Onboard Computers
From MobileRobots Research and Academic Customer Support
Contents |
General Information
Most onboard computers on Pioneers, PeopleBots and PatrolBots have a Versalogic EBX-size board. Current Pioneers have either a Versalogic "Cobra" EBX-12 or the lower-cost Versalogic VSBC-8. PowerBots have full size APC Phoenix motherboards. A short run of experimental AmigoBots, called "Centibots", was also produced, with top-mounted VIA computers. See below for more specifics.
Most robots have hard-disk drives, varying widely in size in pace with storage technology. Select models may optionally have a solid state flash disk instead and EBX-12s can be fitted with a CF-form factor SSD in one of its primary IDE-channels.
Manuals for the computer motherboards containing specifications, details of the BIOS, components and connectors, etc. can be found in the Manuals page in the "Onboard Computers" section. All robots with onboard computers have a side or top panel providing connectors for the monitor, mouse and keyboard. See your robot operations manual for instructions on opening the robot and accessing the computer for repair or access to other ports.
See Onboard Computer Operating Systems for more about the different onboard computer operating systems.
See Drivers to download any special drivers that may be required for some onboard computer integrated devices.
Computers
Current
- Versalogic Mamba EBX-37 Onboard Computer (All robots except PatrolBot, which uses Versalogic Cobra EBX-12 Onboard Computer)
- Corvalent 965-AT Onboard Computer (Powerbot)
Legacy
- Versalogic Cobra EBX-12 Onboard Computer (All robots)
- Phoenix ATX-G Onboard Computer (Powerbot)
- Versalogic VSBC8 Onboard Computer
- Versalogic VSBC7 Onboard Computer
- Versalogic VSBC6 Onboard Computer
- ABIT NV7-133R
- VIA EPIA 1000M
- DigitalLogic MSEBX855
Setup Notes
All mainboards hold certain setup and practices in common.
Isolate resource intensive device IRQs
Your robot computer was thoroughly configured and tested upon shipping, but adding and removing devices or changing BIOS or OS settings can often cause headaches. Whether using APIC or not, it helps to manually verify your data-intensive devices aren't being overlapped on single interrupt(real or virtual) lines. See the FAQ Why is my PC104 or PCI device not functioning or unusable?, and Computer Serial Port Configuration
Adding Custom Hardware
Potential uses for the onboard PCs are too numerous to list them al. When adding your own custom device, verify compatibility with the specific mainboard. Also note that some robots have restrictions on voltages provided to the mainboard due to design constraints which may affect various peripherals. (Robots bought without onboard computers may not meet power-requirements for instantly dropping in your own.) Although we cannot necessarily support any given device, make sure to verify power requirements, OS-support, and physical-spacing requirements for your specific device.
Other Integration
USB and audio integration is not provided by default. We do offer them as addons at purchase-time (contact sales@mobilerobots for more information), or you can add them yourself. Pioneer 3 DX and AT robots with top-mounted SICK lasers also have a USB port connected to the computer. Information on connectors and drivers for you motherboard should be located on the manufacturer website for best results. See Manuals.
