Linux-based Autonomous RoboCar from Pino Creator

Posted 16 Jun 2009 at 18:07 UTC by steve

ZMP, the Japanese company that created the open hardware Pino humanoid robot, has announced a Linux and AMD-Geode based RoboCar (PDF format). The 6 lbs, 17 inch long RoboCar is 1/10 the size of a real car. It's intended for use as a test platform for autonomous car technologies. While it looks like it's made from RC car parts, the company claims the maneuvering accuracy is much higher than possible with toy cars. The hardward includes an AMD Geode LX800 processor running a soft real-time GNU/Linux system. Other goodies include WiFi 802.11b/g/n, stereo CCD cameras, gyroscope, 3 accelerometers, encoders for all wheels and the drive motor, 8 IR sensors, and a laser range finder. The basic hardware will set you back $7000 USD plus another $4,000 USD for the vision module. For more details, see the RoboCar brochure (PDF format, Japanese). Also, see some nice YouTube video of RoboCar in action break. via LinuxDevices.com