Any Eta On Android?

Question

Dj,

Trying to decide on onboard computing and before I buy, is there anychance an android EZB is in the near future? By the time I invest in a small touch screen a mini itx, ram, sd card and 12 volt adapter, it's coming up to the same price as some 32 gig tablets. And Android seems to be the os of choice. Some companies said they would be coughing up a Windows 8 version but not until quarter 3 of this year. So any insight into the future would be appreciated!

Will

jstarne1 · Answer

Hello , android is coming but it will only.have partial support and it is said that.isn't going to be here for a few months. Things like video camera support , web cams , and other things a android tablet doesn't.have capabilities of. I have done a mini pc for around 300 with power supply...

fxrtst · Answer

Thanks for replying. I went to Frys today and bought a MSI E350IA-E45. It was on sale for $89. Its 1.6 ghz dual AMD processor. Can accept upto 8 gigs of ram .No onboard wi-fi but bought a usb dongle and bluetooth while I was there. Online I ordered RAM and SSD, to run fast and quiet (and cool). So hopefully this will run EZB with no troubles. Looks to be drawing only 14 watts when running. Thats great for robot power.

jstarne1 · Answer

Yea I bought a 25 watt tdp ( max draw) AMD dual core 2.2 GHz for mine , 4 gig ram , I haven't measured draw but I bet mine will be low too. Do you know the wattage rating of your cpu? If you feel like still utilizing android , I have Gmote 2.9 and splash remote desktop to use a phone or tablet as a controller. Ofcourse there is the web/browser based remote control too dj recently added in. How much total did you spend?

fxrtst · Answer

I think it ended up being close to $300. Do you think that the AMD dual processor running at 1.6 will be powerful enough for robotics? Fast enough? The cpu is a Zacate E350, and the Hudson bridge set, not sure on the wattage. Do you have a handle on a cheap touch screen that i can inbed either in front or acessable through a door. Looking for about 7 inches diaginal. Can be vga or HDMI (only ports available).

jstarne1 · Answer

If all you have running is ARC or SDK then it is plenty , I know that processor out performs Intel atom 330 1.6 GHz and.that.board was perfect even with the lesser performance

fxrtst · Answer

Cool. Yup that's all it will be running. Thanks!

DJ Sures · Answer

Sooner than you think However, @jstarne1 is correct about the performance and configuration ability. I feel over time that ARC on Android will eventually catch up to the Windows version - but that's over time. The graphical processing of these devices appear great... it's the cpu processing that is lacking. The Android OS seems to use a lot of resources, which is surprising. It's a bit less responsive than i expected. The Apple iOS version we have is fantastic responsive. The hold-up right now on finishing the application is due to a bunch of events we are attending and sponsoring. Sorry But it's for the good of mankind! hehe

fxrtst · Answer

Indeed it is. Good info, very interested in a Apple IOS version....like the IPAD? Crappy they still have not added a usb port, or support flash.... Any chance you could give us insight into the path for EZB, say the next six months to a year? Where do you want it to go from here? Will

fxrtst · Answer

Also, Anyone. Is there a way to boot a Windows 7 computer without a monitor and control it from another computer via remote desktop or ??, but have it start and configure on boot? If I don't imbed a monitor on the onboard computer that is.

jstarne1 · Answer

Excellent question , I.have the plan to remote or web interface to mine through wifi , most boards have a wake on lan type feature to power up the computer and resume activities quickly. Or you could get a 7 inch usb monitor on eBay , I'm thinking of maybe doing that myself. They are 75 to 125 and are touch screen

fxrtst · Answer

I did a little research and infact you can create an Ad Hoc network using WiFi between host and remote computers, then use remote desktop to control the other computer. I saw those touch screens and seemed to run off usb and vga. I think I have 6 USB ports, but they are gong to get used up fast. LOL.

ndavid79 · Answer

I use UltraVNC on every computer I administer. It works great on XP & 7, 32 or 64. Enable the Video Hook driver after install to make sure everything is visible remotely. VNC is an open standard, I even have Droid VNC Server on my Android Phone (requires a rooted phone) so I can control it from my computer via UltraVNC viewer.

fxrtst · Answer

What an excellent find! Is it responsive or a bit laggy? I've used team viewer but it's pretty slow, but also free. Then when I travel with work I use gotomypc to access my home computer, but I don't think either of these can be used on a ad hoc network.

Algeraist · Answer

Splashtop is another remote desktop program that has phone suport and if you have a tablet it even works with hd streaming .

jstarne1 · Answer

@fxrtst its not way laggy but there is a small delay when using a local networking. Using adhoc direct connect will minimize that though, its no worse than using the web interface. Just don't expect your robot to stop on a dime.

ndavid79 · Answer

On recent hardware, I find UltraVNC very responsive, the mouse movements are always instantaneous, the video is usually unnoticeable... Every once in a while, a lot of fast screen changes cause it to forget to update the whole screen, it still updates the small square around the mouse pointer as you move around and there's a Screen Refresh button on the toolbar. Live video, like Youtube or Webcam video isn't very fast though, & it doesn't transport sound.

fxrtst · Answer

Great info guys!

fxrtst

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