Bridging the gap between hobbyists and professionals, VIA EPIA
Mini-ITX mainboards and Roboteq AX2550 DC Motor Controllers greatly
simplify sophisticated mobile robot project development
VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of silicon
chip technologies and PC platform solutions, displayed the feature-rich
VIA EPIA Mini-ITX mainboards paired with Roboteq’s new AX2550
DC Motor Controller, creating a robotics development environment that
gives builders easy-to-assemble tools for creating powerful mobile robotics
platforms.
The battery operated 4 wheel drive, 1.5 by 2 foot unit shown at Computex
uses the VIA mainboard to interface to an 801.11 wireless LAN card and
an USB video camera to provide live video to a remote operator who can
drive the robot using a laptop computer. The motherboard sends commands
to the Roboteq motor controller via its RS232 port. The robot is a technology
platform which users with interest in robotics are encouraged to adopt
and to which they can add functionality and intelligence. Mechanical
and electrical drawings, and software for this robot are published on
Roboteq's website for use as a basis for one's own robot design.
The low power consumption, numerous connectivity options and small
17cm x 17cm size of VIA EPIA Mini-ITX mainboards are ideally suited
to mobile robotics designs. The x86 platform enables significant computational
functionality and flexible software development options. Roboteq’s
AX2550 further simplifies projects by making the connections to the
various motors on mobile robotics .
VIA EPIA Mini-ITX mainboards are already being utilized in the design
and development of pioneering robotics projects by a number of organizations
and educational groups, including the Stanford Research Institute (SRI)
mapping and surveillance Centibots
project, and several autonomous race vehicle teams competing in the
DARPA Grand Challenge,
such as Team LoGHIQ.
Autonomous vehicles are sophisticated mobile robots that traverse land,
sea and air under the guidance of their own internal artificial intelligence.
Typically they require robust, low power computing platforms to act
as the complex software control environments that run the mechanical
movement instructions, sensors, positioning, and navigation equipment,
enabling their independent operation.
About the VIA Robotics Initiative
The VIA Robotics Initiative is the first phase of VIA’s efforts
to promote PC architecture and VIA platforms for the robotics industry.
By highlighting some of the ongoing projects using existing VIA EPIA-Series
mainboards, VIA intends to validate design strategies that are highly
applicable for today’s robot markets while laying the groundwork
for platform advances that will continue to progress the future development
of robot-specific technologies and products into mainstream markets.
As part of a greater effort in 2003 for VIA to participate in the robotics
community, the VIA Robotics Initiative plays an important role for defining
the longer-term direction of VIA’s “Total Connectivity”
message. Robot and PC industry watchers can expect to see a series of
projects and announcements throughout the remainder of the year.
About the VIA EPIA M10000 Mini-ITX Mainboard
The VIA EPIA M10000 Mini-ITX mainboard is the second-generation 17cm
x 17cm platform optimized for today’s killer digital video, audio
and more complex processor intensive applications. In addition to its
integrated 1GHz VIA C3 processor, the board features the VIA CLE266
chipset with embedded MPEG-2 decoder and a new integrated 2D/3D graphics
engine to ensure smooth DVD playback and a rich overall entertainment
experience. With the sizable memory bandwidth of DDR266 SDRAM and the
high data transfer speeds of ATA-133, the VIA EPIA M10000 ensures the
high performance levels required of today’s most popular digital
media and productivity applications. The user’s digital media
experience is further enhanced by support for 5.1 surround sound, courtesy
of the onboard VIA Vinyl Six-TRAC Audio.
The latest in high-bandwidth connectivity is supported with IEEE 1394
and USB2.0 connections, as well as S-Video and RCA TV-Out (NTSC &
PAL) and 10/100 Mbps Fast Ethernet for seamless broadband connectivity.
The VIA EPIA M-Series also offers support for a growing number of LVDS
embedded LCD panels, has a PCI slot for expandability options, and is
compatible with a full range of Mini-ITX chassis as well as FlexATX
and MicroATX enclosures. It is also compatible with Microsoft® Windows®
2K/ME/XP and a variety of Linux-based operating systems.
The VIA EPIA M-Series of Mini-ITX mainboard is available in volume
now from VIA’s global distribution
partners, including leading US online stores www.mwave.com,
www.newegg.com, and www.outpost.com,
at estimated retail price starting from US$100 and up. Click
here for more information on the full range of VIA EPIA M-Series
Mini-ITX mainboards.
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