Hi,
Dipped my toe with the Boe-bot, now ready for next step, which I think is the DFRobot rover. I was thinking to buy the DFRobotShop Rover, which will allow me to move to C++ (but not robotics studio, hmmmm…) .
Anyway, the question: can I buy a wi-fi shield for the Rover that will allow me programming and run-time interaction? I hear mention in the forum, and here : robotshop.com/content/PDF/dfrobotshop-rover-user-guide.pdf but I cannot find the product on the robotshop site.
Tedzo.
Thanks. Will check back to your site & this thread periodically for updates.
OK I found the Wireless Programming Module TEL0037 (dfrobot.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=398) which looks like it will do what I want for now. I cannot find it at the Canadian site to add to my shopping cart. If I can order this, I will pull the trigger. My account with the current state of my shopping cart is under my email ([email protected])
Hi Cbenson,
I’m brazilian and i’m graduating in Computer Science this year. I have decided to build a robot like that you have said (Rover + WiFi shield + USB host shield + webcam).
I want to know if there are some news about it. There is no WiFi shield in this store yet.
Do you know if this set works? Can I make a “stream video” with this set?
Vinicius.
Great! I think I’ll wait the next few days for the WiFi Shield to pay only one freight tax (it’s very expensive for Brazil! =/)
That’s a good idea! (the serial camera)
But this exemple is too slow for stream, just like a “slide show”…
I want to use the camera image for foundations of augmented reality, so I need more fps.
Another question: If I buy a serial cam, can I use the serial port in the WiFi Shield to transmit the image to PC and, at the same time, control the Rover using WiFi signal?
But, using the WiFi shield, I can control the Rover and make a streaming video using my serial cam through the Shield’s serial port?
That’s what I meant by “at the same time”. Use the shield to both tasks. Simultaneously.
According to what I understood by reading the manual on the manufacturer’s website, it is possible but I’m not sure…
Ok, thanks for helping!
I have bought a WiFi Camera with an output serial port and I’ll test. If not works, I’ll use the camera’s WiFi system to connect PC, independet of the robot.
After the end of the tests, I’ll be back to talk about the results.
Thankyou!
Hi tedzo,
The DFRobotShop Rover will certainly allow you to use C, and you are free to create your own code for MRDS. We are confident others are also working on adding Arduino to MRDS and hope to see it added soon.
We will be adding the WiFi shield to our website in priority. We will only create a kit with the DFRobotShop Rover and WiFi shield once we have tested them together. The shield only uses the Tx and Rx pins (as well as the 5V and GND) of the Arduino, so it should be directly compatible with the rover. The WiFI shield will likely not be able to operate from USB power alone since it is a bit power hungry.
We really want to see someone add the USB host shield to see if this combination (Rover + WiFi shield + USB host shield + webcam) can create a WiFi video rover (like the Rovio and Spykee). You can (potentially) even add onboard charging with the wireless charger.
Here’s a sneak peek of the shield:
http://www.dfrobot.com/image/cache/data/TEL0019/TEL0019-500x500.jpg
We plan to add the module (and several other products) to our catalogue shortly.
Hi vinipc,
Welcome to the RobotShop Forum. The WiFi shield should be live on the RobotShop website within the next few days. The one aspect missing from a USB + WiFi + Rover + webcam combination would be the drivers. Without drivers and a fast processor, the video feed may be incredibly slow, or simply refuse to appear. An easier approach would be to use a serial JPEG camera and send the serial stream via WiFi. Most serial cameras are used for image capture as opposed to streaming video, so although it will be much easier to get a “steam” of images, it is unlikely to translate to “streaming video” at 30frames per second. We are always on the lookout for things which connect to the Arduino, especially video related.
Sincerely,
It depends on what you mean by “at the same time”. To our knowledge, the WiFi shield when connected to the Arduino can only do one action at a time: send or receive. You may be able to do some fancy programming which splits up the signals to make it appear as though the commands are being sent and received at the same time, but usually sending or receiving a command takes a matter of a few milliseconds, which is very close to “real time” Of course, the longer the signal (for example an image sent via serial) will increase this delay and perhaps even make it noticeable. We suggest you read more about the serial command function and take a look in the Arduno forum to see what others have done (for example, soft serial, or the “peek” command on the MEGA). If you are doing augmented reality or image processing you will at least need a more advanced 32 bit microcontroller or a single board computer. The same goes for sending video over IP.
Hi,
We have not tested the combination, but there is a good chance the Arduino cannot handle the amount of serial data from a video feed. If you connect the camera directly to the WiFI chip’s serial port, it may or may not work… you will need to test it. Given the potential output, it may certainly be worth testing and we hope you get back to us here with the results.
Sincerely,
