Robotics I Presentation HERO 2000 “Gone But Not Forgotten” Rick Irons April 3, 2003

Presentation Summary Introduction History Interfacing Features Critique Future Sources Acknowledgments

Introduction The HERO 2000 Weight78 lbs. Height32.4 in. Width16.5 in. Length22.5 in.

History Created in late 1980’s by Heathkit Educational Systems Target audience: Hobbyists Worked with the HERO while an undergraduate at Boston College (1991) HERO was already out of production, but about 8 HERO’s were maintained for an undergraduate Robotics course taught by Professor James Gipps

Interfacing Terminal Mode –Remote console connected to HERO and functions as a portable ASCII terminal. Link Mode –External computer connected to HERO. We used this mode with the HERO’s connected to Macintosh’s (Apple II’s?). Remote Mode –Remote console used remotely to edit a single line of text and transmit to a HERO. 3 Modes Available:

Interfacing (Continued)  Could directly control HERO using the keypad on the HERO and also the Remote Console.

Features Hardware –8088 Microprocessor (12 Mhz?) –64K ROM –24K RAM expandable to 576K HERO 2000 BASIC interpreter stored in ROM. BASIC interpreter contains HERO specific commands.

Features (Continued) Remote Console

Features (Continued) Battery Charge Dock

Features (Continued) Base Movement –Four wheel drive base Diamond configuration. –26lbs maximum pulling force –BASIC Commands: Right and left base motors RHT [, ][,$] LFT [, ][,$] Distance in inches Speed: 0-slow 7-fast

Features (Continued) Arm Movement –Shoulder range: 0 to 120 degrees –Arm Servo motor controlled Six axes of motion ARM [, ][,$]

Features (Continued) Arm Movement (Continued) –Elbow range: 0 to 180 degrees ELBOW [, ][,$] –Wrist Roll Range: +180 to -179 degrees Pitch: +180 to -90 degrees WRIST, [, ][,$]

Features (Continued) Arm Movement (Continued) –Gripper GRIP [,$] is in the range 0 (Closed) to 9 (Fully Opened). FORCE [,$] Range is -6 to 8. Negative values open gripper and positive values close it.

Features (Continued) Torso Movement –Range of 180 to -165 degrees –TORSO [, ][,$] –Position 0 at front of the base Miscellaneous Movement Commands –HOME - Places all axes of motion into home position. –MPOS(X) - Returns current position of motor X.

Features (Continued) Sensors –Temperature TEMP - Returns temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. –Sound SOUND - Returns a sound level reading taken from the microphone in relative units. –Light LIGHT( ) Returns a relative light reading from the light sensor at degrees.

Features (Continued) –Sonar Head sonar –Rotates 360 degrees –SONAR( ) –Expression is angle to take reading from –Max distance inches –0.5 inch resolution Base sonar –SONARB –0.5 resolution

Features (Continued) Speech –SAY” ” HERO says words specified by Mispronouncing is possible Can spell out words phonetically –SAY “[p a ie v m eh n t]” –Must be in brackets Attributes also available –Amplitude, Duration, Inflection, Notes, Filter Frequency, Modes, Rate, Articulation

Features (Continued) –SPEAK” ” Same as SAY except plain text is not allowed. Everything in the is assumed to be a combination of mnemonics and attribute specifications. Message transmission code.

Critique Advantages –Valuable educational tool. –Cool design. –Lots of features (Sensors, Arm, BASIC Interpreter, Speech, Movement).

Critique (Continued) Disadvantages –Broke down often. –Sensor and movement capabilities were rarely accurate. The same sensor or movement command on different robots often produce different results. –Needed to be a technical person to be able to do anything worthwhile.

Future None, apart from die hard hobbyists. Boston College has two HERO’s, but neither are functioning. Searched Ebay for any HERO auctions (complete HERO’s or parts). Nothing found. Not a good sign. Was the HERO “A robot before it’s time”?

Sources HERO 2000 User’s Manual Memory of BC Robotics course HERO 2000 Web page:

Acknowledgments Professor James Gipps Boston College SOM CS Dept. –HERO 2000 User’s Manual Ellen Irons –Help with presentation layout