Background:

The robotics lab currently has 5 iRobot Create robotic platforms, each with an ASUS Eee PC netbook with integrated webcam used as the control system.

The Eee PCs run Ubuntu, and the current interface used by the lab is part of a collaborative effort between University of Minnesota Center for Distributed Robotics, Smith College, and the RPI CS Robotics Lab.

Implementation:

The interface consists of a programming API written in Java and C, available from the University of Minnesota Robotics Sensor Networks Lab For a better understanding of this interface, the source code is available here

This API wraps the serial communications protocol of the iRobot Create platform into simple commands, removing the need for low level interfacing by the user.

Additional Information:

Work has also been done by others interfacing the iRobot Create platform with Willow Garage's ROS

-- JeremyBetz - 2010-08-24