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Skype + Robot Demonstration |
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[04-24-2010] - Note this page talks about an older demonstration I did where retrofitted my Roboquad robot act as a remote spy robot using Skype. It was a custom hack that was never meant to be used by anyone but myself and a few others. It has been completely replaced by Rovio which was designed from the ground up to be a WiFi enabled mobile spy robot that is controlled remotely over the web. Read more about Robodance’s support for this terrific robot on the Home page. |
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NOTE: Version 4 of Robodance is required to create the Remote Viewing system. Do not buy any gear until you have subscribed to the mailing list and received the welcoming E-mail and read it, or you will most likely waste your money on your purchase! If you want to be notified the instant a new version of Robodance is released, or whenever I come across truly cool new robot and gadget gear, sign up for the Robodance mailing list. |
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WARNING!: REALITY CHECK ON YOUR TECHNICAL SKILLS!:Although the scripting and voice control modules should be accessible to the average user, the WiiMote and especially the Skype Module are not.If you are a novice computer user or get frustrated easily when dealing with system driver problems and the like, do not get Robodance to run these modules! I simply don't have the time to help novice users with system configuration issues and you will be on your own if you are one of the unlucky folk that have trouble with your system configuration! In contrast, if you know how to diagnose system issues such as drivers and do configuration tweaks, etc., I’m more than happy to help you work them through on the forum (not by E-mail). Also, technical questions on the software or the required gear are only answered on on the forum. |
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The Main Components
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Additional Items
I use the BSR X-10 PowerMid system to do this. The PowerMid system consists of a transmitter and receiver device pair. The transmitter receives the infrared signal from the transmitter, the UIRT in our case, and converts it to a radio signal that is sent to the PowerMid receiver. The PowerMid receiver converts the radio signal back to the original infrared signal, and sends it to the robot. While this does work it’s a very ineffecient solution compared to a true wireless link. Since a wireless link is not a line of sight transmission medium it is a far better solution. The receiver can be behind a wall, furniture, or anything else. As long as it is within range of the transmitter the signal will be received, barring any strong electromagnetic or competitive radio signal interference. Fortunately the PowerMid systems are cheap and can be found on eBay for about $20 USD last I checked. But you need about 3 per room to get decent coverage and sadly X-10 does not sell just the receivers. This means you end up with a pile of unused transmitters since you only need one transmitter to service all the receivers. Even with this many receivers you can still run into “dead spots” where the robot just won’t respond to you; especially if it buries it’s “face” in a wall or other object and therefore blocks the infrared receiver. The Roboquad’s infrared receiver is in it’s eyes. My hope is that WowWee will create a Roboquad Plus that will have a true 802.11 b/g wireless link, an embedded camera and microphone in the head, and a speaker that can transmit sound sent to the robot wirelessly. If you’d like to see this too, please send them an E-mail and let them know. NOTE: The PowerMid system is a great way to extend the range of your home electronics remote control, making it much easier to control TV’s, digital video recorders, and a whole host of other gear. |
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Supporting CastHere’s a list of the robots you saw during the video, in order of appearance:
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ConclusionThe Robodance Remote Viewing system is a truly fun and hilarious application, that you can use to spy on your own home from anywhere you have an Internet connection. However, it should only be used as an entertainment tool and definitely not as a real security system. One other shortcoming is that most of the wireless cameras I’ve found so far chew through batteries at an alarming rate. Make sure you get rechargeable batteries. You can pretty much count on the battery being dead if you’re gone from home for too long a time. In a final note, I am obviously very eager to see if this system works with Skype running on an Apple IPhone or Palm Treo. What a fantastic form factor that would be for watching your robot patrol your home remotely, from anywhere in the world. |
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The graphic to the right shows the basic components that make up the full remote viewing system.