So I got my GP2d02 and SRF04 sensors today, nice. But it seems I need to get a little bit smarter with my use of timers. The M16C has 8 (including 5 PWMs) but with 4xPWM for the DC motors, 1xPWM for the sensor-spinning servo, at least 1 (maybe 2) timers/event counters for the GP2, and I haven't looked at the SRF yet, or future encoders on wheels ... I think I need a redesign.

I know I can halve the PWMs for the motors with the use of a couple of gates - I hate to increase the component count but there may be no option - I'd like to have the ability to control the pwm to each motor independently, hence I need at least 2 PWMs.

This redesing is probably a good time to look at implementing a better structured FSM and maybe some element of subsumption (although I hear it may be hard in software).

I wonder if anyone uses neural nets in mobile robots?

Cheers, Marcin.

I currently have a blog on Blogger (sydbot.blogspot.com) but I think this is a better place for it.

Does anyone know if there is a robotics club in Sydney?

This is my first post, and I'll post details of my adventures into robotics here.

Basically, I have made a base, which is now going to get some sensors mounted onto it - a Sharp IR ranger for collision avoidance, and a SRF04 ultrasonic ranger for mapping/localisation. The SRF04 will be on an oscillating servo to provide a scan similar to radar on war ships. We'll see how it goes. Initially, I'll be using the Renesas M16C 16 bit uC until it becomes apparent that I need more grunt - in which case I have a Philips 2138 32- bit ARM uC ready to go.

My sensors arrived today in the mail (yet to get home and open the box) so we'll see how it goes.

Cheers, Marcin