ACLYPSE ADR-1 ROBOT KIT The
Aclypse ADR-1 Robot Kit was one of the first affordable robot kit
for the robotics enthusiast, hobbyist, and educational market. At
the intro price of $ 299 it provides everyone the opportunity to use,
program, and experiment with a powerful robotics development system.
The ADR-1 Robot is 27" tall, 14" wide, & 14" in depth and weighs approximately
16 pounds. This is a complete kit, anyone can assemble the ADR-1 Robot
with a screwdriver and an adjustable wrench (or a pair of common pliers),
all other tools necessary are provided. No soldering or electronics
experience is needed. Ease of assembly makes this ideal for classroom
and lab environments.
The ADR-1 Robot has the standard features you need:
onboard V25 computer system, voice recognition capabilities, English
speech output, power motor drive, battery with monitoring & recharge
system, remote computer data link, and more...
The Peripheral Interface and V25 Expansion Bus make it easy to add
more sensors, motors, and expansion cards. The powerful built-in V-25
Computer System controls all of the robot's resources and allows the
ADR-1 Robot to operate autonomously without outside connections.
The
ADR-1 can communicate to other computers or terminals by attaching the
serial cable and adapter that are included.
The ADR Operating System will be instantly familiar to anyone that
used DOS on a PC compatible computer. At the ADR OS command prompt, you
can execute BASIC programs, assembled or compiled executable programs,
and batch files.
ADR-1 is controlled by a 10MHz V-25 (8086 compatible) 16-bit
microprocessor and the ADR-OS is an interrupt driven operating system
similar to DOS.
Application programs can be written in BASIC, which is included, or
assembly language by using a DOS Macro Assembler. Program and data files
can be sent and received from a computer to the ADR-1 Robot with XModem
transfer protocol and stored on ADR-1 RAM DISK. Software is included
to do this when using a PC compatible or you may use any computer with
terminal software, as almost all include XModem support.
The dynamic RAM DISK allows storage of program & data files and is
backed up with its own lithium battery to retain information when the
main battery is disconnected. The RAM DISK expands and contracts depending
on the number and size of the program and data files.
There is 256K of RAM memory which may be expanded by adding a memory
card to the expansion bus.
The ADR-OS Memory Manager controls memory
allocation and usage to avoid conflicts between various programs in
memory. The 128K ROM contains the ADR Operating System, Aclypse BASIC,
Voice Manager, ADT debugger/monitor, and other system programs.
The Aclypse BASIC Interpreter is included in ROM and can be called
from the OS prompt. Those who have used the BASIC programming language on
personal computer systems will have no problem learning the extra commands
for controlling and monitoring ADR-1 resources (motors, sensors, etc..).
Those who have little programming experience can learn quickly by following
examples in the BASIC User Manual that is included. Programs can be saved
to the RAM DISK and be sent or received from a remote computer such as
a PC, Macintosh, Amiga, and other systems.
A program written in Aclypse BASIC can call other programs stored
on the RAM DISK thus allowing multiple programs in memory at the
simultaneously. Individual BASIC programs can be up to 64K in size
and you can have as many programs as will fit on the RAM DISK.
Example programs are included to help you learn some program
techniques in Aclypse BASIC. Extended commands such as SAY will direct
the ADR-1 Robot to speak the text strings you want. The LISTEN command
will use voice recognition to convert your trained verbal commands into
text strings. Aclypse BASIC makes working with the ADR-1 Robot easy.
The ADR-1 Robot can move around in its environment with its cog and
belt driven motor drive. Two independent axles allow forward ,reverse,
left & right center rotation, and right & left turning. ADR-1 has dual
motor drive can climb over and through low level obstacles. Use the
extended BASIC commands to maneuver to ADR-1 Robot in your programs.
The ADR-1 Robot is powered by a 12 volt 6 amp battery. Different
programmable power-save modes allow the ADR-1 to operate up to 40 hours
between charges. A lithium battery allows the RAM DISK to retain data
for months, even if this battery is disconnected. A power adapter
is included to recharge the main battery and operate the ADR-1 when
connected. The ADR-1 can monitor the main battery and report on its power
level. This can be found by using a BASIC command or an OS interrupt call.
A nylon harness allows easy access, removal, and installation of the
battery unit.
The ADR-1 Robot comes with speaker dependent voice recognition.
This allows the ADR-1 to respond and execute tasks upon trained verbal
commands. The head mounted microphone with its onboard circuitry is
designed to allow you use voice recognition at various distances.
Speaker dependent means that the robot normally responds to
commands taught to it by a particular person. You can also record,
modify, and play back digital messages and sound effects. You can
utilize the voice recognition capabilities of the ADR-1 Robot with
BASIC commands or ADR OS Interrupt calls for assembly language
programmers.
Speech capability is built into the ADR-1 operating system. Simply
give it a phrase of English text with the BASIC command SAY or an
ADR-1 OS interrupt call and the ADR-1 operating system will convert
it to digital phonemes & speech will be heard from the head mounted
speaker. The rate of speech is can be altered to listening preference.
The microphone mounted on the head is for voice and sound
recording. This sensor is connected to the A/D (analog to
digital) converter system.
There are a total of eight 8-bit
A/D inputs (2 are reserved) that can be connected to various
sensors and controls.
It is easy to add your own motors and sensors to the ADR-1. There
are two I/O control ports that have a total of 12 input and output
digital control lines.
An IDC data cable can be connected to the
Peripheral Interface to access the digital I/O control ports and
8-bit A/D inputs. The ADR-1 V-25 onboard computer system has a
processor expansion socket that allows the addition of one or more
expansion cards. This allows the addition of memory expansion cards,
peripheral adapters, and I/O interface cards for additional digital
I/O control ports and 8-bit A/D inputs.
The optional ADR-1 Experimenters
Handbook is excellent source of information about adding motors and
sensors for the ADR-1 Robot.
The ADR-1 also has a secondary RS-232 serial port that can connect
to internal or external devices. Like the primary serial port which
is used for remote computer links, it can be set for baud rates from
300 to 19,200 bps.
