buying something like the MIT happyboard + joyOS

[csharpboy]

hi,

I'm a kickass programmer but barely know anything about electronics..

I recently came across MIT's 6.270 competition and apparently they dish out a special board with an LCD, servo and motor ports and some sensor ports, the board comes with its own OS called JoyOs which is AVR based which i've learnt is a common API system in robotics? Also, it can be programed with regular C functions like move(int speed, int secs); .... you get the idea..

Unfortunately its only for the competion... but I bet you guys know something similar? I would be complicated for me to assembly stuff on my own.... but this would maybe get me started ... so i know whats going on and then i can go on to assembling stuff on my own?

Thanks so much

Gideon

 

[csharpboy]

hi,

I think i found what I was looking for....

BootAVR Rapid Development Board [RKI-1009] - Rs.300 : Robokits India, Easy to Use, Versatile Robotics Kits...
TrackBot - Remote controlled [RKI-1231] - Rs.1,695 : Robokits India, Easy to Use, Versatile Robotics Kits...

Its a little expensive but I have no idea what parts I need to buy to build a simple robot, and how I could connect them (like the sensors to the micro controller) and then how do I program it all. could someone help me with this.

I'd also like to know a little about microsoft robot studio.. what kinda of hardware does it control??

Thanks so much

Gideon

 

[DrIguana]

Hi,

You might look at SparkFun who sell a small kit that sounds similar

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=9211

or, if you're in Canada, RobotShop which carries a variety of simple to advanced kits at fair prices.

http://www.robotshop.ca

Dr Iguana

 

[ChuckT]

Radio Shack sells a book called "Getting Started In Electronics". It is a complete course in electronics. I think it is a steal for twenty dollars or you can shop Amazon for a used copy because you can pay more than that for an electronics book.

 

[csharpboy]

hi,

I found something... .the problem now is 'm kinda lost as to what to buy and how to assemble these things together.

**broken link removed** seems nice but I'm not sure if its programmable... there is also this **broken link removed** It says it can connect to an LCD and a IR sensor stuff like that. So how do I stick both together and will it be programable??

Thanks so much.

Gideon