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

[markw at mohawksoft.com]

> 4 R.PI boards =  140$
> El-cheapo switch = $20
> 4 cheap ethernet cables = $20
> 4 USB cables (power) = 

>
> I would buy a cheap (or bundled) motherboard and the best sub-150$ AMD
> cpu
 getting multiple cores at 2+ GHz in the process. .

That's more or less what I have now.

> This seems to
> beat the pants off a cluster of R.PIs speed wise
 not to mention you don't
> have to parallelize as much. And it is a PC, not a cellphone. And it is
> x86.

The PI is roughly equivalent to a fast Intel PIII. It's about as fast and
as much memory as the original 800 MHZ CPU I started with. The real
problem is the I/O demands, currently I am using an Arduino as a sort of
smart I/O card. The PC is still swamped with I/O, especially with the
cameras.

>
> By the way, I am a fan of your project!

The project is not practical "as is," but is intended as a guide on how to
do your own. The current design is getting quite old and stale. The idea
of having I/O modules which also comprise a "super computer" seems more
cool.


>
> Best -F
>
>
> On Apr 7, 2013, at 4:29 PM, markw at mohawksoft.com wrote:
>
>> 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?
>>
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>
> _________________________________________
> -- "'Problem' is a bleak word for challenge" - Richard Fish
> (Federico L. Lucifredi) - flucifredi at acm.org - GnuPG 0x4A73884C
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