To give Pi Robot a break, I turned to the WowWee Rovio surveillance robot for awhile. In this video, Rovio's goal is to navigate out of the confined area by finding a gap to freedom. This is accomplished using the RoboRealm vision processing package and a filter that highlights the part of the image that looks like the floor just in front of Rovio. There is only one gap big enough among the scattered objects to allow Rovio to escape. Can he find it before the music runs out?
Rovio doesn't have an onboard computer--instead my control program runs on my PC and sends control signals to Rovio over a wireless link. One very cool feature of Rovio is its three omnidirectional wheels. This enables the robot move directly sideways or on a diagonal while facing the same direction--much like a crab.
