A mobile robot platform with DSP-based controller and omnidirectional vision system

This paper describes a mobile robot platform built entirely from commercial off-the-shelf (COST) components. The design explicitly aims at enabling research in robot navigation, multi-robot coordination, and distributed robotics. The platform must meet many criteria including low cost, simple fabrication, and a sensor/actuator suite that facilitate navigation and localization. We use state-of-the-art digital signal processor (DSP) from Texas Instruments (TI) to design the control system because of its high-speed performance, its support for multi-motor control, and its low power consumption. An omnidirectional vision system is implemented to facilitate vision-based multiple robot coordination. Future research directions using the mobile robot platform are outlined.