Book Image

BeagleBone Robotic Projects

By : Richard Grimmett
Book Image

BeagleBone Robotic Projects

By: Richard Grimmett

Overview of this book

Thanks to new, inexpensive microcontrollers, robotics has become far more accessible than it was in the past. These microcontrollers provide a whole new set of capabilities to allow even the most inexperienced users to make amazingly complicated projects. Beaglebone is effectively a small, light, cheap computer in a similar vein to Raspberry Pi and Arduino. It has all of the extensibility of today's desktop machines, but without the bulk, expense, or noise. This project guide provides step-by-step instructions to allow anyone to use this new, low cost platform in some fascinating robotics projects. By the time you are finished, your projects will be able to see, speak, listen, detect their surroundings, and move in a variety of amazing ways. The book begins with unpacking and powering up the components.This will include guidance on what to purchase and how to connect it all successfully–and a primer on programming the BeagleBone Black. Chapter by chapter, we will add additional software functionality available from the open source community, including how to make the system see using a webcam, how to hear using a microphone, and how to speak using a speaker. We then add hardware to make your robots move–including wheeled and legged examples–as well as covering how to add sonar sensors to avoid or find objects, plus wireless control to make your robot truly autonomous. Adding GPS allows the robot to find itself. Finally the book covers how to integrate all of this functionality so that it can all work together, before developing the most impressive robotics projects: those that can sail, fly, and explore underwater.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
BeagleBone Robotic Projects
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Using the BeagleBone Black in submarine robots


You've explored the possibilities of walking robots, flying robots, and sailing robots. The final frontier is robots that can actually maneuver under water. It only makes sense that you can use the same techniques that you've mastered to explore the undersea world. In this section, I'll detail how to use the capabilities that you have already developed in a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) robot. There are, of course, some interesting challenges that come with this type of project, so get ready to get wet.

Prepare for lift off

As with the other projects in this chapter, there are possibilities to either buy an assembled robot or assemble one by yourself. If you'd like to buy an assembled ROV, visit http://www.openrov.com. This project, funded through Kickstarter, provides a complete package, including electronics based on the BeagleBone Black. If you are looking to build your own, there are several websites that document possible instructions for...