I'd like to develop an autonomous robot. For this I would need a portable brain since ezb can't function by itself.

After scouring the web I noticed the optimal standalone computer wouldbe a beaglebone black. its creditcard sized, all it needs is power. It can run distros of linux, or Windows ce. (Surface is too expensive compared to beaglebone's $40 price tag, Not to mention heavy and difficult to recharge from a robot - Though I can figure out a way to rewire the charging port later - its still too much effort).

The storage is limited to the 2gb onboard+ expandable sd slot. To fix this, it would also link up to the master brain server for its mass storage, and updated instructions, when available.

When not available it should run by itself from predetermined instructions (Perimiter review/ cleaning/ etc) . I also have a portable mifi device operating at 4g speed (freedompop $15/device no monthly fee free Internet for life)

Think of it like the movie A.I. with Will Smith, or the game Mass Effect (Geth)

Sketch in Next Post

Here's the goal

The stumbling block is the beaglebone though as it is not able to run ARC.

Android devices can with some limited function. Windows tablets can without limits. The Acer W3 is a popular choice.

I dont need ARC.if I can use sdk, as long as sdk has all the same functions exposed as ARC.

The advantages of a beaglebone for this project are the following :

It capable of running a full Linux os and can host servers, to which you can connect to from anywhere in the world (no more Bluetooth /wifi range limitations) .

It can run mono, and python, (Users already posted ezb python and openbot [mono/iron python] sdks])

Its compact (credit card size smaller than ezb)

It requires low power

It has sd storage

It can connect to a monitor directly through hdmi and mouse/keyboard through usb, or you can remote in like any other unix box

so programming on it will be direct and optimal.

Im getting started with compiling the code for openbot first, but looking into the python version also. i think ultimately i will go with plain python instead of mono/ironpython/c++

[edit] I got interrupted while typing this, so some discussion occurred between when I started and finished. You can probably ignore the parts about Windows CE. But, the SDK is.NET, and as far as I know, no one has gotten it running under Linux using Mono. EZ really is a Windows ecosystem device at this time. [/edit]

The issue with Windows CE is that it really can only run apps specifically built for it (using the Microsoft Compact Framework) which hasn't been well supported since Windows Mobile 6 (replaced with Windows Phone 7/8 but CE has pretty much died on the vine - replaced with RT for tablets, and even that looks like it is dying out since everyone hated it).

EZ-Openbot is an option for the BeagleBone, but be aware that it doesn't support all of the features of the EZ-B, and is supported by a 3rd party and hasn't been updated since 2012, so it may be a lot of work for you to use (in fact, I am not sure it will work with a V4 at all since it doesn't have support for WiFi connection).

A lot of us are using the ACER W3-810 Windows 8.1 tablet for embedded computing. It is certainly bigger than a Beaglebone, but is relatively small and lightweight, runs full Windows 8.1, has excellent battery life and charges off 12 volts, so depending on how you are powering your bot, you could add a charging port and keep the computer powered as long as the bot has power, and has enough horsepower to run all EZ-B functions including voice recognition and video processing (although for some reason ARC errors on its built in cameras, but they are pretty crappy anyway, so not much loss).

Factory reconditioned ones have been showing up on flash sale sites like Woot for very reasonable cost lately.

Alan

I bought one of those ACER W3-810 Windows 8.1 reconditioned tablets from Woot on the recommendation of others on here and I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised in how well it works. I had to update from Win 8 to 8.1, install a bunch of security updates, and update the driver packages, but once that was done it has been awesome. The battery life has been fantastic. Maybe the best $112 that I ever spent.

I am with @Zap... why do things the hard way... Buy a cheap win 8 pc tablet and nix the Beagle Bone idea...