
jronald
USA
Asked
— Edited
I'm curious if the EZ-Robot serial protocol is published. I understand why it wouldn't be but I figured that I would ask. BTW, EZ-Robot is an amazing platform.
It's exposed in the ez-openbot, If you were to look at the code. But other than that there is no reason to publish the protocol. There is a terms of use disclaimer that would result in legal action if ARC was used on non-supported hardware. But, I also want to support many platforms so it really comes down to communicating with us
If we stopped selling EZ-B's, development would stop on the platform - and good bye EZ-Robot. And we would have to get new jobs
Imagine what EZ-Robot will be in a year?
The world needs robots, and we can make it happen.
I am just curious: Do you have planned any updates for the ez-openbot library ? Or are all features already supported ?
I am asking, because I want to start writing my own control program for the robot. Due to some special external libraries and source codes I am relying on, I can't use C# or VB, but C/C++. Therefore I would like to decode the serial protocol and sent it directly from my program over WLAN or Bluetooth to my little robot. This should be possible, isn't it ?
Another platform: Do you have already looked at the ARM based NXP microcontrollers (e.g. LPC11XX and LPC12xx with an ARM Cortex M0 core or LPC17xx with an ARM Cortex M3 core) ? They are really powerful and cheap, enabling a lot of functions running directly on the robot. There is a free development IDE called LPCXpresso with very cheap development boards (<30 US$ including a JTAG programmer/debugger). Sorry for advertising, but I am using these little beasts a lot and I really like them...
Anyway, just contact me if you need any kind of support porting the current firmware to the NXP microcntrollers.
As for embedding code on a micro controller... That doesn't follow the EZ-Robot software direction. There are an unlimited number of micro controller products available on the market with this functionality. Our focus is to leverage the power of your PC/Laptop to enable real-time configuration and control of your robot with influence from PC supported peripherals and GUI.
If you would like to create your own application to control the ez-b, that would be neat to see
I fully agree & understand your position, no problem.
Well, if everything is running well, you will see our little robot in action on the CES in Las Vegas (January 2013) with a very unusual input/command device...
One day, an entire booth dedicated to EZ-Robot!
Watch the NXP booth at CES 2013 !
@jstarne1: The NXP main color is white, therefore no black bot...
Nevertheless there are some other nice fairs coming up next year, where we will exhibit this nice "application". I'll keep you informed