Microcontroller and Robot Construction [closed]

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I am looking for an answer to a question relating to programming and robots..

I have been learning java over the past 2 years, and just recently started working with and Arduino microcontroller for a robot that is near completion(2 servos, 1 ultrasonic sensor, 2 parallax servo-controllers, 12v battery, all in a toy car that i ripped apart).

I was hoping to build a much more complex machine that would do all of the following:

• Control 4 servos that would move treads
• Powers a few cameras, possibly relaying several feeds to a monitor or pc wirelessly to help with user-controlled movement
• Control a pan-tilt servo system for a top mounted camera or paintball/airsoft gun or some such similar device
• Maybe a gps system, so that having it can return to the user when low battery, or when the user is done controlling it( NOTE: Not a necessary component, but would be very nice)

My Question is this: What microcontroller or controller do you know of that could be used to control all of that effectively, and not be maxed out(Also hoping that the suggested could control multiple systems at once)? What programming language would effectively be able to control all of the above robot effectively(or is great for this type of system in general)? Does the programming language that must be used change depending on the microcontroller?

There may be more to that, but currently, the base at minimum must be built before I can go anywhere else. My budget is not large, and would prefer to keep this cheaper than $1000-$1500 excluding the mounted tool on top.

Answer 1

I'd say you should take a look at the Raspberry PI for the time being. It cannot do it all alone, you will have to combine it with a real micro controller as io expansion.

• The raspi is cheap, and got a strong community, easy to get help when you are stuck.
• For micro controller I would chose an ATmega328 from Atmel (~$4 on ebay). with that one you can stay Arduino compatible, which again has a super strong community.

I know the newer BeagleBoneBlack will be able to handle both tasks in one unit, but the product seems to be a little less mature right now, and the community is nowhere close to raspi or arduino!

Over at LetsMakeRobots we are building robots too, some even as advanced as your project, you might find some inspiration. And there are definitely some motor driver geeks there!

Answer 2

You're looking for an Arduino with an Adafruit motor shield to start with. I won't post a link to either due to the commercial nature but that will put you in the right direction. I'm not sure Stackoverflow is the right place to ask this question though. You may have much better luck elsewhere.