Hi,
I’m not likely to ever be an Arduino fan, which seems a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to robot building. I really want to stick with Basic and Python .
Im new to robots , and all I have at the moment is a Raspberry P1 (A) There is going to be a big learning curve possibly and so I really don’t want to learn a new language on top of everything else that I am going to be learning.
Physical computing is a new area for me except some simple projects I have done with Picaxe. Ive seen robots made with the raspberry P1 and an Arduino or a Raspberry Pi with a picaxe.
Can I build a robot with all the sensors I can find, without the need for a picaxe or basic stamp or arduino ? I think someone is going to tell me i need one of those extra micocontrollers to interface then with the Raspberry Pi I have? Well I am hoping the two items below will take care of everything without the need for another chip!!
1.) https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11561
This 1.) is designed for the Rasberry Pi and it has motor controllers and a couple of inputs/outputs.
2.) http://www.alsrobot.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=488
This looks like a very good platform for moving the robot around, it says it is for an Arduino but maybe they just expect robot makers to use arduino :) ?
So do you think I am heading in the right direction by buying both those . And do you think that i will need another chip as the board from sparkfun does seem to be very limited when it comes to adding sensors ?
Thanks for your help.
Python on the RPi won’t likely be a major issue.
Go ahead with your RPi concept, but, realize it will be slow going. I am a bit surprised you didn’t decide to go with the robot base that sparkfun sells. it is about half the price of the one you are looking at. You also may want to peruse the comments about the board you are considering. Before soldering it up you may want to invest in a different Vreg. The issue seems to be that the one included A) can only supply 1A (an RPi will eat 500mA+ most of the time) B) there is no heatsink, so, it will get very warm (Do Not Touch, warm). Do yourself a favor and find a pin compatible Vreg that can source a couple amps or more. You may want to purchase a heatsink to go with said Vreg.
Side note: I really should get my motor driver board laid out and tested. It could offer up to about 1.5A per motor and drive motors from like 2v to 11v. (/me goes in search of his get up and go) 