DSP Robotics Support

How to make an autonomous robot out of a hacked Xbox controller and Flowstone!



Using a wireless Xbox controller you can make a low cost robot ideal for education:



The Concept:
This was a concept to make a low cost autonomous programmable robot for education using low cost every day things that the students could identify with – ie. The Xbox Controller. There are of course several existing product in this market most notably the Lego NXT and the Vex Systems. Both of these allow users to build and program autonomous robots, but there are two key differences, 1) On the XBugBot the programming and the processor are not separate! 2) The price! The XBugBot can be build for around 1/10th of the cost of the competing products!

Parts List:

The Parts List:
1 x FlowStone FREE Software
1 x wireless Xbox controller
1 x Xbox USB wireless receiver
2 x small motors and gearboxes eg. Solarbotics Motor 8
2 x wheels eg. Solarbotics 2- 5/8 “ wheels
3 x IR range sensors eg. Sharp GP2D12
3 x line sensing kit or line detection sensors and resistors eg. TCRT5000
2 x micro switches & whiskers eg. LynxMotion Bump Switch Kit
1 x battery holder with switch eg. 2xAA Battery Holder with Switch
1 x castor wheel. Eg ½” ball Caster wheel
1 x 6mm Sintra board
A few bits, cable ties, tape, sticky Velcro, solder, screws etc.

Total price: around $100-$150 USD

Programming and Processor:
On many systems used in education the programming and the processor are separate. What this means is that you have to write your program on a computer and then download it into the device to test it. If it’s not right then you have to repeat the process again, and again. This serves no purpose and just prolongs programming time and limits the actual learning process as you can’t view the live data. The different with the XBugBot is that the program can be developed on the PC and run on the PC in real time, no downloading, and no compiling! This is done using the FlowStone graphical programming language and communicating to the hardware wirelessly using the Xbox Controllers own wireless connection. This is very similar to the Formula 1 or Indy Car race telemetry, with one important difference; you are in control and can change the program in real time!



What can it do?
Using a range of sensors connected to the Xbox controller it can be programmed to autonomously navigate and roam around the ground or solve complex mazes puzzles, and even follow lines on the ground etc.

Here's a short video I sent to HQ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xGA5bDD-Ug

This looks like a great little project!
Do you have a tutorial on how the XBugBot was constructed so that others can experiment?

Thanks!

ok here is a pdf instruction manual to make your own XBugBot:

http://www.dsprobotics.com/Files/XBugBot.pdf

Enjoy!

Thanks for the tutorial!
I'm going to get started right away.

HQ have just posted my Test program!

Still needs a little work but it will get you going:

http://www.dsprobotics.com/support/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=340

Thanks so much for making the Flowstone program available!

I showed my oldest son (7) the XBugBot and told him that we are going to build it.
We are both really excited to get started.

I was wondering if it might be possible to write a walk-through for the XBugBot program?
Like what was written for the programs on the Tutorials section.

I would like to understand better how the program was written and the concepts used.

Thanks for all of the time you have put into the project to make it available to us.

Line Sensors - You can also get them from Farnell in the UK:

http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?sku=1470066&CMP=KNC-GUK-FUK-GEN-SKU-DISCOUNT&s_kwcid=TC|13123|tcrt5000||S|p|8914356669

Here is another (reputable) source for line following sensors.
They are from SparkFun so no worries.

http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9453

These are sold individually, so three would
be required for the XBugBot. Like before,
there is an analog version and a digital version.
Just make sure you get the analog.