Danny Amor's Online Library/Danny Amor's Online Library - Volume 1.iso/html/faqs/faq/robotics-faq/part3

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Subject: comp.robotics Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) part 3/3
Newsgroups: comp.robotics,news.answers,comp.answers
From: [e-mail] (Kevin Dowling)
Date: 13 Nov 1994 03:54:22 GMT

Archive-name: robotics-faq/part3
Last-modified: Mon Oct 10 13:57:38 1994


This is part 3 of 3 of the comp.robotics Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list.
This FAQ addresses commonly asked questions relating to robotics.

Part 3 [use the +++ to assist in searching]
    +++Sensors
    +++Actuators
    +++Imaging for Robotics
    +++Wireless Communication
    +++Robot Parts: Suppliers and Sources
    +++Hero Robots
    +++Puma Manipulators
    +++Simulators
    +++What is NuTank?
    +++Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS)
    +++Survey of Robot Development Environments
    +++What is the Miniboard?
    +++What is the F1 Board?
    +++What is the Bot Board?
    +++Microcontrollers
    +++Books, Online Information and Videos

    +++Acknowledgements
____________________________________________________________________________
This post, as a collection of information, is Copyright 1994 Kevin
Dowling. Distribution through any means other than regular Usenet
channels must be by permission. The removal of this notice is
forbidden.

Changes, additions, comments, suggestions and questions to:
Kevin Dowling                tel:    [phone]
Robotics Institute            fax:    [phone]
Carnegie Mellon University        net:    [e-mail]
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

___________________________________________________________________________
+++Sensors

    This list covers only the most frequently requested types of
robot sensors. These include point-range sensors, cameras, and
acoustic devices. See Sensors magazine <in periodical section of this
FAQ> directory for a large and comprehensive list. This list covers
the following: [use === to search]

    ===Cameras
    ===Inertial measurement devices and gyros
    ===Rangefinding devices
    ===Force/torque sensors, accelerometers, tactile
    ===Sonar sensors
    ===Position determination devices
    ===Pan/tilt mechanisms
    ===Shape memory devices
    ===Measuring linear motion
    ===Interfacing sensors

===Cameras

    There are a large number of cameras on the market and even
many consumer products such as the smaller camcorders are inexpensive
and suitable for some imaging applications. I'll try to list some
different and unusual ones here.
    Note that although some of these cameras are very small many
of them are appended to a large box of electronics via a cable that
supplies power and transmits video. For mobile applications DC power
inputs may be an issue as well. I've also included servo-lens products
as well in this section.

Cohu
5755 Kearny Villa Road
San Diego, CA 92123
tel: [phone] X225
fax: [phone]
    Cohu makes a number of solid state cameras including board
level and remote head devices. The 1100 series is designed for OEM
use. It outputs standard RS-170 with 768x494 CCD resolution.
10cmx4.5cmx1.6cm w/o lens. Other units include the 550 series
Intensified Monochrome CCD Camera for low-light applications. The 4110
has digital output (eliminates pixel jitter), The 6X00 series are
small monochrome remote head cameras and the 8000 series cameras are
color remote head devices. A variety of ouputs are available
includeing NTSC, RGB, PAL/Y-C. A high resolution unit, the 8410
series, provides 1134x486 pixels (850 horz TV lines)

Elmo Mfg Corp
70 New Hyde Park Rd.
New Hyde Park, NY 11040
tel: [phone]
     800.974.ELMO
fax: [phone]
    Micro-sized cameras including a 12mm color unit, the UN411E.
The ME441E is a remote head B&W ccd camera for machine vision
applications. 17mm, 14g. Wide variety of features including
electronics shuttering, field/frame modes, interlace and non-interlace
etc.

NEC America
1555 Walnut Hill Lane
Irving, TX 75038
tel: [phone]
    The TI-324A is a small high-res B/W CCD camera designed for
machine vision and robotics applications. A variety of other B/W and
Color CCD cameras are also made.

Fortunel Systems, Inc.
103 Ivywood Lane
Cary, NC  27511
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Internet: [e-mail]
Servolens is a video-based computer-controlled motorized lens designed
for active vision. It is connected to the computer through a standard
RS232 serial port. Each axis (field of view, focusing distance, iris
opening) is independently controlled and fully calibrated (encoder
feedback). The following auto functions are supported: auto-iris,
auto-focus and auto-zoom (keeps apparent size of object constant). Two
models are available, based on zoom factor: x6 and x10. A C++ class
library in source code format is also available to control the lens
on DOS and UNIX platforms.

Marshall Electronics
Culver City, CA
Contact: Steve Kraig
tel: [phone]
    World's smallest low-cost digital camera on a single chip;
under $10 for volume users. It is the first commercially available
image sensor to have a built-in A/D converter. The Digital Video
Camera Chip, VVL1070 delivers a digitized B&W image through
processor-compatible serial and parallel ports. The IC uses a
proprietary CMOS sensor technology developed by VLSI Vision Ltd.,
which also is developing a whole series of single-chip EIA cameras
that will be shortly introduced to the American market.

The chip features a 160 x 160 pixel array.  Pixel size is 10.5 x 10.5
microns. All circuitry to drive and sense the array is packaged in a
single Optical Quad Flatpak.  The digital converter provides an 8-bit
digital output for serial or parallel interface. Other features
include an analog output with sync pulses, wide-range electronic
exposure control for use with a variety of low-cost fixed-aperture
lenses and automatic black level circuitry. Power consumption is less
than 100mw.

An Engineering Level Evaluation Kit is available to reduce development
costs and allow designers to rapidly develop a prototype using their
own defined interface circuitry.  The kit includes a fully operational
PCB using an LCC with glass lid mounted in an anodized aluminum
enclosure with both a "C" mount 12mm lens and a wide-angle 4.3mm
fixed-focus lens.

Sony Component Products
15 Essex Road,
Paramus, NJ 07652
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    Sony XC/999/999P is a nice small color CCD camera the size of
a microphone. CCD resolution is 768Hx493V. The 999 is NTSC and the
999P is the PAL format.  XC-75 has small camera head and separate
electronics.

Supercircuits
13015 Debarr Drive
Austin, Texas  78729
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
net: [e-mail]
    Electronic timers and beepers, miniature cameras and
transmitters. Super Circuits specializes in affordable microvideo
products.  One of the tiny cameras, the PC-9XS is about the size of a
silver dollar, has 380 lines resolution, 1 lux rating at a price of
only $149.  Some of the cameras go down to .2 lux. Other products
include small color cameras, ATV UHF transmitter kits, Short range
transmitter sets, and other specialty video products.

Toshiba America
Information and Imaging Technologies Group
1010 Johnson Drive
Buffalo Grove, IL 60089-6900
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    Toshiba IK-M40A high resolution microminiature color camera.
Camera head is 39mm long, 17mm diameter and weighs 16g. 1/2" CCD w/
410,000 pixels, high sensitivity (5 lux at F1.6) and electronic
shutter. RGB output standard. uses cables up to 30m. Several lenses
available. About $2K.
    Toshiba also makes a very small C-mount Lens color CCD camera,
the IK-C40A. It is only slight larger than a 30mm cube.

CCTV Corporation
315 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10013
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
CCTV makes a number of small CCD surveillance cameras. Some as
small as a pack of cigarettes that sell for less than $300.

Texas Instruments
TI makes a $35 CCD Imager, the TC-211, with 192x165 resolution.
Following article is on a design for a camera using this chip over a
parallel port from a PC. Telescope Making, Issue 46, Winter 91/92
Newark Electronics sells the TC211-M for around US$50.00 See TI's
Array Image Sensor Products data manual for more details.

Wintriss Engineering Corp
6342 Ferris Square
San Diego, CA 92121
tel: [phone]
tel: [phone]
    Wintriss makes a 2048 pixel line scan camera that can be used
for object imaging, velocity measurement and positioning with multiple
cameras. Can be used to determine spped and trajectory of objects in
flight. This has been used in archery applications. RS485 interface
with 8Mb/sec serial data rate. Can be linked directly with Wintriss
DSP boards for post-processing and communications. Price $1250.

Xillix Technologies Corporation
Suite 200
2339 Colombia Street
Vancouver B.C. V5Y 3Y3
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    Specializing in High-res CCD cameras. Product line includes a
12-bit 1317x1035 pixel resolution. Target market has been medical
imaging. Full computer control and compatible with a number of image
capture and display boards.

DAK Industries
8200 Remnet Ave
Canoga Park, CA 91304
tel: [phone] (ordering)
tel: [phone] (technical)
fax: [phone]
    DAK sells all kinds of gadgets for the home and business. One
device is a security camera that is smaller than a credit card (length
and width) and 38mm deep. B/W 251,904 pixels, 60 degree lens and
built-in microphone. Has built-in IR transmitters for seeing in total
darkness.  $199 for camera, 20m cable, AC adapter and stands. Other
packages include monitors and two-camera switcher for $299 total.
Extra cable is $29.90

===Inertial measurement devices and gyros
    This includes such devices as accelerometers such as
accelerometers, gyros, and inertial devices used for measuring
orientation or acceleration of moving vehicles. Accelerometers are
devices for measuring the rate of change in velocity and can provide
estimations of distance or be used to detect high forces.

There are several gyros mainly for radio controlled helicopters. These
are rate gyros, used to sense the rate of turn about a particular axis
(usually vertical, for tail rotor control), and are designed to
connect between an R/C receiver and a servo.

These gyros work by modifying the PWM signal that the rx produces,
before it gets to the servo. The sensing is usually done by a linear
hall effect device, which senses the position of a magnet on the
bottom of the flywheel assembly. The gyros have both sensitivity and
gain controls, and some can be switched on and off remotely. They have
been used for sensing rotation about an axis for a VR headset, with
some success. The big advantage is they are relatively cheap, the big
disadvantage is high drift rate.

Andrew Corporation
10500 W. 153rd Street
Orland Park, IL 60462
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    Fiber-optic gyro. 77mm diameter by 88mm high. Analog out
porportional to rotation rate. Also digital version available. Rate
+/- 100 degrees/sec. Stable over -40C to +85C. Power 8-13.5VDC at
250mA. Bias drift 0.005 deg/sec (18 deg/hr). 0.63kg $1100.00 for
digital version, $950 for analog.

BEI - Systron Donner
2700 Systron Drive,
Concord, CA 94518-1399
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    GyroChip - a very small solid state angular rate sensor. Based
a quartz tuning fork device - all support electronics are included.
Max range available: +/-10 deg/sec to +/-1000 deg/sec.  Input +/- 5VDC
Output scale +/- 2.5VDC. Systron Donner also makes a variety of linear
accelerometers and inertial measurement products.
      Solid state six axis inertial sensor. It provides analog
signals for 3 axis acceleration and 3 axis rate. The package is
7.5cmx7.5cmx8cm, weighs ~600grams and takes +-15V unreg in (7W). Bias drift
is on the order of 0.005 deg/sec short term (0.1deg/sec long term).
    Cost is $12,000 for one or $10,000 for 2-9 (a good single axis
rate gyro usually costs $6K+).  Various acceleration and rate range
combinations are available (up to +- 20g).  Delivery is about 6wks.
A new Gyrochip two is available as well. Specs aren't quite as good
but it is cheaper.

Gyration Inc.
Saratoga CA
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    Sells small vertical and directional gyros for ~$500. These
are standard gimballed gyros, but the drift specs probaly aren't as
good as aircraft-quality gyros. Now also sell innovative computer
pointers and devices termed 'Gyroengines' that provide quadrature
outputs from heading devices. Gyroengines are $3.5K

Honeywell
11601 Roosevelt Blvd
St. Petersburg, FL 33716
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
     Honeywll manufactures the modular azimuth and postioning
system (MAPS) and utilizes ring-laser gyros. (RLG). The RLG uses two
beams of laser light rotating in opposite directions along a path
within a sealed and enclosed cavity. As the unit changes heading, the
distances the beams travel differ. This difference is can be measured
and is directly related to heading. When combined with linear
accelerometers the unit provides position and orientation. MAPS has an
RS-422 interface, is approx 22x27x38cm and is 20kg. 100W power draw.
[Rad hard and rated for howitzer gunfire!]

Humphrey
[Need Address]
 Wide variety of gyro and accelerometer devices.

KVH Industries
110 Enterprise Center
Middletown, RI 02840
tel: [phone]
  Nice small well-designed units that provide heading data. About $1K
  w/ RS232 adapter.

Lucas NovaSensor
1055 Mission Court
Fremont, CA 94539
tel: [phone]
  Lucas makes a 1"x1"x0.5" accelerometer for about $200. Good noise
  immunity but fragile.

Murata Erie North America
2200 Lake Park Drive
Smyrna, GA 30080
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    Gyrostar piezoelectric vibrating gyroscope. Uses equilateral
triangular prism with PE elements attached to faces of prism. High
precision compared to other vibration gyroscopes. Measures augular
velocity with good linearity. Max augular vel +/- 90 deg/sec, No
hysteresis, 58x25x25mm, 45g, output is DC voltage porportional to
angular rate. 22.2mV/deg/sec scale factor.
Gerhard Weiss has provided some results of experiments with the unit:
    location:    ag_vp_file_server.informatik.uni-kl.de [131.246.192.2]
    directory:    /Public/Gerd/Public/
    filename:    Gyrostar.ps

Pewatron AG
Hertistr. 27
CH-8304 Wallisellen
Swiss
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
    Two-axis Inclinometer. Weight: 2.3gr, voltage: 5V, current:
20mA, dimension: 12 x 12 x 7 mm, Output: 2 analog output. Sine and
cosine for 360 degree, voltage swing: +/- 0.4V, Price: about $100.
Rumored to have a US distributor: Dinsmore. [if you have further info,
please send it to me - nivek]

Summitt Instruments
Ohio
tel: [phone]
    Three-axis accelerometer. A tiny cube just under 2.5cm on a
side.  Approx $1K

Sundance Model Products
2427 W. Adrian St.
Newbury Park, CA 91320
tel: [phone]
    Lists a solid state gyro for model helicopters.  The SSG/1 is
38mm x 38mm x 13mm and weighs 43g.  Completely solid state with no
motor or moving parts. Claims to draw 10% of the power of a gyro with
moving parts. No drift specs.

Electrolytic tilt sensors or clinometers (not using anything so
nasty as mercury, but a conductive fluid whose resistance across
various electrodes provides an analog signal proportional to tilt
angle). They're not too expensive, although they do tend to have
long settling times (up to a few seconds). A couple of US sources:

The Fredericks Company
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]

Applied Geomechanics
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    The smallest, cheapest model is 5x5x2 cm and about $250.  It
has a 5-terminal electrolytic cell that can measure tilt in two axes
to +-20 degrees (optional +-45 degrees).  The characteristic "slosh"
frequency is about 10 Hz, and it exhibits sub-second settling times
and a resolution of 0.01 degrees. The output is two analog signals (X
and Y, or Roll and Pitch, if you prefer).  It runs off of a 9-volt
battery.


====Rangefinding devices
-Principles
There are four basic techniques for distance measurement using electro
magetic radiation.

These are
1 Pulse Timing
2 Phase Comparison
3 Doppler Methods
4 Interferometry

All are used in practice for distance measurement depending on the
particular application.

Pulse timing, as the name suggests, involves measuring the round time
for a signal to be transmitted to a reflective surface and return.

This is the principle used in Radar, DME for aircraft, LORAN,
Satellite Altimetry, Airborne RADAR Altimetry, Lunar Laser Ranging
etc. Some of the newer EDM instruments used by surveyor are also using
pulse timing and accuracies of +/- 5mm are possible. Most of the
military range finders also use pulse timing.  The GPS system uses
pulse timing for coarse distance measurement.  Very Long Base
Interferometry (VLBI) is also a pulse timing technique where signals
>from pulsars are timed from two or more radio telescopes and the
difference in times of arrival are converted to intercontinental
distances with a precision of a few centimetres.

Phase difference involves the use of a carrier wave which may be
modulated at different wavelengths. By measuring the difference in
phase between the transmitted signal and the received signal after it
has been reflected from the other end of the target, the distance can be
determined as an integer number (unknown) of wavelengths plus a
fraction of a wavelength which is known from the phase comparison. By
using a range of modulation frequencies the ambiguity can be
resolved. There are many applications of this technique. A wide range
of carrier frequencies are used ranging from visible through infra red
to microwave and right down to VLF. Typical instruments used by
surveyors have accuracies of +/-(1to2 mm +1to3 parts per million) and
use infra red as the carrier. Precise positioning using GPS can be
achieved by phase comparison of the carrier wave signals of the
various satellites. Accuracies in position of better than 1 part per
million can be achieved.

Doppler techniques were used in the earlier satellite positioning
systems. The received frequency of a low orbit satellite is compared
with the actual transmitted signal as a function of time. The rate of
change of frequency gives the slant range between the satellite and
the observer while the instant when the two freqencies are the same
gives the point of closest approach. By knowing the orbital parameters
of the satellite which are transmitted, the observers position can be
determined.

Interferometric methods are the same as those used in the original
Michelson Interferometer. It is used for metrology, high precision
distance measurement over short distances (up to 60 metres) and in the
definition of the metre.

    There are a variety of laser rangefinding devices that have
been built and used over the past 8 years or so for robotics. The 3D
devices are still large, power hungry and heavy but give very nice
images suitable for fast map building and navigation work. Expect to
pay over $50K for these time-of-flight devices. Most AM Lidars measure
phase shift between outgoing and reflected beams.  A mirror system
rasters the beam forming a video-camera-like image. Some devices
supply the reflectance image as well as range which is nice for
corresponding the two. Comprehensive references include:

Electronic Distance Measurement by JM Rueger, Springer-Verlag

P. Besl, ``Active, Optical Range Imaging Sensors'', Machine Vision and
Applications, v. 1, p. 127-152, 1988.

A longer version of Besl's paper appears in ``Advances in Machine
Vision: Architectures and Applications'', J. Sanz (ed.),
Springer-Verlag, 1988.

Other good surveys are Ray Jarvis' article in IEEE TPAMI v5n2 and
Nitzan's article in IEEE PAMI v10n2.

A good report on the characterization of a particular scanner is:

Experimental Characterization of the Perceptron Laser Rangefinder, In
So Kweon, Regis Hoffman, and Eric Krotkov. Carnegie Mellon University
Technical Report, CMU-RI-TR-91-1. 1991.

M. Hebert and E. Krotkov. 3-D Measurements from Imaging Laser Radars:
How Good Are They? Int. Journal of Image and Vision Computing,
10(3):170-178, April 1992


A number of laboratory works have also demonstrated FM or chirp
systems which can be highly accurate (e.g. high resolution elevation
maps of coins) but these are very specialized and I don`t know of
commercial devices currently.

-COMMERCIAL DEVICES
ERIM (Environmental Research Institute of Michigan)
    ERIM has built a number of custom AM laser rangefinders
including those used in the ALV (Autonomous Land Vehicle) program. CMU
and Martin Marietta have both used this systems in extensive work.
Basic system was a 128x64 2fps 20m (ambiguity interval) system.

Erwin Sick GmbH.
UK:
Erwin Sick
Optic-Electronic Ltd.
Waldrich House
39 Hedley Road
St. Albans
Herfordshire AL1 5BN
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
PLS-100: This device measures distance by TOF from 4 cm up to 80 m,
guaranteed range of 4 m (at a black lether target), is eye-safe (IEC
Class 1), takes a 180 degree scan in 20 ms, total 25 scans a second,
angle resolution 0.5 degree (361 scan points in a scan).  This device
is build in a industrial IP65 case. And it is rather cheap (6.900,- DM
+ VAT, in Germany).

Intelligent Solutions Inc.
One Endicott Avenue
Marblehead, MA 01945
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
net: [e-mail]
contact: Jim Maddox
    Intelligent Solutions Inc. was formed in Nov. of 1993 by four of the
former engineers of Denning Mobile Robotics.  They are focusing on building
smart sensors and their first product is the EZNav Position Sensor.
    EZNav is a precision optical position sensor that can be used
on moving platforms such as automated guided vehicles, robots, or
material handling equipment.  EZNav uses an eye safe scanning laser
with a 360 degree field of view to measure the azimuth angle to wall
mounted reference reflectors.  This angle data can be used to
triangulate the position and heading relative to the known target
locations.  EZNav is unique in its ability to use passive reflectors
as well as coded electronic targets. Current work includes adding
the triangulation calculations to the EZNav sensor and a new
Ultrasonic based position sensor.
    Specs:
Target Range            30m passive up to 180m active
Abs. Accuracy           +/- 0.03 degrees RMS
Scan Rate               12 per second
Data Rate               9.6k baud RS 232
Power                   24 volts at 300 ma
Size                    30cm Dia x 35cm High
Weight                  4.5kg
    An EZNav sensor with 10 passive targets costs $6,600.  There
is a ten percent discount for educational uses.

Odetics
1515 South Manchester Ave
Anaheim, CA 92802-2907
tel: [phone]
Odetics has made a number of smaller laser scanners. That is, smaller
than their larger ERIM and Perceptron brethren. I have not heard any
independent reviews of the product however.

Perceptron
23855 Research Drive
Farmington Hills, MI 48335-2643
tel: [phone]
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
A spin-off of ERIM, Perceptron has also built a number of
AM laser rangefinders.  CMU and Caterpillar have used these for map
building and obstacle avoidance work in rough terrain navigation.
    LASAR product - provides range and reflectance. Programmable
field of view (15 to 60 deg) Vertical viewing angle from 3 to 72
degrees. Depth of field from 2 to 40 meters. Up to 1024 x 2048 pixels
per image (programmable) and 360,000 pixels/second data acquisition.
VME and PC-compatible interface cards available. Windows software
provides starting point for custom applications. Less than $50K with a
variety of performance and interface options.

Riegl Laser Measurement Systems
[company HQ is Dr. Johannes Riegl GmbH, 85 km, NW of Vienna, Austria]
Riegl USA
8516 Old Winter Garden Road
Suite 101
Orlando, FL 32835
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    Laser range finders, laser speed sensors, laser distance
meters, motor scanners, laser radar systems. Pulsed laser devices. One
of the neatest is the Laser Scout, which gives range, azimuth and
inclination to the target and can be used with GPS to give position
coordinates of the device you are pointing at. $10K. Accuracy up to
+/- 10cm (depending on model)
    Laser Radar Scanner (LRS 90-3) is a 1D scanner with 36 deg
field of view and a +/- 3cm accuracy. 2-80m distance, $10K. There are
several other distance models as well.

Schwarz Electro-Optics
3404 N. Orange Blossom Trail
Orlando, FL 32804
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
Schwarz makes some very nice point range laser ranging devices. These
devices are slightly bigger than a soda can. About $6-12K. CMU
experience for use in simulated unmanned air vehicle platform worked
well. Their MARS (marine angle range system) is a rotating laser
device that reflects off targets in the environment. Max range up to
1000meters using corner prisms. Accuracy +/- 1m. Erebus (Dante)
Scanner used Schwarz device as base.

Origin Instruments
854 Greenview Drive
Grand Praire, TX 750750-2438
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
The Dynasight sensor is a 3-D optical radar that provides real-time
3-D measurements of passive targets with sub-millimeter resolution.
Automatic search and track is provided, eye-safe operation and no
adjustments or alignment required. Original application was head
tracking of computer users but end- effector tracking is also viable.
Operatin range depends on target size 0.1-1.5m for 7mm target, 0.3-4m
for 25mm target and 1 to 6m for 75mm targets. RS-232 interface.
Accuracies 1mm cross range and 4mm down range, resolutions 0.1mm cross
range and 0.4mm down range.

A number of labs have built light stripe devices using projected light
LCD shutters and laser line projectors determine distance through
geometry (as opposed to directly measuring distance through
time-of-flight means) One common need is that of generating the laser
line.

LaserMax
Rochester, NY
tel: [phone]
Manufactures semiconductor laser diode packages and cylindrical
lenses. Packages and small and rugged.

Hammamatsu Corp.
New Jersey
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
Hamamatsu S4282 Light Modulation Photo IC The size of a normal
transistor (approx 1/4" square).  It has 4 leads, Vcc, Gnd, Vout,
LED. All you do is attach an IR LED to the LED lead to give you an
instant IR proximity detector (the photo diode detector is built into
the part).  Two can be aimed at each other and they won't interfere
since they'll be out of phase. They have another model with a lens
over the photo diode that is claimed could be used up to 30 feet!
Hammamatsu also sells a number of photo sensors like color sensors,
position sensitive detectors, pyroelectric sensors.
    S4282-11    short range     $7.75 single unit
    S4282-72    long range    $19.00 single unit
[from articles by Prabal K Dutta <[e-mail]>
and Shane Bouslough <[e-mail]>]

ESP Technologies
21 LeParc Drive
Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
$15K LED based IR ranging system. 15cm diameter rotating scanning
device with collimated LED light beam that uses phase differences to
calculate distance. Range 0.6 to 6m. 2.5cm resolution, 15cm accuracy.
1Khz update rate

IBEO Lasertechnik
Ingenieurburo fur
Elektronik + Optik
Fahrenkron 125
D 2000 Hamburg 71
tel: [phone] - 01
fax: [phone] - 101
2D and 3D laser scanners. 8frame/sec, 220 degree view, 4600
points/sec. Accuracy +/- 20mm (1 sigma) from 0.5 - 500? 24W power.
System specs can be configured for variety of applications.

===Force/torque sensors, accelerometers, tactile

Force measurement provides indications of magnitude and direction of
forces for use in manipulation or locomotion. A variety of control
schemes have been implemented in force controlled systems to allow
smooth and accurate control in situations that would otherwise be
precluded without such devices. A number of load cells and
acceleration measuring devices are described here:

Analog Devices
tel: [phone]
  Analog Devices have the ADXL50 accelerometer which comes in a 10-pin
TO-5 can. It is primarily used with air-bags and has a 1994 projected
price of $5 in quantities. In the Electronic Design August 8, 1991
issue it quoted the current price as $21.75 for 1000 off quantities.

Assurance Technologies (ATI)
(formerly Lord Industrial Automation)
503D Highway 70 East
Garner, North Carolina 27529
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
  Largest supplier of multi-axis force sensors. Use silicon rather than
foil strain gages for lower strain levels and increased life. F/T
sensor ratings from +/- 15lbs to +/- 150lbs (+/- 15 in-lbs to +/- 600
in-lbs) weights are 0.4 and 2.2 lbs for the 4 available sensors.
Serial or parallel digital interface or analog interface.  ATI also
makes robotic tool-changers and an RCC device for assembly operations.
An ATI sensor is also incorporated in the Hughes SMARTee end-effector.

Bonneville Scientific
1849 W. No. Temple, Bldg E.
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    Array sensor system that uses PVDF ultrasonic
emmitter/detector attached to an elastomer material. Time-of-flight of
the pulse as it bounces off of other side of the material is
porportional to distance through the elastomer. The distance is
porportional the pressure on the pad. Bonneville claims it can be made
thin enough for a skin and they have pictures of it being used on a
robot finger picking up a washer which can be recognized on their
output graphics. Example product:
    Model 300 - 16x16 tactile sensor system - $5K
    TOF resolution - 12.5 ns
    Sheet thickness resolution - 6 microns
    Pressure resolution - 0.5 psi (3.4 kPa)
    Force resolution - 1g
    Rubber linearity - 5-15% deviation
    Overload - > 1000PSI (7000kPa)
    Spatial resolution - 1.8mm
    Scan rate on 16x16 pad - 240 Hz
An evaluation kit is available SE-1 Evaluation Kit - $99.00 includes
SE-1 sensor and electronics. SE-1 Sensor is $42 in single quantity.

California Cybernetics
10322 Sherman Grove
Sunland, CA 91040
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
 Six DOF F-T devices. Up to 1000Hz sampling rate, reportedly easy to
interface.

Cybernet
1919 Green Road
Suite B-101
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
net: <[e-mail]>
PER-force - A 6dof compact force-reflecting controller. Can be used
for teleoperationor interactive graphics applications.

Force Imaging
3424 Touhy Avenue
Chicago, IL 60645-2717
tel: [phone]
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    Uniforce Force Sensors. They function similiar to a variable
resistor in an electrical circuit. As a force is exerted on the
sensor, the two layers of pressure sensitive material compress
together and cause a change in resistance which corresponds to a
change in pressure. As force increases, resistance decreases.
    A Uniforce experimenters kit is available for $550 and
includes PC-AT card, cables, software, manual and nine Uniforce
sensors in three force ranges. They have ISA boards, PCMCIA version
and a PPIO version as well. Sensors available in ranges from 0-500g to
0-400kg. Uniforce sensors can be provided in a wide variety of shapes,
sizes and force ranges. Software is also available to display force
values in real-time.

Hughes STX
4400 Forbes Blvd
Lanham, MD 20706
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
 A 6-dof end-effector with automatic load sensing and compensation.
Control modes include position control (cartesian with user spec-ed
poses and frames), impedence and force control modes. Programmable
behaviors (sliding, hinge, move-to-touch, guarded move, follow etc),
open architecture (VxWorks, VME, user-linakable libraries) and a lot
more. Interfaces available included RS-232, ethernet, RS-422 and SCSI.
Pretty amazing end-effector!

Interlink Electronics
1110 Mark Ave.
Carpinteria, CA 93013
tel: [phone]
     805.484.1331 (product support)
fax: [phone]
    Force Sensing resistors made from polymer thick films. Very
thin.  Response is approx. 1/R to force. Article in March 1993 issue
of Electronics Now/Radio Electronics.

JR3
22 Harter Avenue
Woodland, CA 95695
tel: [phone]
  6-DOF force-torque sensors. Strain gage technology. Newer packages
have all electronics built into the sensor. Make some high-force
devices as well. CMU's Ambler used JR3's on all the feet with good
success.  Complete force torque data at 8Khz, signal digitization
within sensor body, low noise susceptibility, synch serial at 2MHz,
inexpensive cabling.

Merritt Systems, Inc.
P.O. Box 2103
Merritt Island, FL  32954-2103
Contact: Dr. Dan Wegerif
tel: [phone]
    MSI is involved in the development of "Whole-Arm Sensor
Technology" under 2 NASA Phase II SBIR's.  Their proximity sensing
technology is based on IR arrays which they call "SensorCells". It
allows the use of IR, acoustic and capacitive (under-development)
sensors in the same sensor skin.

Need addresses for:

Ercon
MA
    Conductive rubber and conductive inks. You build a semi-rigid
circuit board with inter-digitated fingers to apply to one side of the
rubber.  The rubber has a rough surface that under increasing load
allows more rubber to contact. They can make rubber with all sorts of
conductive properties.

===Sonar sensors
     The time it takes for an acoustic pulse to propagate through
 air or water, reflect from the environment and return to a detector is
 porportional to the distance.
     Acoustic time-of-flight devices have been around for awhile
 now. The ubiquitous Polaroid device is cheap and easily integrated and
 has has found wide use in robotic devices. Other companies have
 developed nice complete turnkey sonar devices though and Polaroid is
 no longer the only choice.

Polaroid
119 Windsor St,
Cambridge, MA 02139
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
tel: [phone] ordering
tel: [phone] technical assistance
 Polaroid Ultrasonic Components Group offers two ultrasonic ranging kits:
 Specs:
    Distance range: 0.26 to 10.7 meters
    Resolution: Nominal +- 3mm to 3m, +-1% over entire range
    Sonar acceptance angle: approx. 20 degrees
    Power Requirement: 6VDC, 2.5 Amps (1 ms pulse), 150mA quiescent
    Weight: Transducer, 8.2gm, Ranging module, 18.4 gm
 Designer's Kit:
    1 transducer, 1 ranging module, electronics display accurate
    to 1/10th meter. Cost is $169
 OEM kit:
    2 transducers, 2 ranging modules. $99.
 NEW Piezotransducer kit
    2.5cm-1500cm +/- 1%, RS-232 port and analog output, extra real
    estate, $299

This section describes a simple addition to the drive circuitry, the
Polaroid ranging system can detect objects as close as 10cm.

The board has two extra signals: BLNK and BINH.  Asserting BLNK
(driving it HIGH) resets the ECHO RS-latch, and asserting BINH
shortens the internal blanking interval (which is 2.38 ms by default).
Thus, the solution would seem to lie in asserting BINH after a
reasonable amount of time (< 2.38 ms after asserting INIT) to detect
objects closer than 1.3 feet.  This doesn't work very well because
BINH is very susceptable to noise, and attaching a driver to it wreaks
havoc possibly because of the anomalous current sink during the
transmit phase. This can be fixed by asserting BLNK during the
blanking period (ie the new blanking period) while negating BINH and
asserting BIHN after the blanking period while negating BLNK.  This
can be done easily with a one-shot or some other timing device (eg
computer timer, etc).

A computer timer can be used. The timer goes HIGH tblank ms after INIT
is asserted, where tblank=0.15*dist and dist is the threshold distance
in inches).  The timer output goes to BINH and the inverted timer
output goes to BLNK. The timer output should be inverted with an
LS/TTL inverter to delay the negation of BLNK, otherwise the RS latch
may do weird things.
[From Richard LeGrand]

 Siemans - nice complete sensor package, 5 degree cone angle

 Massa - components

 Texas Instruments
     Type SN28827 Sonar Ranging Module
     See TI Applications Notes D2780
     Under $50, needs only 5VDC
 Not sure if these units are still manufactured but they are often in
 surplus catalogs.

 ===Position determination
 How do I measure the postion of my arm/mobile robot/thing?

In many applications there is a need to accurately measure the
position of an end-effector (hand or gripper) or find coordinate
locations on objects, or track motion, or give a time and position
history of a moving object. Virtual reality applications have really
needed this kind of device to provide realtime adjustments to views
that are projected to VR users. See sci.virtual-worlds for discussions
on this topic. Robotics people have needed this to provide accurate
assessments of manipulator motions and mobile robot positions.

 Required measurement ranges can be as small as a tabletop and can
 extend for kilometers.

 Useful papers to solve for transforms from positioning devices for
 multiple reference frames:

 Roger Tsai and Rainer Lenz,
     June 1989 IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation
 C. C. Wang,
     April 1992 IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation)

 Commercial Devices:
 -------------------

 Polhemus, Acension and Shooting Star provide 6DOF devices that are
 geared to local tracking of a small wired RF or EM style beacon.
 Distances are limited to a couple of meters and accuracies to sub-cm range:

 Polhemus Inc.
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
 Burlington, VT
 3Space, Isotrak, FasTrak:
 Electromagnetic devices for sensing xyz and rotations remotely.
 Limited to 1m or so radius. Sensitive to metallic objects in vicinity.
 Approx $3k

 Ascension Technology Corporation
 PO Box 527
 Burlington VT 05402 USA
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
 net: [e-mail]
 Sales: Jack Scully
 Technical Support: Steven Work
Product is Flock of Birds. A 6d0f measuring device.
Ftp site is here: ftp://ftp.std.com/ftp/vendors/Ascension/
     gen_lit.txt  - Contains general literature on 6D motion tracking
                    system. Accuracy Specifications, comments from prominent
                    users, list of 3rd party software vendors, FAQ on
                    tracking system, etc. Ascii text.
     tecpaper.wp6 - Technical Description of our Flock of Birds (TM) 6D
                    tracking system. In Binary WordPerfect 6.0 format.
     userware.zip - Latest version of our User Software, including source
                    code. Enjoy. pkzipped binary file.
     manual.wp6   - Latest version of our User Manual. In Binary
                    WordPerfect 6.0 format.
     readme.txt   - more info on files located in Ascension's FTP
                    directory. Ascii text.

Sensitivity to metal is on the order 5 to 10 times less than
Polhemus tracker. Range and specifications are much better as well.

The Ascension Flock of Birds tracker is DC pulsed, where the Polhemus
is AC magnetic field. The AC field set up standing waves in metal
(conduction and ferris) which magnify the distortion effect.

Charts provided by Acension:

KEY  PERFORMANCE  PARAMETERS OF ASCENSION  &  POLHEMUS  TRACKING  DEVICES
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Parameter                         Ascension        Polhemus     Polhemus
                                Flock of Birds     Isotrak II    Fastrak
Measurement Rate
 (Measurements/sec)
        1 Receiver                      144             60        120
        2 Receivers                     144             30         60
        @ Max Number of Rcvrs           144             30         30
Maximum Number of Receivers              30             2          32
Number of Transmitters to                 1             1           4
Support Max Number of Receivers
Maximum Data Output Rate                312K            115K       115K
 (Baud or Bytes)
Lag Increase with Multiple              No              Yes        Yes
Receivers**
Range - Standard Transmitter            3'              5'*        10'*
        - Extended Transmitter          8'              N/A        N/A
Accuracy Degradation Due to:
        Conductive Metals               Low             High       High
        Stainless Steel                 None            High       High
         (300 series)
CRT Interference Rejection              Yes             No         Yes
LCD Noise Susceptability                No              Yes        Yes
Unit Cost (1 Receiver)                  $2,695          $2,875     $5,750

* Note 1:  Polhemus specifies range at maximum transmitter-sensor
separation distances.  At these ranges, outputs will contain significant
amounts of noise, which may render their measurements worthless.  We
will provide you with a number of references who  have independently
assessed actual range performance of both Ascension and Polhemus trackers.

** Note 2: For a complete discussion of latency in  competitive motion
trackers, contact Ascension.

Specifications:
Technical
     Translation range:       plus or minus 3'(8' optional) in any direction
     Angular range:           plus of minuw 180 degrees Azimuth & Roll
                              plus or minus 90 degrees Elevation
     Translation accuracy:    0.1" RMS
     Translation resolution:  0.03"
     Angular accuracy         0.5 degrees RMS
     Angular resolution       0.1 degrees RMS @ 12"
     Update rate:             Up to 144 measurements/second
     Outputs:                 X,Y,Z positional coordinates and orientation
                              angles or rotation matrix
     Interface:               RS-232C with selectable baud rates to 115,200; or
                              RS-422/485 with selectable baud rates to 310,000
     Format:                  Binary
     Modes:                   Point or stream
Physical
     Transmitter: 3.75-inch cube (internally mounted in Enclosure or
                  externally mounted with 10' cable) or extended range
                  transmitter option: 12-inch cube externally mounte with
                  20' cable
     Receiver:    1.0" x 1.0" x 0.8" cube (or optional 3-button mouse)
                  with 10' or 25' cable
     Enclosure:   9.5" x 11.5" x 2.6"
     Power:       User provided or optional external plug-in: US/European
                  version
     Environment: Large metallic objects in operating volume may degrade
                  performance


 Shooting Star Technology
 1921 Holdom Avenue
 Burnaby, B.C.
 Canada V5B 3W4
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
     ADL-1 6DOF tracker. Gives position/orientation measurements up
 to 240 times/second, with low latency (0.35 to 1.88 milliseconds.)

---Hand motions

Mattel marketed the PowerGlove for use in gaming (Nintendo). It
tracked finger motions through small bend sensors. The Mattel
PowerGlove was developed by:
Abrams-Gentile Entertainment, Inc.,
244 West 54th Street,
9th Floor, New York, NY 10019
tel: [phone].
The sensors themselves are simple resistors varying from about 200K to
500K ohms depending on the amount of flex.

 --The following can be used to track in rooms or warehouse sized
 environments. Accuracies in the cm or better range.

Denning Branch International Robotics
1401 Ridge Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA  15233
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
email: Soon. Messages to [e-mail] will be forwarded.
 Denning-Branch is a merger of Denning Mobile Robotics, once
 located in the Boston area, and makers of human-size mobile
 robots since 1983, and Branch and Associates, of Hobart,
 Australia, designers and builders of smaller mobile robots
 since 1979.
LaserNav
    Robot-mounted scanning infrared laser unit that uses wall
 mounted bar-coded retroreflectors or active transponders to navigate
 to centimeter precision in 10-meter-scale areas. $8K

Guidance Control Systems
44 Hidcote Road, Leicester
011 44 455 822 441 ext 3808
fax [phone]
Contact: Malcolm Roberts
     GCS's core group developed the rotating scanner and passive
target system. Featured in several papers out of Oxford. Caterpillar
has North American rights for materials handling applications. Uses
passive targets with barcodes. Targets have unique ID's and surveyed
positions. Rotating laser gives angles between targets. Target
positions combined with angles gives vehicle position and heading. 2Hz
scan rate but clever use of dead reckoned information and kalman
filtering can give very impressive results.

 MacLeod Technologies
 315 Littleton Rd.
 Chelmsford, MA 01824
 tel: [phone]
  Update speed: 20 hz
  position accuracy:  +/-0.05inches (1.27 mm)
  direction accuracy: +/- 0.05 degrees
  3 D reference points cover 1 acre
  1D, 2D or 3D feedback
  Cost: About $5K for positioning system
  They claim to be able to get this kind of accuracy even while
  the robot is moving at several meters/sec.

 Selspot Systems Ltd
 1233 Chicago Road
 Troy, MI 48083
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
 In Sweden:
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
     Two camera system registers 3D position of IR LED's at very
 high rates. Selspots Robot Check System can provide non-contact 3D
 measurement and analysis of robot motion at 500 Hz rate. System has
 been used for over 20 years. Used in motion studies for people,
 animals and robots.

 Qualisys AB
 Ogardesvagen 4
 S-433 30 Partille
 Sweden
     MacReflex system uses CCD-based cameras for non-contacting
 measurement of robots. Two camera system is typical. Uses small
 passive targets and IR LED's colocated with the cameras lens. Video
 processor calculates centroid of markers and displays in
 real-time. Information is used to provide data and analysis of
 position, velocity, acceleration, angles, angle velocity and
 acceleration and position vs. time. Specs: Noise level 1:200000,
 Resolution 1:70000, Relative accuracy: 1:30000, and absolute accuracy
 1:10000. Accuracy is defined as standard deviation of difference
 between measured and true positions/longest diagonal in measurement
 volume.
 Qualisys
 41C New London Turnpike
 Glastonbury, CT 06033
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
 Selspot is marketed by:
 Innovision Systems
 30521 Schoenherr, Ste 104
 Warren, MI 48093
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]

 Coordinate Measuring Machines are now widely used for process control,
 statistical monitoring, entering 3D from a physical part into a CAD
 system and many other uses. CMM's tend to be large and expensive.

 Supraporte Inc
 5145-I Avenida Encinas, Carlsbad, CA 92008
 Portable 6-axis measuring system. Model 2000
 now available with battery power pack.
 Very accurate. Very expensive.

 Faro
 125 Technology Park
 Lake Mary, FL 32746-6204
 tel: [phone]
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
    Metrecom: 6DOF articulated pointer, like a portable CMM.
Endpoint accuracies are around .005" -> .025", depending on model.
Counterbalnaced design. Three models from 1.8m to 2.4m reach and
accuracies ranging from +/- .635mm to .127mm and prices from $14.4K to
$51.4K respectively.

For the really high end:

Cheasapeake Laser Systems
222 Gale Lane
Kennett Square, PA 19348
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    Laser metrology systems. CMS-3000 is a servo controlled
tracking laser interferometer measureing tool. The tracker follows a
retroreflective target whil providing real-time coordinate information
of the retro center location. Position of the target is provided in
XYZ coordinates via linear distance and two high accuracy angular
encoders. CMS-3000 can provide measurements over a large volume. 30m
radial, > 110 degrees elevation, > 270 horizontal. Down to 0.6 micron
resolution, 2 parts in 10^5 accuracy for range. (1m/sec tracking) up
to 6m/sec tracking at 5 micron resolution. Lightweight and cost
effective versus CMM's and offers speed and accuracy advantages over
theodolites and photogrammetry equipment. System can be leased by
hour/week/month. About $180K to buy.

 ===Pan/Tilt devices
    A common robotic need. Most pan-tilts sold today by companies
such as Pelco and Vicon are for CCTV applications for continuous
scanning or remote operation. At most these will have potentiometers
for feedback.  A number of undersea companies make pan-tilt devices as
well that are rugged and nicely packaged, but these tend to be heavier
and more expensive than their terrestrial counterparts.

 CameraMan
 CameraMan is a pan/tilt device built to support any camcorder
 and has a wireless interface to an external remote control. 360 deg
 pan and 50 deg of tilt.  The unit is made by ParkerVision and sold
 through Columbia AudioVideo (and probably other suppliers)

 CCTV Corporation
 315 Hudson Street
 New York, NY 10013
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
 Standard CCTV pan-tilt devices like those from Vicon and
 others. Inexpensive but no computer control. $557 - $1400

 Directed Perception
 1451 Capuchino Avenue,
 Burlingame, CA 94010
 tel: [phone]
 Small computer controlled pan-tilt unit Model PTU-46-17.5
 Weighs 1kg and can support ~1.5kg camera payload.
 Very nice specs: 330 deg/sec slew, 3.06 arcmin accuracy,
 on-the-fly position and speed changes. 11-40VDC unregulated power input,
 RS-232 interface. Can use RS-485 using RJ-11 to provide control of
 multiple PT units.
 Cost: $1935 Includes PT unit, controller, cable and power supply.
     $1800 w/o power supply.

Emco Intertest Inc
27-1 Ironia Road
Flanders, NJ 07836
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    MicroPan PTX-400 very small P/T designed for remote viewing
with micro-CCD cameras. Weight 115g. Height under 7cm.

Fujinon
10 High Point Drive
Wayne, NJ 07470
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    Fujinon CPT-10. 300 deg pan, =/- 95deg tilt. 15 deg/sec speed.
2kg. Payload 4kg. Analog input control.

 Photosea
 6377 Nancy Ridge Drive
 San Diego, CA 92121
 tel: [phone]
   Underwater pan-tilts including Cobra, very small design.

 Remote Ocean Systems
 5111-L Santa Fe Street
 San Diego, CA 92109
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
   Underwater P/T systems, expensive but very nicely packaged. PT-5 is
a new subminature P/T device that can accomodate a small CCD color
camera and mini wet&dry lights. The P/T is 13.5cm high and 10cm wide.
Uses small brushless motors with harmonic drives. Radiation tolerant
and corrosion resistant. 360 scan on both axes.

 RSI Research
 Sidney, BC
 tel: [phone]
   Underwater pan-tilts

 Telemetrics
 Hawthorne, NJ
 tel: [phone]
   Computer controlled P/T devices - fairly large though.

 TeleRobotics International, Inc.
 7325 Oak Ridge Hwy Suite 104
 Knoxville, TN 37931
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
   An all-electronic pan/tilt/zoom resampler. That is, they put a box
 behind a camera with a fish-eye lens. The box has digital inputs for
 pan, tilt, zoom, rotation. The box resamples the video signal and
 produces an output as though the image were acquired by a camera with
 those parameters. Used as an alternative to pan/tilt devices.

 Zebra Kinesis
 (spin-off of Zebra Robotics)
 Jeff Kerr
 tel: [phone]
   Small Pan/tilt head.

 ===Shape memory materials:

 Nickel-titanium alloys were first discovered by the Naval Ordinance
 Laboratory decades ago and the material was termed NiTinOL. These
 materials have the intriguing property that they provide actuation
 through cycling of current through the materials. It undergoes a
 'phase change' exhibited as force and motion in the wire.

 Mondotronics
 524 San Anselmo Ave.,
 #107
 San Anselmo, CA 94960
 tel: [phone]
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
 net: <[e-mail]>
 A number of muscle wire (nitinol) projects including a small walking
 machine.  Book and sample kit with 1m each of 50,100 and 150 um wire -
 enough to build all 14 projects in book.

 Memry Technologies
 57 Commerce Drive
 Brookfield, CT 06804
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
 Memry sell a Mitsubishi developed polyurethane based Shape Memory
 Polymer. The material undergoes property changes in hardness,
 flexibility, elastic modulus and vapor permeability under temperature
 change. Medical applications is one focus for this material.

 ===Measuring Linear Motion
    There are very few devices to directly give absolute position
for linear motions. Often rack and pinion drives are combined with
geared rotary encoders to give absolute position. Here are some
manufacturers of Magneorestrictive sensors for measuring absolute
linear position. Accuracy is usually around 0.05% of full scale.

 Gemco Magnetek
 1080 N. Crooks Road
 Clawson, MI 48017-1097
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]

 Balluff
 PO Box 937
 8125 Holton Drive
 Florence, KY 41042
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]

 MTS Systems Corporation (Temposonics)
 Sensors Division
 Box 13218
 Research Triangle Park, NC 27708
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]

 Norstat
 PO Box 377
 Hibernia, NJ 07842
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]

===Interfacing sensors

Atmos Technology,Inc
1060 Lincoln Av,
San Jose Ca 95125
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    The AT1000A is a single chip sensor interface circuit that has
been used in pressure, acceleration, temperature and humidity
applications.  20 PIN SOIC Package, 12-Bit A/D Converter, 64 Bits
EEPROM memory.  Programmable pulsed current source via EEPROM memory.
Three channel A/D: Iout1,Iout2, and Vdiff.


____________________________________________________________________________
+++Actuators

[New section - much to add]

    How do I get a motor under computer control? What kind of
motor should I use? What are the differences between actuator types?
What other types of actuation are there?

Types of motors:
Synchronous
Stepper
AC servo
Brushless DC servo
Brushed DC servo

RC-Servos
---------

R/C servos for model airplanes, cars and other vehicles are light,
rugged, cheap and fairly easy to interface. For prices etc see one of
the many Radio Control magazines on the market.

Three wire connector for RC-servos:

Pin 1 = White = Signal
Pin 2 = Red   = +5
Pin 3 = Black = Signal and Power Ground
[Tang = pin 1]

The signal is a variable width pulse ranging from 1-2ms in duration
and repeating every 12-20 ms. The output shaft rotates to a position
porportional to the input pulse width. Input pulse width is compared
to an internal timer pulse. The timer period is controlled by a pot
coupled to the servo's output shaft. The difference between the two
pulse widths is an error signal. The servo attempts to reduce or
eliminate the error signal by driving the output shaft in the
appropriate direction. When the error signal is within about
5 micro-seconds the drivers are turned off to preventing oscillation or
'hunting'.

How to reverse a servo?
You have to reverse both the motor and the potentiometer leads.

It would be much easier to reverse the control input. All modern
radios have "reverse" switches for all channels. In the past you
could have one of 3 solutions:
a. Live with the servo as-is. Design your model with the servo
   direction in mind.
b. Some companies had "reversed" servos. Probably no longer available.
c. Use a gadget between the receiver and radio that reverses
   the servo. Possibly a single 4538 (Motorola MC14538) with 2
   resistors, 3 capacitors and a trimmer pot.
d. Modify the servo. This is the most difficult and least desired
   solution. Impossible if the motor is soldered directly to the
   PCB (seen in some servos). [from Itai Nashon]

The following article is an excellent source on servo facts and a
PIC-based circuit to control R/C Servos. (See the Microcontrollers
Section for more info on the PIC)

The Juggler's Delight: PIC-based Controller for up to
eight servos by Scott Edward. The Computer Applications Journal,
October 1994 p14 [A kit is available as well for the circuit,
including PC board, IC's etc]

Commercial controller for RC servos:

Pontech
401 E 17th St Suite B
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
tel: [phone]

Pontech has a SV100 Servo Motor Controller which is based on the PIC
16C84 microcontroller.  It accepts RS232 serial data signal from a
host computer and poutput PWM to control up to four RC servo motors.
Multiple boards can be parallel together to allow more servos. They
also sell FUTABA FP-S148 servos. boards: $49.95, servos: $16.95, +
$5.00 shipping and handling

Muscle-like Actuators
----------------------

See Shape Memory section in Sensors area above.

Bridgestone Corporation
3-2-25 Nishikubo,
Musashino City, Tokyo 180.
tel: [phone]
    Rubber-based device that bends under applied pneumatic
pressure. For a rotation unit typical rotation angles are 360,120,90
degrees for linear unit the contraction rate cannot exceed 20%.

Research into shape memory alloys, polymer gels and micromechanism
devices is ongoing. Library browsing is a must to get recent
information on these areas.

____________________________________________________________________________
+++Imaging for Robotics

[This is a new and incomplete section - need more information here]
There are a wide variety of frame grabbers, computer vision systems
and image processing tools available. For VME, Multibus, PC Bus, even
SBUS and STD, there are a number of options for getting images into
your computer.

Data Cube
    [real-time frame buffers and imaging analysis]
    [need address]

Data Translation
100 Locke Drive
Marlboro, MA  01752
tel: [phone]
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]

ImageNation Corporation
P.O. Box 276
Beaverton, OR 97075
tel: [phone]
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]

    Cortex I Video Frame Grabber features half-slot card, real
time imaging with display output, 8 bit, RS-170, CCIR formats
available, Binary, TIFF file formats, EISA & STD bus products
available, single 512 x 484 or four 256 x 242 images

Mandex Technology, Inc.
1191 Chicago Road
Troy, MI 48083
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
contact: M. Gupte
    SMART EYE I: DSP-based real-time image processing system
designed specifically for mobile and fixed base robotics
systems. Stand-alone image processing system on a single board.  Low
power consumption, small form factor, and low weight.  The single
board system includes: four monochrome camera inputs, video digitizer
(gain and offset software adjustable), input look-up table, two frame
grabbers, additional two video buffers, color mappable image display
buffer, color mappable graphics overlay buffer, RGB display driver,
serial communications port, and application program RAM and
EPROM. Program code can be burned into EPROM. Wide variety of language
and development platform support. Additional hardware expansion to
provide addtional I/O capabilities.

Teleos Research
576 Middlefield Road
Palo Alto, CA 94301, USA
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
URL: http://teleos.com/
    Teleos Research released an advance announcement in October,
1994 about their forthcoming Advanced Vision Platform AVP-100.
AVP-100 will provide:
 - stereo range measurements
 - motion measurements
 - 3D model-based object tracking
 - video frame rate performance
    Connect to http://teleos.com/">http://teleos.com/ for more
information or send e-mail to [e-mail] with the subject
'AVP-100'.

____________________________________________________________________________
+++Wireless Communication
     Tethers for supplying power and communication are sometimes
impractical and at best an annoyance.  Digital communication via RF
and IR links is becoming cheaper and a number of companies are
providing off-the-shelf solutions. For basic serial line communication
a wide variety of radio modems are available that use fixed
frequencies or spread spectrum techniques. In many cases they are also
transparent. That is, you plug them directly into serial ports on the
robot and off-board computing directly.  Higher bandwidths such as
Ethernet or high speed synchronous serial require different hardware.
However, with high speed serial communication you may even be able to
SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocal) or PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol)
instead of using a LAN-based device.
    This area of communication is changing very quickly and new
products and companies are appearing every day.

See also a nice list at:
ftp://csd4.csd.uwm.edu/pub/Portables/Wireless/wireless-modems
or gopher://csd4.csd.uwm.edu
[Maintained by David Kent <[e-mail]>]

Comrad Wireless Data Link
Contact: Mike Pedigo 317.290.9107
Modems. Two channels: 1200-38,400 baud, 100m range, 20m range through
two walls. Easy to set up.

Pacific Crest Corporation
1190 Miraloma ay, Suite W
Sunnyvale, CA 94086-4607
tel: [phone]
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
DDR-96 and RDDR-96 Radio modems. To 9600 baud. 2W. Point-to-point
communcations. Uses standard RS-232 9pin DB style connectors. Can also
be used in packet switching networks.  Forward error correction
techniques and PLL synchronization. The RDDR is a ruggedized version.
Cost is about $1100 and $1230 respectively. FCC license required.

Video:
     For regular frame rate video over relatively short distances
it's hard to beat the price and availability of several consumer
products in the $100 range. Check local stores or place like the
Sharper Image (Gemini Rabbit is one of the companies making these
units) Microwave systems require line-of-site communication,
licensing, and are expensive.

Ethernet:
     There are some related articles in the Feb/93 Byte Magazine.

 Proxim Inc.
 295 North Barnardo Ave.
 Mountain View, CA  94043
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
 A product announcement for wireless LAN board on p.68 in May/92 Byte Magazine
     Price: $495
     Range: 800 ft.
     Data Rate: 242 Kbps
     Channels: 3

 Telesystems SLW
 85 Scarsdale Road, Suite 201
 Don Mills, Ontario, Canada
 ARLAN radio LAN
    We've used ARLAN with CMU's Ambler work. It's an ethernet
bridge and it smart about routing traffic across the repeater. The 620
is about $5K. Can be used without a license in the US. (spread
spectrum) 6 miles range.

 Motorola Radio-Telephone Systems Group, Arlington Heights, ILL
 tel: [phone]
    AltairNet: 18GHz-based system design for wireless, indoors
networking.  The boxes are fairly large, about the size of a shoebox,
and are relocatable but not portable. Problem is that is that they
really aren't for mobile applications.  The reception area has holes
like swiss cheese. Not a problem with some fine adjustment in
stationary applications but a big problem for mobile devices.

NCR sells the WaveLAN, which has about a 1Mbit/sec data rate.  Not
exactly "ethernet", but interfaceable to most networks using MS-DOS
boxes as routers.

Tetherlink in California is experimenting with a 2Mbit/sec cellular
system that is designed for roving portables. [Need address]

O'Neil and GRE America provide bidirectional 19.2Kps RS-232 links that
you can run a terminal emulator or SLIP over, range about 100 ft.
[need addresses]

Hamtronics, Inc.
65-D Moul Rd.
Hilton, NY  14468-9535
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    1200 and 9600 baud units/modules for a few hundred dollars.

Comrad, Communications Research and Development Corporation
7210 Georgetown Road, Suite 300
Indianapolis, IN 46268
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    Comrad CCL901-DP 900 MHz Wireless Data Link. 500 meter range
can be extended through additional transponders. RS232 - 38Kbaud.
Battery pack available for portable applications. Two transceiver
units, software, power adapter, serial cables for $449.95.

Cylink
310 N. Mary Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    AirLink - series of highspeed synch or async modems to
256kb/s.  Interfaces include V.11, RS-232, EIA-530. Spread spectrum
device operating in 902-928Mhz range.

Micrilor Inc
17 Lakeside Park,
Wakefield, MA 01880
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    RS-232, T1221 and R1221 transmitters. 902-928MHz, no FCC
license required. Data rates to 64k-baud. >100m range. Power 35mA@3VDC,
Antenna is 60cm RG174 coax. Price: $550 ea.

Monicor Electronics
Fort Lauderdale, FL
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    System 310 two-card OEM set for use in palmtops and handheld
computing. System 310 board set transmits at 1mW to 2W for a range of
3 to 3km range.  Priced at $660 in quantity.  Model IC-15-48 - rugged
RS232 4800 baud modem. Can network a number of these portables. $1630.

A number of articles have also been posted about the modification of
inexpensive walkie-talkies for wireless communication. Typical
bandwidths are limited to about 1200 baud. This may be sufficient for
simple command-level control of a mobile mechanism. See Archives.
____________________________________________________________________________
+++Robot Parts: Suppliers and Sources

   Many inquiries on comp.robotics are of the form: Where can I find X?
 where X might be motors, gears, fasteners, connectors etc. The
 following companies carry a wide selection of electronics and
 mechanical parts. With the possible exception of computing these
 companies should have all you need to build robot mechanisms.

 Also see the file regularly posted to sci.electronics and a number of
 the radio newsgroups:
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/sci.electronics/My_List_of_Mail_Order_Electronics_Companies

 All Electronics Corp.
 P.O. Box 567
 Van Nuys, CA 91408
 tel: [phone]
   Electronics parts.

 Allied Devices
 2365 Milburn Avenue,
 PO Box 502
 Bladwin, NY 11510
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
   Standard precision mechanical components

 American Science and Surplus
 3605 Howard St.
 Skokie, IL 60076
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]

 C&H Sales
 2176 E. Colorado Blvd.
 Pasadena, CA
 tel: [phone]
 tel: [phone]
   Surplus parts. Motors etc.

 Digi-Key Corp.
 701 Brooks Avenue South
 P.O. Box 677
 Thief River Falls, MN 56701-0677
 tel: [phone]
   Distributor of electronics components and semiconductors.

 Edmund Scientific
 101 E. Gloucester Pike
 Barrington, NJ 08007-1380
 tel: [phone] order
 tel: [phone] customer service
  Lots of optics, science and educational items. A little pricey
  but nice selection. Edmund also has a Robotic Technology Curriculum
  with lessons and tests featuring the Movit robots. Curriculum is $65.

 Electronic Goldmine
 PO Box 5408
 Scottsdale, AZ 85261
 tel: [phone]

 Fascinating Electronics
 P.O. Box 126
 Beaverton, OR 97075
 tel: [phone]
  Experimenter's kits and other electronics.

 Graymark
 Box 5020
 Santa Ana, CA 92704
 tel: [phone]
   Robot and electonics kits, tools and instruments.

 Herbach and Rademan Co.
 18 Canal St.
 P.O. Box 122
 Bristol, PA 19007-0122
 tel: [phone] (orders)
 tel: [phone] (office)
 fax: [phone] (fax)
   Electro-mechanical "surplus" parts, equipment and insturments.

 JDR Microdevices
 1850 South 10th st
 San Jose, CA 95112-9941
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
 bbs: 408.494.1430
    Surplus and lots of electronic components including cameras and
  some sensors. Some recent components have included:
  TV transmitter (part # RK-TV6, $19.95 US) transmits composite video +
  audio to any television set withing 600' on one of channels 2 - 6.
  Runs on 12VDC.
  Microwave doppler radar sensor. Claims to detect a person or animal up
  to 12' away (part number RK-MD3, $19.95 w/o case.  Claims to come with
  complete circuit theory and instructions.

 Marlin P. Jones
 tel: [phone]

 McMaster-Carr Supply Company
 PO box 440
 New Brunswick, NJ 08903-0440
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
   An amazing catalog of hundreds of thousands of parts. Lots of
 mechanical things but not much for electronics or computing.

 MECI
 tel: [phone]

 Mendelson Electronics Co., Inc
 tel: [phone]

 Newark Electronics
 500 N. Pulaski St.
 Chicago, IL 60624-1019
 tel: [phone] (check locally)
   Major distributor of electronics components and equipment (1200+
 pages) with branches throughout the US.

 Nordex
 50 Newton Road
 Danbury, CT 06810-6216
 tel: [phone]
   Gears, cams, universals etc.

 PIC Design
 PO Box 1004
 Benson Road
 Middlebury, CT 06762-1004
 tel: [phone] (except CT)
 tel: [phone]
   Bearings, clutches, brakes, couplings, tools, belts, pulleys, gears
 etc.

Pure Unobtainium
13109 Old Creedmoor Road,
Raleigh, NC 27613-7421
tel: [phone]
net: 74065,[e-mail]
All kinds of unusual and hard-to-find parts. I2C8 bus parts, stepper
motor drivers, microcontrollers, digital power drivers, isolators,
muxes, switching regulators, IR remote control, etc etc. No credit
cards.

 Radio Shack
   Electronic parts and kits. Local retail stores in just about every
 city)

 SECS, Inc.
 520 Homestead Avenue
 Mt. Vernon, NY 10550
 tel: [phone]
  Gears and gear assemblies, belt drives, couplings, bearings, small
 parts.

 Seitz
 Box 1398
 Torrington, CT 06790
 tel: [phone]
   Drive components, gears etc.

 Servo Systems
 115 Main Road
 PO Box 97
 Montville, NJ 07045-9299
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
   Surplus pieces and prices, motors, actuators, geardrives,
 controllers, robots, encoders, transducers, amplifiers.

 Small Parts Inc.
 6891 NE Third Ave
 PO Box 381966
 Miami, FL 33238-1966
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
   Lots of neat small supplies including: materials, metal stock,
 fasteners, tools etc. This company is the "misc parts" supplier to
 the "U.S. FIRST" competetion where corporations and HS Students form
 partnerships to build competing robots like Dr Flowers' ME class at
 MIT.

 Stock Drive Products
 2101 Jericho Turnpike
 Bobx 5416
 New Hyde Park, NY 11042-5416
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
   Great set of handbooks of thousands of components.

 Winfred M. Berg
 499 Ocean Ave.,
 East Rockaway, LI, NY 11518
 tel: [phone]
   Precision Mechanical Components

 Any technical library should have catalogs from the larger
 distributors. These include McMaster-Carr, Grainger, Allied, Newark,
 etc.

____________________________________________________________________________
+++Hero Robots

 Heath/Heathkit/Zenith [OUT OF BUSINESS]
 Benton Harbor, MI
 order: 800.253.0570
 tech:  616.982.3980

 Heros are no longer being made but Heath (Zenith) still offers some
 replacement parts.  They had about 8 years of sales: 4,000 Hero Jr's,
 3,000 Hero 2000's, 14,000 assembled Hero 1's. Ones with less
 capability didn't do as well but higher priced ones did ok in the
 market. Service and maintainability are a problem due to the sheer
 number of bolts, pulleys, boards, sensors, cables etc. Used ones can
 be picked up cheap - but caveat emptor.

There is also a mailing group for hero owners managed by Dave Goodwin:
    <[e-mail]>
Send the following command in the message body:
    Subscribe Hero-owners

You may also want to include a HELP command line to get the commands
and their syntax.  Note that the subject on the message is irrelevant.
Of course, to post a message to the group, just send it to hero-owners
at the same host.

The Mailserv software can handle files as well, but none are currently
available.  Hopefully, list subscribers will start to provide any
nifty code they write for the archive.

Finally, the list of subscribers is available from the Mailserv.  See
the help file for how to get it.  Questions or problems should be
addressed to [e-mail], not at the waldo address.

_____________________________________________________________________________
+++Puma Manipulators

 Pumas are probably the most common robot in university laboratories
 and one of the most common assembly robots. Designed by Vic Schienman
 and financed by GM at MIT in the mid-70's, the Puma (Programmable
 Universal Machine for Assembly) was produced for many years by
 Unimation (later purchased by Westinghouse and sold at a loss later to
 Staubli, a Swiss company) Found in many university labs as well.

 Staubli Unimation, Inc.
 211 Overlook Drive
 Sewickly, PA 15143-2305
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]

 Staubli Unimation Ltd
 Unit G, Stafford Park 18
 Telford, Shropshire, TF3 3Ax
 UK

 PUMA singularities:
 The PUMA has three singularities: the ``alignment'' singularity (wrist
 is as close to the axis of joint 1 as it can get), the ``elbow''
 singularity (elbow is fully extended or folded up; the latter is not
 possible because of joint limits), and the wrist singularity (the axes
 of joints 4 and 6 are aligned).

 The angles corresponding to these depend on the Denavit-Hartenburg
 (DH) parameter assignment.  For the PUMA, the definitions given in [1]
 are perhaps the most commonly used Using these, and letting A2, A3,
 D3, and D4 denote the translational DH offsets, the singularities
 occur when the following are true:

 Alignment:    D4*sin(ang2+ang3) + A2*cos(ang2) - A3*cos(ang2+ang3) == 0

 Elbow:        sin(ang3 - atan2(A3,D4)) == 0

 Wrist:        sin(ang5) == 0

 Typical offset values for the PUMA 560 are

 A2 =  431.80
 D3 =  149.09
 A3 =  20.32
 D4 =  433.070

 [information provided by John Lloyd <[e-mail]>]

Puma Gear Ratios
----------------
    Joint #        Gear Ratio
    --------    -----------
    1        0.01597
    2        0.00931
    3        0.01884
    4        0.01428
    5        0.01391
    6        0.01303

------------------------------------
Tech Report and Matlab Toolbox [Peter Corke]

 A technical report is available which provides details of the
Unimation Puma servo system, including details of interfacing via the
arm-interface board, digital board firmware, and analog board/motor
dynamics. (54 pages) It can be found at
ftp://asgard.mlb.dmt.csiro.au/pub/pic/mtm226.ps.Z

A Robotics Toolbox for MATLAB which provides functions for homogeneous
transformations, quaternions, forward and inverse kinematics,
trajectories, forward and inverse dynamics, and graphical animation.
The Toolbox uses a very general method of describing the kinematics
and dynamics of any serial-link manipulators.  Descriptors for the
Unimate Puma 560 and the Stanford arm are included.  Location -
ftp://ftp.mathworks.com/pub/contrib/misc/robot

That directory contains an extensive manual, doc.ps (72 pages), as
well as all the M-files.

------------------------------------
Trident Robotics and Research, Inc.
 2516 Matterhorn Drive
 Wexford, PA 15090-7962
 [phone]
 email: <[e-mail]>
 A board for replacing the PUMA LSI/11 controller with the CPU of your
 choice: The board is basically an I/O board with D/A's, A/D's, encoder
 counters and some digital I/O lines and is available to connect to
 several bus architectures including VMEbus, IBM-PC bus, Multibus and
 IndustryPack bus. (with others under consideration) It comes as a
 two-board set: A PUMA board and a bus interface board. This allows
 several buses to be supported and keeps the analog electronics away
 from the noise of the bus. (It also makes switching buses cheap, if
 the need ever arises.) Since it is primarily an I/O board set, it can
 be used in applications other than controlling a PUMA.

 The user's manuals are available by anonymous ftp:
ftp://ftp.cs.cmu.edu/usr/anon/user/deadslug/trc4um.ps and trd0002.ps

 This is a PostScript file that can be printed or viewed (to conserve
 paper) and describes the remote board that mounts inside the Unimate
 controller, replacing the VAL computer.  The file trd0001.ps shows
 the board arrangement diagrammatically.
------------------------------------
 Useful Puma references:

 [1] Richard Paul, Brian Shimano, and Gordon Mayer, ``Kinematic Control
     Equations for Simple Manipulators''. IEEE Transactions on Systems,
     Man, and Cybernetics, Vol SMC-11, No. 6, June 1981.

 [2] B Armstrong, O Khatib, and J. Burdick
     The Explicit Dynamic Model and Inertial Parameters of the PUMA 560 Arm
     Proceedings IEEE Int. Conference on Robotics and Automation, April 1986
     San Francisco, CA pp510-518

 [3] P.I. Corke and B. Armstrong-Helouvry
     A search for consensus among model parameters reported for
     the Puma 560 Robot
     Proc. IEEE Conf. Robotics and Automation, 1994 pp. 1608-1613

     It is also available via anonyous ftp from
     ftp://asgard.mlb.dmt.csiro.au/pub/pic/icra94.ps.gz
_____________________________________________________________________________
+++Simulators

 Simulation allows researchers, designers and users to construct robots
 and task environments for a fraction of the cost and time of real
 systems. They differ significantly from traditional CAD tools in that
 they allow study of geometries, kinematics, dynamics and motion
 planning. This list is NOT a comparative analysis of the different
 systems but rather a list of systems that are available.

 Commercial Simulators
 ---------------------

 Auto Simulations, Inc.
 655 Medical Drive
 Bountiful, UT  84010
 tel: [phone]
 contact:  Teresa Francis, ext 330
 Products: AutoMod II
 Platforms: ?
 Cost: ?

 CADSI
 PO Box 203
 Oakdale, IA 52319
 tel: [phone]
 tel: [phone]
   DADS - kinematics and dynamics package. Have ProEngineer to CADSI
 interface.  Supports rigid and flexible body analysis. Animation and
 interfaces to FEA/FEM and CAD programs.

 Deneb Robotics, Inc.
 3285 Lapeer Road West
 PO Box 214687
 tel: [phone]
 Product:    IGRIP
 Platforms:    SPARCs, SGI
 Cost:    US$50-$60,000.
   Allows offline programming, dynamics capability etc.

 Mechanical Dynamics Inc.
 2301 Commonwealth Blvd
 Ann Arbor, MI 48105
 tel: [phone]
  ADAMS dynamics package

 Silma/Cimstation
 1601 Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road
 Cupertino, California  95014
 tel: [phone]
 Product:    CimStation
 Platforms:    SGI-4D, SUN SparcStation, Apollo, Intergraph,
         Computervision, HP, IBM Risc6000 and DEC.
 Cost:        Base system around $55K (commercial license)
         They also have a University Partnership
         Program to enable universities to purchase CimStation
         for around $20K US and $25K International.
 Features:
 Silma offers application solutions for Spot Welding, Arc Welding,
 Painting, Stamping and Assembly, as well as Robot Calibration Tools.
 Also, SILMA has direct CAD interfaces to Computervision CADDS,
 Parametric Technology Corporation Pro/ENGINEER, IBM CATIA ans MCS
 ANVIL5000. We also support VDAFS and SET in addition to IGES. Finally,
 in addition to CimStation Robotics, we also offer SILMA(R) CimStation
 Inspection - used to create, simulate and edit DMIS programs for
 coordinate measuring machines- (CMMs) and SILMA(R) CimStation NC
 Verification- used to simulate and verify NC part programs.
     Provides: Basic CAD Tools: 2D and 3D solid & wireframe, IGES
 interface, Robot Modelling: generate the required governing equations
 (iterative or closed form) automatically for "many" classes of robots
 Path Generation Kinematic Simulation with Collision Detection Dynamic
 Simulation (CimStation only at this point) I/O Operations

 John Craig, who wrote the book, Introduction to Robotics is head of
 Silma's R&D. Silma has a programming environment called SIL complete
 with its own PASCAL-like iterative language with graphics and robotics
 extensions. CimStation is built out of this language. This allows you
 to add your own functionality. E.g. your own path planner. You can
 also write C-code, compile it, and add it to the system.

 Comutek
 1223 Peoples Avenue
 Troy, NY  12180
 tel: [phone]
 fax: 518.276.XXXX
 contact:  Vinay Joshi
   Products: Work-Out
   Cost: Around $25000.


Robot Simulations Ltd.
Lynnwood Busines Centre
Lynnwood Terrace
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE4 6UL
England
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
US contact:
    John Lapham
    Applications Engineer
    International Business Link
    17105 San Carlos Blvd. Suite A6151
    Ft. Myers Beach, FL 33931
    tel: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    e-mail: [e-mail]

Robot Simulations (RSL) develops and markets the world's first
microcomputer based industrial robot simulation software named
Workspace.  The package has been selling since 1989. The package uses
3d graphics to simulate robots and their associated machinery in a
workcell, and is capable of offline programming industrial and
educational robots in many different robot languages. It runs on a PC
and is $5K to educational institutions. $26K for industrial version.

Workspace 3 robot simulation:           Kinematic modeller
Discrete event simulation               Interactive creation of new mechanimsm
   Library of standard robots
   Advanced robot languages             Dynamics simulator
      Variables                            Forces and torques calculated
      Subroutines                          Graphical representation of results
      Loop structures
      Sophisticated motion commands     Text editor
   Accurate representation of mechanisms   Integral editor for track and
   Calculation of cycle times                  teachpoint files
   Collision detection
                                        Solid 3-d rendering
Integrated CAD system                   Fast shaded animations in 256 colours
   Constructive solid geometry
   Library of standard 3d primitives    Computer Aided Learning
      Extruded polylines                Simple authoring of training exercises
      Spheres
      Cones                             Calibration
      Cylinders                            In-built robot and fixture
      Boxes                                   calibration system
      Surfaces
      Solids of rotation                User Manuals
   DXF and IGES import facilities          Tutorial exercises
                                           Example robots and workcells

The system is in use throughout Europe and the Far East in both Industry and
Education with several hundred seats. Sales in the USA are relatively recent.
Further details can be obtained from myself, Or from the Robot Industry
Association in the USA, or from our USA representative:

 Tecnomatix Technologies/Robcad
 39750 Grand River Avenue
 Suite A-3
 Novi, MI 48375
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
 Platforms: HP, Silicon Graphics, IBM and Sun
 Tecnomatix makes several packages for simulation including ones for
 Spot welding, Arc welding, Painting, Teleoperation (Martel), CMM and
 Drilling. They also have an open systems environment, ROSE, that
 allows user customization and interface design. ROBCAD itself allows
 robot modeling (library of 100 robots is supplied), collision free
 path generation, importation of IGES, VDAFS and SET files and direct
 interface with Catia and ComputerVision.

 [GMF - the entry that used to be here, no longer supports OLPW-200,
 instead they are a Robcad reseller]

Simulators on the net
---------------------

Ars Magna:
   The ARS MAGNA robot simulator provides an abstract world in which a
   planner controls a mobile robot. The simulator also includes a simple
   graphical user-interface which uses the CLX interface to the X window
   system. Version 1.0 of the ARS MAGNA simulator is documented in Yale
   Technical Report YALEU/DCS/RR #928, "ARS MAGNA: The Abstract Robot
   Simulator".  This report is available in the distribution as a
   Postscript(tm) file, as well as from:
     Paula Murano
     Yale University
     Department of Computer Science
     P.O. Box 2158 Yale Station
     New Haven, CT  06520-2158
     net: <[e-mail]>
   Comments to Sean Engelson: <[e-mail]>
   ARS MAGNA is available by anonymous ftp:
     location:    ftp.cs.yale.edu
     directory:    pub/nisp
     filenames:    *

---------------------
EROS [Erann's RObot Simulator]:
    EROS is a mobile robot simulator.  Unlike other simulators,
EROS does not simulate any particular robot.  Instead, EROS is a sort
of robot simulation construction kit.  It is designed to allow users
to assemble their own robots from reusable software components, and to
run those robots in user-designed environments.  EROS draws
inspiration from Hanks and Firby's truckworld simulator, but EROS
operates at a lower level of abstraction than truckworld, and so it is
by some measure more realistic.  EROS has been used to simulate actual
physical robots, and the behavior produced by EROS has, in some cases,
made plausible predictions and accurate postdictions of the behaviors
of the real robots.

NOTE: This is a beta-test version of EROS.  It runs only under
Macintosh Common Lisp version 2.0.  Many of its features have not been
tested (although it has been used in a few applications, so parts of
it work quite well!) and the documentation is not very coherent.

EROS is available by anonymous ftp at:
    ftp://robotics.jpl.nasa.gov:pub/gat/eros.sit.hqx

    This is an early version for beta testing only.  It runs only
under MCL 2.0.  It will not run under any other version of Common
Lisp, including MCL 1.3.  (EROS relies heavily on Macintosh graphics
and CLOS.)  It also includes only a single example robot, so out of
the box it doesn't do very much.  You have to be willing to do a
little hacking to use it as it currently stands.  A future release
will have more turnkey functionality, but it's pretty much an OEM
product at this point.
    Contact: Erann Gat <[e-mail]>
---------------------
Flakey:
    A mobile robot simulator and controller. Contact: Kurt
Konolige of SRI <[e-mail]> A Preliminary version of a
mobile robot simulator and controller.  All written in C, but you need
Motif to run the graphics.

This is essentially the same software run on Flakey, (robot at SRI
used for research in AI), behaviors using fuzzy control (there's lots
more on Flakey in terms of sensor interpretation and higher-level
control, but I haven't ported that from LISP to C yet).  There are
three example behaviors implemented, showing dumb obstacle avoidance
and goal achievement. There's not much documentation yet, but I will
get some out over the next few months.

The intent is to make the simulator/controller suitable for a course
in mobile robotics, and to have eventually a cheap physical platform
that will imitate the simulator (or vice versa).

Available by anonymous ftp from:
ftp://ftp.ai.sri.com/pub/konolige/
    filename:    erratic-ver1.tar.Z
Uncompress, untar and check the README file for installation.

A collection of five tech reports on Flakey's fuzzy controller is also
available at:
ftp://ocean.ai.sri.com/pub/saffiott
    filename:    flakey_papers_93.tar.Z

------------------------
Simderella 2.0

Version 2.0 of simderella is here.  Major adaptations:
    - now features Imakefiles;
    - compiles & runs on Solaris and DEC Alpha;
    - some C bugs squashed;
    - bemmel can grab robot with mouse;
    - major improvements to documentation (i.e., an introductory
      article describing the package).
    - includes a stand-alone version of bemmel for drawing
      geometrical objects, with viewoint rotation.  Figures
      can be dumped to xfig for later inclusion in your papers.

   Simderella is a robot simulator consisting of three programs:
     connel: the controller
     simmel: the simulator
     bemmel: the X-windows oriented graphics back-end
   Simmel is the part which actually simulates the robot. It performs a
   few matrix multiplications, based on the Denavit Hartenberg method,
   calculates velocities with the Newton-Euler scheme, and communicates
   with the other two programs.

   Bemmel only displays the robot. It is a fast general-purpose
   display method which places separate objects in space depending on
   the homogeneous matrices it receives from simmel.

   Connel is the controller, which must be designed by the user
   (in the distributed version, connel is a simple inverse kinematics
   routine. I didn't include my neural networks.)

   The three programs use Unix sockets for communication.  This means
   that
     1. you need sockets
     2. all the programs can run on different machines
   Since data communication is high-level (meaning, in this case, that
   I do not send doubles, integers, and so on, but encode them first),
   running the programs on different architectures is no problem.  In
   fact, it was thus designed that connel can, at the same time,
   control a real robot _and_ the simulated one.

   Simderella likes to sleep; that is, when nothing happens, no
   processor time will be used.

   The software is available as a compressed tar file from:
     site:        galba.mbfys.kun.nl [IP 131.174.82.73]
     directory:     pub/neuro-software/pd
     filename:    simderella.1.0.tar.Z

   Extract the simulator from the tar file by typing at the Unix
   command line:
     zcat simderella.2.0.tar.gz | tar xf -
   or use your favourite extracting commands. In the simderella/
   directory, type
    xmkmf
    make Makefiles
    make depend
    make
   The sub-directories are recursively visited and executables are
   compiled and linked.

   Supported architectures: Sun (SunOS and Solaris), SGI, DEC Alpha,
   HP700, 386 et al running Linux)

   If you're impatient, execute the thing as follows:
     cd bemmel; Zoscar & cd ..
     cd simmel; source env; simmel1 ns & cd ..
     cd connel; connel s
   all on one machine.  Then type commands like
     fix-target 50 50 50
     inverse 50 50 50
   or move the mouse pointer in the bemmel window and press an `l' or
   `r' or `u' or `d' or ....

   [CMU ised Simderella recently to facilitate software development
   and testing of the Shuttle servicing robot before the hardware and
   mechanics are available to test the various parts of the controller.
   it has also been linked to TCA calls and worked very well - nivek]

 Public Domain SGI based simulator:
     This is a Silicon Graphics based delux robot simulator with
   lots of nice graphics Stuff. It was written by Andrew Conway and
   Craig Dillon as undergraduates for an electrical engineering project
   at the University of Melbourne. Not much in installation
   instructions. There is a latex manual with usage instructions and
   the mathematics.  Warning: It is 4.3Mbytes compressed, and the
   US-Australia link is quite slow.
     Disclaimer: I [Andrew] haven't used this software for
   years. If it malfunctions, don't sue me or Craig, we don't guarantee
   it.
    ftp://krang.vis.citri.edu.au/pub/robot

---------------------
 MODULSH:
     The complete programe is divided into three menus: Main,
   Drawing and Robot Menus. features such as selecting elements or the
   complete screen, rotating, translating, zooming, enlarging or
   reducing the scale and passing to the two dimensional drawing window
   from the three dimensional one are available.
     The Drawing Menu also offers many other possibilities like
   drawing three dimensional circles, ellipses, arcs, elliptical arcs,
   cylinders, cones, prisms, ellipsoids, toroids, etc.  In addition to
   these, it is also possible to obtain hidden line drawing and to
   change the point numbers of the circular drawing elements.  Whereas
   in Robots Menu, operations like selecting modules from the
   sub-menus, containing graphics, which concern body, wrist, hand
   systems and work spaces of robots, finding direct and inverse
   kinematics solution of these systems, point by point simulation of
   the robot motions, changing Denavit-Hartenberg parameters and joint
   freedom extremums from the menus can be performed.
         site:          WSMR-SIMTEL20.Army.Mil and OAK.Oakland.Edu
         directory:     pd1:<msdos.education>
         filenames:     MODULSH1.ZIP    Design and animation of robots, 1 of 2
                        MODULSH2.ZIP    Design and animation of robots, 2 of 2
     Author:
     Dr. Hikmet Kocabas
     Istanbul Technical University
     [e-mail]
     [e-mail]

---------------------
Robotica
Contact: Mark W. Spong
Coordinated Science Lab
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
1308 W. Main St.
Urbana, IL 61801

tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
net: [e-mail]

http://uxh.cso.uiuc.edu/~gedept/ge/directory/faculty/Spong.html

Robotica is a trademark of The Board of Trustees of the University of
Illinois

Robotica is a collection of useful robotics problem solving functions
encapsulated in a Mathematica package.  Utilizing Mathematica's
computational features allows results to be generated in purely
symbolic form.

Robotica requires inputing the form of a table of Denavit-Hartenberg
parameters describing the robot to be analyzed.  Once the table has
been entered, Robotica can generate the forward kinematics for the
robot. The A and T matrices as well as the velocity Jacobian, J, are
generated. Of course, it is possible to display and save to an
external file all of the data generated.  If the dynamics equations of
the robot are also to be generated, the input must include the
dynamics description data.

Once the forward kinematics are produced, Euler-Lagrange dynamics
equations can be calculated.  The inertia matrix, Coriolis and
centrifugal terms, Christoffel symbols and gravity vectors are all
available to the user once the dynamics routines have run.

Utilizing the forward kinematics results, Robotica can calculate the
manipulability ellipsoids when supplied with a range of joint variable
values. It is possible to generate and save a list of manipulability
measures as well as display the ellipsoids with the robot on the
screen.

In addition, Robotica has the capbability of reading external
simulation (e.g., SIMNON) output files and displaying the motion of
the robot when sbjected to the sequence of joint variables described
in the file. This requires that the robot has been input as a table of
Denavit-Hartenburg parameters, and that the foward-kinematics routines
have been executed.

Robotics contains several functions that can be used to draw the robot
in a specific configuration, or show the robot moving through a range
of joint parameter values. Most of the graphics output can be animated
if the Animation.m package is loaded The animations can be saved and
later restored and viewed again.

To simplify interactation with Robotica, an X-Windows based interface
has been designed. This interface insulates the user from the
inconvenient textual interface Mathematica provides.

Requirements: Mathematica 2.0 or better. X-windows requires 2.1 or
better.

The University has requested that all users of Robotica sign and
return a license agreement.  This is mainly to keep a record of
Robotica users for future upgrades, etc.  The license agreement states
that you may freely use and modify Robotica as you wish but that you
may not sell it.

You can obtain a postscript copy of this license agreement via
anonymous ftp://ftp.csl.uiuc.edu/pub/robotica.  Please print out the
license agreement, sign and date it, and FAX it to me [Mark Spong]

It is important that you also include your email address on the
license agreement.  As soon as I receive your FAX I will send you the
Robotica package and the X-windows GUI.

Also in the directory /pub/robotica is a postscript file containing
the Robotica users manual which you may freely copy and distribute.
Any comments that you have after using Robotica would be greatly
appreciated.  In addition, any questions you have or bugs you find
can be reported to me and we will do our best to address them.

_____________________________________________________________________________
+++What is NuTank?

NuTank stands for NeuralTank. It is a program to simulate complex
networks and interactions. In this program one is given the shell of a
2 dimensional robotic tank.  The tank has various I/O devices like
wheels, whiskers, optical sensors, smell, fuel level, sound and such.
These I/O sensors are connected to Neurons.  The player/designer uses
more Neurons to interconnect the I/O devices.  One can have any level
of complexity desired (640k memory limited) and do subsumptive
designs. More complex design take slightly more fuel, so life is not
free. All movement costs fuel too.  One can also tag neuron
connections as "adaptable" that adapt their weights in accordance with
the target neuron. This allows neurons to learn.

The Neuron editor can handle 3 dimensional arrays of neurons as single
entities with very flexible interconnect patterns.  One can also design
a Glyph or drawing to represent the robot and/or obstacle.  (or bug,
worm, whatever) One can then design a scenario with walls, rocks, fat
(fuel) sources (that can be smelled) and many other such things.

Robot tanks are then introduced into the Scenario and allowed to interact
or battle it out.  The last one alive wins, or maybe one just watches
the motion of the robots for fun.  While the scenario is running it
can be stopped, edited, zoom'd, and can track on any robot. One can
designate a neuron group as the probe group and get a display of the
neural activity of that group.  This helps debug designs.

The entire program is mouse and graphically based. It uses DOS and VGA
and is written in TurboC++

There will also be the ability to download designs to another computer
and source code will be available for the core neural simulator.  This
will allow one to design neural systems and download them to real
robots.  This feature may be in the Beta release, around August 94.
The design tools can handle three dimensional networks so will work
with video camera inputs and such.

Eventually I expect to do a port to UNIX and multi thread the program.
I also expect to do a Mac port and maybe NT or OS/2

The theory that I eventually want to test has to do with the self
oscillating nature of combined subsumptive and standard neural
nets. One can also work on flock and pack behavior.

I have a paper I've written called Artificial Cognition that discusses
a theory of the combination of regular neural nets and subsumptive
networks.  In the shareware file it is called Paper.ps and will need
to be printed on a PostScript printer.  You may get copies of it by
sending $5 to Keene Educational Software.

Getting NuTank:
    NuTank now has a shareware version.  It is about 300k bytes compressed.
    The file is nutank.exe and is a PKZip executable for dos machines.
    It must be put in a directory called C:\nutank

    To unpack nutank firts put nutank.exe in C:
    C:
    mkdir nutank
    cd nutank
    ..\nutank.exe -d

    After it unpacks
    nutank.exe  is the program

    If anyone would like to put it on their server feel free to do
so. If you put the shareware on your sever please tell me so I can
send you updates.

    Nutank shareware is available vie the ftp sites
    cher.media.mit.edu:/pub/incomming/NuTank
    or
    ftp.essex.ac.uk:/robot/Simulators/NuTank

The shareware version has the ability to write to disk disabled.  Feel
free to pass the shareware version around.  The regular version costs
$50 (includes a printed copy of the paper) and can be had by sending
$50 US to
    Richard Keene
    Keene educational Software
    8155 Lone Oak Court
    Littleton, CO 80124

        After Oct 3rd 1994 I'll be working for the Park City Group
        and can be reached at
        801-649-2221

   NuTank, Copyright Richard Keene 1994, All rights reserved.

_____________________________________________________________________________
+++Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS)

I used to include a list of RTOS' in this FAQ. But this effort has
spun off into it's own complete set of files, faqs and locations:

For general discussion of this topic see comp.real-time and
news.answers for the complete RTOS FAQ.

ftp:://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/realtime-computingfaq

Here is a complete list of many RTOS'.

ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.realtime/
Comp.realtime:_A_list_of_real-time_operating_systems_and_tools_(LONG)

 Below is a list of both commercial and research Real-Time Operating
 Systems (RTOS) which are being used around the world for implementing
 robotic systems.  Only the names and addresses of the distributors are
 included.  Since the available features of each are constantly
 changing, and the advantages and disadvantages of each are greatly a
 matter of opinion and target application, no such descriptions are
 given.

 Commercial RTOS:

     * iRMX III
         Runs on Intel 80X86-based computers
     U.S.A.:
         Intel Corporation
         3065 Bowers Avenue
         Santa Clara, California 95051
         tel [phone]
     * LynxOS
         Runs on wide variety of platforms, including Motorola,
         Intel, Sun, and Hewlett Packard.

         Lynx Real-Time Systems, Inc
         16780 Lark
         Los Gatos, CA 95030
         tel [phone]
         fax [phone]

     * OS-9
         Runs on Motorola MC680X0-based single board computers.

         Microware System Corporation
         1900 N.W. 114th St.
         Des Moines, Iowa 50322
         tel [phone]
     * pSOS+
         Runs on a variety of Motorola 680X0 and 88100, and
         Intel 80386 computers.  Requires a host workstation or
         personal computer if pASSPORT+ real-time programming
         environment is to be used.

         Software Components Group, Inc.
         1731 Technology Drive
         San Jose, CA  95110
         tel [phone]
         fax [phone]

      * E-VENIX & VENIX
         VenturCom Inc
         215 First St.
         Cambridge, MA. 02142
         P: [phone]
         I: [e-mail]
     Product runs on ix86 platforms and PC/104 systems.
     Product is real UNIX, SVR3.2 & SVR4.2.
     Workstation version requires ~4MB, 120MB, 80{3|4}86 processor.
     Embedded version requirements vary depending on features used.
     Embedded product allows for completely ROMed UNIX systems,
     from read-only root to stand alone applications.

     * VRTX
         Runs on a wide variety of processors, including Motorola 680X0,
         Intel 80X86 and 80960, National Semiconductor series 3200.

         Ready Systems
         470 Potrero Avenue
         P.O.Box 60217
         Sunnyvale, CA 94086
         [phone]
         fax [phone]

     * VxWorks
         Runs on a wide variety of MC680X0 and SPARC-based single
         board computers. Requires a workstation for program
         developments. Widely used in Unix environments for realtime work.

         Wind River Systems Inc.
         1000 Atlantic Avenue
         Alameda, CA 94501
         tel: [phone] or 800.545.WIND (9463)
         fax: [phone]
         <[e-mail]>


     QNX
     Distributed, POSIX, real-time microkernel for Intel x86 processors.
     Supports fault tolerance and also hosts MS-Windows in Standard mode

   QNX Software Systems                          QNX Software Systems
   175 Terrence Matthews Cr.                     Westendstr.19 6000 Frankfurt
   Kanata, Ontario K2M 1W8                       am main 1
   Canada                                        Germany
   voice:  [phone] x111 (voice)           voice: 49 69 97546156 x299
   fax:    [phone]      (fax)             fax:   [phone]

 Two QNX papers are available via anonymous FTP:
     An Architectural Overview of QNX
     A Microkernel POSIX OS for Realtime Embedded Systems

     location: ftp.cse.ucsc.edu [128.114.134.19]
     directory:/pub/
     filenames: qnx-paper.ps.Z, qnx_embed.ps.Z

 Research RTOS that are distributed:

     * Chimera II
         Runs on MC680X0-based single board computers.
         Requires a Sun workstation for program development
     U.S.A.:
         Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
         Carnegie Mellon University
         5000 Forbes Avenue
         Pittsburgh, PA 15213
         ATTN: David B. Stewart
         tel [phone]
         fax [phone]
         email: [e-mail]

     * Harmony
         Runs on MC680X0-based single board computers
     Canada:
         Division of Electrical Engineering
         National Research Council of Canada
         Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
         K1A 0R6
         ref: NRCC Tech Report No. 30081

     * REXIS
     REXIS (Real-time EXecutive for Intelligent Systems) is a small
     multi-tasking preemptive real-time executive for implementing control
     programs for intelligent systems such as robotics and distributed
     networks. It provides functions for
     managing tasks, memory allocation, message ports, timers, and
     event processing.
         It is distributed as shareware at a low cost to
     hobbyists / students.  The current requirements for compiling
     and running REXIS is an ANSI C HC11 cross compiler and a HC11
     target with at least 24K of RAM. Other targets are under
     consideration.  For more information, please contact
     Richard Man
     P.O. Box 6
     North Chelmsford, MA 01863
     (phone+FAX) [phone]
     [e-mail], or
     [e-mail]

 Robot Control C Library (RCCL)
     A robot programming environment embedded in C/UNIX. A graphics
     simulator is provided which supports the PUMA, Stanford, and
     `Elbow' manipulators. The system can be compiled on SGIs (so
     the Indigo should be fine), and the graphics runs under either
     X or GL.  You can get the system from RCIM for a small fee to
     cover copying and shipping. If you are interested send mail
     to:
     John Lloyd         Research Center for Intelligent Machines
     [e-mail]        McGill University, Montreal
     tel: [phone]                   fax: [phone]

_____________________________________________________________________________
+++Survey of Robot Development Environments

This is an updated and abridged survey compiled by Willie Lim
<[e-mail]> The complete file can be ftp'd from
    ftp://ftp.ai.mit.edu/pub/mobot-survey.text

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;;;                                                                ;;;
;;; RESPONSES TO INFORMAL SURVEY ON DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENTS       ;;;
;;;                      FOR MOBILE ROBOTS                         ;;;
;;;                                                                ;;;
;;; Updated: Fri Jun 24 09:07:57 1994 <[e-mail]>            ;;;
;;; Created: Sat May 23 09:37:24 1992 <[e-mail]>            ;;;
;;;                                                                ;;;
;;; Maintained by: [e-mail] (for now)                       ;;;
;;;                                                                ;;;
;;; Please send updates, additions, corrections, etc. to:          ;;;
;;;              [e-mail]                                   ;;;
;;;                                                                ;;;
;;; A complete version of this survey including detailed           ;;;
;;; descriptions of the various projects is available via          ;;;
;;; anonymous ftp from the host ftp.ai.mit.edu as the file         ;;;
;;; /pub/mobot-survey.text.                                        ;;;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;



Organization    Robot           Development             Languages &
                Type            HW Environment          SW Enviroment
=============   ====            ==============          =============
Alcatel Alsthom Indoor robot    SPARC II, VME proc      VxWorks, MOTIF
Recherche (AAR) Outdoor robot
Brown U.        a)Mobile robots SPARC I & II,           OS/9, GNU Emacs, Xlib,
                                VME 68030               MOTIF, Forth, C, C++
                b)2 RWI B12's   Sparc 10s/Solaris offboard   UNIX, Motif, C++, Lisp
, Rex, X
                c)2 RWI B24's   486 Linux onboard, arms


CMU             a) SM^2(walker) VME 68020 & 68030,      Chimera II RTOS, C,
                                Sun                     Sun tools

                b) AMBLER       VME 68020 & 68030,      MOTIF, VxWorks,
                                SPARC II, Iris          X windows, C

                c) Mobile Mani- Z8088s, Sun IPC & ELC,  X Window, Lisp, C, Hero
                   pulator      NeXT                    Basic
                d) Mobile robot SPARC, Iris, Mac,       X windows, Openwindows,
                                VME, Maspar, Titan      VxWorks, Chimera RTOS,
                                                        TCA, GIL, LISP
                e) Navlab       Sun-4                   X windows, C

Colorado Sch.   Denning MRV-3   Sparc IIs, IPXs,        C, X11, Khoros,
of Mines                                                potential fields
                IBM RS/6000s            X11 visualization tool (homemade)

Colorado St.    6-legged robot  68HC11EVM, AT           C
Cornell U.      2 mobile robots Gespak 68000, Intel     Scheme, Lucid Lisp
                (robot with     80c196, Sun(?)
                tank-tread
                base coming)

Cray Research(?)Mobile robot    MC68HC16EBV, 386        Assembler
Georgia Tech    Denning DRV-1   SUN IPC, Decstation,    X windows, C,
                & MRV-II        Microvax II             Lisp

Grumman CRC     SmartyCat       Mac II's/IIci's,        C, CLOS, LISP, SAL
                (Cybermotion    uExplorer, SGI          VxWorks(soon)
                 K2A)           68030 VME board(soon)
                LLV (Grumman    SGI, 68030 VME board,   C, CLOS, LISP, SAL
                Long Life Veh., mini-boards.
                the US Postal
                Truck)

IBM TJ Watson   TJ, TJ2         Symbolics, RS/6000,     LISP, CLOS, CLIM,
(1989?-1992)                    286, 386, Suns          C, X-windows, MOTIF,
                                                        GNU Emacs

ISX Corp        Subsumption     Mac II cx's/ci's        C(?)

JPL             7 robots        Suns to 6811            RCCL, ALFA

McGill U        Mobile robot    Sparcs, mc68hc11, PC    GNU, X, Small-C
                                                        C, C++
                QUADRIS         SUNs, Macs, C-40, 68K   C, X-windows, IRIS GL

Michigan Tech.  Tracy           6502, Apple IIe, SUN,   C, Assembly
U.                              68HC11
                Unnamed(Andros)
                Minirobots      6811

MIT             20 robots       Mac II & IIsi, HC6811   Behavior Language
                GOPHER (ISR R2) 68332, Mac, Sun         GCC, Behavior Language,
                                                        Lisp, X-windows
                Polly           VME, 6811, Mac          Senselisp(Scheme)
                SOZZY(homemade) 6811, Mac               Lisp, Behavior Language

MITRE           Denning MRV-1   MacQuadra, uExplorer    Lisp, REX/GAPPS, C, C++
Northeastern U. Lobster Robot   HC11, Mac               C, Pascal, Assembly
                Phaeton         Sun 4/330, Mac          C, epsilon (Cognex),
                (Denning MRV3)                          X-windows

NRC of Canada   EAVE            Mac II's, 68020's       C, HARMONY OS, MacAPP
                (Cybermotion)

NC State        Mobile robot    VME 68020 & 68040,      OS/9, P/NET

Osaka U.        Homemade        VME 68030, SUN IPX,     C, X-windows
                                Sparc 2

Purdue U.       PETER           Sun4, 68030             C, VxWorks
                (Cybermotion)

SRI             FLAKEY          Sparc10/30, Z80         Lucid Lisp, C, X-windows

Stanford        Landmark based  Mac IIci                C, LISP
                Navigation
                (Nomadic)



Swiss FIT       Mobile robot    Mac                     MacMETH, Modula-2

U of Central    a) 6-leg walker Commodore 64            SuperC, C
                b) 6-leg walker Amiga 500               C

U of Edinburgh  a) ALDER        8052, SUN, PC           Basic
                (Fischertecknik)
                b) CAIRNGORM    68000, SUN              C
                (Fischertecknik)
                c) Bill (RWI)   PC, transputers         C
                d) Ben Hope(RWI) transputers            C
                e) (LEGO based) 68000                   C, CPL


U of Mass.,     Denning         DECstation 5000,        C, LISP
Amherst                         Sparcstation

U of Michigan   BORIS (TRC)     486, Decstations, SGI,  Borland C++, FORTH, DOS
                                RS/6000
                CARMEL (K2A)    286, 486, (ditto)       Borland C++, FORTH, DOS
                MAVERIC         486, Sparc 10,          Lisp, GCC, Borland C++, X, DO
S
                                Datacube, (ditto)


U of New        Underwater      Sparcstation,           VxWorks, C(?)
Hampshire       robots          CMOS VME boards


U Wash.         Denning         HP 9000 series 300's,   Gensym G2, OS/9
                                68000                   LLAMA (Forth), Lisp, C

Worcester Poly- James           NEC 76310, 68HC11,      Assembly, Small-C (DOS)
technic Inst.   (RWI B12)       Gateway 2000 PC

Wright Lab,     Hero 2000       286                     MS C (DOS), Assembly
Wright-Pat. Air
Force Base

VTT (Technical  Akseli          HP-1100, 386            MS-DOS, LynxOS (soon)
Research Center                                         C
of Finland)


______________________________________________________________
+++What is the Miniboard?

New version: Miniboard 2.1 extended -

 The Mini Board is an outgrowth of the MIT 6.270 robot course and
 design project. It is a small and inexpensive design for a controller
 board based on the ubiquitous (yet sometimes hard to find) 68HC11
 micro-controller.

The Mini Board 2.1 Extended is the latest version of the Mini Board.
It is based on the Mini Board 2.0 Extended (see file
pub/miniboard/docs/mbextend.txt), and includes the following new
features:

    *   full six-wire SPI jacks include power, ground, and all four
SPI wires.

    *   optional diode protection prevents reverse-polarity voltage
input when using DC power jack.

    *   power and ground on Port A headers may be bridged to motor
power and ground, allowing RC servos to be plugged directly into the
Port A header (when using a 5.5 to 6v power supply).

    *   extra space between PLCC socket and female header connectors
to allow for newer, slightly larger PLCC sockets.

    *   mounting holes drilled for single RJ11 jack (for RS-232
serial), saving money on triple RJ11 jack if SPI ports are not to be
used.

Download the file pub/miniboard/docs/mb21ext.PS.Z to see the
silkscreen of the new board.

The MINI BOARD 2.1 is a complete embedded computer board for robotic
applications.  It can directly power four DC motors and receive inputs
from numerous sensors.  Its miniature size (smaller than a business
card) makes it suited well for mobile applications as well as other
embedded control.

It can be programmed in 6811 assembler code or C for stand-alone
operation, or it can serve as a serial-line based controller operated
by a desktop computer.

  * overall dimensions: 3.3" by 1.86", smaller than a business card.
    If desired, an off-board serial connector can be used, allowing an
    additional .6" of board length can be chopped off.

  * nearly all parts can be purchased from Digikey (including all
    connectors and switches).  Extensive use of resistor packs
    minimizes component count.

  * uses Motorola 68hc811e2 microprocessor with 2048 bytes of
    internal, electrically erasable PROM and 256 bytes of RAM.

  * four motor drivers for bidirectional control of small DC motors
    (up to 600 mA current, 36 volts each motor).

  * eight analog inputs; eight digital inputs or outputs; several
    timer and counter I/O pins, all broken out to convenient header
    ports.

  * on-board 5v regulator allows board to be powered by any DC power
    source from 5.6 to 36 volts.

  * RS-232 compatible RJ-11 port for communication/program download
    between host computer.

  * two modular high speed serial jacks, allowing networks of multiple
    MB 2.0's to be constructed using common 4-wire phone cable.
    Multiple-mastering bus protocols supported.

  * optional battery level monitoring using voltage divider from
    supply voltage before regulation.

  * XIRQ line broken out to a pad:  when this line is given 12.5v,
    an 'hc711e9 chip with 12K of EPROM can be programmed in place.

  * MS-DOS, Macintosh, and Unix software provided for downloading
    programs to board.  6811 monitor program provided for recording
    changes in sensor state, controlling motors and interacting with
    other board features over serial line.

  * C/assembler libraries provided for code development using
    Dunfield Development Systems' Micro-C compiler, and ImageCraft's
    freeware icc11 C compiler.

 A fifty-page manual describing how to build and operate the Mini Board
 is on-line on the FTP server:
ftp://cherupakha.media.mit.edu/pub/miniboard/docs

 People who don't have access to anonymous FTP can do FTP-by-mail,
provided as a public service by DEC.  Send a message containing the
single word "help" to "[e-mail]" for instructions.

 Also on-line is software for programming the Mini Board from MS-DOS,
 Macintosh, and Unix machines.

* Douglas Electronics, Inc.
  2777 Alvarado Street
  San Leandro, California 94577  USA
  tel: [phone]
  bbs: 510.483.6548
  fax: [phone]

Douglas Electronics, a Macintosh PCB CAD software house and a
commercial PCB fab facility, is a new distributor of blank Mini Board
PCBs. [Thanks to Bill [e-mail]]

Pricing for the new mini-board is as follows:

1 board only  ................. $ 10.00
2 to 9 boards  ................    7.50 ea.
10 to 50 boards  ..............    6.25 ea.
50 and over  ..................    5.00 ea.

There is also a dollar volume discount on Douglas' breadboard products,
that applies over and above the per-board quantity discounts, as follows:
$ 500    5%, $1000   10%, $2500   15%, $5000   20%
For more info see:
    ftp://cherupakha.media.mit.edu/pub/miniboard/douglas.txt

-Two individuals are independent suppliers of Mini Board technology:

* Gregory Ratcliff <[e-mail]>, 1763 Hess
  Boulevard, Columbus, Ohio 43212; [phone] (late evenings EST).

  Greg sells blank boards for $6, parts kits, and assembled boards.
  Please contact him for information.

* Mark Reeves <[e-mail]> 1117 Braemar Court,
  Cary, NC 27511; BBS and voice [phone] (voice hours from 5-7
  pm EST).

  Shipping - all orders will be shipped ASAP, we do not need to wait for
a certain number of orders (although there may be delays while certain
parts are gotten). If a delay happens you will be notified by email or
postcard. No check or MO will be cashed until the order is ready to
ship.

PRICES (subject to change without notice)
All kits include a PCB, a kit without a PCB will be $5.00 less.
A kit without the 1 RJ11 adpt will be $2.50 less, a kit without the
3 RJ11 adpt will be $5.00 less.

K0 - a super basic kit, does not include any RS232 stuff,  or motor drive
items,  inductors, or most of the other discrete components, it does have a
PCB, CPU, socket, one 36 pin header, and a few other items. Good for
TTL level RS232, via some other chip, for the person wants to use the
board for expansion purposes, or whatever.
    Contact us for price.

K1 - basic kit all parts needed to get a board up and going, one
RJ11 jack, no headers, for the true hobby person
     $41.00

K2 - same as above, but has all header connectors (3 female, 2 male - 36
     pin header connectors)
     $46.50

K3 - basic + motor controller the full kit with all needed parts, with
all LED's and motor controller chips, one RJ11 jack
     $57.50

K4 - full kit same as K3, but has the 3 RJ11 jacks for interconnecting
with other boards
     $60.00

B1 - bare PCB board, double sided, extended version silk screened parts
location, etc.
     $5.00

J1 - a DC power jack and power switch for the board.  Use if the screw
power connector is not used; this would work with a plug in power supply.
Note- these items are sold at cost, they are not cheap
     $6.50

ASSEMBLED KITS
    Add $25 to any kit to get it built, add an B to the kit number, i.e. K4-B
    or K4-B-A for the 68hc11A1 version of the kit.  All assembled boards
    will have all parts soldered on them, but to meet FCC requirements
    there will be minor work to be done ( you have to install on chip)

NOTE: the basic kits do NOT include the motor controller chips or the
motor LED's, they do have the RS232 parts, they are for people who want
to use the board for things other than robotics. No speaker or sensors
are included.  All motor controller chips are the TI version, 1A drive
current.  All prices are subject to change without notice; please
e-mail to check if prices have gone up or down since this posting.

  Mark is a supplier of the recent board revision called the "Mini
  Board 2.0 Extended."  This version of the Mini Board includes a
  power switch and DC power jack for ease of use.  Please see the file
  pub/miniboard/mbextend.txt for more information.

 Hard copies of the Mini Board manual may be ordered by sending a check
 payable for U.S. $5 to "MIT Epistemology and Learning" at Epistemology
 and Learning Publications, MIT Media Laboratory, 20 Ames Street
 E15-301, Cambridge MA 02139.

 There is now a mailing list for discussing the board.  The purpose of
 the mailing list is to discuss robot controller boards, and robot
 control in general.  In particular, the list will be used to support
 the Mini Board 2.0 and 6.270 board design by Fred Martin and Randy
 Sargent of MIT.  However, any and all traffic related to robot
 controllers is welcome.

 Administrative address:    [e-mail]
     (send a message containing the word "help" for directions)
 Mailing list address:    [e-mail]
 Maintainer:        <[e-mail]>
 Please DO NOT send administrative things to the main mailing list
 address, as then everyone will get annoyed.


_____________________________________________________________________________
+++What is the F1 Board?

    A PCB board set designed around the 68HC11f1 microprocessor,
which I have made available as a non-profit enterprise to all you
folks on the net. To help those of you in the US, Daniel Mauch of the
Seattle Robotics Society agreed to act as a distributor.

    Well, my first shipment of these PCB's to Daniel lasted about
a week, I didn't realise they were going to be so popular! He has now
received the second shipment from me, so if anyone is interested in
these boards please Email Daniel at <[e-mail]>

If you missed any of my original postings, here again are the details of the
boards:

'F1 Board:
     Size  118 x 80 mm  (4.6" x 3.2")
     Connectors:
          Power 6.5 - 35vdc (or 5vdc if you jumper the 7805 socket)
          RS485 serial communications
          RS232 serial communications
          SPI interface  (Same as Miniboard connectors but Master/Slave
                         switchable)
          8 Analog inputs
          Port A connector
          Control bus connector for additional boards
     Configuration:
          32K Ram memory
          32K EPROM (or another 32K Ram - switch select)
          MODA & MODB jumpers
          Analog Vrh & Vrl jumper to +5 & 0v or user selectable
Motor Board:
     Size  107 x 59 mm ( 4.2" x 2.3")
     Connectors:
          8 Digital inputs
          8 Digital outputs
          4 x DC motors
          2 x Stepper motors (<1.5 Amps each)
          2 x R/C servo motors
     Configuration:
          5 x base address selections (allows for multiple boards to be used)
          Stepper / Servo switch selectable
          Separate power supply for DC and Stepper motors.
Cost:

    F1 board        $17
    Motor board        $13
    EPROM (w/Buffalo)    $11
    Postage            $5

This board was designed primarily for embedded control and small robotics
applications, and as such it is as versatile as I could get it. For more
details there is complete documentation (in postscript format) in the file
ftp://cher.media.mit.edu/pub/incoming/F1/f1doc.zip

Dept. of Mech. Eng.                |Pete Dunster
University of Wollongong           |Tel     [phone]
Northfields Ave                    |Fax     [phone]
Wollongong                         |Email   [e-mail]
N.S.W. 2522  AUSTRALIA             |

_____________________________________________________________________________
+++What is the Bot Board?
    The BOTBoard is a single chip microcomputer board designed for
general use, and robotics applications.  The BOTBoard uses the popular
68HC11 microcontroller in a minimum configuration, and is easily
programmed from your PC. Engineered to be small, the BOTBoard is also
powerful and flexible.  Each BOTBoard is 2" X 3" with a 1" X 2"
prototyping area.

Special BOTBoard Features:

.    Four R/C Servo Ports.
.    Auto start jumper.
.    Reset Switch and low voltage circuitry.
.    1" X 2" proto-typing area, with power bus strips.
.    Easy to use Networking Port (SPI). With Master/Slave selection.
.    Powered RS232 Port (TTL level) for serial communication.
.    Pull up resistors on IRQ and XIRQ.
.    All I/O pins on .100 grid headers.
.    Single sided circuit board design.
.    Uses either the MC68HC11 or MC68HC811 .
.    Mounting holes that can be used for stacking.
.    Power supply connector.

    The BOTBoard is a bare circuit board that was designed to give
the most amount of flexibility for the least cost.  The BOTBoard
manual contains parts list, building instructions, ordering
information, schematics, and application notes.  You can assemble the
BOTBoard in less than a half hour, with a total cost of parts being
about $20.

BOTBoard   =  $5.95  each or three for $15.
Shipping   =  $1.25 plus .25 for each board.

Marvin Green  821 SW 14th  Troutdale, OR 97060 [phone].

_____________________________________________________________________________
+++Microcontrollers

 Which microcontroller should I use and what are the differences
 between them? What about motor controllers and motor drivers?

There are a wide variety of microcontrollers that can be used in
robotics projects. Some of the most popular are 6811's (Miniboard and
many single board computers), 80186, and PIC's. This topic engenders
hot debates of the merit of one chip over the other. Therefore, the
best way for you to decide is to understand your problem requirements
and see which devices fit your needs. At that point, you can look at
issues of support platforms, cross-compilers, cost etc to make the
best decision.

Related newsgroups include: comp.sys.intel, comp.realtime,
sci.electronics, alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt

Basically there are three kinds of "boards" out there that are of interest
to design engineers and the definitions are necessarily broad:

 1) The evaluation board. This is a board designed by the manufacturer
    of a part to demonstrate its features. Using such a board a DE can
    decide whether the part will meet their needs for the design they
    are creating. Generally somewhat expensive (because they are
    produced in relatively small numbers) except when the part is
    being 'pushed' by the manufacturer and there is some sort of
    promotional deal going on. Often the evaluation board will have
    some sort of breadboard area on the board for custom circuitry.

 2) The Single Board Computer or SBC. These are generally produced
    by a third party using some manufacturers chip. The are generally
    pretty flexible but may not 'expose' all features. SBCs come in
    all sizes and price ranges, some are availabe in kit form. Many
    have development tools available for them.

 3) The Embedded processor. These are generally boards dedicated to
    some particular function (like driving a stepper motor, running
    a modem etc) and are usually available pretty cheaply on the
    surplus market. Unlike SBCs there are rarely any design tools
    available to use with them but they can be quite inexpensive.

A FAQ devoted to Microcontrollers can be found at the following:
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.answers/microcontroller-faq/primer
      Maintainer:  Russ Hersch <[e-mail]>

 68HC11:
 -------
     A 68HC11 is an 8-bit data, 16-bit address microcontroller from
 Motorola, with an instruction set similar to the older 68xx (6801,
 6805, 6809) parts.  It has several on-chip resources including digital
 I/O, timers, PWM, A/D RAM, various types of ROM, and synchronous and
 asynchronous communications channels (RS-232 and SPI). It can easily
 be integrated into single-chip applications. Less than 20ma current
 draw. Good freeware assembly-language tools are available, as well as
 several good commercial C compilers. It is widely used because it is
 very inexpensive and the availability of developments tools makes it
 very attractive.

     Moto nows offers an evaluation kit that includes DOS and Mac
 compatible software, low-power design tutorial and extensive technical
 literature. M68EBLPIIKIT has batteries included and has 68HC11E9
 microcontroller, LCD display, Moto LCD driver, RS232 line
 driver/receiver chips, wire-wrap area for custom work, simple
 development platform and development code. Includes assembler, several
 examples, and extra crystals. $199.11 through 4/22/94.

 For a lot more detail see the 68HC11 FAQ at:
 ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.realtime/68hc11_microcontroller_FAQ
 The FAQ is also regularly posted to several newsgroups.


Motorola 683xx
--------------
    The 683xx family from Moto are highly integrated CPU's.
Several have onboard RAM (eg, up to 2K), none have on-board ROM, but
they do have timers, software programmable chip selects, etc, making
it possible to build very small but complete systems.

68302: Designed for communications, especially ISDN. On-board
        nice serial controller. 68000 CPU, some memory.
68330: Has CPU32, which is in between a 68000 and a 68020.  Not much else.
68331: Add standard async serial controller.
68332: Add separate Time Processing Unit and some RAM.  The TPU can do
    things like off-line PWM processing. Nice general package.
68340: Delete TPU, add DMA controller.

Intel 80C186:
-------------
     An 80C186 is a evolution from the 8086. It is an embedded
processor sold by Intel, and has the same instruction set as the 8086,
with the additional "real-mode" instructions of the 286. It has the
same 16-bit data and 20-bit address bus structure of the 8086.  The
80C188 is an 8-bit data bus version, just like the 8088 (of PC & PC/XT
fame).  For embedded systems, it is much easier to use than the 8086.
    It has an on-chip timer system, interrupt controller, DMA
controller, and clock generator.  For DRAM operation, it also has an
integrated DRAM refresh generator.  However, it has no on-chip I/O,
nor does it have any memory on-chip.  There is, however, extra
circuitry for selecting external memory with a minimum of extra logic.
Can be programmed using most DOS compilers and assemblers, but
requires a linker that knows about locating code in absolute memory.
    The '186 is not as accessible; it is harder to set up, the
tools cost more, and robotics & control resources have to be added
externally.  The timers can be configured for PWM or pulse timing, It
does, however, run at higher speeds, have more accessible memory, and
can be hooked up to a floating-point co-processor (C187).  It looks a
lot like a DOS machine. This may be important when software is run on
multiple platforms and also helps with the learning curve.

Intel 8051
----------
   A typical 8051 contains:
       - CPU with boolean processor
       - 5 or 6 interrupts: 2 external, 2 priority levels
       - 2 or 3 16-bit timer/counters
       - programmable full-duplex serial port
         (baud rate provided by one of the timers)
       - 32 I/O lines (four 8-bit ports)
       - RAM and ROM/EPROM in some models

The 8051 and varients are now sourced by more than a half-dozen
companies including Intel, AMD, Dallas, Signetics, Siemans and others.
The 8051 FAQ can be found at:

ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.realtime/8051_microcontroller_FAQ

It includes 8051 ftp sites, public domain langauges, commercially
available software and publications for the 8051.

Intel 8096
----------
It is 16 bit, many registers, internal RAM, the usual compliment of
on-board peripherals (serial, A/D, pwm, timer/counters, etc)

Microchip PIC16/17
------------------
Microchip Technology
Corporate Office
2355 West Chandler Blvd
Chandler, AZ 85224-6199
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]

UK: Arizona Microchip Technology
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]

Japan: Microchip Technology
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]

CMOS field-programmable microcontrollers - PIC16/17. high performance
low cost and small package size. Large numbers are used in consumer
electronics and automotive applications, computer peripherals,
security and telecommunication applications.

A FAQ on the PIC exists and is posted regularly to the following
newsgroups: comp.realtime, comp.robotics, sci.electronics
Maintainer:  Tom Kellett <[e-mail]>
A PIC list address is:           [e-mail]
Administrative matters go to:    [e-mail]

PIC16CXX and PIC17Cxx are 8-bit microcontrollers that use a high-speed
RISC architecture.The PIC17CXX is probably the faster 8-bit
controller.  16-bit instruction word and vectored interrupt
capabilities.You can add external program memory, up to 64K words. The
PIC17C42 has a number of counter/timer resources and I/O handling
capabilities.

Features include: timers, embedded A/D, extended instruction/data
memory, inter-processor communication and ROM, EPROM and EEPROM
memories.  assemblers, linkers, loaders, libraries and source-level
debuggers are available. Digi-Key carries PIC's (See Parts Suppliers)

Vendor of PIC boards:
[from a review by Chuck McManis <[e-mail]>]
Micro Engineering Labs
P.O. Box 7532,
Colorado Springs, CO 80933
tel: [phone]
contact: Jeff Schmoyer
    MEL has designed a couple of PC boards for prototyping PIC
systems PICProto 18 - $9.95 US including shipping in the US.  This
board is 1.5" by 3", double sided, solder masked, and has plated
through holes. the top 7/8" x 1.5" of the board (oriented with the
narrow side "up") consists of an 18 pin socket print, holes to
conviently mount either a crystal or RC oscillator and a set of holes
to mount a 5v regulator, either the TO-220 type or the low power TO-92
type as used on the Miniboard.  All of the PIC I/O pins, RB0 - 7, RA0
- 3, RTC, Vdd and Gnd are brought out to a dual row of pads. they are
followed by 15 rows of pads, with the outer pad on one side being the
Vdd bus and the outer pad on the other side being the Vcc bus. After
this there are two rows of pads, offset, that can accomodate a DB9,
DB15, or DB25 connector. This board will accept either the 16C5x
series (in the 18 pin package) or a 16C71 PIC.

The PICProto Dual - $14.95 US
    Is similar except it has pads for 1 18 pin PIC and 1 24 pin
(or another 18 pin) PIC. It is 3" x 3" and shares all of the same
properties of the PICproto 18 with respect to setting up crystal or RC
timing for the PICs.  It has pads for 1 DB connector that is 25 pins
or less.  It adds about 50% more prototyping pads so you can put two
or three more chips on it. The nice thing about this one is that one
PIC can do asynchronous things like be a serial interface while the
other provides I/O pins and monitoring functions.

Parallax BASIC Stamp
--------------------
    The Stamp is a 1x2" (2.5x5cm) computer that runs BASIC
programs written on a PC. 8 I/O lines which can be used for serial
communications, potentiometer inputs, pulse measurement, switches,
speaker drivers etc. Usually you'll have to add no more than a
resistor or capacitor at most. A BASIC editor on the PC converts
instructions into token that are downloaded to the Stamp via a
3-conductor cable and stored in EEPROM. Whenever the Stamp is powered
up, the on-board interpreter runs the program. Battery clips are built
in for a 9V battery (Stamp has 5V supply built in.) and the Stamp has
a small prototyping area as well. From Digikey the Development Kit
(including a Stamp) is $139, and a Stamp is $39.

National Semiconductor LM628/629
--------------------------------
Small motor control chip. Does PWM for motion control at a very low
cost. A couple of H-bridges on the outputs. Good reference for using
the 628/9 for motion control is in: Closing the Loop on DC Motor
Control by Tom Dahlin and Don Krantz The Computer Applications
Journal, Issue #28 Aug/Sept, 1992

Hewlett-Packard HCTL 1000, 2000
-------------------------------
HP's motor and encoder interface chips. Widely used and widely available.

Motor-Drivers
-------------
The L293D, motor driver on a chip, is an SGS-Thomson part and is
second sourced by Unitrode. In spite of its utility it is not readily
available in small quantities. This part is a dual full H-bridge that
can drive motors up to 0.6A.

The significance of the 'D' in L293D is that it is diode protected.
There is a reverse biased diode that shunts the reverse EMF from a
motor to the V+ supply. The L293B doesn't have this diode so it must
be provided externally.

National has an LM18293 which they say is a cross for an L293B. The
price should $4.00 or less and they need the external diodes. A
replacement for the D part is the Texas Instruments 754410 which
actually has a bit better current capacity (1A vs .6A) this latter
part is available from Arrow electronics in the US.

An alternative part is the UDN2998 which is available from Pure Unobtainium
tel: [phone]. THis is a 3A bridge in an inline package, it is limited to
motor supplies greater than 10V. You can also build your own H-bridge out
of either bipolar chips or MOSFETs.

_____________________________________________________________________________
+++Books, Online Information and Videos

The readership of this group ranges from the beginner to experienced
robot designers and users. Accordingly, this list covers the gamut as
well. I would like to include net resources as well such as papers or
tech reports so send me your sites!

Advanced Robot Systems
Mark J. Robillard
Howard Sams & Co. 1984

Autonomous Robot Vehicles
I.J. Cox and G.T. Wilfong (eds)
New York, Springer-Verlag, 1990
Collection of seminal papers on autonmous robot vehicles.

Build Your Own Universal Computer Interface
Bruce Chubb
TAB Books

Control System Design Guide
George Ellis
ISBN 0-12-237470-3
Covers hardware,software and theory of ordinary PID control.

Directed Sonar Sensing for Mobile Robot Navigation
by John J. Leonard & Hugh F. Durant-Whyte
Kluwer Academic Press
Boston (1992) ISBN 0-7923-9242-6
  An expansion on John's thesis work, which he did at Oxford.

Inside the Robot Kingdom: Japan, Mechatronics and the Coming Robotopia
Frederik L. Schodt
Kodansha International
New York, NY 1988
Lots of interesting views of robots in Japan and Japan's fascination
with robots.

Interfacing Test Circuits With Single-Board Computers
Robert H. Luetzow
TAB Books

Machines That Walk
Shin-Min Song and Kenneth J Waldron
ISBN 0-262-19274-8
Like it says: legged locomotion. Focus is on the OSU Adaptive
Suspension Vehicle.

A Mathematical Introduction to Robotic Manipulation
R. M. Murray, Z. Li, and S. S. Sastry
CRC Press, 1994
For more information, see http://avalon.caltech.edu/~murray/mls

Microprocessor Based Robotics
Mark J. Robillard
Howard Sams & Co. 1983

Microcontroller Technology: The 68HC11
Peter Spasov
Regents/Prentice Hall, 1993, ISBN 0-13-583568-2
Aimed at the 68HC11 family, good reference.

Minimalist Mobile Robotics
Jonathan H Connel
ISBN 0-12-185230-X
Brooks subsumption architecture robots. Shows complex behaviors are
possible with little of the massive architectures done in other
programs.

Mobile Robots: Inspiration to Implementation.
 Joseph L. Jones and Anita Flynn,
 This book grew out of the Mobot Lab at MIT and covers many aspects
 of mobile robots including design and the mechanics and electronics of
 construction as well as robot programming. Good for the beginner and
 experienced robot builder. A Mobile Robot kit is also available. See
the Rug Warrior in the section on Small, Inexpensive Robots.
 Klaus Peters
 President and Publisher
 AK PETERS, LTD.
 289 Linden Street
 Wellesley, MA 02181
 tel: [phone]
 fax: [phone]
 net: <[e-mail]>

The Robot Book
Richard Pawson
Windward, 1985, 192 pages.
Utilizes Lego kits.

The Robot Builder's Bonanza: 99 Inexpensive Robotics Projects
Gordon McComb
TAB Books

Robot Hobby: The Complete Manual, for Individuals and Clubs
John W. Gutmann, Foreword by Joe Engelberger
ISBN 0-9634272-4-5
Soft cover $29.95
Hard Cover $36.95
Machine Press Publishing
P.O. Box 870210
Stone Mountain, GA 30087-0006

Robotic Technology: Principles and Practice.
Werner G. Holzbock
Van Nostrand Reinhold Co, 1986, ISBN 0-442-23154-7

Robotics
edited by Marvin Minsky
Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1985
ISBN: 0385194145, LCCN: 84024390

Robot Motion: Planning and Control
Brady, Hollerbach, Johnson, Lozano-Perez, and Mason.
Cambridge, MA, MIT Press 1982)
    Collection of excellent papers on the topic of robot motion.

Robots
Peter Marsh
Crescent (Crown) Publishers, NY 1985
    Marsh edited the volume and the book is made up of several
contributions from robotics researchers. A very well illustrated book
that covers the general topic of robots. Excellent source materials
and graphics.

Safety, Reliability, and Human Factors in Robotic Systems.
Edited by James H. Graham.
Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1991.
ISBN 0-442-00280-7
  Laws/rules/regulations are governing industrial robot installations
in the U.S.

CDROMS
------

Isaac Asimov's The Ultimate Robot.
    It is an excellent intro and retrospective on robotics.
Includes movie clips from several cinema robots, robotic terminology
defined and illustrated (linkages, kinmatics, arm types etc),
vignettes of many historically important robots including Moshers work
>from the 60's, many teleoperated devices, several mobile machines
including the ASV and many others.  There is also a fun part where you
get to select parts, build a robot and animate it. (Design by Ralph
MacQuarrie who was production designer on Star Wars)
    There are video interviews with Asimov and all of his robot
stories and essays as well Published by Microsoft. Available from a
number of CDROM vendors.

AICDROM

    Network Cybernetics Corporation is now shipping the second
annual revision of their popular AI CD-ROM, an ISO-9660 format CD-ROM
containing a wide assortment of information on AI, Robotics, and other
advanced machine technologies. The AI CD-ROM contains thousands of
programs, source code collections, tutorials, research papers,
Internet journals, and other resources. The topics covered include
artificial intelligence, artificial life, robotics, virtual reality,
and many related fields. Programs for OS/2, DOS, Macintosh, UNIX,
Amiga, and other platforms can be found on the disc.  The files have
been collected from civilian and government research centers,
universities, Internet archive sites, BBS systems and other
sources. The CD-ROM is updated annually to keep it current with the
latest trends and developments in advanced machine technologies such
as AI. The AI CD-ROM Rev. 1 was a CD-ROM PROFESSIONAL CONSUMER DISK
PRODUCT OF THE YEAR AWARD finalist and has received good reviews in
many magazines including Byte (Jerry Pournelle, March '93) and IEEE
Computer (J. Zalewski, July '93), CD-ROM Professional and others.
    The new revision of the AI CD-ROM is now shipping. The price
of Revision 2 will remain the same as the Revision 1 CD: $129 + $5
(US) / $10 (foreign) for shipping & processing. If you currently own
the revision 1 AI CD-ROM, you can "upgrade" to the Rev.2 CD for $79 +
shipping. Email or fax us to get an upgrade form.

From:   Network Cybernetics Corporation
        4201 Wingren Road, Suite 202
        Irving, Texas 75062-2763
        tel: [phone]
        fax: [phone]

ARTICLES [Initial List Provided by Dave Hrynkiw]
--------
    Best source for most general articles and journal articles is
your library.

Discover Magazine, March 1991, Pg 43
An excellent 6 page article of the goings-on in the MIT Artificial-
Intelligence lab.

"Mathematical Recreations - Insectoids Invade a Field of Robots"
Scientific American Magazine, July 1991
Another excellent 4 page article about MIT's work in the field of mobile
robotics.

"Gearing Down"
Science News, Vol. 139 No. 2, January 12 1991, Pg 26-27
I haven't seen a copy of this article yet.  If you find it, PLEASE
fax/send me a copy.  Referenced from Scientific American Magazine,
July 1991 ("Mathematical Recreations" column)

"Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control"
Research News, May 1990, Pg 959-961
One of the better MIT Lab articles.  Worth hunting down.

"Working the bugs out of a new breed of 'insect' robots"
Smithsonian Magazine, June 1991, pgs 63-73.
Another excellent & more technical article on MIT's robot research.

"The Iconoclast - Life in the Anthropomorphic Lane"
Macworld magazine, May 1991, Pg 43-47
Another basic, but decent review of MIT's AI Robot labs.

"People - A Mind of Their Own"
Connoisseur Magazine, May 1991, Pg 42-46
A more personal look at Rodney Brook.

"Robot Insects"
Popular Science, March 1991, Pg 52-55,86
Popular Science does it's regular quality article.  Some detail, but not
to technical. Good, basic read.

"New Approaches to Robotics"
Science Magazine, Vol.253, September 1991, Pg 1227-1232
Very complete & technical document by Rodney Brooks.  Has a very
complete reference & notes section.

"Artificial Intelligence - Building a Better Mouse"
Omni Magazine, ??, Pg 22,126
Interesting Article about Dave Otten, the micro-mouse champ.  Short,
but interesting read.

"Tech Update - Transformer Robots Crawl Up Stairs"
Popular Mechanics, March 1993, Pg 17
Not much to say, but look at the pictures - what innovation!

"Mighty Mouse"
MIT Reporter, July 1991, Pg 12
A short piece about Dave Otten's micromice.

"The OMNI Photovore - How to build a robot that thinks like a roach"
Omni Magazine, October 1988, Pg 201-210,212
MIT developed this basic robot for the magazine.  A really interesting
read, with good technical.  Haven't built mine yet, but I have all the
parts... (Excellent article)

"Annual Report of Microbot Technology, Inc."
Omni Magazine, ??? Pg 68,70,76
Omni's interesting futuristic look of the possibilities with micro robots.

"Tech Update - Mechanical Caterpillar"
Popular Mechanics, June 1992, Pg 24
Another neat idea to look at.

"Tech Update - Silicon Ants Could Prove Tireless Workers"
Popular Mechanics, May 1992, Pg 21
Interesting little bit on the future of solar powered microbots.  Neat
graphic.

"Trends - Let's Get Small"
Technology Review, Aug/Sept 1992, pg 18-19
Article on JPL/IS Robotics small robots.  Decent article

"Go Robots, Go!"
Popular Science, December 1992, Pg 97-102,138,140
Interesting overview of the AAAI Mobile Robotics Competition held in
San Jose.

"New Trends - Legs win over wheels for moon work"
Machine Design Magazine, February 11 1988
A dated article on Georgia Tech's "Skitter".  Short, but has
photograph.

"Light Elements - RoboHockey"
Discover magazine, May 1990, pg 82
Interesting bit about MIT's Mech Eng 2.70 competition.

"Society - Technology - For the Love of Robotics"
Newsweek magazine, March 9 1992, Pg 68-69
Public-robot fodder.  Nothing new here but some interesting pictures.
Covers the Austin area Robot Group

"Robots Go Buggy"
Science News Magazine, Vol 140, November 30 1991, Pg 361-3
Very good article about the comparison between "simple" robotics and
biologics (bugs)

"Build This Robot Bug"
Radio-Electronics Magazine, June 1992, Pg 33-38
_Very_ basic robot.  Not a bad place to start tho...

Science Digest, April 1983 p68
"The Rise of the Robot" by Tom Parrett. Article includes photos of the
"Atlanta Robotics Special Interest Group" founded by John W. Gutmann
with the support of Bill Dodd, owner of Hobby Robot CO.  The first
meeting was held on April 21st of 1981.

ONLINE REPORTS
--------------
 There are emerging sources on the net for tech reports and papers. If
 you know of additional ones please send me email. Thanks.

-----
Site: optima.cd.arizona.edu
Dir:  /japan/kahaner

This directory archives reports written about computing in Japan by
Dr. David Kahaner, a numerical analyst current on assignment with
the Office of Naval Research Asia (ONR Asia).  The file INDEX
contains a short description of each report in alphabetical order.
The file INDEX.bydate contains the same descriptions ordered by the
date the report was written.

Relevant files:

control.34   (Aug 1, 1990)
     Proceedings of 34th annual Conference of Institute of Systems,
     Control and Information Engineers. The papers cover topics in
     optical computing, neural computing, fuzzy logic, control theory,
     robotics, parallel computing, vision, knowledge engineering,
     imaging, feature extraction, probability, communications networks,
     etc., as well as applications to car location, fish school size
     estimates, mathematical programming, factory automation and many
     others.

imacs.92  (Sep 29, 1992)
      Titles of (almost 300) papers presented at IMACS/SICE RM^2'92,
      International Symposium on Robotics, Mechatronics and Manufacturing
      Systems '92 in Kobe Japan, 16-20 Sept 1992.

iros.91   (Jan 7, 1992)
     A summary of Japanese research in intelligent autonomous robot
     control, and especially of the conference, Intelligent Robots and
     Systems, 3-5 Nov 1991, is given. (Y. Kanayama, Naval Postgraduate School).

isarc.92  (Sep 22, 1992)
      Titles of papers presented at the 9th ISARC, International
      Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, Tokyo Japan,
      3-5 June 1992.

ismcr.92  (May 30, 1993)
     Conference program for the Second International
     Symposium on Measurement and Control in Robotics (ISMCR'92), Nov 15-19,
     1992, at the AIST Tsukuba Research Center, Tsukuba Science City, Japan.

robots  (Feb 28, 1991)
    Overview of trends in robot manufacturing, use, and sales in Japan.

robots.93  (Dec 10, 1993)
     Summary of the 24th International Symposium on Industrial
     Robots (ISIR), the 1993 International Conference on Advanced Robotics
     (ICAR), and the 1993 International Industrial Robot Exhibition, all held
     in Tokyo 1-5 Nov 1993.

-----
 The 6.270 Robot Builder's Guide (See also the Miniboard section in this FAQ)
 Fred Martin
ftp://cherupakha.media.mit.edu/pub/6270/docs/
     filenames:    *.PS.Z
   This directory contains "The 6.270 Robot Builder's Guide", the
   course notes to the 1992 MIT LEGO Robot Design Competition.
   Hardcopy also available for $15 from:
     E&L Memo Requests
     MIT Media Laboratory
     20 Ames Street Room E15-309
     Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
     Check made out to 'MIT Epistemology and Learning'
   Contact: Fred Martin at [e-mail]

-----
Cambridge University
    Tech report on 3D object model acquisition and recognition:
    ftp://svr-ftp.eng.cam.ac.uk/reports/
    filename:    vinther_tr136.ps.Z

-----
Carnegie Mellon University SCS Technical Reports
1) The machine [e-mail] is the offical SCS machine for
   ftping SCS technical reports. Directories containing .ps files
   (compressed and uncompressed, dependent on size) are stored for
   ease of access. You can use the instructions below to browse the
   directories.

   Presently, the majority of reports in the directories are Computer
   Science publications. We have been offering the reports this way since
   1992. The ftp service has greatly reduced publication costs (which are
   high!) and is providing a more timely mechanism for colleagues to access
   reports (free of charge).

2) The reports appearing in our ftpable directories are also automatically
   transferred into MOSAIC. Authors retain the right to decide whether
   their report(s) should or should not appear in the public ftp
   directories/MOSAIC.

3) A third mechanism for storing and making reports available is
   MERCURY--the scanned image, full text, online database (part of the
   LIS system). Whether the report is scanned into the system is again
   left up to invidivual author choice.  The CMU community is able to
   view text for the reports, as they appear, at their desks using
   Mercury.  This system, supported by ARPA and CNRI, will open soon
   to MIT, Stanford, Cornell, and Berkeley...so we can all share online
   text of reports.  Down the road, it is anticipated that more and
   more universities will become a part of this service.  We scan
   original copies of reports into the system,

   DIRECTIONS FOR ANONYMOUS FTP:
    URL: ftp://reports.adm.cs.cmu.edu/ or
   1) Ftp to reports.adm.cs.cmu.edu (128.2.222.79) as "anonymous".
   2) At the password prompt, send your Username@site
      (you must include the "@" or the login will fail)
   3) Then "cd 1994"  (the directory for 1994 technical reports)
           "cd 1993"  (the directory for 1993 technical reports)
       "cd 1992"  (the directory for 1992 technical reports)
       "cd 1991"  (the directory for 1991 technical reports)
       "cd robotics" (the directory for robotics reports)
       "cd cmt"   (the directory for Center for Machine Translation)
   4) Use the standard ftp commands, such as "get", "cd", "ls", etc.
   5) The reports are in postscript format (.ps).  The index file
      is called README.mss.  The reports are listed in the directory
      by their NUMBER.ps...for example, CMU-CS-92-100.ps, CMU-CS-92-101.ps
      and so on.  The majority of the files are not compressed, although
      any compressed files will be listed as NUMBER.ps.Z .  A very few
      reports have been broken down into multiple postscript files.  They
      will appear as NUMBERA.ps, NUMBERB.ps, etc.  The README.mss will
      indicate the reports that have multiple .ps files.
   6) When you have finished copying the files you need, simply "quit."

-----
MIT AI Laboratory
net: [e-mail]
tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
    MIT bibliography, general info about the lab and most recent
research publications.
ftp://publications.ai.mit.edu/bibliography and ai-publications/general-pubs
[choice of ascii or ps files]

-----
NASA Jet Propulsion Labs (JPL)
ftp://robotics.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/gat/
    filenames:    bc4pe.rtf, aaai92.rtf, nats.rtf
    Note that all files are in Microsoft Word RTF format.
    Contact <[e-mail]> if you don't have access
    to a Mac.

-----
LIFIA/INRIA
    ftp://imag.fr/pub/LIFIA (129.88.32.1)
    filenames:    [several compressed PS files]
-----
University of Massachusetts:
    ftp://rabbit.cs.umass.edu/pub/papers
    filenames:     [The files are compressed postscript, topics include
            path planning, neuroscience, and control.]
-----
University of Kaiserslautern FTP-Server is :
ftp://ftp.uni-kl.de/reports_uni-kl/computer_science/mobile_robots/
    subdirectories:    1993/papers, 1994/papers, etc

-----
SPIE abstracts:
ftp://mom.spie.org/abstracts/1800/
    filenames: 1831.txt [From Mobile Robots VII 1992]
    SPIE bookorders can be made through [e-mail]

Other reports:
--------------

JTEC report on Japanese Space Robotics
Available from NTIS (see below)
    A summary of the Japanese Technology Evaluation Center (JTEC)
panel's report on the state of the art of Japanese robot technology.
Lots of pictures of wierd and wonderful robots -- elephant trunk,
caterpillar, space tentacle, wall builder, Komatsu's walking undersea
rubble-leveler, humanoid two-armed assembly robot, 4-legged stair
climber.  Also tells where to write for videotapes of these machines
in action.  Here's the info (two years old, remember) ...  Tape with
narration by William "Red" Whittaker:
 cost: $37.50
 University Video Communications
 Box 20006
 Stanford, CA USA 94309
 tel: [phone]
Shorter tape of highlights from many Japanese labs:
 National Technical Information Service (NTIS)
 5285 Port Royal Road
 Springfield, VA USA 22161
 tel: [phone]
Article: "Japan robotics aim for unmanned space exploration"
William L. Whittaker, Takeo Kanade. IEEE Spectrum, December 1990

Videos
------
[new section - looking for additional material]

MIT Press has a number of companion videos - Legged Robots That
Balance and others. See Publications for address etc.
-----
Video Proceedings from the 8th International Symposium on Unmanned
Untethered Submersible Technology (UUST 93) September 27-29, 1993
Marine Systems Engineering Lab, University of New Hampshire, Durham,
New Hampshire USA
     The video proceedings are now available for $35 US for VHS (NTSC)
format and $50 US for PAL format.  The video is being made publicly
available on a non-profit basis.  Printed abstracts and points of
contacts are included in a pamphlet with each video.  The program is
available eclectronically via anonymous ftp to
file://taurus.cs.nps.navy.mil/pub/auv/uust93_video_proceedings.ps.Z
After AUgust 1 1994, you may order this video (or printed conference
proceedings) by sending a check or money order to:
     Autonomous Undersea Systems Institute (AUSI)
     8 Earle Drive
     Lee, New Hampshire  03824  USA
     [phone]
postscript copy:  ftp://taurus.cs.nps.navy.mil/pub/auv/uust93.ps.Z
Video Contents:
   01:20 AUVs for Scientific Research
         in Hazardous Conditions
   07:15 A Versatile Testbed:  The "Twin-Burger"
   13:55 ARPA/Navy Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV)
   31:30 Summary of MBARI/Stanford ARL Joint Underwater Robotics
         Research Program
   43:05 Development of an Aquatic Walking Robot for Underwater
         Inspection:  "AQUAROBOT"
   47:30 Naval Postgraduate School Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
   50:15 The Rational Behavior Model (RBM) Software Architecture
   57:25 Mobile Undersea Systems Test (MUST) Laboratory
1:02:10  The Advanced Unmanned Search System (AUSS)
1:11:20  credits

_____________________________________________________________________________
+++Acknowledgements
    Thanks to those who responded with updates, new material,
corrections, suggestions etc. Some of the names are indirect; that is,
they replied to queries on the newsgroup:

Hans Moravec, Maki Habib, Ken Goldberg, David Stanton, John Nagle,
Sean Graves, Sjur Vestli, Mark Yim, Rich Wallace, Dan Hudson, Sanjiv
Singh, Matt Stein, Dave Stewart, Ed Cheung, Ron Fearing, Klaus
Biggers, Lisa Rendleman, Nobuhiko Mukai, Paul Sharkey, Fred Martin,
Willie Lim, Allen Brown, Erann Gat, Judd Jones, Tony Sprent, Richard
Seldon, Brian Richardson, Ross McAree, Nathan Stratten, Chuck McManis,
Ben Brown, Terry Fong, Jeff Fox, Bill Lye Patrick Arnold, David
Novick, Stephen Klueter Chris Malcolm, Frank Hausman, Sam Miller, Rich
Voyles, Jean-Pierre Merlet, Karl Altenburg, Dave Hrynkiw, Ken Baker,
Vic Callaghan, Gerhard Weiss, Ambarish Goswami, Peter Turner, Peter
Corke, Michael Bakula, Andrew Whitwell, Brian Richardson, Mark Copley,
Bob Bonitz, Karl Altenburg, Mike Cleary, and many others who dropped off
suggestions, comments and changes. Thank you!

_____________________________________________________________________________

aka:    Kevin Dowling         Carnegie Mellon University
tel:    [phone]          The Robotics Institute
fax:    [phone]          5000 Forbes Avenue
net:    <[e-mail]>       Pittsburgh, PA 15213







--

aka: Kevin Dowling            Carnegie Mellon University
tel: [phone]            The Robotics Institute
adr: [e-mail]            Pittsburgh, PA 15213
--

aka: Kevin Dowling            Carnegie Mellon University
tel: [phone]            The Robotics Institute
adr: [e-mail]            Pittsburgh, PA 15213