The VEX Pro from IFI (currently unreleased) can be commanded just like the Arduino based Truckbot and Tankbots. We do this by putting our open source command API onto the VEX and then connecting a Bluetooth module to the UART bus. From there you can drive any robot design of your liking with motors plugged into the right ports.
Two different ways to mount a Nexus One on top of a VEX Pro
The VEX kits allow you to be creative and assemble the robot of your liking with gears, wheels of different sizes, and unlimited ways of mounting a cellphone to it. The Cellbots app for Android will control the two drive motors as well as a pan/tilt head. Our Python library will also drive a two-wheel Vex robot and writing a program using App Inventor for Android using the Bluetooth module should be a snap.
Once you have the basics down, get the source code or enhance your App Inventor program by utilizing the many different motor and digital ports that the VEX Pro offers. By offloading some of the processing from the Vex onto your Android phone, and further into the cloud, there’s no limit to how smart your robot can be!
Note: The Vex Pro is not currently available commercially as of December 2010, but should be on the market soon
Pingback: Googlers Give Cellbots a Major Upgrade |
Pingback: Links for the Week Ending: Fri, Jan 7, 2011 · LR2 Blogs
Hello,
I am interested in controlling my tankbot using my droid HTC EVO4g as a “joystick.” Is that possible with this system. I am newly exploring these capabilities and any advice you can give will be appreciated. I would like to verify whether I am barking up the right tree on this…
Thanks,
-JGranger