chas9000c
Moving an e-mail thread with Alan to the forum, since others may also have the same questions I do about Rover 2.0 support:
Question from me:
When (if ever) do you plan to support version 2.0 of Brookstone's Rover Spy Tank? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0093285XK/
Answer from Alan:
Thanks for reaching out to EZ-Robot. We are still a start-up company with only 2 people running the whole show so unfortunately at this time we can't add support to everything right away. We are definitely going to add support to as many devices as possible, we just don't know exactly when.
Thanks for your interest in integrating ARC with the brookstone. Its a great way to go :)
Keep in touch on our community forum. All our releases and updates get published there as well as facebook!
New question from me:
Thanks for the info. Very impressed with what you guys have done. Have you guys already tested rover 2.0 and found that there were breaking changes since the older rover?
I'll definitely order the EZ-Robot products once I get a robot that's supported. Just wondering which version of the rover I should get to ensure support.
I'd order the older rover, but would hate to then find out the 2.0 version is already supported because the manufacturer didn't make changes that would break existing rover support already in EZ-SDK and ARC.
Also, I'd hate to order the 2.0 rover only to find out that I can't use EZ-SDK or ARC with it. If you already know that rover 2.0 made breaking changes, then I'll be confident in getting the older rover, knowing it's worth giving up any advancements in 2.0 in favor of solid integration with EZ-SDK and ARC.
Thanks again.
I had no idea the brookstone rover 2.0 existed. If the 2.0 requires additional support, I do not know when support will be added, but it is on the list. There are over 100 items on the list. :)
Maybe it works out of the box? Maybe it requires programming... We won't know until/if i get to it :)
Just came out this month. Not sure how many EZ-Robots customers are using the original rover, but you'll probably see a sudden drop-off of those customers as the 2.0 hits Brookstone's stores and on-line buyers discover there's a newer version to get instead of the original.
I know you're busy. I'll stay tuned.... Thanks.
Just adding my interest as well. I did buy a rover 2.0 and am interested in programming it because the android app works on my samsung phone but force closes on the tablet and it doesn't appear that a fix is coming anytime soon.
Im also very interested in the support for the new rover 2.0. Anyone know if we have another way, appart from ez-build, to connect and manage the rover 2.0 over our computer?
I've been playing around with node.js - the new server-side javascript language and using (initially) the CGI interface into the Rover (yes there is one!). Apparently the rover software is an adapted version of the firmware for FOSTEK (and other) cameras - where the Fostek software moved the camera lens around the Rover guys use it to move the wheels around.
The original Rover was a complete copy of the FOSTEK (Actually Nuvoton/Winbond/loftek) code and the Rover 2.0 removed some of the CGI code (to create a snapshot and to take videos). Anyway there is a node.js library (called foscam) for Fostek which is easy to adapt so I have the Rover moving around programatically (or maybe robotically) via scripts now. When I get some time I'm going to try and get the binary commands ("MO_O" and "MO_V") working which gives finer motor control plus control of all imaging.
Of course if EZ_Build gets it working I'll probably just go with that.
That sounds good to me. Indeed, is an adapted and modified version for the original software of that ip cam.
It was found and worked deeply yet in this forum www.openipcam.com/forum/index.php?topic=261.0
Could you explain what kind of software you used? appart from node.js
what scripts are you using? your own scripts?
There is a Python script that i think is linked to from the openipcam forum that captures an image (never worked for me with a Rover 2.0 though).
I'm only using Javascript via Node.js. The scripts just call the functions I created. Turn left, right move forward, back, stop plus degree and units (for movement). Next step is to creat an HTML page where I just add the commands (left, right, move etc via a dropdown form and then 'submit' to run I think.
The above approach would be interesting but not real practical by itself, but it looks like there are calls to change the wireless connection from adhoc and local to using a hotspot and at that point the scripts would allow for control of movement and camera etc remotely (i.e over the internet) and that would be cool (I think). I have changed the wireless access point name (SSID) and restored it but that's as far as I've gotten. I'm just tinkering around with this and honestly haven't touched it in almost 2 weeks with the holidays and all - but I'm hoping other node.js users pick up on this like they have with the ardrone.