It's troublesome because EZ-B vs Arduino is like comparing an Automobile against an Engine

EZ-B is an automobile, and Arduino is an engine. EZ-Robot also has an engine, but we also have wheels, seats, radio, windshield, etc..

Arduino is incomplete - without something like EZ-Robot, it doesn't compete in the today's expectation of the robotics industry. For the old schoolers, Arduino makes a great tractor robot with basic object avoidance from 2005. But hey, that's 10 years ago and not EZ-Robot's customer anyway. Those old school customers can purchase many Chinese tractor bases or little hobby kits from eBay.

I would love for old school Arduino users to embrace today's technology requirements for robotics. However, I don't see the benefit of putting EZ-Robot resources toward it. Specifically since EZ-Robot have an over abundance number of opportunities to engage.

Distraction of opportunities is EZ-Robot's worst enemy. However, we're good at keeping our eye on the prize. And it has very little to do with Arduino!

That being said, it's probably a good idea if anyone wishes to contribute and help come up with something.

@Maze,

Why compare two different technologies ?

I like both and i see in both great things.

Different projects different tools, not all projects can go with an EZ-B, neither EZ-B is for everyone, same thing goes with Arduino.

one behavior can be a limitation for one and can be an advantage for the other side.

We all agreed EZ-B is a fantastic tool to start robotic projects.

For me an interesting comparison would be between EZ-B and Lego Mindstorms, both are used as starting tools.

@PTP The reason to compare is that ay least once a week a new person joins the forum and asks questions that make it clear they don't understand the difference between how the technologies work. There are several posts that give a good description, but having a video we can link to could help with clarifying the difference quickly.

I agree with you that one is not necessarily better than the other, they just hav different capabilities and purposes, so I think the video should be informative, not judgmental.

Alan

I think some sort of "Difference" presentation video/tutorial would be awesome. I think it might help some folks to see a time-lapse video of 30 minutes building an "arduino" robot vs. 30 minutes building an ez-robot and see what you end up with. You end up with a lot more accomplished with less headaches with ez-robot.

And then perhaps a video and tutorial on how to integrate micro controllers with ez-robot. For those with robots and investment in hardware and how-to knowledge of how to do things with a micro controller, seeing how to integrate EZ-robot would probably be useful to a larger audience.

As @thetechguru and @JustinRatliff said, a comparison video would help newcomers who don't know the difference figure things out.

Perhaps 6 would be "Arduinos are very complicated to do simple things, as limited by the coding requirement. Ez-bs allow you have more time building your robot and less time coding it, depending on the skill level."

I wouldn't want a video or comparison to affect the other 99% of EZ-Robot customers. The key with marketing is customizing information that is relevant to a target market. The 1 or 2 posts per month about people comparing EZ-Robot to Arduino is way less than 1% of ez-robot monthly sales.

What I don't understand is why anyone cares where the robot CPU processing is done. What does it matter if it's on a laptop, in your pocket or on the robot?

Tethering to offload processing makes sense for so many reasons:

• space constraints
• weight constraints
• power consumption
• processing speed advantages
• UI advantages
• mouse/keyboard interactivity advantages
• remote controlling advantages
• real-time tweaking and adjustments
• real robot features due to faster CPU
• vision processing
• mobile app development and sharing
• cloud processing and storage

wow the list can keep going...

There's a reason that every advanced robot in the entire world uses some form of computer. Can you imagine if the Honda Asimo was powered by an Arduino? Oh my! That being said, it doesn't imply that many little Arduinos couldn't be used for monitoring/moving servo positions, etc. The same applies with EZ-Robot, that Arduino makes good inexpensive PID controllers to do repetitive tasks. Although, you can't trust an Arduino to move more than a few servos without experiencing significant twitches - and by that point, the Adruino's CPU is consumed bitbanging servo PWM, leaving no room for a robot "program" anyway.

If there is a product comparison, i agree that Lego Mindstorms would "sort of" fit that category, but still not really. EZ-Robot is literally an entire new way of doing things.

What confuses me is why anyone would choose anything other than EZ-Robot. Sure there are other options, but nothing as complete or impressive. Even those using ROS, they should be directing effort to create plugins in ARC. Put it this way, all these PHDs and large funded robot companies are not impressing many EZ-Robot users. This is because for $500, a 12 year old child can "program" an EZ-Robot to do tasks competitive to a million dollar robot. I have a hard time finding the energy to defend EZ-Robot to anyone comparing building a robot with Arduino, because it's mostly a lost cause, and generally results in friction anyway. The energy for that type of discussion can be directed toward the existing ez-robot community, features and product - which already has a significant market and customer base.

In short, I want everyone, including Arduino users to embrace EZ-Robot's tethered technology so they can build robots that provide capabilities expected in 2015. However, I will not allocate effort to convince anyone of that - they would have to embrace the technology on their own free will.

I agree @DJ, so I want to make this video to make a simple way for everyone to respond to questions as such, so we can worry about other things. Why comment about it every time when you can just say "Hey, look at this video!"

"Arduino a are way more advanced." in the coding aspect and work aspect yes, but in its function the ez-b equal if not better.