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UpDroid's UP1

UP1 robotics platform, bringing robotics to everyone

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UP1 is a modular robotics platform from UpDroid that reduces all the complexity associated with robotics into software programming. It consists of a modular hardware and a software IDE to make the interaction with the robot as easy and smooth as possible. The robot runs ROS in the background and presents it in an easy to use browser based environment.

Bringing about real and scalable robotics to consumers requires the involvement of the community (similar to personal computers, internet, mobile and social). The robotics community, right now, lacks a standard platform to build and share ideas and applications. The existing solutions in the market are either too expensive/complicated or can be categorized as toys (very little functionality). With the simple initial requirement of python programming, our project gives access to the range of simple to research grade applications.

The project consists of hardware and software components. Both these components work seamlessly to provide an easy to work with environment.

Hardware: The system consists of a modular hardware. At the core of the system sits the UP1 CPU module. It is responsible for all the high level computation.


Using a standard connector, you can easily swap out modules to suit your application. IO module consists of sensors and interaction devices like speaker and microphone for the robot to sense the environment. The Base module brings everything together and structurally supports the robot. It also contains battery and related circuitry to power the whole system. Finally, the actuator module is used to manipulate the environment. Micro-controllers installed in each module take care of the low level functionality specific for the module.

The current version of the robot consists of a 1/2 arm actuator module, 4 wheeled mobility base, an IO module with stereo camera, a speaker and a microphone.

Software: The software runs ROS in its background and the Arduino library powers the low-level firmware, leveraging the whole community support behind them. On the front end, the user can interact with the robot using UpDroid Commander (UpCom), which is a browser based IDE that can be accessed from any laptop or PC on the same network. UpCom, installed on the UP1, will help users get access to their workspace, launch files and ROS packages on the robot. They can also use UpCom to launch and monitor their robot. The Tab API for UpCom can be used to build applications for different behaviors for the robot. Details about UpCom are described in the video below.

Electronics: Regarding the internals, the core of the system is a Intel Edison, with low-level duties delegated to the ATmega2560 on the Arduino Mega. The Edison has a wifi module for connectivity, connects to all IO (camera, microphone, speaker), and uses UART to connect up to the Arduino Mega. Currently, we are running Ubilinux (derivative of debian) and have compiled from source a version of ROS that is compatible and capable of running most major packages. The Arduino Mega controls: the wheels via the Arduino Motor Controller Board v3; the twelve hobby servos in the joints of the arms; the four infrared sensors in front and back; and the two LED's in front. Currently, communication between ROS on the Edison and the Arduino is handled thought the ros_arduino_bridge package enabling differential drive, and which we have modified to include a joint controller for the arms. Since we have two cameras in front, we can achieve stereo vision and generate a point cloud for use with ROS navigation.

  • 1 × UpDroid's Manipulator Module 12 Hi-tec servos, plastic casing for actuator profile
  • 1 × UpDroid's IO module 2 cameras, 1 speaker and 1 microphone
  • 1 × UpDroid's wheeled base 4 wheel drive, 2200mah battery, 5 IR distance sensor,
  • 1 × UpDroid's UP1 x86 core based single board computer with, ON/OFF switch, battery level indicator, 3 axis accelerometer and gyroscope and WiFi module
  • 1 × Power Supply 12V 6 Amps power supply

  • UP1 Dev kits launched

    Kartik Tiwari10/24/2015 at 06:02 0 comments

    Launching the UP1 Dev kits
    It has long been under development, now you get your very own. At UpDroid, we are really excited to launch the Dev kits for UP1 robot.

    Be a part of robotics history with the very first hassle free robotics platform for everyone.
    No need to get frustrated by the mess of wires or the string of build errors while working on your robot, here is the perfect solution for you. Assemble the UP1 and watch as it follows your instructions like magic!!
    Use UpCom (our browser based IDE) and own ROS (Robot Operating System) like a boss.

    Visit our website https://updroid.com/ to learn more about the UP1. We have a limited quantity of these kits so pre-order now and have the new UP1 Dev kit waiting at your door before Christmas this year.

    Happy programming,
    The UpDroid Team

    https://updroid.com/

  • Depth map sample

    Kartik Tiwari09/09/2015 at 18:48 0 comments

  • Tuning depth map

    Kartik Tiwari09/09/2015 at 16:02 0 comments

    Playing with the distance between cameras to tune the depth map

  • MoveIt! implemented on UpDroid

    Kartik Tiwari08/20/2015 at 23:15 0 comments

    We finally transitioned all our code base and builds to Intel's Edison and successfully implemented moveit! for both single and double arms. Here is a short video of the demo.

  • Anti-collision arm path planning

    Kartik Tiwari08/03/2015 at 23:33 0 comments

    We tested out the real time path planning for the arm and here is the result.

  • IO module customization

    Daniel Ramirez-Maluendas07/31/2015 at 22:47 0 comments

    This concept is to target 8 years-old kids and up to engage with robotics, as a friendly approach we came up with different iterations to customize the IO module with facial features, in the ideation process, many ideas were taking into account, after getting feedbacks from a customer, we decide to go for the eyebrow and smile idea since it will give confidence and friendliness to the kids to start interacting with the robot, also the black color offers a neutral and elegant emotion with the minimum of part change required.

  • UpCom Basics

    Kartik Tiwari07/18/2015 at 02:36 0 comments

    Nate here describes a couple of basic features of UpCom being used on a ROS robot.

  • UpCom 0.5.0 release

    Kartik Tiwari07/15/2015 at 22:40 0 comments

    We have just released the latest version of UpCom v0.5.0. This release overhauls the aesthetic design and under the hood features of commander. Now its easier to access the files and folder as well as use the GUI tools to execute the launch files. You can directly install the latest version on your ubuntu systems from here.


View all 8 project logs

  • 1
    Step 1

    The UP1 ships with 4 modules namely UP1 CPU, Base, Actuator and IO. The user can directly assemble all of them together without the use of any tools.

    The gripper in the actuator module can be easily detached and replaced with your own version of the end effector.

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Dan DWRobotics wrote 07/20/2017 at 17:43 point

This is really great. Will check it out some more.

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