Pioneer 2 / PeopleBot

ActivMedia Robotics

managing attached accessories like the Gripper. To complete the client-server

architecture, ActivMedia robots require a client connection: software running on a

computer workstation connected with the robot’s controller via a serial link that provides

the high-level, intelligent robot controls, including obstacle avoidance, path planning,

features recognition, localization, and so on.

An important benefit of ActivMedia Robotics’ client-server architecture is that different

robot servers can be run using the same high-level client. For example, we provide a

robot simulator that runs on the host machine that can look and act just like your real

robot. With the Simulator, you may conveniently perfect your application software, then

run it without modification on any ActivMedia robot. Several clients also may share

responsibility for controlling a single mobile server, which permits experimentation in

distributed communication, planning, and control.

Currently available client software and development environments for the Microsoft

Win32- or Red Hat© Linux-based computing platform of your choice include:2

! ActivMedia Robotics Basic Suite with WorldLink Internet surveillance and control

! ActivMedia Robotics Interface for Applications (ARIA)

! ActivMedia robot simulator

! The Saphira client development suite with Colbert

Versions and updates for supported computing platforms are available to password-

registered customers for download from our software website:

http://robots.activmedia.com

ActivMedia Robotics Basic Suite

To better support our customers, ActivMedia Robotics software designers have blended

and refined the best of advanced mobile robotics software found in the many

development environments into a suite of state-of-the-art software tools and

applications. We call this suite ActivMedia Robotics Basic Suite, and it includes the

following five modules plus a robot simulator:

Figure 4. Navigator and

WorldPass guide your

obot to a goal with a

click of the mouse.

! NAVIGATOR is the crown jewel—a sophisticated

graphical-user control module with which you

access your ActivMedia robot’s many intelligent

capabilities, from guarded teleoperation to self-

guided navigation along a planned path to a

goal that you select onscreen with a click of the

mouse. Navigator also lets you remotely share,

connect and operate the robot from the

Internet, or a local area network. You can see

and hear from afar what your robot sees and

hears through its camera and microphone.

Navigator even lets you chat and exchange

audio and video with others who may be

connected simultaneously.

! WORLDPASS is a free version of Navigator that lets

you share you robot with colleagues, friends, and family. WorldPass provides all

the networking and remote-control functionality of Navigator, including network

video and audio, but only connects with a robot through a host running

Navigator, not to one directly. You may distribute WorldPass to anyone you want

2 Some software may come bundled with your robot. Other packages require purchase for licensing. Some

software also are available for alternative operating systems, such as Macintosh, SunOS, Solaris, and BSD Unix.