[seul-edu] Linux, Open-Source Software, Robots, and Education

["Keith O'Hara" <ohara@elvis.rowan.edu>]

Hello, I have been lurking on this list for about a year now, and finally have
something worth while to contribute!

I was wondering if anyone on this list had any experience with robots in the
classroom and if so would be interested in using robots and linux in the classroom.

I am a junior computer science student at Rowan University in NJ.  I am involved in a
couple projects at Rowan, but they all have a common goal, to provide inexpensive
robot capabilities for use in the educational setting utilizing open-source
technologies, whoo, that is a long one :)  I have a blanket term for these projects,
RowBotics. 
http://elvis.rowan.edu/~ohara/#projects

One of the projects, is EL RowCon the embedded linux mobile robot controller.  (We
are
finalists in the Embedded Linux Journal's Win a MZ104 contest.)  We are proposing to
use ZF-linux's system on a chip and Tri-M's PC104 solution to build an inexpensive
yet powerful mobile robot controller. We want to use the open source advantages of
Linux to eliminate the need to use other limited or proprietary robot controllers,
such as the Handyboard and the Lego RCX robot controllers. 
http://elvis.rowan.edu/~ohara/el_rowcon/

Another project consists of using computer mice as inexpensive positioning devices
for robots.
http://elvis.rowan.edu/~ohara/mps/

Please, any ideas, comments, criticisms are welcome.

Thanks.
Keith
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