| Name | Charles |
| Location | Salem, Oregon USA |
| Occupations | Senior Applications Analyst
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| What product do you own? | I own the ER1 with a Gripper Arm and as soon as they are sent, IR Sensors
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| What have you done with your ER1 so far? | I have been able to program my robot to perform several different behaviors. These behaviors have been triggered by sight/object recognition; color and soon I hope to sound. I have a wireless network so I have been able to drive my robot around the house using a usb joystick connected to my desktop computer. I just received my Gripper Arm but I have already been able to retrieve items from a different room and transport them to another location safely. I have a second camera installed and I had been using it for obstacle avoidance. Now I have it placed so that I can see the Gripper Arm. This enables me to be more precise while I am trying to remotely grasp objects. I am really looking forward to the IR Sensors. Now that I am using my obstacle avoidance camera for other duties, I really need those sensors to keep my robot safe from crashes!
I have been trying to incorporate several different types of behaviors together. For example, I have a behavior that begins when it recognizes a fish tank. It then drives toward it, makes a sound of broken glass and then turns around and plays a police siren as it is driving away. Another behavior will play an MP3 file when it recognizes a certain object. It then circles the room and takes pictures and emails those pictures back to me.
The possibilities seem to be endless and I think of new things to do everyday. A lot of them will involve more advanced programming and techniques. But, I can't wait to try them!!
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| Favorite aspect of the ER1? | My favorite aspect is the "right out of the box" functionality. All skill levels can use this product; those with little to no computer experience to advanced language programmers. So often products of this nature are either too simplistic or way to advanced. The ER1 has just the right level to keep anybody interested and wanting to do more. I "play" with my robot everyday. The best part is, I learn something new everyday. Not only do I learn new things about my ER1 but computing skills as well. It is a very good fit for me and I have not had "buyers remorse" at all!
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| Favorite robot of legend? | I cannot for the life of me remember their names it has been a long time since I read the stories but the main robot characters in the I Robot series of books by Isaac Asimov. And of course who could leave out R2D2 and C3PO!
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| Next big project for the ER1? | Wow, I have too many to list! I am working on mapping my house using the X Y coordinates. I want to be able to set some timed sequences for my robot to patrol my house and send me either a live feed or video to work. I also want to be able to remote control my ER1 from any location on the web. I would like to explore the possibilities of a second Gripper Arm. I would then mount one with the gripper oriented horizontally and the other vertically. That would enable my robot to be able to grasp a wider variety of items. I am also going to explore the possibility of using a servomotor on the arms to allow movement. Lastly, I am going to really get into the API control of my ER1. I would like to do this both with Python and Visual Basic. Like I said earlier, the possibilities are endless! I am extremely happy with my ER1 everybody should have one!
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