[HH] Rethinking LinuxPC Robot -- the Linux PI Robot

[markw at mohawksoft.com]

As many of you know, I have a robot project.

http://www.linuxpcrobot.org/

Over the years I have tried to keep the robot as a viable platform and
maintain development costs to the sub $500 range.

The Raspberry PI is a weak desktop, to be honest. It lacks most of the I/O
goodness of the Arduino. It is a poor choice for a robot. Unless.....

What about a functional cluster of PI systems on the robot? Tied together
with an ethernet switch? Use something like MPI for distributed processing
across multiple PI devices, and use each PI as a specialized I/O module.

Right now, I use an Intel Atom CPU to do everything and it is loaded with
all the cameras and controls. 3 or 4 PIs may be able to handle the load
better. Given the cost of a DC ATX power supply, mother board, and RAM, I
may be able to get 3 or 4 PI systems running.

Any comments?