Pioneer 3™ Pioneer 2™ H8- Series Operations Manual
Pioneer 3™ Pioneer 2™ H8- Series Operations Manual
Pioneer 3™ Pioneer 2™ H8- Series Operations Manual
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Specifications and Controls<br />
Operating the Onboard PC<br />
This is a brief overview of operating the onboard PC. Please consult the Computer<br />
Systems Documentation and the OS manufacturer’s documentation for more detail.<br />
ActivMedia Robotics’ software runs over either Microsoft Windows (currently Windows<br />
2000®) or RedHat® Linux (currently version 7). Accordingly, we prefer (the latter, in<br />
particular) and support those OSes on the onboard PC.<br />
When we perform the installation and configuration, we install our robotics and<br />
accessory software typically in /usr/local on Linux systems, or in C:\Program<br />
Files\ActivMedia Robotics under Windows. Of course, we install the appropriate<br />
drivers for the various accessory expansion cards, such as for a framegrabber or sound<br />
card. Please consult the respective ActivMedia Robotics application software manuals,<br />
such as the ActivMedia Color Tracking System (ACTS) for the video framegrabber or<br />
Festival for the sound card.<br />
The first time you access the onboard PC, we recommend that you put the robot up on<br />
blocks so that it cannot inadvertently move and wreak havoc with external connections.<br />
Then attach a keyboard, monitor, and mouse to their respective sockets on the<br />
Computer Control Panel. Switch Main Power and then the computer power switch on.<br />
After boot up, log in to the system. We’ve already created two users: one with common<br />
systems and file read/write permissions (guest) and one with full-access to the PC<br />
software and OS—root (Linux) or administrator (Windows). If there is a password<br />
(usually not) it’s activmedia. When connected directly, we recommend you log in with<br />
full-access capabilities so that you can do systems set up and maintenance, such as<br />
change passwords, add users, and set up the network. Do note that with Linux systems,<br />
you cannot log in remotely over the network as root; you must log in as a common user<br />
and use the ‘su –‘ command thereafter to attain superuser (root) status.<br />
Once logged into a Windows system, it’s simply a matter of clicking the mouse to select<br />
programs and applications. With Linux, use the ‘startx’ command to enable the X-<br />
Windows desktop and GUI environment. You might perform some of the QuickStart<br />
activities this way, although motion is impractical because of the monitor, mouse, and<br />
keyboard tethers. You may remove these while the system is active at your own risk.<br />
Rather, we suggest that you run the QuickStart activities from an offboard computer first<br />
(onboard PC off), and then tackle the networking issues to establish a remote, preferably<br />
wireless connection with your robot.<br />
PC Networking<br />
The RJ-15 connector on the Computer Control Panel provides wired 10/100Base-T<br />
Ethernet networking directly with the onboard PC. With the purchased option, we also<br />
install a PCMCIA adaptor card on the PC’s accessory stack and insert a 10GHz 11Mbps<br />
802.11b-compatible wireless Ethernet card in one of its slots. The wireless Ethernet<br />
antenna sits atop the top deck.<br />
To complete the wireless installation, you will need to provide an Access Point module<br />
(comes as an accessory with most units). Attach the Access Point to one of your LAN<br />
hubs or switches with a standard CAT5 100Base-T cable. No configuration required. We<br />
use the default operating mode: “managed” client-server.<br />
We ship installed PC systems’ preset and tested at a fixed IP address with Class-C network<br />
configuration. We allocate the same IP to both the wired and wireless Ethernet ports,<br />
typically 192.168.100.32. Although you need not fuss with drivers or low-level device<br />
settings, before you may establish a network connection with the onboard PC (not the<br />
robot’s controller!), even if just through a “cross-over” Ethernet cable to another PC,<br />
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