robotmaker
I buy a lot of NEATO XV-11 ROBOTIC vacuum cleaner and take apart and sell the parts mostly the LASER
A looking at the idea that DJ uses to control IROBOT ROOMBA with serial and it can be done the same way.
FEW hack sites has info on the serial commands and they have it controlled by another computer
NEATO XV11 if you read the many reviews on it ,its a lot better then ROOMBA ,one main reason it uses a LIDAR tracking system ,where ROOMBA uses a IR BEACON system
SO it will make a great robotic base,used ones on ebay are about $100
MAY be latter DJ can make a Movement Panel for it,but for now it can be controlled by serial using scripts.
LIKE to hear any good or bad comments on it,and will be looking at the code soon,
do need to open it and solder wire to ground and TX line.
Why do you think they use them for missile tracking and more
Of all the navigation type sensors lasers has the highest navigation,but there is drawbacks like with every sensor made
I SELL THEM for about $100 EASY on another company that sells them is $299 for laser and neatorobotics compant has it for that list price alSO
Second the accuracy is compare to a LIDAR (LASER) AT $1200 .i have a link to much data testing done on both and the LIDAR hack,this person did so much testing ,design and broke the api code ,hackaday and adafruit and sparkun put up a bounty and info for anyone to hack it and he did it.
ON roomba is uses optical encoders that get dirty a lot ,where on the NEATO it uses a magnetic encoder
MOTORS on the neato are a lot better,with heat and design and stronger.
NEATO has a LCD FOR battery info and lot more,
Price on them are about the same,
500 and 600 SERIES uses magnetic encoders ,mostly taking about the 4200 series we use the EZB on uses optical feedback.
YES ON THE STUCK MOTOR problem is now fixed with new motor design, stuck problem was because they use very high torque motors and they overheat causing them to get stuck,so they added a heat shield design and new motors dont have the problem any more.
BOTH NEATO AND ROOMBA has HEPA filters,not shore if roomba has a added a brush for dog hairs
ONE REASON MY MOM sent the roomba back and 500 series are very high cost i think $500
I found that 500 and 600 are harder to modify to use as a robotic base.
4200 SERIES are very close the design of the IROBOT CREATE only with 25 pin DIN connector
I guess we both have our comments on witch robotic vacuum we like.
ON the cleaning it doesnt sound right one good reason NEATO HAS stronger vacuum
I did a simple test in my moms carpet and tile floor
First on carpet i ran the roomba 4200 series it looked like it got cleaned,and then ran the NEATO XV-11 and it the bin lot of dirt,so it seems roomba missed it
ON tile did the same test and neato xv-11 had a lot dirt more then the carpet
IT seems doesnt do a good job on TILE and kinda ok on carpets
NEXT week will try the NEATO FIRST AND THEN ROOMBA ,
I think may be 500 series will be better then 4200 series and same as the neato maybe
BUT at much higher cost.
BUT still the best point on the NEATO is the LIDAR it gives much better navigation and tracking .
ONE reason robots use it a lot,only problem is that most LIDAR'S are $1200 and up
So most use camera's and sensors
On the NEATO looking very soon to have info how to use EZB to control it using serial or bluetooth or WIFI
The commands look and on ebay they go for use about $150 so it looks a like a very good choice for a robotic base
I dont know about the 500 and 600 series .
ROBOT-DOC if you want to loan me the ROOMBA 500 OR 600 SERIES i will pay shipping back and forth for some test i would like to do.
I am very curious how it works out for me.you can do tests but i would like to run my own.
Since i need a big roll for a design i am working on,dont want a short piece that you are selling.
I am designing a temperature sensor for fans and for my fish tank and other stuff.
MAY be a used one can get cheap,but hard to tell if its working good, i have the schematics on 400 series but not 500 and 600 they use a different size board
ALSO guys since talking about the neato xv-11 unit,i have many sensors i can sell for free or very cheap.
LIKE i did for REX ,like sharp optical sensors little like the ones we use only short range 8 inch inches, have about 90 of them may be more and small switches great for bumper contacts,and magnetic sensors
VERY high torque motor with feedback (brush motor)
But I haven't yet found a way to read the data. I'm wanting to read Neato's Accelerometer z access as I raise it up to scan a room. I'll then store 180 of the 360 samples in an array with the z access. I'll then convert that data into a .dfx file for exploration in 3D.
I also plan to mount the entire robot onto my 4WD monster truck.
Any ideas how to send and receive data from the XV-11 and the ARC?
Here's a link to all the commands:
Neato Commands
Here's a video of my methods so far:
Thanks,
Bill
Any luck reading the Neato Lidar data into the EZ-Script software yet? I would prefer to use a Neato Lidar unit taken out of a Neato. My wife would get mad if I sacrificed her vacuum for my robot.
However, if you have software that can receive the data this can be passed in to ARC through Telnet or Http. Telnet is the cleanest method, you just need to connect the program which collects the data to ARC via Telnet and send EZ-Script commands over Telnet to pass in the data to be stored in variables or an array.
If your software can't do that then EventGhost can with the serial plugin. Simply use the plugin to receive the serial data and use python to telnet the data in to ARC.
If you are looking for a GREAT reasonbly priced Lidar Radar, go to:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/I-AM-SELLING-A-NEW-XV-11-LIDAR-LASER-AT-VERY-LOW-COST-/271247546446?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f279d184e#ht_741wt_1247
He was able to use the LIDAR in serial!
If you want questions, you can email to jamericanfreddyATyahooDOTcom
Hope this helps.
Your suggestion of using EventGhost looks good Rich. I'm familiar with Python enough to pull that together. I found your YouTube video that looks pretty clear.
I'll report back here in the next day or two with my results and what I've learned.
Cheers,
Bill