Hello Hitlad, and welcome.

What kind of graphics are you generating? Real-time HUD type info like speed, direction targeting, etc... and will the graphics be changing based on sensor data?

I did see a video (on this site.. but I can't recall the name or link for you, sorry) of a roomba based robot packing a netbook, running down halls and tracking alignment based on the vanishing point. That video seemed to have real-time vectors overlayed on the screen... I'm just not clear on if it was running the ARC or SDK software or something else.

There is a feature called augmented reality that when the camera "sees" a glyph it will overlay the glyph image with a graphic of your own. So there is some form of graphical overlay routine already there... whether it is tweekable via the SDK version of ARC would be for DJ or someone else to answer. But it does sound like a cool idea.

Hope this helps,

Gunner

Hi, Gunner.

Thanks for the information - it helps a lot since I was trying to figure out whether to go with EZ-Robot or not, given that it is based upon VB/C# while my background is almost everything else but those(!) I guess I should invest a bit of time in those and give it a go since the glyph thing sounds like a good option.

Thanks again!

Hi hitlad, So you don't know vb or c# - welcome to the club. In fact EZ-Robots is great for anyone that knows zero code, like me, that's what attracted my to this developers site.

The following is kind of a review of the EZ-Robot system to give you some insight on where to spend your hard earned cash in this exciting, fascinating and rewarding field of Robotics - (Mars Curiosity) for one.

Now I have to be a little tactful here because I know DJ is going to be reading this and whilst I want to help you with direction, I don't want him to feel defensive and come back at me for misinformation or for mocking something he has spent many, many hours building something from almost nothing.

Thanks to DJ's site and tools he developed, my son and I completed a great robot called "Bob" - see showcase "Bob built on Bits" using nothing but junk around the house, DJ's holy grail - the EZ-B board and the ARC software. To the developers credit (he says he is a programmer by trade) the Micro Processor board and his ARC software work together really well. I've recently hooked up an on-board netbook which has moved the robot from a "Alive looking" RC toy that had novelty functions to something practical that can be used around the house. I'm talking news feeds, weather reports, a voice activated Jukebox and literally thousands of action possibilities with arm head and movement possibilities. I think I'm one of the few people that have evolved out of the "Build" area into the robot "CAN-Do" realm on this site. My problem has always been I'm a fast mover and Robotics in general, at the moment,is very much trial and error and then asking questions in forums. This frustrates me because it is so time consuming and the examples are often open ended, that is to say they don't intuitively lead onto the next stage of what they are used for (DJ disagrees with my view on this) but I have to say the other real gem with this site is the help you will get from users and the many tools the developer has put in place to assist - Video's, Examples and a sample Cloud. So where to go from here ? What's out there ? It all comes down to the microprocessor board and the software to support it - Block code GUI is fast developing to make robotics simpler and faster. Lego pioneered it with NXT, Argentina have minibloq and Microsoft has recently developed a very powerful RDS 4. At the time I started, ARC was a leader in this field. Moving code into something everyone can understand and use was a no brainer for making EZ-Robots my choice. In the past I have been critical of the gui of EZ-Robots and the information layout. I've looked at both sides of the scales and all the critical reviews of the site trend towards what struck me. The information layout is not as intuitive as it could be and the gui is far from being EZ. To combat this DJ constantly upgrades his Builder software which is great (the recent addition of Script Manager) made an enormous impact on making the gui workspace more efficient. There are many sites developing applications for the Italian Arduino and unlimited kits fast popping up which are becoming bigger, cheaper and more powerfull. As for me and my son, whilst I'll keep a hand in this great system, we are moving onto Microsofts RDS 4 ,using hardware and camera development like Kinect and concentrating on the "CAN-DO" from there. There are fabulious hack sites to inspire you and give you ideas. To summarize, DJ's system is great but now must compete with Giants (the people he says he is talking to). The fact remains that as soon as he refines this development of his into a beautiful gem, the Giants will come in and buy it. It's happening all the time, regardless of what he says or thinks. So there you go - I've always said there are no rules in this game and even Giants stagger and fall at the hands and ideas of the little guys. It's a great system to kick off on - and there of options in the areas I have covered out there right now now.

Good Luck...

edited

Gunner,

I believe in freedom of speech and sharing information and Robotics is not exclusive to this. I've read where DJ himself speaks highly of hack sites and is very aware of what is out there and things that need to be improved and fixed (see BUG reports). My insight reply was for Hitlad as a response to his question which was a BIG question.

I wish to make it clear to you I have a high regard for EZ-Robots and will defend it and also be critical of it in relation to questions raised in forums. I'm a big believer in continuous improvement.

Keep building mate, but look around and take in what's happening out in the world and on Mars.

Reflect on how things can be improved.

Your ultimate Robot will be all the better for it.

Cheers

edited

But back to ARC / SDK... and the question at hand! What would you (or anyone else reading) recommend, if anything, about computer generated graphic overlay? I am actually quite interested as I wanted more (like I could handle more eek) while I played around with the glyph/overlay thing, and the whole "if face/colour/movement" is not in the center box, make it so" routine.

Thus, while getting waaayyy ahead of myself technically, I am also interested in seeing/utilizing other features like optional zones and pre-programed responses to action in specific zone, etc... including allowing a visual or transparent GIF overlay. Like, say, face tracking/recognition with targeting reticule if in center but angle/vector/technobable indicators, etc if elsewhere.

Can this be done in ARC/SDK? If so, how, if not can it be tweaked... Anyone, anyone, Bueller?

Gunner -> going back to workbench building... yay!

PS check out my YouTube page

i like turtles

LMAO @hoolagen1. Good one.