ROVER - Remote audiO/Video Explorer Robot
Rover is a prototype telepresence project using Amateur Ham Radio as its
radio control medium. The project is built around a Silicon Graphics Onyx
chassis, and supports a mono video and audio radio link to the controlling
station, and an audio link back to the robot allowing the control operator
to see and hear the robot's surroundings as if they were actually there, and
be able to talk back to people in the robot's immediate area. Control of
the robot is performed by using a simple keypad layout to indicate what
direction the robot is to move.
Rover II
01 Feb 96 - We have made significant improvements in Rover, and have
dubbed it Rover II. A new telepresence head has been developed that supports
stereo vision and audio. The new head is driven by a servo mechanism
whose movement is independent of the Rover II base. The operator now
wears a VR helmet coupled to a mechanical tracker. The telepresence head
on Rover II mimics the operator's head movement. The Rover II base can
be moving straight ahead, and you can look around in an 180 degree
hemisphere at the same time! Other improvements include a joystick
interface, and heavy duty electric drive motors so Rover II can
go all-terrain!
Future enhancements might include a prototypical arm that has
been proposed to allow Rover to physically interact with its surroundings.
A mechanical tracking device would be coupled to the operator's arm, and
the arm on Rover will echo the operator's movements.
Other possibilities include the addition of a simple radar setup to allow
the operator to more easily tell what is surrounding the mobile base.
The notion of adding a GPS device to allow for terrain mapping has
also been entertained.
Contacts:
Dj Merrill - rover@deej.net - N1JOV
David Russell - drussell@ist.ucf.edu
Visual Systems Laboratory
Institute for Simulation and Training
Orlando, FL