Rovio, Spykee

Question

Has anyone out there been writing DSS services to use with the Rovio or Spykee robots? These seem like fun robots for this. They might be cool for elementary or high school classes too. The API for Rovio is sort of REST based, so it seems like it would be pretty easy to code services for this. If I find some spare cash, maybe I'll buy one and try it.

Later,
CSH

Answer 1

I started on a Rovio service last year. Needless to say, the pressures of work have not allowed me to finish it. However, I can tell you this:
1. The camera works with the IP Camera service in RDS. You don't have to do a thing! However, this only gets you video, no audio.
2. You can issue commands to the Rovio from a DSS service. Just look at the code in the IP Camera service which shows how to request a URL. After all, the commands to the Rovio are just HTTP queries.

The only issue I can see with this is that it takes some time for the web request to complete, and this ties up the service handler. If you try to use something like the Dashboard and you wiggle the joystick, you will flood the service with requests and they will back up in the queue. The effect is that the robot might keep moving long after you stop wiggling! You need an internal port to handle this so you can empty it and/or apply a policy using your own dispatcher queue. However, having said that, you could probably get it working fine if you used something like the Direction Dialog instead.

As for the Spykee, it uses its own proprietary protocol. So far I don't think that Meccano has released the API or an SDK. However, some people seem to have figured it out. Just search the Internet for "Spykee API Download". There appears to be a RoboRealm module for the Spykee.

Trevor

P.S. I have both robots. The omni-drive on the Rovio is nice, but the spykee is more fun to drive around and I think it has a better camera :-)

Answer 2

This is great information, thanks! I'll have to keep this in mind as I plan my robot experiments. I suppose a related question is the buy vs build question. I know, there's always the Lego route, but I was thinking of something with WiFi, WebCam, etc. So that leads me to the realm of building a bot. I guess I'll keep browsing the various forums until I make a decision.

Again, thanks for the details!

Answer 3

Trevor,

 

I have a Rovio and am contemplating developing the services so that RDS can properly interface.  Do you have your code lying around that you could post?  It would provide me with a starting point and a big jump up the learning curve....

 

-Mike

Answer 4

Hi Trevor,

I am working on developing support for the Robotino robot in MRDS and since it has a drive system similar to that of the Rovio robot, I wanted to ask you if you managed to finish writing the services for the Rovio robot. If you have done so already, could you kindly share the code as that would definitely help me speed up things on my side.

 

I look forward to your reply.

Best,

Hozefa