Pioneer 2 / PeopleBot - Manual (Page 11)

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
robot to a goal with a
click of the mouse.
! N AVIGATOR 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.
! W ORLD P ASS 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
5
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.