___The Palm Pilot
Robot Kit is a design for an easy-to-build, fully autonomous robot controlled by
a Palm handheld computer. This design was created by two
Carnegie
Mellon Robotics Insitute
research groups, the Toy Robots Initiative
and the Manipulation Lab
, with the intent of
enabling just about anyone to start building and programming mobile robots at a
modest cost.
___The Palm makes a handy robot controller: it packs a lot of computational power in a small size, runs on batteries, and best of all, can display graphics and an interactive user interface. Our robot empowers a Palm to move about and sense the nearby environment. The base uses three "omni-wheels" that allow driving in any direction with independent control of rotation, meaning it moves holonomically in the plane. The base also has three optical range sensors to "see" the nearby environment up to about a meter away.
___The complete construction plans and software are documented on these pages. The entire robot can be constructed from standard parts using glue, tape, and a small amount of soldering. The software we provide can be compiled on a Windows PC using the free Code Warrior Lite compiler and downloaded to the Palm. The robot can then drive itself around on flat surfaces, using optical range sensors to sense nearby obstacles and walls.
___The picture shows a Palm Pilot Robot built by The Robotics Institute. Acroname, Inc. provides two slightly different versions of PPRK, that had been modified for easier assembly. Acroname, Inc. also provides kit materials and parts.