ext. interrupt, I2C/UART, 5 V out);

hExt: Extension port (12xGPIO, 7xADC, SPI, I2C, UART, 2x ext. interrupt);

USB serial port through FTDI chip

USB host with 1 A charging capability

micro SD card slot;

CAN interface with onboard transceiver;

DBG SWD (Serial Wire Debug): STM32F4 debug port;

Supply voltage: 6-16 VDC (built-in overcurrent, overvoltage, and reverse polarity protection).

Let’s take a look at the CORE2 boards and some of their features.

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Nickel-cadmium battery inner structure

Lead-Acid battery inner structure

Sealed (valve regulated) lead-acid battery

Roof of a house plated with solar panels

sss

Solar power system diagram using a focusing collector

Lead-acid battery inner structure

Common Ni-Cd battery

Domestic hot water solar panel

Ni-Fe cell schematics

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Pipe heated by focusing mirrors

Photovoltaic cell principle of operation

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zz

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Navigation scale

Navigation principles

Carnegie Mellon’s Tartan driving around

Triple Axis Accelerometer Breakout – ADXL335

DFRobot ±1.5, 2, 4, and 6g Triple Axis Accelerometer

Phidgets USB 9 DoF

Parallax MMA7455 3-Axis

ADXL321

WiTilt V3.0 Wireless Accelerometer (Photo source )

LilyPad ADXL335 (Photo source robotshop)

Machine Science Sensor / GPS Board (Photo source robotshop)

BMA180 Triple Axis Accelerometer Breakout (Photo source geeetech)

Senix TSPC-21S-232

Grove – Ultrasonic Ranger (Photo source seeedstudio.com)

Parallax PING (Photo source parallax.com)

Maxbotix LV-MaxSonar-EZ1 (Photo source pololu.com)

Devantech SRF01(Photo source robot-electronics.co.uk)

LV-MaxSonar-EZ4 (Photo source maxbotix.com)

Maxbotix XL-MaxSonar-WR1 (Photo source maxbotix.com)

DFRobot URM05 (Photo source dfrobot.com)

Smashing Robotics in Winter

smashing robotics

Smashing Robotics

Image credits: Husarion

Where to buy

There are only a few days to go of the CORE2 campaign. For US $89 you can get the standard CORE2 controller with WiFi.

For US $99 you can buy the CORE2-ROS board and accessory kit for attaching to a SBC. You will need to fork out about $140-160 for a complete CORE2-ROS kit including an SBC of your choice.

Complete robot building kits are also available — the CORE2 telepresence robot kit costs $249, while the complete ROSbot autonomous robot kit will set you back $1,290.

CORE2brick, CORE2block and servo controller optional modules cost $39 and 24 respectively.

Niryo One: an accessible robot for makers, developers and students

by Edouard Renard Niryo One is an accessible 6 axis robotic arm, currently available on Kickstarter. The robot, made out of 3D printed parts, is powered by an Arduino Mega board and a Raspberry Pi 3 board. The software part includes a firmware on the Arduino board, and ROS (Robot Operating System) on the Raspberry Pi board. Niryo’s goal is to allow everyone to learn robotics, and reproduce…

Root robot drawing a fractal | Image credit: Scansorial

The project was born at the Wyss Institute, a technology incubator at Harvard University, and brought to life by a highly skilled team whose members have many well-known consumer products and services under their belt. They have rich experience in creating coding robots such as the iRobot Create, Multiplo, AERobot or Kilobot. Earlier this year they founded Scansorial, a public benefit corporation headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts with a mission to make programming more accessible for everyone.

What can Root do?

Root is a modern-day interpretation of the turtle robot concept. It is a powerful STEM education tool with the ability to make the whole coding experience highly interactive and entertaining. The robot can draw, erase, play music and autonomously explore the environment thanks to its hefty array of sensors. It integrates a set of magnets which allow for driving on vertical metallic surfaces such as whiteboards, a feature extremely useful in classrooms which doubles as a very cool party trick.

The Root robot comes fully assembled out of the box so you can start coding and playing right away. All you need is an iPad to establish a connection over Bluetooth LE. Also make sure you have a few markers at hand.

There is virtually no limit on the number of games and activities you can create with Root. Simply remote control it and observe sensor readings from your iPad, or design more complex obstacle escaping sequences, identify colors and behave accordingly, create precise drawings, detect ambient lighting and many many more.

Coding with Root

The Root Square app is the starting point for the whole experience. It guides you through the entire learning process with three levels of coding complexity.

Level 1 presents of course a graphical programming environment. At this point you can understand the basic concepts of coding and create simple if-then statements with colorful and intuitive program blocks.

Level 2 further refines previously introduced concepts and introduces advanced flow control statements as well as working with variables, operators, sensor readings, recursion and parallelism.

Level 3 introduces text-based programming with Python, JavaScript and Swift. All programs previously created can be converted to instructions and refined in every detail.

The app will be available at launch for the iPad while Swift Playgrounds workbooks will be made available soon after. There will also be a limited level 1 version available for the iPhone.

Bluetooth LE Android devices will also be supported after launch and there are plans for Chromebook support as well.

PC and Mac users have not been left out, a SDK will be available at launch for programming in Python and JavaScript. An API will also be released at a later date so you can create and connect any platform to the Root robot.

Root quick specs

Dimensions and weight: 152x137x43mm, 500g approx.

Communication: Bluetooth LE;

Sensors, actuators and outputs:

32 color sensor array;

2 bumpers sensors;

4 touch areas;

2 ambient light sensors;

4 magnetic surface sensors;

6-axis IMU with gyroscope and accelerometer;

2 drive motors with wheel encoders;

18 RGB LED array;

Piezo speaker;

Marker lift-drop actuator;

Eraser lift-drop actuator;

Battery level meter.

Connectors: USB type-C for accessories and charging, charging contacts;

Battery: Rechargeable Li-Ion with 3-hour continous run time;

Software and programming: Root Square iOS app, SDK for Python and JS. Planned API and support for Android and Chromebook.

Root robot | Image credit: Scansorial

Let’s take a look at a few more photos of Root.

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jh

Nickel-cadmium battery inner structure

Lead-Acid battery inner structure

Sealed (valve regulated) lead-acid battery

Roof of a house plated with solar panels

sss

Solar power system diagram using a focusing collector

Lead-acid battery inner structure

Common Ni-Cd battery

Domestic hot water solar panel

Ni-Fe cell schematics

z

Pipe heated by focusing mirrors

Photovoltaic cell principle of operation

z

za

k

a

zz

s

Navigation scale

Navigation principles

Carnegie Mellon’s Tartan driving around

Triple Axis Accelerometer Breakout – ADXL335

DFRobot ±1.5, 2, 4, and 6g Triple Axis Accelerometer

Phidgets USB 9 DoF

Parallax MMA7455 3-Axis

ADXL321

WiTilt V3.0 Wireless Accelerometer (Photo source )

LilyPad ADXL335 (Photo source robotshop)

Machine Science Sensor / GPS Board (Photo source robotshop)

BMA180 Triple Axis Accelerometer Breakout (Photo source geeetech)

Senix TSPC-21S-232

Grove – Ultrasonic Ranger (Photo source seeedstudio.com)

Parallax PING (Photo source parallax.com)

Maxbotix LV-MaxSonar-EZ1 (Photo source pololu.com)

Devantech SRF01(Photo source robot-electronics.co.uk)

LV-MaxSonar-EZ4 (Photo source maxbotix.com)

Maxbotix XL-MaxSonar-WR1 (Photo source maxbotix.com)

DFRobot URM05 (Photo source dfrobot.com)

Smashing Robotics in Winter

smashing robotics

Smashing Robotics

You can preorder your very own Root robot kit from the campaign page. At the time of writing for a minimum price of US $175 you can buy a kit containing the robot and a charging cable, the app and access to digital lessons and activities. The standard price is $195.

Several multiple robot packages are available for schools and educators. Shipping will start in Summer 2017, head to their website for more information.

SBrick Plus lets you program and control any LEGO creation from your smartphone

SBrick is slowly but steadily turning into a fully fledged development platform, complementing and enhancing existing LEGO building systems. With SBrick Plus you can remotely control your Power Functions motors from your phone or tablet via Bluetooth, add interactivity with WeDo 1.0 sensors, and use Scratch, Swift or JavaScript for programming your LEGO creations using almost any OS or device. It…

ESLOV IoT toolkit lets you create connected devices easier than ever

Working with Arduino is fun and rewarding but can be a handful for inexperienced users. The ESLOV IoT Invention kit is a new plug-and-play fully modular platform that wants to change this. It focuses on providing novices an fast and intuitive method of creating Internet of Things devices, while retaining full compatibility with the existing Arduino/Genuino ecosystem. ESLOV IoT Invention Kit |…

Flybrix lets you build aerial drones with LEGO bricks

Throughout history many great inventions have been created by accident, and this might just be one of them. Flybrix DIY drone kits include all required parts to build your very own multicopter with LEGO bricks. Specially designed bricks can accommodate micro motors, while an assortment of standard bricks can be used for building the airframe. Everything is connected to an Arduino compatible…

GoPro Karma foldable action camera drone has high expectations to meet

This week GoPro introduced Karma, a quad rotor foldable aerial drone compatible with the company’s latest action cameras. Announced over a year ago, this drone has to meet pretty high expectations in terms of quality, versatility and ease of use. It also has some pretty tough competition from well established players in the entry level drone segment, however interesting features and seamless…

World’s first giant robot duel will happen eventually

I guess you remember about the highly anticipated giant robot duel announced last year. It was set to take place sometime in June this year, however Summer is already over and nothing even remotely related has happened. For a while we all thought this was it and moved on, but it seems that not all hope is lost as apparently both teams are still committed to this challenge. Kuratas vs. Megabot…

Prodrone introduces the PD6B-AW-ARM aerial heavyweight lifter

The very inspiringly named PD6B-AW-ARM is large format 6-rotor drone equipped with two robotic arms capable of grasping, maneuvering and lifting payloads up to 10 kg or 22 pounds. It was announced at the InterDrone conference held in Las Vegas last week, and is designed for professional applications, featuring a weather sealed body, relatively high wind resistance and high altitude operation. It…

DJI unveils Osmo Mobile handheld stabilizer for your smartphone

This week DJI introduced the new Osmo Mobile at IFA Berlin electronics fair, a smart handheld stabilizer for your smartphone which promises to make shaky footage and blurry low-light exposures history. Very similar to the original Osmo camera, the device takes advantage of the already proven 3-axis stabilization and tracking technology found in DJI’s Phantom series drones. The Osmo Mobile is for…

Parrot Disco fixed wing drone gets ready to fly next month

Introduced at CES in January this year, the Parrot Disco marks the French company’s debut in the fixed-wing UAV niche. The camera drone is set to hit the stores in September for a price tag just shy of US $1,300. In good old Parrot tradition the drone is fully connected and ready to fly. It is equipped with a more than decent 14 Megapixel camera with digital image stabilization, and a revised…

Evive all-in-one prototyping platform puts your projects on the fast track

Tired of clutter happening at some point throughout your project? Or maybe you want to draft an idea but something is always missing? Enter Evive, an Arduino Mega-based embedded platform that contains all necessary hardware, functions and connections to quickly get you going with your project. There is even an 1.8 inch color LCD for easy configuration. Everything is packed into a neat enclosure…

Typhoon H with Intel RealSense | Image credit: Yuneec

The list of goodies is fairly extensive as we will soon discover, point being that Chinese company Yuneec promises to deliver a lot of drone for your buck. With the Typhoon H they aim to compete directly with other well-established aerial imaging platforms such as the DJI Phantom 4. Deliveries began at the end of July, and at the moment the drone can be ordered from major retailers.

Features at a glance

CGO3+ gimbal camera. The 3-axis gimbal camera unit with 360 degree panning abilities lets users capture smooth vibration-free 4K UHD footage or 12-megapixel photos, which can be captured either as RAW(DNG) or JPEG. The 14mm wide-angle lens has minimal fish-eye distortion, thus offering very aesthetically pleasing results. With such a capable imaging unit an automatically retractable landing gear which stays out of view was a logical addition.

Foldable rotor arms. These make the aircraft very portable and easy to manipulate. These added joints can be potential weak spots for the airframe when shocks or mild crashes are experienced, we’ll how these prove themselves over time.

ST16 ground station. This dedicated ground station runs on Android and presents the user all the controls required to pilot or program the UAV. The controller is equipped with a 7-inch touchscreen for displaying telemetry data and 720p video in real time. Views can be customized and several advanced camera controls are exposed, such as white balance, exposure, or resolution. This unique addition, not found at competitors, means that an additional smartphone or tablet is no longer necessary.

Another nice touch is that users can connect a secondary ST16 controller for independently controlling the Typhoon H hexacopter and the CGO3+ camera, yielding even more predictable results.

Wizard remote. This smart compact device can be used either as a standalone flight controller, or as a homing device when the drone follows you autonomously.

Autonomous flight modes. Relying on GPS and its sensors the drone can perform on its own in several ways:

Orbit me – as the name implies, the drone flies in a circular around the user;

Point of interest – Typhoon H orbits a predefined POI;

Journey – users can capture “selfies” from as far as 46 meters or 150 feet;

Curve cable cam – users can program a set of coordinate points and the drone will fly between these on its own;

Follow me – the aircraft can follow the user at speeds up to 70km/h or 43.5mph;

Dynamic return to home – Typhoon H will of course return and land automatically within 8 meters (26ft) of the takeoff site.

Redundancy. This safety feature enables the Typhoon H to automatically detect a rotor malfunction and safely fly to its takeoff site with only 5 working rotors.

Collision avoidance. This is another highlight of the Typhoon H drone. Front sonar sensors map the environment for potential obstacles in the drone’s flight trajectory. Data is then processed by means of motion planning algorithms, selecting the optimum path to follow. This makes the aircraft a lot safer and easier to operate.

Intel RealSense technology

Initially designed as a perceptual input platform for computers or mobile devices (i.e. gesture or face recognition, augmented reality, object scanning), this is the first time the technology finds its way into an UAV, thanks to continuous development and updates.

The upscale Typhoon H Pro model is equipped with an Intel RealSense R200 camera coupled to an Intel Atom processing module, thus offering intelligent obstacle detection and collision avoidance capabilities.

The RealSense R200 camera is actually a module combining two stereoscopic IR cameras, a standard RGB camera and an IR Laser projector.

Intel RealSense R200 camera technology | Image credit: Intel

The camera’s abilities are quite impressive for such a small and cost-effective package, and since ambient lighting will not be a problem in most cases it would be interesting to see how fast the system reacts in the real world.

Indoor positioning system (IPS). This is another feature available with the Pro model and implemented by means of an optical flow sensor. A camera pointed downwards provides data for the drone to determine is relative position and speed inside buildings – where GPS reception is not reliable – greatly improving control in such areas.

Quick specs

Typhoon H aircraft:

Airframe: 6 rotors, foldable arms, retractable landing gear;

Dimensions: 520x457x310mm (20.5x18x12.2in);

Take-off weight: 1950g (68.8oz);

Battery: 79.9Wh LiPo (4S 14.8V, 5400mAh);

Flight characteristics:

Flying height: 122m (400ft) AGL – restricted by FAA;

Ground speed: 70km/h (43.5mph);

Climb and descent speed: 5m/s, 3m/s;

Roll angle and rotation rate: 35deg, 85deg/s.

GCO3+ gimbal camera:

Gimbal: 3-axis free rotating 360 degree;

Imaging sensor: 12.4 Megapixels;

Lens: 14mm, F/2.8, 98 degree FOV;

Shutter speed: 1/30 to 1/8000s;

Capture modes: 4K/30fps, 1080p/60fps, 12Mp RAW/JPEG.

ST16 ground station:

Control and video transmission range: 1.6km (1 mile);

Radio communication: 5.2-5.8GHz WiFi for control and video;

Real-time video: 720p;

Channels: 16;

Battery: 31.3Wh Li-ion (3.6V 8700mAh);

Other: 7-inch touchscreen, audio and tactile feedback

I hope you have found this helpful. Head to the Typhoon H page for more info and detailed specs.

Media

Images credit: Yuneec

Weekend Stories: Curiosity four years on Mars, Arduino smart gloves, and the Omnicopter

Curiosity rover report – four years on Mars On August 5th four years have passed since Curiosity landed on the Red Planet. Even though it has endured significant wear and tear the rover is fully functional and NASA extended the exploration mission for another two years. (more…)

The new drones promise to be even more efficient, easier to use and more reliable than previous models. Their entirely new unique modular design allows for interchanging or upgrading parts on-the-fly, further enhancing cost effectiveness for their owners.

Physical characteristics

High tech materials such as carbon fiber and aircraft grade aluminum are used for manufacturing the airframe, while military grade protection is used for electronics and connectors. EPP foam is used as wing and control surfaces filling in order do minimize weight. A single brushless motor propeller drives the drone.

With respect to models they will be replacing soon, the LA500 series drones have a slightly larger wingspan of 116cm and weigh 950-1250g, depending on model and payload. Despite this the drones are more compact and easier to transport thanks to their detachable winglets. Flight time has been improved at up to 45 minutes – with a 4000mAh 11.1V battery pack – and as a consequence range has increased to 25km or over 15 miles. The flight ceiling is now as high as 1000 meters (AGL).

New features

An increased variety of payloads is now supported such as standard GoPro cameras, FLIR View Pro thermal camera, as well as the high resolution Sony Alpha A6000 mirrorless camera which sports a 24.3 Megapixel APS-C imaging sensor. These mapping drones are also capable of acquiring oblique imagery data for detailed 3D maps.

Lehmann Aviation LA500 series mapping drone

Along with high quality imagery there is also high mapping precision, the LA500-RTK drone can resolve details down to 3-5cm thanks to its all new integrated real-time kinematics (RTK) module. The other two models are capable of 1-5 meter resolutions, however their accuracy can be increased to be on par with the RTK model by means of ground control points (GCP) when possible.

The LA500-AG model can capture invisible light radiations thanks to the Parrot Sequoia multispectral camera, a very useful feature for precise agricultural observations such as soil erosion, pests, reflectance mapping and more.

The powerful autopilot takes over right after hand launching the drone and can perform fully autonomously right down to belly landing the aircraft.

The highly advanced OperationCenter 2 software, designed for Windows 10 devices, allows for complete drone management, from flight planning and monitoring to data acquisition and processing. The software has advanced ortho-mosaicking and DEM capabilities.

Quick specs

LA500 LA500-AG LA500-RTK Applications Land surveying, mining, construction, GIS Agriculture Land surveying, mining Integrated equipment – Sequoia multispectral camera RTK module Payloads (optional) GoPro Hero, Sony A6000, FLIR View Pro Communication 2.4GHz radio, 3.5km/1.9mi range, up to 5km/3mi with optional long range data modem Wingspan (cm/inch) 116/45.7 Weight (g/oz) Up to 1250/44.1 with Sony A6000 950/33.5 Up to 1250/44.1 with Sony A6000 Speed (km/h/mph) 20-80/12.5-50 Altitude AGL (m/ft) 1000/3280 Wind resistance (km/h/mph/knots) 37/23/20 Range (km/mi) 25/15 Autonomy (minutes) 45 with 4000mAh, 11.1V power pack Accuracy (h-v) 1-5m/3.3-16.4ft (3-5cm/1.2-2in with GCPs) 3-5cm/1.2-2in Software OperationCenter v2 for Windows 10 devices Image processing (optional) Agisoft and Pix4D files I/O, storage USB 2.0, WiFi, microSD

Pricing and ordering

The LA500 series drones and accessories can be preordered from the manufacturer online store, deliveries starting in 4th quarter of 2016.

As for pricing, the LA500 model will set you back US$3,490, or 3.490EUR depending on market, camera not included. The LA500-RTK price is US$5,890 (5.890EUR) without camera, while the LA500-AG drone can be bought for US$7,990 (7.990EUR) with the Parrot Sequoia camera included. Upon preorder the long range data modem is included for all models.

Media